Diagnostic Fee on P0420
 

So my car ('09 Sport w/ ~36.2k mi) recently threw a CEL. Went to Advance and they told me it was the infamous P0420 code, so I need a new CAT. No big deal since it's under federal warranty.

Except that my local dealership wants to charge me $110 for a diagnostic to redetermine the exact same thing I already know. Are they allowed to do that? I was under the impression that they were required by law to fix anything emissions related under that federal warranty?

They said it would only be free if it was a powertrain related CEL, since that's their manufacturer's warranty and it would cover the diagnostic.

Just need to know if other people have been charged for getting their CAT replaced within that 8 years or 80k miles.

Thanks

They say that up front in case it's not actually covered under warranty. They have no idea what they are going to see when you bring the car in, so they hedge their bets.

If it is covered under warranty, the $110 fee will be waved.

At least, that's how it's always been for me. When I had my tranny replaced under warranty, Wilkins Mazda quoted me $550 just to crack it open and diagnose it. Since it was covered under power train, the $550 was waved.

I know it would be waived for powertrain issues, but they said since the emissions system (including the CAT) is under a federal warranty, not manufacturer's, they would charge me the diagnostic fee if they had to replace the CAT.

I thought the federal emissions warranty covered everything.

They're full of shit. The emissions warranty IS a manufacturers warranty mandated by the fed gov. Call MNAO. That dealer is trying to hose you. I JUST went through this with my sons 09 R3.

Yah, if the Federal emissions warranty is a Federally mandated factory warranty. Either they're trying to hose you or there was a miscommunication somewhere.

http://www.epa.gov/oms/consumer/warr95fs.txt

Can Any Portion of An Emissions Warranty Repair Be Charged to Me?

If you have valid warranty claim, you cannot be charged for any
costs associated with the diagnosis or repair of the problem,
including labor charges, parts, or miscellaneous items that are
necessary to complete the repair. For example, if a manufacturer
agrees to replace a catalytic converter under the emissions warranty,
you should not be charged for the diagnosis of the bad converter, or
any pipes, brackets, adjustments, or labor needed to complete the
replacement.

Thanks mate! I printed the whole text of it out, highlighted that bit and damn near smacked the whole service department int he face with it. They tried to tell me they misunderstood me, but I told them I know they didn't. Then they told me that they were just worried because most of the time customers read the wrong codes. Again, I told them no. That's just not possible. Not so often that it would be such an issue.

So they did it and, of course, it's the CAT. Now Mazda has to apparently approve the work? How long does it usually take for them to approve the request, because I've been waiting for a call now for almost a week.

- Arek

It sounds like you went in there with attitude. Justifiable of course, because they tried to hose you and you came back with facts. However If they got pissed about it they could be just pushing you aside out of spite.

shouldn't take more than a day or two for MNAO to weigh in... pretty sure it's all electronic