So, my car is currently at the dealership. Apparently the plastic spash guard in the front of the car is having issues. The crappy plastic pins that hold it on, broke off....from what I consider normal "wear and tear"...but they told me "no, we see scrapes on the plastic from what looks like you hit a parking curb". Well, WHO DOESNT?! Everyone on this Earth with a car...you pull up a bit too much every now and then...and "scrape". If they didnt put crappy plastic pins to hold it in, that wouldnt happen!!?? He said "yeah, they fixed that on the late 2005 model" -- just my luck with the 2004, huh? But the plastic is now flapping down and looks like a dog chewed it up, from the wind and stuff catching on it after the pins broke off. Grrr!

Anyhoo, they wanted to charge me $453 for a new plastic splash guard. He said he could call Mazda Goodwill Assistance, but they will want me to be up-to-date on my maintenance. And of course, my 30,000 mi full-circle is due, so I have to get that! That is $400!! Yikes! He said, yeah...if you get that done, the "assistance" will pay for the splash guard.

This sounds to me to be bogus...but then again, possibly makes sense. I am just pissed that they consider this "damaged" and not "warranty" work???!!!

 

Just buy new clips. Or buy the screws and screw clips that the 05s use.

 

Good idea -- except with the wind and "objects" that caught onto it when the plastic was flapping down...it tore up the plastic pretty bad -- looks like a dog chewed it. That, and it then cracked near the wheel base. I wish I had caught it intime!!

 

Buy a replacement from one of the Mazda vendors on the forum and install it yourself.