Hi everyone, just wanted to ask for some advice. I have a 04 Rx8 and we bought it from a dealer 18 months ago nd there were only 39,000 miles on it. About 3 weeks ago my motor blew.... his car was my baby. the dealership told me that i have the extended warranty and that madza corp. should have no prob replaceing he motor. I get a call 5 days later and they said mazda wanted to try t change teh plugs, wires and coils first to see if that was it. They called two days later and said that that was not the prob and they filed the claim through mazda to get a new motor. They called back and said that mazda turned down my claim because i dont get my oil changed at the dealership and that i did not have prof that i changed the oil. my question is can they not tell by testing the oil in the engine how old it is ? and the contract never said anything about haveing the oil changed at the dealership. i change my own oil after a bad experience a while back with have others change the oil. I'm having my lawyer look in to this just wanted to see if anyone has tryed to get a new motor before or went against mazda before. This is really hard becaouse I absolutly love my Rx8. I hope this works out. thanks

 

I can't remember the name of the law, but it basically says that you are allowed to do your own maintenance on the car. However, you must have proof of your work (receipts, mileage recorded, etc), in order to claim for warranty.
Why would mazda pay to have your oil tested? That's not their job.

That being said, there have been members here who have fought mazda for this and won. Others haven't had such luck.

 

They can not demand that you produce receipts. Things get lost. Accidents happen. Fires! You might not have got one.
If you recorded the dates and mileage in a record book, that would be enough.
A small book that has been in the glove box. That you have written down all the oil changes you did. Dates. Mileage. Type/viscosity. Filter.
A record since you bought the car. Or started doing your own oil changes. That would sure help.

 

Lawyer is your friend.

 

I would call Mazda HQ and open a "concern" regarding their denial for your claim.
If you have any receipts or any records that you actually did change your oil + filter, that would probably be the only actual way to prove it's authenticity.

I'm not trying to point the finger but have you spoken to Mazda directly regarding your claim or just through your dealership? When having my engine replaced, a previous dealership I used to service my car at informed me that Mazda denied my claim regarding an engine replacement as my car was within spec. A few days later I go to another dealership and Mazda agrees to replace my engine so it's really hard to trust most dealerships.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnuso...s_Warranty_Act


Mazda seems to do this from time to time and from dealer to dealer. Just keep pushing and hope for the best.

 

^thanks

 

Because they are the ones who a questioning the condition of the oil, they just assume that it wasn't done and that the car hasn't been well maintained, which is a far cry from the truth....

 

yes, my wife and i have been dealing with the Mazda Company directly with out ANY corporation or concern for that matter. Honestly, i have to say that i am really disappointed in the way Mazda has handled our situation. The Mazda dealer is completely on our side, he said he has done several motors for them that has been covered by warranty without any questions, so i don't get it. Its on 04 so the extended warranty of 8 years will be over in 2012. and unfortantly i don't see this having a happy ending.

 

I'm going to point out the obvious:

If you don't keep records of when you changed the oil in your car, then you can't PROVE that you ever changed the oil in your car.

You need to keep these receipts.
You need to check your oil level and keep it topped up.
You need to make sure your oil level is topped up BEFORE you drop the car off at the dealer for any kind of warranty work.

Not having this information is just begging to have a manufacturer deny your engine claim.

If you at least took your car to a local shop to have the oil changes performed, then you could ask them for the receipts.

If you do all the work yourself, you NEED to create a log in on the mymazda website, and record your oil changes there.

BC.

 

i created a log last night with the miles and date of oil changes, i also have my bank statements for 6/7 of the oil changes and i have all the actual old oil filters, might as well take those in to, we can use everything at this point.
I will keep trying to submit the claim, i have also went to the Better Business to try and get some help so we will see. Any suggestions are helpful, and any success stories would be great.

 

Suggestion: create a very detailed log (on excel or google docs) that includes: dates of maintenance, maintenance done, products used, part numbers, milage at time of maintenance and if you have a licensed garage that ever did any work on your car and has documentation, list their information as well.

Being that it's an 04' its gonna be tough to argue with Mazda. I've heard from fellow 8 owners in my region that mazda has been tightening up their remans n' replacements for the 04's and 05's even with documentation. A forum member actually told me his claim was almost denied simply because his car looked like it had been modded even tho the engine was completely stock.


good luck though. hope you get things worked out.

 

I wrote all my records into mazdas online website. It will not be lost u less their server building gets burn down. I have all the oil change receipts too, just in case

 

The owner's manual does specify that you need to keep maintenance records. Take a look at that and review your log book (the one Easy E1 described) to see if it satisfies the spirit.

When a blown engine is torn down, it's usually apparent whether oil changes have been done. The problem with that for the RX-8 is that dealers don't get to open the engine up, and the decision on the warranty is made before anyone does.

Ken

 

what i don't get is that they know they had problems with the motors in these cars (that's why they extended the warranty) and they can tell when they open they look at the motor that it was changed regularly. why can't they just man up and admit that its a faulty motor and replace it. we have documented all the oil changes (date, milage, filter type and oil) but they are choosing to say that its not enough proof...... instead of just fixing the engine that should have been recalled anyways. thanks for the help MAZDA... so disappointing.

 

They have a right to deny a claim, if they believe it wasn't maintained properly, and it's up to you (the owner), to fight and prove them wrong.

If you have all your logs and records, then I recommend seeking legal advice. Bottom line, if you can prove it, they'll replace it. Sometimes, you just have to do a little more pushing and shoving. A call from a lawyer can be very persuasive

 

*UPDATE:
So, Mazda called us Monday night to let us know that they are willing to pay for half of the cost of the repair, we got an estimate from the dealer of 4,000.00 so we would be responsible for 2,000.00. I mean i am grateful for the offer but at the same time we don't have that kind of $$$ nor do i really think we should have to pay for anything. Its not our fault that it has a bad motor in it.
Not real sure what to do now....?

 

wtf??

I've never heard of mazda goin' "half-ies" on an engine replacement.

 

yeah, that's the first time i've heard of mazda going dutch on a reman

 

$50 says your dealer is being less than honest with you regardless of anything they are telling you. They have everything to do with you getting approved or not.

 

I'd keep pushing for a reman.... Or see what the dealer would knock off on a newish car, you could probably get them to take 4k off stick price.

 

if they are willing to go half way...my first guess is that maybe it was approved but the dealer is trying to pocket $2k off of you. thats just my opinion. either way if you can prove you did the work, still go after the reman engine, but get it free like you are supposed to.

 

Well it was Mazda (i have been in contact with them directly, not the dealership) saying they would pay half but after a little more talking they have just called and agreed that they are going to cover 100% of the motor...!!!!! THANK YOU MAZDA. can't wait to have her back on the road and running good!!!! so super excited!!!!

 

gratz on keeping up with it and getting them to cover it!

 

Congrats on getting the new motor.

That's really weird that mazda would opt to only pay half of the cost...

Now i'm curious to see if mazda will cover labor seeing as to how they tried to go dutch on a reman.