VTLC

I am new here and I have one of the worst 8s. I had engine replace at 1000 miles, spark plug wire arching on engine block at 4000 miles, rough pop in idle started after, lots of AC issues, Auto RV mirror not working, CTP light, lots of quality control issues. Now with 9000 miles on the car and over 30 plus days in the shop and still more problems not fixed, I am looking to pursue the CA lemon law. Anyone here actually has gone through with their states lemon law and got a refund or replaced car. Need your thoughts and what I should prepare for, How hard is this battle I am in, do I just get a lawyer, should I go to the dealer first and talk to the GM and demand a replacement car, does the dealer have any benefits if they replace my car or should I just file Lemon law with Mazda overall. Any ideas, thought, advice, and especially experience welcomed. I am a proud owner of an rx8, am also a disappointed buyer. Thanks everyone for your help.

Chrisbert

What is the name of those little guys who live under bridges in Mythology?

sportscarfreak

One of the conditions for Lemon Law, and the easiest to prove, is if you have over 30 Days cumulative on shop time. If you have kept ALL your receipts from the Mazda dealership where you have had aall your work for, the only thing you need to do is contact the BBB (Better Bisiness Bureau) and file a claim with them. They will contact Mazda for you and let them know of your claim. This will expedite thigs since manufacturers don't like to have many reports from them (BBB). When you contact the BBB make sure you describe EVERY problem you have had with the vehicle! No matter how small the problem. Also, when it gets to the time of negotiating the RX-8 BuyBack (if you take that route -- You can ask for a replacement or Buyback) do not forget to describe how tedious it has been to own the car. How many problems it has caused you not to have transportation for so long , etc, etc ...

Hope this helps, this were the steps I took for my 1999 Trans Am Ram Air. I purchsed it for $28500 out the door, and less than 2 years later and 20k + miles later, GM bought it back from me for $23k.

Always hold out the most possible when negotiating with these people, DO NOT ACCEPT THE FIRST OFFER THEY MAKE YOU! (unless you are happy with it) =)

Well good luck, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Parmer8

Maybe off topic. Does anyone remember the story of Billy Goat Gruff? Was he a goat or a troll?

Magnesium

roflmao

WHealy

Lemon laws vary by state. You'll have to find your state's statute. You shoudl be able to find it on the web. Indiana's is something like 4 repairs for the same thing without resolution or 30 WORKING DAYS in the shop over the first 18 months of ownership and it's a lemon. Then they ow you the percentage of you original purchase based on miles driven divided by 100,000 miles. So check your state's law.

DOMINION

Gremlins?

DOMINION

Du to the issues I have had I asked the dealer and looked into the laws. But its a NEW car. Not like a Dode neon that they make a new one every year. The RX-8 is a new car/model. So that law may not apply...

Jeffjett

Sorry VTLC, could not read but the first sentence of your post. About threw up. What a fuckn drag!.

SpearRX8

Sorry to hear about all those problems with the 8. First thing you need to do is send the "Manufacturer's defect notification letter to Mazda and at the same time file for state arbitration due to the fact that it has been more than 30 days out of service. Save all your service records. State arbitration will need it as well as all your incidental expenses. Check your state's actual lemon law and process for arbitration. Good luck

zoom44

what's a CTP light?

RenesisPower

As somebody else said Lemon Laws vary by State. A quick internet search for your State should give you the lowdown on your local laws. Mazda is pretty good with these issue, Mercedes-Benz on the other hand fights every single case in court.

Rotary Nut

I did!

In a nutshell, they refunded me all payments and down payment (but not taxes tags or other fees, just purchase price) then deducted a milage fee based on mileage. I got back $11,000.00 minus about $4600 for the mileage, netted me about $6600 back. It took two BBB arbitration hearings but they settled before the second one could take place. The following is a copy of a post I made to an earlier thread outlining my trials and tribulations with VWoA in Virginia.



This thread hits too close to home!

Well my car befor the 8 was a 2002 VW Passat W8. Top of the line VW at the time (pre Phaeton). Well After two trips to BBB arbitration they repurchased the car. Oh happy happy joy joy! In the 13 months I "owned" it it was in the shop about 14 times for about 30 some odd job orders and was out of service 60 days!

The following is a list of the individual problema I had. Most were directly attributed to inept service techs. At the bottom are some links to some of my posts on the VW forums. Fun reading I tell ya!

1. No Tail lights. Ordered light switch
2. Replaced light switch
3. Buffed out paint because of scratches on it at time of delivery
4. Cruise Control inoperative, *CNDF
5. Stereo speaker sound quality sucks, CNDF
6. Rattle coming from r/h front of car, CNDF
7. Cruise Control Inoperative, Tech could not duplicate but I showed service manager that it indeed was not working. See below!
8. Cruise Control Inoperative, Replaced Control Unit
9. Blinking CEL/MIL light (1) and car running rough, Replaced #4 coil pack
10. CEL/MIL light (2) is on, Evap leak, tightened gas cap
11. Radio looses memory, Radio normaly comes on when I turn on the car. On two occasions the stereo was off. When I turned the radio on all the station memories were blanked out. CNDF
12. MFA indicates hood open, ordered micro switch
13. MFA indicated hood open, replaced latch
14. CEL/MIL light (3) on again, small evaporative leak, replaced gas cap
15. MFA indicates hood open, Hood out of adjustment and alarm indicator is still on, ordered comfort control module
16. Installed control module, MFA still indicates hood open, ordered new stereo head unit
17. CEL/MIL light (4) on again, evap leak, ordered leak det. pump.
18. Streaking wiper blades causing automatic wipers to operate erratically, Installed new wiper blades.
19. CEL/MIL light (5) on again, cleared codes and Installed leak det. pump.
20. Installed new stereo head unit
21. Smelled smoke coming from left front blinker socket. Bulb and socket scorched, arced and melted. Ordered new socket and replaced bulb.
22. Control panel for home link fell off and will not stay on. Ordered new visor.
23. Right front grill came of while driving and was run over. Ordered new grill.
24. Replaced left front blinker bulb socket.
25. Replaced visor
26. Replaced grill
27. Left rear brake caliper is rattling on sliders. Sliders loose, ordered new caliper bracket with sliders.
28. Cruise control is not working. CNDF
29. Perform 4-wheel alignment, Dealer service could not do alignment because shop lacks proper equipment. Taken to Sears for alignment. This one was on me due to the installation of the H&R sport springs and new wider wheels!

*CNDF Could Not Duplicate Fault

Check out these threads on the VW forums about my issues with this POS

The originator of the threads is me also known as drplastic (vwvortex) and passatW8owner (clubB5)

BBB case history against VW

Relief!

sick of this ****!

What now!!

VIN Warning

The end is near I can smell it!

$10k in depreciation....in only 6 months!! WTF!

:eek

VTLC

Thanks for the help and thoughts, I looked up the CA lemon law and will check out the BBB to see what steps to take next. I do have about 90% of all my paperwork and all I want is another 8 just like mine now. Nothing more Nothing less, it's not the car that I don't like, its the hassles and headaches.

CTP = check tire pressure.

Thanks much Sportscarfreak and Rotary Nut for your shared experience, and everyone who voiced a thought.

Detroit RX8

I just took advantage of the MI Lemon Law, it's how I got my 8!

Ford has something called the Dispute Resolution Board (It's an outside arbitrator hired by Ford whose decision is binding on Ford's behalf but not the customer, so if you dont like what they say, you can get a lawyer and persue further).

Now Mazda is a bit different but the first thing you want to do is talk to the dealership about your concerns and say that you want to know if Mazda offers something similiar to what I described above. If not, call Mazda customer service and expess the same concern (you are looking to get plenty of evidence you let Mazda know your dissatisfaction) and then go to either the BBB or the attorney general in your state.

I was one of the good stories, I had saved everything (for the paperwork you lost, go back to the dealership and ask for it, they have copies) and I was refunded all of my payments less $700 for mileage (they determine mileage based on the first appearance of problems, so for you 1k miles is all you will be charged).

If you need any help, feel free to PM me or email at DetroitRX8 at getzing dot com

Rotary Nut

For my first BBB arbitration hearing VWoA decided to forgo appearing and decided to send me a letter. This is where they shot themselves in the foot! They calculated that as of the 23rd of Apr 2003 the car had only been out of service 23 days and they were confident that the upcoming replacement of the Comfort Control Module (CCM) would rectify the ongoing MFA/Hood open indication issue (I had to endure that friggen warning icon since 2 Jan 2003). Well the CCM was replaced two months prior to the issuance of the letter (from VWoA) and did not fix the issue. It was subsequently fixed by replacing the Monsoon stereo Head unit.

As of that first meeting I had 11,300 miles on the clock. When I filed my second BBB arbitration hearing I had an excess of 15,000 miles. The car was then out of service 14+ days since VW has calculated the 23 days. 23+14=37. The car was then out of service about 3 more weeks as they had to pull the engine to replace the cam adjusting mechanisims on the L/H cylinder bank. For the next three weeks the car sat in the servive lot waiting for someone to work on the damn thing. No one in the service dept was certified to work on W8's. Well the day I went to retrieve all my mods and stuff from the car they were finally bringing it in to get worked on. I mean the car sat for 38 days in a row without being moved. The weeds and dirt were piling up around the wheels and on the day the car was going in they had to jump start it as the battery was dead!

When they issued the refund check it was based on the mileage recorded at the first BBB arbitration hearing (11,300 miles) not when the problems first started to surface.

BBB Arbitartion rules

By the time I had the last coil pack issue the car was already over the 30 days out of service/18 months time frame.

What I found interesting was that I was actually able to talk the american CEO of VWoA with ZERO red tape. I was initally shocked and speechless (that I got thru so fast) then I let loose on the hapless sot! I told him "what I have here is a $40,000 Yugo" Well the next day i got a call from VW's regonal representitive and then one week later I got a call from Jason Toscetti that they had approved the repurchase. I had the check one week later!

SpearRX8

I do not think MAzda has a program through a Dispute Resolution Board. At least in Florida, you need to go through the state attorney General who has a program for this sort of problems through arbitration. But I believe this changes by state