Bad Day At Dealership/ Voided Warranty For Aftermarket Parts I Don't Have

[genjuromikos]

Alright so here's how everything went down. My check engine light has been coming on and off for 2 weeks or so, i bought one of those scanners and hooked it up to the obd to see what dtc code is triggering it. The code that shows up is P0610. I do a little researching on the forum to see if anybody else had the problem or what this code means and i come across somebody, who actually is from MA to, who had the same issue about 2 years ago and brought it to the Wellseley dealership and had it fixed and the people were real nice about it. I've only had the car a year now and i usually bring it to the IRA mazda in peabody, ma for services. Only thing i usually bring it in for are the recalls. Never had a problem with them until now. I had a feeling something was gonna go wrong because of what happened with my room mate just recently with her 04' audi a4. Her check engine light came on so she brought it to IRA to, because they have an audi, porche, mazda, subaru all in the same place. They told her it was gonna be 80 dollars to have it check, get a call later saying found more problems going to be 300 dollars for repairs, get another call saying they found more problems. It ended up costing her $3000. I'm like wtf , i asked her what was wrong with it she said she doesn't really know they just said that she can't drive it because the wheels might come off or something like that and she had to come up with the money up front, which sucks because who the hell has that kinda money so i had to lend her about half of it. She finally get it's back and now her head lights not working. Brings it back to the dealer they tell her it's going to be $1600 to fix that part. She ended up not fixing it. Kinda f*cked up since they probably did something to it, because it wasn't messed up when she dropped it off. Anyways after that it made me kinda skeptical to bring it to them for my CEL. I brought it anyways because it's the closest one and here's where it all goes down. I told them that my CEL had come on and told them that i had scan it for the codes i told the lady it code P0610. She sends one of the techs to scan it and he came back on a sheet of paper with that code on it. I told them i researched online a little bit and the guy that i talked about early who had the same problem had his fixed and the only solution is to change the whole PCM. The lady said, "No, I don't think we'll have to do that that means changing the whole computer." So she sends the tech guy to call the mazda tech line and he comes back with a solution. He said the mazda tech line told him the only solution is to change the PCM. I knew i was right. She then continues to tell me that, unfortunetly your warranty is voided and they won't replace the PCM under warranty. I was like why not, they tell me there are to many aftermarket parts on it. I told them there are no after market parts on it, which there isn't any, i bought the car stock and only had the mazdaspeed intake installed. So i asked her to tell me what after market parts they were talking about and she couldn't tell me. She just kept saying that there are aftermarket parts on it. I asked her again to tell me or show me what they are so she grabbed another guy who works in the service dept. not a tech, who looked like he has no idea about cars at all, some really fat dude. He comes over and tells me the same story they can't fix it because I voided the warranty with all the aftermarket parts. At this point I'm really getting pissed off. I told him to tell me what these "aftermarket parts" were and he wouldn't tell me what they were. I then asked them how much it's gonna cost for a new PCM it took them about 30 minutes to tell me how much it was gonna be. They said $1200 dollars that without installation. This is another lady who told me this i'm already going through 4 different people at this time, This lady , the other lady, that fat dude , and the service tech. I'm like what is going on here, they keep moving me from one person to the other. So I asked this lady, so can you tell me what after market parts i have on this because there are none. She didn't have an answer and grab the fat dude again and this time he yelled at me. He's said," Look i already told you before we can't do anything because of your aftermarket parts." I couldn't believe he was yelling at me. Then they both started playing the guilt trip and said ," Look we can charge you for looking at your car but were not gonna" and said that about 3 times. They never even did anything to it. They were just trying to change the subject. Man i just wanted to get the hell out of there and i did.They couldn't even take me to my car and show me what parts they're talking about. So i drive all the way to wellseley mazda and told them my situation. i told them a customer had the same issue and he came here to fix it. if you search P0610 you'll find the thread. I told him the other place said they voided my warranty because i have to many aftermarket parts. He wanted to see my car and inspect it so i brought him outside to see it. Opens the hood check everything he said you don't have any aftermarket parts. I said that what i told the other people, now i have an appointment to have it check again 2 weeks from now. Hopefully all goes well with this place. People gave it good reviews so i hope they take care of me. That just messed up though how the other place told me i have aftermarket parts on it and this place is telling me i don't, which i really don't. Anybody reading this know what the hell is going on or what i can do or hope for. Or if my warranty can be voided. I have no clue what the hell the other place was trying to pull. Should've have known something was up when my roommate brought her car in. edit this: forgot to put this into. that fat dude after not being able to tell me what aftermarket parts were put in he said well maybe the previous owner had after market parts. I bought this car a year ago at lincoln merury dealership with 19k miles. They even sold me an extended warranty and told me it even had the factory warranty still on it. I have even brought it to IRA a couple of times for recall issue and my warranty was still there. The previous owner was a doctor from vermont who traded this car and a lexus in for a merury hybrid. I highly doubt he would've put parts in it the car was barely driven and you know everybody from vermont eco-friendly. It was all stock when i bought it and the CEL is just coming on now don't you think the light would've been on when i bought the car if there were parts on if previous to this. Sorry this was long but thanks for reading PLEASE HELP

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[Easy_E1]

I'd be calling the State Attorney General on this group of crooks! Have them do a sting operation on them. Or perhaps the local news channel. The consumer help group. I would have a friend take your car in and say it had a CEL and take an undercover camera with them. Film these scam artists and nail them to the wall. I would get ahold of the Attorney General though. Tell them everything that happened to you and your friend.

[NgoRX8]

wow that is freakin shady. i woulda gone postal on them if i was in that situation... and i'm not one to raise my voice either...

that second place seems to have you covered.

[Rootski]

Never go back to IRA, and report them to the better business bureau or something. It's ludicrous that they refused service for parts you don't have, and under the Magnusson-Moss warranty act even if you DID have aftermarket parts they still couldn't refuse you service unless they could prove those parts caused the problem.

[LabDad]

When ever sh*t like this starts to go down I pull out a piece of paper and start taking notes. Ask them for their names and titles and document as much as possible. Folks start to get a little nervous when they know you're documenting things. It will also help when you report them (as suggested above).

[Noobzilla]

Dam that sucks, hope the other dealer has mechanics there and not all customer service reps.
To all those in the Atlanta area i would highly recommend Jim Ellis Mazda in Marrietta those guys are great. They will fix anything under warranty , they don't treat you like you bought a dodge neon.
I have the same problem you are facing with my Jetta tho, basterds @ Heritage VW in Lithia Springs are down right awfull my 2006 Jetta cant get fixed because they jerck me around and wont even give me a rental or a loaner while they repair my car .
VW dealers are by far the worst ever......................................

[swoope]

you need to help yourself..

knowledge is power.. the first thing i would do is make a call to mazda usa.. the # is in your owners manual...

beers

[chickenwafer]

Call a local news station and report them.

Call Mazda USA and tell them about them.

They can't deny your warranty due to aftermarket parts unless they can prove the part directly caused the problem.

Why would you take your car to a dealership that screwed over your roommate to the tune of $4600 bucks?? That's the worst part- you went to a KNOWN bad stealership.

[MrSuicideDoor]

i've actually only been semi-satisfied with wellesley mazda, they tried charging me for a knob i knew had a TSB, they f'd around with me when my power steering went.... and then when it went again...

the best way to light a fire under a dealership's ass is to call mazda north america. they could care less about the dealership, they want your business and they'll do anything to keep you happy.

e.g. i was told that wellesley mazda was a mechanic down and they couldn't see me for a at least a week (they've said that every time i try to schedule an appointment. so, having no power steering i find this unacceptable. i call MNAO and tell them that i'm fine with waiting a week so long as they're fine with the lawsuit they'll be facing if i even scratch the paint as a result of having no power steering. the one week wait turned into same-day service. it's really the only way to get things done, good luck

[kimberly lynn]

Wow man, I'm sorry to hear that... I would have gotten Medieval on their asses.

I never understand why dealerships jerk people around. They need your business, it's not like you can't go somewhere else... Idk. Stupid people.

[Charles R. Hill]

MSD, I wouldn't go so far as to say that MNAO wants your business and "will do anything to keep you happy". These days, as it relates to the RX-8, Mazda is willing to only do enough to keep the customers from bitching and, even then, that is pushing it a little. Just look at the shenanigans regarding these junk engines they call "rebuilt".

[RPIRX-8]

This one is from a fellow MA 8 owner who has bought 2 cars from Ira.

For buying cars, Ira is pretty good. For service, they suck large round things between the legs. They have tried to void my warranty multiple tims early on when i had my 8. This prompted me to switch to 128 (now Liberty) Mazda for service. Stop going to Ira, and call MNAO on their butts. I had to do it twice back in 2004. I had a CEL that would not go away, the 4th time i brought it in, they tried to charge me to read the code, got into a big fight with Bruce (larger guy with deep scratchy voice), and had to leave and call MNAO.

Try Wellesley or Liberty and you will be satisfied.

[puch96]

Dealerships are complicated sometimes....

I complained to Mazda North America once about my dealership. When I took my car for the emissions recall, they were supposed to wash my car and fill her up with gas...(as was instructed by Mazda). When the dealership failed to do this, I called them and they said that they don't do this. Only on new car purchases... Then, I informed Mazda North America of my experience there and Mazda sent me a Rx8 keychain in the mail. The next day, the service manager from the dealership calls me and apologizes and asks me when I would like to bring the car in for a wash and fill up..... funny thing.. don't you think?
I know this issue was not as significant as other issues people have with dealerships, but Mazda North America sometimes have more power than you think....

[DeViLbOi]

Yea...I would def. go through Mazda and complain about their warranty service at that dealership. There is no reason to get the news involved yet I don't think. Maybe a nice letter to the editor of the local big newspaper praising the new dealership against the old wouldn't be bad though.

[angeljoelv]

Well as you might know there are rumors or statements that says Mazda is not taking our feedback on the dealerships anymore I\( 8 owners) becouse of the many low feedbacs received. So this might be one of the reasons they dont give a shit. plus none of them know nothing about rotaries I'm sure I'll bring my 8 to this place and they probably dont know my engine its not the one the car brought. I can Imagine some of the ladies saying hey Angel you have to many aftermarket parts, Ide be like daahhhhhhh cant you reed it says 3 rotor in top of it. Anyways good luck in your apointment

[altspace]

Originally Posted by chickenwafer

Why would you take your car to a dealership that screwed over your roommate to the tune of $4600 bucks?? That's the worst part- you went to a KNOWN bad stealership.

Yea...uh most dealers suck. Also, you can get free code checks at AutoZone.

[my10ae]

That sucks about the shady deal that dealer tried pulling on you. I would have asked for the Service Manager and not dealt with those shitfucks. If the Service Manager wasn't available, I would have asked to speak to the owner. If he/she wasn't available i would have looked up their number and called them at home and tell them what sleazy people for for their dealership. Shit like that has to stop at dealerships. No wonder dealership are called stelaships, they are not helping the stereotype.

Call the Service Manager then the Owner of the Mazda dealer and then MNAO. I'm sure things will be resolved as you go up the chain of command...

[Clavius]

Aww man... I was hoping to roll in with you wearing all black and leather gloves then reading off some random palm from the bible then finish with saying "..going medievil on there asses...."... hehe..

Report Ira my friend ASAP. They thought you where some stupid ass kid who would just fold right away and not second guess the whole warrent void b.s. Ever happens again just say "Listen.. I have a internet board with over one thousand members who eat, sleep, and breath this car. If I dont know if they will.". I said something like that once but they still dont listen 100% of the time.

p.s. What ya doing Friday Night man?!? lol I wanna get drunk!

[genjuromikos]

Yeah we'll just wait and see what the wellesley dealership is gonna do.

Friday Night huh sounds tempting. not doing anything as of now i'll let you know

[TeamRX8]

always start with the Sertvice Manager, then General Manager, then MNAO

[genjuromikos]

I don't think any of them were there at the time. That fat dude looks like he was higher up on the scale(literally) because his office was somewhere else, but i had enough of his fat ass because of the way he was talking to me. There's usually another guy there who i think is the manager, but he wasn't there.

[Clavius]

This story kind of reminds me of another one on here awhile ago.
Guy went in for some form of problem then the entire service dept including techs all said he had a aftermarket air intake. Mind you the board member was telling all of them "No the intake is MAZDASPEED!!!" while pointing at pictures in the catalogue. Was priceless and very very saddening.

So mental note.. stay the frag away from IRA Mazda in MA.

And yeah Friday my friend.. thinking some booze some dancing and our women of course hehe. I have work at 8am the next day but I need some fun damnit!

[nathan g]

Originally Posted by genjuromikos

edit this: forgot to put this into. that fat dude after not being able to tell me what aftermarket parts were put in he said well maybe the previous owner had after market parts. I bought this car a year ago at lincoln merury dealership with 19k miles. They even sold me an extended warranty and told me it even had the factory warranty still on it. I have even brought it to IRA a couple of times for recall issue and my warranty was still there. The previous owner was a doctor from vermont who traded this car and a lexus in for a merury hybrid. I highly doubt he would've put parts in it the car was barely driven and you know everybody from vermont eco-friendly. It was all stock when i bought it and the CEL is just coming on now don't you think the light would've been on when i bought the car if there were parts on if previous to this.

Sorry this was long but thanks for reading
PLEASE HELP

Hey genjuro, I feel your pain. I'm from the mazda3forums and I found this thread through google.

The fat guy is bruce and the lady is debbie without a doubt. Bruce is a con-artist. This is the same guy that said my 3rd gear was popping out because I had +1 tires on my 3. I had to deal with Debbie most of the time I had transmission issues. It took over a year and 8 visits to get my transmission finally replaced at IRA.

I'm going there tonight to figure my hesitation issue while driving.

I heard a lot about Wellesly. Good luck, I heard they're good folks. They're just too far from me.

This is probably my first and last post on here, so e-mail me at nathanmichael@gmail.com if you need help.

[rotarygod]

I hate dealerships like that. Unfortunately there are more dishonest ones than good ones. If you find a good one, stay with them and never go anywhere else. My girlfriend's Camry had an issue a couple of weeks ago and the dealership was giving her all kinds of lines about how it wasn't a warranty part and how she absolutely had to have proof of oil changes and maintenance at an approved location in order to have warranty work done anyways as she didn't have regular service done at the dealership. They then tried the whole "you need this $300 service" etc etc. Basically they tried to get $600 out of her when the problem was a defective lockout switch on the automatic shifter. I got mad and called Toyota North America while the service people waited and they in turn got an immediate call from Toyota NA instructing them to take care of it under warranty. The dealership wasn't happy with us and fixed it quickly but they now know that there are people that will immediately call them on their claims. Toyota NA also sent me a questionaire on my experience with that dealership. You can imagine how good of a score they got for their bs.

Don't put up with dishonest business practices. Call them on it everytime and be harsh about it. Then take your car somewhere else. I was once arrogant enough to tell a Mazda dealership that I knew more about the rotary engine than their most experience tech did (I do!) and challenged them to bring him up for me to prove it. They didn't. If you know what you're talking about and can make a case and know who to call, most of time they won't get away with crap like that. If more people would do that, they wouldn't try it as much.

[SHOWOFF]

How exactly would a Mazdaspeed intake cause the PCM to fail? And secondly your PCM is covered by 8yr 80,000 mi emissions warranty.