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Sudbury, MA Car Consumer Discussions

Re: Mazda3 owners with corrosion issues, join us here! [chris1999]

by zoomzoom_gir1 on Wed Sep 10 14:07:05 PDT 2008

Go back to your dealership, show them your rust, and demand that pictures be taken and sent to Mazda Canada. AWA (After Warranty Assistance - aka an extension on our 3 year warranty) has currently been made available to cover repairs to the rear panel rusting (ie. wheel wells, bumper seams, quarter panels). There should be no issue at all with you getting this damage repaired for free...

Re: What replacement tires do you recommend (non-RFT)? [circlew]

by teeeye on Thu Aug 07 16:05:47 PDT 2008

Hey OW, It's been a while since I reported in. I'm curious. My dealer told me that to rotate my tires, it's $33. To balance as well, it's $99. Since the ContiProContact RFs are about $175/tire, why not put 20,000 miles on them and just replace them? I know it's a little cheaper to rotate them, but then again, I'd have new tread every 20,000 miles. I have almost 12,000 miles on the 225 45R17's that came on my 335xi (which I love, BTW). Tread wear looks very good, and curiouser(?), BMW recommends NOT rotating the tires. By the way, for all you snow tire bigots, winter in the Boston burbs was absolutely no issue with all-season tires even in blizzards and huge snowdrifts. I STILL believe that BMW AWD ROCKS!! A little service history: The right front wheel bearing needed to be replaced. I heard a scraping noise from the right front when turning left. I took it to the dealer, left it for a week while I was out of town on business. They hooked up "electronic ears" somehow and determined it was coming from the wheel. No charge, of course. The dealer also gave me an $1,800 oil cooler for free when they couldn't provide a logical explanation why my 335xi didn't come with one while the 335i did. The reason that the wheels weren't 18" wasn't acceptable. Kudos for the oil cooler to the Service Director, Bob Fulton, and the dealership (Herb Chambers BMW of Sudbury (MA)), formerly Foreign Motors West, Natick, MA The 335xi is now paid off (less than 1 year post-purchase!) and we're about to buy a 328xi, black sapphire/black leather, with power/heated seats and the iPOD/USB adapter. I couldn't care less for the adapter but it's my wife's car. I got the turbo engine - I'm happy! She currently has a '95 318ti with ~136,000 miles. Get the revs up and it pulls like a rally car going up Pike's Peak! Anyone interested in a black/black HATCHBACK CAR? (can't get them anymore, you know!). The dealer is asking $1,570 over invoice for the 328xi. We haven't done any negotiating nor arrived at a trade-in value for the 318ti. I'm going to try to get the price down a little, especially as a repeat buyer. Thoughts? OK, enough blabbing. Any thoughts on any of this? xeye (Soon to be xeye SQUARED!)

Deadline for entry on corrosion list approaches!!!

by zoomzoom_gir1 on Fri Jun 13 12:02:32 PDT 2008

ATTENTION: I will not be taking any more submission past next Friday (June 20). If you're on the fence or for some other reason postponing sending me your entry, DO IT NOW. Even if you have had your corrosion repaired either under warranty or privately, you should add your name. One of the goals of the list is to show Mazda Canada that ALOT of these first generation Mazda3s are rusting/bubbling in the same spots. Also, if you did have your repairs done under warranty, that supports another goal. With the same type of damage, some people get their work done without hassle under warranty, some are told "not eligible for coverage under warranty". That is very unfair and totally unreasonable as Mazda Canada makes the final decision in all of these cases. If you did have your work done under warranty, sending me a copy of your repair invoice will help to support this goal. Lastly, if you do send me an entry, having visual proof is a BIG bonus. Take clear pictures that show your rust/bubbling and send them my way. I will add those to your entry to support your statements of corrosion damage. Thanks and send in those entries! One week left...

Re: Mazda3 owners with corrosion issues, join us here! [bodble2]

by zoomzoom_gir1 on Mon Jun 09 06:46:59 PDT 2008

Well that's what I'm thinking! So far have 19 entries from Toronto Mazda3 and 2 from Mazda3 forums. Hopefully people here will join up for this list which I'll be sending to Mazda Canada. The more the better in getting our corrosion issue taken seriously!

Re: Mazda3 owners with corrosion issues, join us here!

by zoomzoom_gir1 on Fri Jun 06 14:18:46 PDT 2008

I've already contacted the APA and their Montreal office sent my "dossier" (including pictures) to Mazda Canada. We'll see where that goes. Oh, and I did not have to join the APA to get their help. I think you need a membership to benefit from their pricing information. As for a class action suit, the list I'm compiling may end up being instrumental in that pursuit. For now, it is to be sent to Mazda Canada to attempt to get our claims taken seriously and have them offer compensation for the large repair bills.... As for the models, my list of 16 owners (to date) is confined to 2004 and 2005 models, Sport GT and Sedan GS/GT. Geographical area is not a factor since people across the country report the same issue, on the same key areas on the cars (rear bumper seams, rear quarter panels, bottom trim of rear passenger doors).

Mazda3 owners with corrosion issues, join us here!

by zoomzoom_gir1 on Fri Jun 06 09:27:29 PDT 2008

I am currently dealing with very serious corrosion and blistering paint on my 2004 Mazda3 Sport GT. A more detailed explanation of my specific issues is outlined below. I have heard through responses to my posts at http://www.torontomazda3.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=25439 from several other Canadians dealing with the same type of corrosion on their vehicles. In the vast majority of cases, their dealerships gave them the same response as I received, that Mazda Canada could not be held accountable (no "perforation" (i.e. hole through the body)) and therefore no compensation would be offered. To put this into perspective, I received estimates ranging from $1100 to fix just the rusted areas to $1800 to also address the blistering! I am still awaiting the final word from my dealership as to Mazda Canada’s response to my complaint. Following that, I will be sending a registered letter to both Mazda Canada and to my dealership, along with all the pictures of my car (see here: http://s8.photobucket.com/albums/a38...Mazda3%20rust/ Password is ZoomZoom). I’d like to compile a list of other Mazda3 owners dealing with a similar situation in order to add weight to my argument that this is a recurring issue with these first generation models. If you would like to get involved in applying pressure to Mazda Canada to take responsibility for what is obviously a manufacturing defect, please sign up here. Or, if you would prefer, send me a PM. If you have any before pictures of the corrosion/blistering, please email them to me! Once I get enough entries, I'll send these to get hardcopies made up, for submission to Mazda Canada. Also note that I'd love to hear from ANY Mazda3 owners who have/had corrosion or blistering similar to what I outlined in my own case. If you had your case dealt with by your dealership under warranty, note that when you sign up. The whole idea is to send Mazda Canada an impressive (i.e. impossible to ignore) list of Mazda3s that have/had premature corrosion. I’ll get the ball rolling. Name: Lynne M. Witty City/province: Sudbury, Ontario Year of car: 2004 Model: Mazda3 Sport GT Color: Winning Blue Current Mileage: 109 000 km Corrosion damage: as outlined in this post To give you a bit of background, I took ownership of the brand new car on June 30, 2004, hand wash weekly in summer months, go through a car wash at least once per week in winter months, and had it Krown rustproofed first in October 2004 and yearly since then. Therefore, from an ownership perspective, I have done everything humanly possible to maintain the paint on my car. In 2006 I began to have rusting at the bottom of my rear passenger doors. I did bring it to the attention of my local Mazda Service Manager (Mid City Mazda, Sudbury ON) and he stated that it was due to rock chips, not covered under the Mazda warranty. Last year I began to notice very serious rusting around both rear wheel wells. When I dropped the car off last year for other servicing, before my 3 year/80 000 km new car warranty expired, I again mentioned to the Service Manager that I had a considerable amount of rusting and would it be covered under warranty? He said that he would “look into it” but never got back to me. Being a new car owner and naïve about these things, I didn’t think to ensure that he recorded my complaint on the invoice nor did I pursue the matter. Last month I happened to be visiting my sister in Southern Ontario. There one of her friends, who works at a luxury car dealership, looked at the rusting on my car and noted “your paint is blistering all over”. I was shocked and upon closer examination, did find extensive paint blistering. The very next day, Tuesday May 14/2008, I brought my car to my dealership and had the Service Manager come out to look at all the rusting/blistering. His very first question was “what is the mileage?” (108 000 km at the time) He then proceeded to inform me that all the damage was due to rock chips, understandable with that high mileage. If you look closely at the blistering, several areas show zero impact points. Also, I have rust between both rear bumper seams. Therefore, at least that corrosion on my car can NOT be blamed on rock chips and high mileage. Note that I am NOT bashing the Mazda3 or Mazda Canada by pursuing this action. I do love my car in all other respects, with the very notable exception of the faulty paint/body panels. The core purpose of this thread and the list which I will send to Mazda Canada is to let them know that it is a very common issue and that their loyal customers deserve to be compensated for this manufacturing defect. Thank you!