Well, he just called me to report that they've been looking for my car since Friday to do the repair, and he just informed them to give it up because it was already sold!

That's right -- they (supposedly) did not get the letter from Mazda North American Operations dated July 8 that started this whole thing. :eek: They (supposedly) "just received the instructions on Friday." :mad:

How in the world their records would allow them to be looking for a car that they sold six days ago is beyond me... :rolleyes:

To those who are awaiting delivery of their RX-8s -- at least your dealers are following the rules and are in communication with MNAO.

I asked him how long it would take, and he said that I need only give him a day's notice and I should plan to be there for about 90 minutes. (Again, my car is in Group 2.)

On the positive side, my dealer has been courteous and professional about the whole thing... Although, clearly, they have some broken processes that need to be addressed, and I'll be introducing myself to the service department manager when I'm there to fill him in.

Again, my hat's off to Gomez and Zoom44 for their dedication to delivering the most timely and accurate information available, and for their patience in managing this thread.

Mazda are paying the dealers for 42 minutes labour on a Group 1 car for the reflash, inspection and tank insulation blanket fitment. Group 2, they're paying for 36 minutes.....no blanket.

The dealers can claim for more if they have to change any damaged bits.

Gomez.

Okay, my vehicle falls under the VIN's listed on this recall...after I got hom, I checked th campaign label and couldn't find any on the specified area. Does this mean my car slipped through the cracks too and was not inspected? I purchased the vehicle in May 05'-- should I just wait fo rthe letter or have them do the inspection first?

The recall letter went to dealers in July, so your car falls into group 2 and was obviously not fixed since you bought it in May. Please try and read through the thread...

Group 1 car picked up from the dealer. Finally taken delivery after 2 1/2 weeks of waiting. Thanks all for the updates, it has made things easier. To those still waiting to pick up their new cars. Its worth the wait. I'm grinning ear to ear.

^^^^^^delrmx01, what he said.........^^^^^^^

So what happens if your car has a VIN# before Group 1. I was just in for an oil change, and my VIN is before the Group 1 VIN #'s. Does this mean that our car already has this heat shield, or are we just too old. Just curious. my car has not been subjected to the criteria that cause this problem, I would just like to know.

AND does this mean that we do not need the new flash, and i stress need, because I am happy at the "N" flash right now.

Group 1 is build dates 4/10/2003 - 12/20/2004 Vin 100053 - 140891 You have a RX-8 bult before 4/10/2003 and with a VIN lower than 100053 ??? LINK

It was my understanding the 100000 - 100052 cars were the hand built ones, that were destroyed by MNAO because they were early demo vehicles.

Quick question, im going in about an hour or two to pick up my group two car ( FINALLY!!!) Anyways, where will the sticker be located the indicated they did the necissary work ( flash in my case ).

under the hood along the latch...

wege357, damn your bouncing from place to place answering my posts.

Thanks man.

no, i do not, that is why i was aksing. i found it odd that my VIN was supposedly prior to the Group 1 cars. Now I can go back and harass them some more.

well some are still sitting in irvine behind the fence

hopefully still there for Sevenstock? :rolleyes:

i heard a month or so ago that there were still a bunch in there

It took 2 weeks, but I'm taking delivery of my Group 1 car at 3 pm today. :)

"Your car is ready!" "Your car is ready!" "Your car is ready!" "Your car is ready!" "Your car is ready!" "Your car is ready!" "Your car is ready!" "Your car is ready!" "Your car is ready!" "Your car is ready!" "Your car is ready!" "Your car is ready!" "Your car is ready!""Your car is ready!" "Your car is ready!"

It just keeeps playing over and over in my head. Could this be? Might it actually be in my possession soon? Will I make it 2 more hours without another recall? :D

Should I pinch myself? :p

Yes it could be - but go ahead and pinch yourself anyway just to make sure :p

Lol, you have the X-Men2 car...

If this is a Group 1 car, they definitely should have installed the blanket even if they didn't find any thermal damage on the preliminary inspection items. And they should have applied the sticker for sure. I seriously doubt they could do all those things in 90 minutes. You should follow up on this either with the dealer or with MNAO since it is a NHTSA recall and things must be done according to Mazda's instructions. Otherwise, as I understand it, the dealer and/or Mazda, is/are subject to some pretty hefty fines.

I also got the 3305G recall taken care of today when I took the car in for its 40k service. It's a Group 1 car. I didn't mention the recalls, they took care of it themselves. I'll still have to take it back for the other recall, but I'm glad to get this one taken care of.

Incidentally, I talked to the tech who did the work, and he said he saw no heat damage to my car.

Oh, and I haven't noticed any difference so far since moving up to the 'R' flash. I don't know if it was supposed to make any differences to normal driveability or not. I got the 'N' flash at the beginning of May and my MPG went up over 1mpg since then. I hope 'R' doesn't screw that up somehow. I will keep an eye on it.


Edited to Add:
I should point out that my dealer gave me just a little trouble about my aftermarket (Borla) exhaust. I had to pay them for the hour of labor to drop the exhaust to do the recall work. They told me they'd "look the other way" on the aftermarket part if I paid the labor. I felt like that was kind of lame and baseless, but I wasn't in the mood to fight with them over $40 so I just paid it.

Just wanted to say that in case anyone else is concerned about their aftermarket exhaust. I'm wondering if my dealer is the only one who has bitched about it.

Loco4rx8, can you see any part of the blanket if you were to look under the car by the front of the tank? If yes could you take a photo? Also did they put a campaign sticker on your 8?

EDIT: That's funny I have a Greddy SP2 AND a AutoExe subframe brace and the dealer said / charged nothing. About how long did it take for them to do this?

my guess is they checked your 8 for the defective lower A arm ball joint . If it had the right Part number then your ok and they let you go.. as of yet there not doing any gas tank stuff untill they Mail you out the Notice from Mazda.. You are lucky they did not try to hold your 8 untill they had the gas tank parts .. :)