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The next CEL

5K views 30 replies 10 participants last post by  gregersonke 
#1 ·
So I'm wondering if I got the lemon. So far, two injectors, pcm, bent wheel, bubbled tire, and now a MAF have put my car officially in the service bin over 30 days in less than a year of ownership. I'm seriously contemplating asking the dealer/mazda for a free detailing at this point.

Though, I discovered our cars run pretty well with a bad Mass airflow sensor. My light was going in and out over a few weeks and it finally stayed on long enough for me to get to the dealer with it. My older cars would run like crap without it. Looks like I've got a rental for another week. As they apparently don't have these in stock anywhere in the states.

I've got just around 28k.
 
#2 ·
Sorry to hear about all the difficulties. Sounds like an excessive number of probs for a 1 yr old car.

The threads below might be useful. At the very least, I learned a new term: Montagsauto. Best of luck and keep us posted.

http://mazda3revolution.com/forums/2014-mazda-3-skyactiv-discussion/84417-quality-woes.html

http://mazda3revolution.com/forums/2014-mazda-3-skyactiv-discussion/84642-24-181-miles.html


http://mazda3revolution.com/forums/2010-2013-mazda-3-skyactiv-discussion/12878-lemon-law-questions.html
 
#5 ·
Lame problems are LAME!

You've definitely had a lot of trouble with your car, so I'd be asking Mazda or the dealer what they are going to do to make it right. Maybe an even swap for a 2015 SGT? Haha, maybe that's a little much, but I do think they owe you something.
 
#8 · (Edited)
You should look into the lemon laws of your area. You might be able to return it. In Virginia, reasonable attorney fees are covered if needed and you're entitled for a full refund for a lemon.

To be a lemon, your vehicle must have unsuccessfully undergone 3 attempts at repair, 1 attempt at repair of a serious safety defect, or the vehicle being out of service for at least 30 days qualify a vehicle as a lemon if any of these these happened within the first 18 months of ownership by the first owner or lessee.
If you've been out of your car for 30 days, then it seems like you'd legally have a lemon here. Not sure if the 3 attempts are for the same problem or different issues.
 
#9 · (Edited)
I spoke with an attorney regarding my car..

VIN: JM1BM1M39E1209455 (mine)
VIN: JM1BM1M32E1190859 (yours)

...and they are very very close in terms of production numbers your's being M32 and mine being M39. So it honestly doesn't surprise me one bit. That said after speaking with them to prove a lemon law case is much much harder than the law would suggest.

Fortunately I have enough paperwork that if something like this comes up and it progresses into what you have I will be OK. But I don't know what your situation is, in Texas you have a hard and fast rule about millage and with you being at 28k you might not be able to pursue a Lemon law case. In Texas's case you have to have documentation for the 12,000 miles and additional repeats for the next 12,000 to a maximum of 24,000 miles.

I have essentially a little more than half the time-frame required and 3 repair attempts. If anything mechanical goes wrong with my car that could be attributed to any of the weird behavior of my car that needs to be replaced/repaired within a total of 24,000 I'm in the clear and can sue.

You on the other hand need to take action immediately and ideally should have 5-10,000 miles ago but they can and do make exceptions for documented cases but it gets much harder the more miles you put on it.

So if you haven't gotten a consult from a lemon law firm you need to today otherwise you risk getting screwed on a technicality. I know quite a few people thought I was over-reacting and quite frankly I kinda was, but with me only having 5,400 on the ODO I am golden for the next 18,000 miles.

That said; have you thought about bringing your car to another dealership? Apparently my next door neighbor is the GM for a nearby Mazda dealership (not the one I go to) and I have heard that their mechanics are terrible and they get lots of complaints about them. That said I'm taking it to them from here on out and frankly that may be source of your problem.

The Mazda dealer network is surprisingly spotty and if you just go by what google reviews show the purchase experience from my former Dealer (Duval Mazda) compared to my current one (Mazda of Midland) there is *enormous* difference between them. You ought to try that
 
#10 ·
We have a Mazda5, it was in the shop for 1 month for CEL issues. bunch of parts changed, changed intake sensor, changed the computer, etc Techs couldnt figure it out, so dealer got a Mazda Engineer from Irvine to run diagnoses on it. Found out it was a bad hardness triggering low voltage and CEL.

Maybe its time to start demanding Mazda do something about it and start looking at lemon laws.
 
#18 ·
Okay, I got it back last friday. I didn't even make it 50 miles before the light came on again. They thought it was the Mass Airflow Sensor, but apparently it wasn't. Back to the dealer and the Enterprise guys now know me by name. That's how sad this is. Capitol Mazda Apparently wants me driving every other car but Mazda at this point.
 
#21 ·
I'd also be afraid of them chipping or scratching my paint while working on the car. I mean they have power tools and mechanics aren't exactly artists when it comes to cleanliness, and the hoists too. I'd be checking around the car for any scratches or chips. Personally that's why I want to be doing oil changes myself since I can drive it up on jacks and easy peasy.
 
#25 ·
I would 'highly encourage' them to give you a good deal on a new car. You got a bad car. You've had more trouble with that car than I've had with all my previous cars over the past 25 years.

Then, if it happens again, I would avoid Mazda - the Mazda gods do not favor you. :surprise:
 
#26 ·
Sadly, my last mazda an 85 626 saw just as many issues. But to be fair it had 135k on it when I got it.

But I hear you, I'm at least 300k into my last 5 cars which were used and didn't have this many problems. My one ford did, but that's because I took it from 16.2 1/4 mile to a 13.9 1/4 mile. This mazda hasn't seen me touch a single part on it other than the floor matts and the dipstick on the oil.
 
#28 ·
Here is my problem with the intake manifold. If it's true it explains a lot of issues I've had with my car since new. Lowered fuel mileage being just one of them. The fact it's been running richer than spec for almost 30k now means that my cats/ piston rings, and other items on the car are heading to go out sooner rather than later.
 
#29 ·
Okay, service writer called, claimed that he errored in emailing me that it was an intake manifold but rather it was the exhaust manifold. Now it's a matter of going back and forth on the case for some sort of compensation or long-term fix. I already have a 125k warranty on the car so they can't really give me anything there.

This does explain the black carbon deposits on the exhaust pipes that I immediately got when new. Apparently it's been running 20% richer than normal since new. It also explains my knock sound in the morning when I ran regular fuels.
 
#30 ·
Woot, I finally got to test it. They replaced the exhaust manifold, and the Large Monocat apparently 28k worth of running rich destroyed the old Cat. I took a trip to carson city to purchase another laser for rebuild. 600 miles later, it's obvious my car was broken from the start but until check engine lights started blinking the dealer couldn't fix anything. I no longer need premium fuel for increased fuel mileage or getting rid of the morning startup knock. instead of my previous 34mpg best I hit a best of 37mpg on my daily commute with regular unleaded. Plus I hit a high of 42mpg on my way down the mountain where before it was 38mpg.

Also again a reduction in the amount of carbon coming out of the engine.

Okay, now the hard part of dealing with mazda about the damages to the car case.
 
#31 · (Edited)
So, it appears what happened to my mazda3. Bear in mind for all those who don't have the full story. I bought my car in may of 2014, I bought a service contract and I've had all my maintenance done at Capitol Mazda in San Jose. My service manager Jeff is awesome BTW.

1. Car was built with a bad exhaust manifold
2. Exhaust manifold leak caused the o2 sensor to read off
3. bad reading caused rich fuel
4. rich fuel led to excess carbon deposits
5. rich fuel ratio caused poor gas mileage
6. Rich fuel ratio cause poor car running at startup with regular 87 fuel which then required premium fuel.
7. premium fuel cost extra, but was still getting no better than 33-34mpg highway.
8. high carbon deposits led to failed injectors
A. me on the side of the highway getting towed by mazda lowest possible bidder roadside assistance who was so bad they damaged my rims in the tow. I didn't go after the guy because even though I claimed he said he'd get fired if I really went through with it. Figured I'd have better karma dealing with scratched rim.
B. Took mazda about 14 days to replace this.
9.. PCM had some wierd issue likely shorted during injector replacement
10. shortly therafter around valentines day, Check engine light popped on but didn't deteriorate performance if any. went away by the time I took it to dealer, they couldn't even pull a code.
11. waited until check engine light stayed on about 500 miles later
12. dealer diagnosed bad MAF, ordered MAF
C. Took mazda about 7 days to replace this
13. Picked up car on friday night. took home, but didn't drive again till monday morning when I didn't even make it 30 miles before the check engine light came on again.
D. took mazda about 10 days to fix during which time I opened a case with them. They claimed they would make good on reimbursement with me on the time lost. But wanted to fix car first.
14. service manager told me it was a intake manifold via email
I mentioned this was a problem and I reached out to mazda further about my case. Later in the day my service manager called me and said he made a mistake it was the exhaust manifold and the mono cat getting replaced
E. called my case manager Jose 4 days after I got my car back left a message instructing a call back.
F. No call back for 7 days, so I emailed my concerns along with my direct costs in relation to this fiasco of a car so far costing me about 1500-1800 dollars in direct costs

15. Jose called, I confronted him on the issue, he apologized without empathy, claimed that he thought he said that in chat even though he didn't in chat because I have the record. Also said ultimately so many damn times I almost threatened to drive to his call center and put a cattle rod under his ass that would shock every time he said it. I claimed I was concerned that my car being rich for so long especially on the exhaust would cause things like a burnt valve etc. I wanted my car to be in the same condition it should be at 29k. So I either want a new long block or something that adds value to my vehicle. I suggest an aero kit/detail and extension of my service contract to the length of my extended warranty. He asked me how I would like futher communication I explicitly said phone. He emailed me 3 days later saying that he still doesn't have anything for me.

16. Now about 14 days later I get an email saying mazda will offer 750 towards aero kit purchase/install at dealer which costs about 1500

G. I call Jose, not 20 minutes later only to get told by another agent that he's gone home. I've worked in manufacturing long enough to know that Mazda's cost on this aero kit is about 300-400 bucks and all they are doing is offering me something at cost rather than actually taking on the cost of a customer service issue. I left a message through another agent that it wasn't enough and had her add it to the case notes to have him call me back.

H. Now, two days later. Jose has not responded in any way or form.

The wildfire is growing, and no one at Mazda wants to put it out.
 
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