Help, advice needed, being stung by a dealer!

[Clinton Baptiste]

Hi guys im typing this on behalf of my brother who isn't a ph'er. Basically he's currently having a nightmare with his Mazda 6 2.2d 2009 with 50k on the clock. The car is just out of warranty by a few months and the timing chain has slipped causing major engine damage according to the Mazda dealership where it is now. Basically they want £3000 to sort it, we both think this is outrageous and although it's out of warranty it's unfair to expect him to pay this kind of money when the car has only done 50k and is just 3 yrs old.
I should also add that he has kept the service history completely up to date but with a well known high street garage not Mazda, will this matter? At first he did say he wasn't going to pay for it but they just said they won't give him the car back if he does this.

Any help would be appreciated

[Speedracer329]

How long has your brother had the vehicle & how many miles has he done with it?
Also, when is the cambelt change recommended?

[p4cks]

Could get a quote and get it done elsewhere?

[m44kts]

Did the well known high street garage use original Mazda parts for the servicing?

Unsure if this will matter as it's out of warranty, but they could use non-genuine parts as an excuse not to honour anything even if the timing chain hasn't even been touched.

[Otispunkmeyer]

Speedracer329 said:

How long has your brother had the vehicle & how many miles has he done with it?
Also, when is the cambelt change recommended?

Timing chain? doesn't need changing usually... but does require adjusting for tension and guides.

Out of warranty, and not serviced with Mazda... it sorta is 2 - 0 to them at this point. Being only a few months out, you might think that Mazda might show some sympathy. For example, I know its not cars, but my Canon 400D Sensor died 1 month out of warranty. A letter to Canon explaining and they agreed to get it fixed free of charge, no problem! Certainly kept me very sweet as a customer, they didn't have to do that (though apparently they do have a 4 week grace period once warranty is over, its like a month of additional warranty).

Perhaps letters/calls/emails to the right places in Mazda UK HQ might change a few things.... perhaps you guys could work an agreement whereby you pay some of the cost, but not all.

[ALawson]

If it is out of warranty what does he expect from Mazda, they haven't serviced it so I expect any good will has gone out the window.

I would be taking it back to the serving dealer and asking them what they think.

Is the engine a safe one or is the damage that of a typical t belt failure.

Belt should be what 60-70k or 5 years as a minimum. He can always get and independent engineer to inspect the car and see if the original belt was incorrectly manufactured or not.

Good luck/
Edit.just seen its a chain. How likely is a chain failure at this age? May be worth checking out some Mazda forums.

Edited by ALawson on Thursday 6th September 18:55

[LHD]

Clinton Baptiste said:

Hi guys im typing this on behalf of my brother who isn't a ph'er. Basically he's currently having a nightmare with his Mazda 6 2.2d 2009 with 50k on the clock. The car is just out of warranty by a few months and the timing chain has slipped causing major engine damage according to the Mazda dealership where it is now. Basically they want £3000 to sort it, we both think this is outrageous and although it's out of warranty it's unfair to expect him to pay this kind of money when the car has only done 50k and is just 3 yrs old.
I should also add that he has kept the service history completely up to date but with a well known high street garage not Mazda, will this matter? At first he did say he wasn't going to pay for it but they just said they won't give him the car back if he does this.

Any help would be appreciated

Two hopes here and Bob's dead.

Mazda warranty will tell you to poke it.

Sorry.

[Clinton Baptiste]

Speedracer329 said:

How long has your brother had the vehicle & how many miles has he done with it?
Also, when is the cambelt change recommended?

He's had the car 22 months and has done 40k in it himself. Not sure when the timing chain should be recommended to be changed, there is no service book with the Mazda it's all electronic through Mazda apparently.I'll have to look into it.

[Superhoop]

I know this might sound a bit odd ball, but has he tried talking to Mazda UK rather than just the dealer?

[Otispunkmeyer]

Clinton Baptiste said:

Speedracer329 said:

How long has your brother had the vehicle & how many miles has he done with it?
Also, when is the cambelt change recommended?

He's had the car 22 months and has done 40k in it himself. Not sure when the timing chain should be recommended to be changed, there is no service book with the Mazda it's all electronic through Mazda apparently.I'll have to look into it.

Chains don't need changing, just adjusting. Usually checked at major service which he will have been close to. 12.5k mile service intervals, so maybe 50k was the big one where this is checked.

Edited by Otispunkmeyer on Thursday 6th September 19:04

[rallycross]

I don't see how you are being stung by the dealer it's over 3 years old done 50k miles it's not a new car anymore, he didn't buy it from new and was not serviced by them so there is no goodwill to give anyway.

Try and get a 2 nd hand engine with a written guarantee then fix it and sell it.

[Clinton Baptiste]

Superhoop said:

I know this might sound a bit odd ball, but has he tried talking to Mazda UK rather than just the dealer?

No he hasn't, i'll tell him to do this might be worth a shot, ta.

[ALawson]

Looks like the chain streching evey 30k is a known issue.

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t...

I expect that had the car been serviced at Mazda then this issue would have been sorted previously under warranty.

Unless the servicing dealer has replaced the tensioner I think he had better consider getting another opionion, other quotes to repair the car or souce a second hand unit.

Thanks for raising this issue as I was considering adding a Mazda 6 to the list of possible cars to get, think I will stick with the Honda diesel (which also has a known issue with the timing chain).

[CampDavid]

Speek to Mazda UK. I'd argue that it's a defect that was there from new and as such has caused an early failure. Aim for a contribution towards the cost.

As above, strictly you're shafted but Mazda could probably do it at £1500 and not lose money so worth a bosh

[Ari]

So he's saying to Mazda "even though you are Mazda dealers I didn't want to give you any of my money to service it, but now its broken I'd like you to put your hand in your pocket and help me out with a cheap/free repair".

Best of luck...

[Clinton Baptiste]

Ari said:

So he's saying to Mazda "even though you are Mazda dealers I didn't want to give you any of my money to service it, but now its broken I'd like you to put your hand in your pocket and help me out with a cheap/free repair".

Best of luck...

No he's saying " My engine has gave up after just over 3yrs and 50k miles, why should i pay 3k to get it repaired? "

I take it if it was you then you would be happy to pay the 3k?

[Chrisw666]

Clinton Baptiste said:

No he's saying " My engine has gave up after just over 3yrs and 50k miles, why should i pay 3k to get it repaired? "

I take it if it was you then you would be happy to pay the 3k?

It isn't in warranty, and as has been mentioned by not using Mazda to service it (presumably to save a few £ which on servicing a brand new warranted car is mental IMO) he has lost any goodwill that would normally be forthcoming (cheaper labour/parts etc). The car will also have missed out on any manufacturer updates/warranty work.

It's a tough lesson to learn but trying to take shortcuts where potentially big sums of money are concerned is foolhardy.

The dealer certainly isn't trying to 'sting' him. If Mazda quoted £3k why doesn't he go to his cheaper place?

[daemon]

Clinton Baptiste said:

Ari said:

So he's saying to Mazda "even though you are Mazda dealers I didn't want to give you any of my money to service it, but now its broken I'd like you to put your hand in your pocket and help me out with a cheap/free repair".

Best of luck...

No he's saying " My engine has gave up after just over 3yrs and 50k miles, why should i pay 3k to get it repaired? "

I take it if it was you then you would be happy to pay the 3k?

Technically, the engine didnt give up - a part failed. Had the car been serviced by Mazda this would have been picked up on and replaced before it failed. Sadly your brother opted not to do that.

Also, why would the local mazda dealer put their hand in their pocket for it? It wasnt lack of knowledge / effort / diligence on their part that caused the failure.

Your best chance is Mazda UK, but dont expect much by way of a goodwill gesture - after all chances are if it was serviced by their dealers its likely it wouldnt have happened?

[rehab71]

As a dealer myself I find it hard to see who your brother is being 'stung'? As others have said, hasn't been serviced by a Mazda dealer and it's out of warranty!

I had this at work recently, women has a car that we've not seen since she bought it, it's out of warranty and she gone ahead and done work to replace the alternator and now want reimbursing! The warranty has to finsih at some point, if you do work on a car a week out of warranty, the next person says his is out of warranty by 10 days, the next is two weeks! At what point does it end?

[DocJock]

Clinton Baptiste said:

Ari said:

So he's saying to Mazda "even though you are Mazda dealers I didn't want to give you any of my money to service it, but now its broken I'd like you to put your hand in your pocket and help me out with a cheap/free repair".

Best of luck...

No he's saying " My engine has gave up after just over 3yrs and 50k miles, why should i pay 3k to get it repaired? "

I take it if it was you then you would be happy to pay the 3k?

No he's saying " My engine has gave up after just over 3yrs and 50k miles, even though we have no idea if proper service schedules and procedures were followed, why should I pay 3k to get it repaired? "