I'm peeved at Mazda! >:(

Kenzie · Post by **Kenzie** » April 6th, 2005, 7:01 pm

So, today I take my car into the local Mazda dealership to get the seatbelts replaced (under recall) and the guy that's working on it is a COMPLETE REDNECK! He even had a long beard!
Anyway, I'm sitting in the waiting room watching this guy inspect my interior as if looking for a place to start...So I walk out there and ask him what's the hold up? (I'd already been there an hour waiting for them to get my car in!)
He tells me that he's never even seen a MX-3 before and he had no clue how to take the interior out. (this coming from a MAZDA TECH!)
Well, I offer to help him but he says he'll figure it out. Whatever, so I go back in and sit down. 5 min later I look out into the shop to see the guy standing in my backseat pulling on the little gray piece that meets the A-pillar. I run out there, tell him he's going to break it and he says he knows what he's doing.
At this point I was pissed. So I go back inside AGAIN and just sit there watching him rip my interior apart.
Conclusion: I now have numerous cracks and stress marks in various pieces all because this cocky a$$ guy was too macho to let a girl tell him how to do something THE RIGHT WAY!
It'll be a few days before I know if Mazda is going to replace the parts.

The good news is, my boyfriend is pretty good friends with the owner...They're both rotorheads...haha.

Sorry if that's all a little confusing...I'm not in the best mood.

Oh and some more good news, new rear mudguards are only $50 a set from Mazda.

Tunes67 · Post by **Tunes67** » April 6th, 2005, 7:40 pm

Oh and some more good news, new rear mudguards are only $50 a set from Mazda.

Heh.. post their phone #.. My local mazda dealer wanted to charge $63+tax.. I'll be happy to order mine from your local dealer rather than mine LOL

Tunes67

DavidOS · Post by **DavidOS** » April 6th, 2005, 8:56 pm

that sux, go complain let them know hes no good and also say he damamged parts, they HAVE to replace them if they are damaged

Grants · Post by **Grants** » April 6th, 2005, 9:07 pm

He even had a long beard!

Thats funny!

Kenzie · Post by **Kenzie** » April 6th, 2005, 9:16 pm

Tunes67 wrote:
Oh and some more good news, new rear mudguards are only $50 a set from Mazda.
Heh.. post their phone #.. My local mazda dealer wanted to charge $63+tax.. I'll be happy to order mine from your local dealer rather than mine LOL

Tunes67

Floyd Traylor Honda-Mazda
9000 Hwy 271 S
Fort Smith, AR
1-479-646-7344

Make it very clear that you're looking for the rear ones...like I said, they can be redneck retards sometimes.
If they try to give you some other BS quote let me know and I'll go down there and vent on them some more...hehehe!

jschrauwen · Post by **jschrauwen** » April 6th, 2005, 11:23 pm

Kenzie, once you've chilled a little, a subtle, unassuming, non-threatening, respectfull letter to the head office might make a big difference and then some. I've had some dealings with Mazda USA so a well scripted email might get things happening in a positive way. I wouldn't recommend putting it off too long because the specifics and details are still fresh in your mind. You can send out an email and while something hopefully is in the works you can still work the angle with your BF, FWIW. Hope this helps, here's the link.

http://www.mazdausa.com/MusaWeb/emailMazda.action

Tunes67 · Post by **Tunes67** » April 7th, 2005, 12:03 am

Thanks Kenzie

Also.. I agree with John.. Follow up on the damage ASAP. Do you have interior pics prior to them working on the car? Those could be very useful in proving they did the damage.

Tunes67

mitmaks · Post by **mitmaks** » April 7th, 2005, 12:36 am

well I wouldnt worry about it, and just make them replace parts theyve broken. And theres not many mx3's out there so I wouldnt be surprised he didnt know how to work on it

Kenzie · Post by **Kenzie** » April 7th, 2005, 1:24 am

Thanks for the advice guys!
First thing I told them when they handed me my keys was, "I'm not signing anything until I check out my car and see what damage is done." As soon as I found the cracks I went inside and got the manager. It was almost closing time so the owner had already left but the manager told me he'd talk with him first thing tomorrow.
If they don't call me by 3 pm tomorrow I'll be calling them. If they don't want to pay for it then I will be contacting Mazda. I've already reported them once because they refused to replace the seatbelts on my RS over 2 years ago. After one phone call to MazdaUSA they were calling me back asking when it would be convenient for me to bring it in.

The only pic I have of the interior is on my Cardomain site below. I'm working on some custom door panel inserts and I was going to take more pics when that was finished.
Luckily the redneck admitted to the manager that he wasn't being very careful and he did crack a few pieces. He just thought that since it was an older car that I wouldn't care.
I'll keep you updated and we'll see what happens.

mitmaks · Post by **mitmaks** » April 7th, 2005, 1:30 am

just cause it was older car you wouldnt care? what kind of bs is that, its like a--hole that paints car and doesnt do good job cause he thinks its older car but still charges same as hed paint Benz, kick peopls like that!

They didnt charge you anything? I need to take my GS in, mine been broken since Ive got the car

Kenzie · Post by **Kenzie** » April 7th, 2005, 1:32 am

Both of my belt replacements were completely free. (I had to pay install on the one's in my RS but that's for other reasons, your dealership shouldn't charge anything.)

93SOHC · Post by **93SOHC** » April 7th, 2005, 3:16 am

a bit off topic, but do you know if the will replace them more than once? Mine were done years ago when the recall started. There is even a sticker on the inner door that has the recall # and stuff. But my driverside belt locks up sometime and chokes me real bad! If they won't do it for free again i'm gonna go to manual belts! Anyway, on the topic at hand. I would definately write an email or letter to someone higher up that isn't a hillbilly and who could actually READ it, LOL. I hate having other people work on my car, I just don't trust em' I feel your pain...

ScooterBovine · Post by **ScooterBovine** » April 7th, 2005, 6:44 am

Supposedly, the seatbelts have a lifetime warranty on them, which should, in theory, mean that they will replace them free everytime they break!

http://www.mx-3.com/recalls/seatbelts.cfm

I quote a specific section:

In addition to performing this recall campaign, Mazda is extending the warranty coverage on the driver and passenger automatic shoulder belt rail and motor for the life of the vehicle.

ccreech · Post by **ccreech** » April 7th, 2005, 9:01 am

The Mazda Dealer told me that he would have to check my VIN number to see if I had ever had the seatbelt replaced and that they might not replace it if it had been done before. This Brush off tactic worked. I grabbed one out of a Special Edition GS at the J-yard so my "New" seat belt is "Special". Anyway, I am sure that Mazda would have replaced it for free but it was worth it for me not to have to go to the dealership. Next time it happens I will remove the pannels and let them put me in a new belt. I felt like covering my Mx-3's ears when I heard what the rednecks did.
*Don't worry sweetheart, Bubba isn't gonna lay a finger on your sensitive parts.*

Kenzie · Post by **Kenzie** » April 7th, 2005, 1:12 pm

hahaha....

The reason my dealer refused to change the ones in my RS is because they had already been done. That's when I called Mazda USA and started yelling at them.
They have to replace them and don't give up until the do!