i've recommended another dealer for Dean that is only about 20 minutes away from him. weather he chooses to listen to me is another story.

 

While doing this he may want to test the Alternator as well.

 

I have discussed this with the owner and Mazda NA and asked if they pay only if the Repair Shop can find the problem. They have all said no.

At this point, I dont want to wate time and money on another shop that may or may not repair the problem.

I have a car under warranty that was purchased from Bob King Mazda in Winston-Salem. Either Bob King Mazda or Mazda NA needs to fix it or buy it out.

The Mediation team person has not contacted me and responsed to my voicemails or email today. I told her I am extremely dissapointed in the put a bigger battery in.

In fact, last night I emailed her when she informed me my car was fixed and I asked her if they replaced the battery or told me it was the trunk light casuing the drain?

These are the only two things Mazda does.

The local dealer has no morals and even my attorney told me that I had little chance with the lemon law with the local dealer as they don't play fair. I am going to withhold the comment that was made about the owner. It was not flattering.

The battery will be buy me a month or two. Why dont they just let me pick up a new battery every 3 weeks if this is there fix.

Dean

 

you cant judge an entire company because of a couple of bad dealers, im 100% sure that if you do a poll most mazda customers are satisfied

 

other than the battery issue, how is the car running?

 

A poll was done concerning Customer Service and Mazda came in last. JD Power. The real gauge of customer satisfaction is how they handle the tough cases and this is where Mazda fails.

 

actually I told him a couple pages back to do a current draw test.

This is a very simple issue.

MAC is an entirely different company than MNA. Its not even really a Mazda company. Sure they both have the same parent company, but for operations, taxes and the like they are two different companies.

According the MAC webpage:
So you are actually paying Ford, not Mazda North America.

Mazda is not replacing batteries.. THE DEALER IS.

Let me explain how warranty works. You have a problem. The dealer calls Mazda support and asks, will Mazda pay for this warranty issue. Then Mazda looks at a service or claim history of the car (depending on how modern the dealer is) and either approves or dis-approves the warranty. If it approves, then Mazda credits the dealer the costs off of the dealers next parts or vehicle order. I am sure that if the battery has been replaced more than 3 times, Mazda support is probably denying the warranty work, as by now the dealer should have fixed the car already. If Mazda denys the warranty claim, then the dealer either has to fix it on his own or tells you that you have to pay.

Obviously in Deans case, that dealer does not have a tech that knows how to actually work on a car. If Dean is unable to fix this minor issue himself, he should take the car to a different dealer (and not even mention the first dealer trying to fix the car) and ask them to find the problem.

Its not rocket science...Any car car stereo installer that has installed more than 2 years should be able to find a current draw and fix it. Unfortunately Dean has been taking the car to a dealer that probably just works on GMs and Mr GoodRich doesn't have a clue.

Just like your car Raptor75... simple fix... but you seem to have it locked in your head that it is a Mazda problem instead of seeing it to be the real issue of a dealer problem.

But then you think Mazda and the dealer are the same thing... so there really is no help for you. If you keep that car and are un-willing to drink the water then you will be unhappy forever.

 

you are convince and nobody is going to make you see diferent, you will see that most mazda owners did not vote in the JD Power poll, only the ones that have problems, so how can it be acurate?

 

That's crazy -- it's basically Mazda Corporate throwing up their hands and deciding that if the dealer doesn't have the skill or the will to fix your car then there's nothing they (corporate) can do to rectify other than release you from the lease. That's damn sad.

Either the alternator is not charging properly or somewhere in the car something is drawing current. This is not rocket-science.

If you're not familiar with this kind of testing, my suggestion is to take it to a competent local independent shop with a good reputation and spend a reasonable amount out of pocket to get the problem pinpointed. Might be well worth it to avoid the hassles you're going through trying to "force" Mazda to do the right thing. There is an old saying: "Never try to teach a pig how to sing. It's a waste of time and it annoys the pig."

 

Here you go -- takes care of the spare tire problem AND reduces current draw. It slices! It dices!

Batteries sold separately.

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-do-yourself-forum-73/diy-trunk-lighting-spare-tire-owners-24826/

 

You need to have them do a current off draw or parasitic drain test. something isnt powering down or a module keeps talking on the bus. Im one of those "dealer Technicians" you guys keep complaining about. True there are some that just throw parts on, but there are more that accually know there ****, the reason mazda wont let you take it to a local independant shop is A: they are not factory trained B: they do not have the tools to properly work on this vehicle. Hell i dont have the tools to work on mine, Im a DCX tech.

 

Dean
I had a Chrysler Cordoba back in the early 80s that had an electrical problem that the dealer looked at twice and could not fix - weird things like the antenna going up when the a/c was turned on. I took it to a local auto electrical shop w/a great reputation. The tech took it into the bay and had it out in literally 5 min. They charged me $15 and I never had a problem again.
It looks like Mazda is going to fight you on this - I would rather pay to have it fixed and have some peace of mind than to deal w/the aggravation for another year.

 

As did the owners of the other manufactures yet Mazda still placed last. The playing field was level, stop denying the truth and lets face the facts, Mazda need to improve here. I am open to any research you can provide saying different.

 

...and the dealer is Mazda's representative , further, Mazda's corp is completely aware of Dean's problem and is still not doing any thing to resolve this issue. Wake up and face the fact. You need to come out of this Mazda Fanboy world and see facts for what they are. You my keep buying Mazda's but their sales are dropping and if they don't start fixing their problems there are not enough fanboys to keep them afloat, they need regular consumers.

This is the last I will say on this matter because it is pretty obvious that your love of the cars has skewed your judgement to the point that you are unable to understand the problems Mazda faces. You may think you helping and supporting them but your accepting approach to poor service will only doom that which you love so.

 

I have not posted an update on this for a while.

As I stated earlier, Mazda just replaced the battery again and said this was a larger battery. Was it larger than last time as that was the previous fix?

I left multiple voicemails from my rep from the mediation team and sent her serveral emails and she NEVER CONTACTED me back after they determined it needed yet another battery.

Mazda isn't even trying to fix the car IMO. They just want to keep putting new batteries in it hoping it will last another 2-3 months.

I find it completely reprehensible that the mediation person assigned to my car will not return my phone calls.

The fact that the RX-8 survey doesn't count towards the dealer means the dealer cares even less about the RX-8.

Mazda should be ashamed for how poorly it handles lemons. I do not know why they have a mediation team.

Dean

 

I had the battery go dead again yesterday. I was able to jump it off to get it started.

I am going to try to find a shop that knows electronics well and do power drain tests and see what is going on.

I have to be honest. I hope Mazda eventually goes out of business at this point. I cannot believe that the Mediation person will not return phone calls or emails after the last time they replaced the battery.

This is MAZDA CORPORATE. The MEDIATION team is Mazda not the dealership. They sent a tech out and found nothing.

Does it not bother people that Mazda can do whatever the hell they want with the 8 as it doesn't event count against dealers in the surveys.

I have a lot of people ask me all the time how I like the 8. My response used to be that I had some frustration with the dealer but I like the car overall other than one little electrical issue.

I know tell people I just can't recomemnd Mazda at all because if you have a problem that doesn't show up on a cell light, they will not be able to fix it.

Dean

 

Right on schedule.

Good decision. No sense continuing to

 

I just received an Fedex from Mazda N.A. They stated that they believe replacing the battery the last time will fix it for good. They said however there were mis diagnoses and sent me $100 of MAZDA CREDIT FOR BOB KING ONLY. I am sorry but that is total BS. The particular instance we are talking about I actually paid for a battery on my own. The $100 doesn't start to cover it but at least make it a check.

I spent a lot of hours documenting everything that happened, amount of financial lsos, etc. and I now get Bob King Cash from Mazda of NA.

Dean

 

Too bad I did not see this post earlier.About 5 yrs ago I was at a local Mazda dealership and a lady with a new Millenia S had problems which sounded a lot like yours.Battery, alternator etc were changed,current draw tests performed,even a smaller pulley to speed up the alternator.It was all to no avail.A Mazda Canada QA person took over the investigation and it was determined that the lady's driving style was killing the electrical sytem---basically many short runs,always with sound turned up,cold running ,etc etc.
Finally her husband gave her his car and he started driving the Millenia.Like magic the problem disappeared and the guy is still driving the car today.
Is there anything in the way you use the vehicle which may contribute?