Charging for taillight replacement? Wtf?
 

About a month ago my rear passenger qtr got smacked up in an accident. They had to replace the right tailight as a part of the repair.

The taillight that they put in is now full of water and has major condensation inside it.

Today I went to Mazda in my town to have them replace it, and the guy said that he would have to order a part and that they would check my light out. He said he might have to charge me to replace it.

Umm... why?

I told him there were service bulletins on the issue, and that Mazda should no longer be putting these faulty lights into RX8's. He said service bulletins are tech reports for Mazda techs and no customer should pay attention to them.

Anyone have to pay to get Mazda's crappy taillight replaced?

Service bulletins ARE FOR CUSTOMERS ! or put it this way, think of it as *Known problem to the car, and techs shouldnt spend any extra time to look for problem, just follow what it saids and thats it*

If you're under warranty, they have to do it for Free(mazda will pay them)

Or if you have time, follow my DIY , clean it yourself. no more condenstation

I'm still under warranty. So I'll make sure I pay nothing. But just out of curiosity could you link me to your DIY?

don't pay anything, just let them order it and install it. If they give you any hassle, just speak to the Service Manager.

Thanks for the reminder on this one. Just called my dealership to have them fix mine too!

Here is the DIY

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-do-yourself-forum-73/diy-remove-replace-rear-combination-light-tail-light-114910/

Also, that dealership sounds a bit sketchy. Make sure you search through the NE forum:

https://www.rx8club.com/ne-rx-8-forum-29/

And look for that dealer ship in good/bad dealerships. You can also try and find a dealership with positive reviews near you. Unfortunately there is more then one thread so you will have to take some time looking.

Hell even if you where out of warranty I would scream at them. They did an improper repair and now it is giving you problems.

And a final note, never take your car to a dealership for body work. They generally just out source it to the cheapest place they can find that will fix it in whatever way will generate the most profit for bodyshop and dealership.

looks like CT dealerships are 0 for 2 today:

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-wheels-tires-brakes-suspension-55/%24150-tpms-gasket-114930/

mine wasn't a warranty item but just shows how much customer service is lacking here. i hear that hamden's dealership is better but it didn't seem worth driving the extra half an hour to go to hamden for a small part. might be worth it for yours though.

I was at Modern Mazda in Thomaston today. They are really close to me so it's convenient. They just assume that everyone they service doesn't know anything about cars, and therefor they try to dick you over.

He told me my engine was idling rough because I need new sparks and new spark wires. He told me the wires we still covered under warranty but that plugs would cost me 170. I said I'll buy them on my own on the internet for a quarter of the price. He assured me I wouldnt find them cheaper. Asshat.

I appreciate the DIY but wont drying the light just be a temporary cure? It's not really fixing the issue. Won't water get in there again?

Thanks,

I know one of the guys on here had a hard time with Morande in Manchester, but I went to them with condensation in both tail lights and they replaced them for free with no questions. I'd give them a call

That's where I bought my 8, the only problem is, it's a freakin haaaaul from my house in Bristol.

If Thomaston gives me more shit, I'll head out there.

I had mine replaced twice for free.

Shouldn't you be complaining to the body shop? No water (I presume) before the accident, and now the stuff they repaired is leaking.

If the dealer wanted to blow you off, they should have told you that.

As far as the tech telling you that owners are not supposed to see TSBs, they've never really been secret documents. No more than shop manuals. The taillight TSB is the kind of thing that Ralph Nader and his cohorts made a big thing of some time ago. They coined the term "secret warranty". I suspect that if you google "secret warranty" and "nader" you'll come up with that background, and why there are consent decrees and other deals protecting owners from TSB secrecy.

Ken

Yep, I agree with Ken... this is a body shop issue.

If the body or tail light was not repaired correctly, the tail light will leak. Also common if the body shop removed the tail light and ripped the gasket or put the gasket back on improperly.

And only a few RX-8's actually needed the tail light replaced. The majority of the time it was from an early issue with the trunk lid.

And the dealer does not have to warranty and issue caused by an accident. The shop repairing the car would be responsible. The warranty only covers manufacturing defects or wear items during the warranty period. Not defects caused by an accident.

and here is the TSB:
http://www.finishlineperformance.com...14-07-1795.pdf

and this is for the tail light replacement:http://www.finishlineperformance.com...21-04-1356.pdf
Does your car have solvent cracks??? If not then you should not be getting a tail light replacement

This Mazda dealership has an inhouse body shop.

Meaning all complaints are filtered through the front service desk. I can't talk to anyone in the body shop unless the service desk gets the appointment rolling.

The body shop isnt' some seperate entity.

80, ship to your door, sparkplugs.com or find it on Amazon.

Whoever told u those "wouldnt find them cheaper* bs, tell him that you think the earth is flat.

You can say its a temporary cure.

but no one really know if the TSB will actually fix the issue.

I will get Mazda to replace mine for newer version eventually, but this is a quick fix.

5 minutes tops to take your light out. 15K miles no problems.

btw: Out of curiosity I just went out and checked under the hood to see my new spark plug wires, and found that I don't think they replaced them at all.

They are dirty and old looking.

Here's what the Job List section of my invoice looked like in regards to the spark plug , and spark plug wires causing rough idle.

"Customer states check for rough idle.
Performed diagnosis. Found that spark plug wires are arching.
Also needs spark plugs.
Replaced wires. Customer declined spark plug replacement. Vehicle may still idle rough or cause the CEL to come on. If CEL comes on due to spark plugs it will not be covered under warranty."


So they screwed me, or so it seems. It's also really lame because it falls under warranty work, which I don't get charged for. But Mazda USA does. So it looks like Thomaston Mazda just got themselves a free set of wires. Meh.

Is "this" Mazda dealer the one in your town? Or is it the one that did the body work? Or are they the same?

Either way, go to the place that did the body work. If they have one check in point for everything, that's their problem. Just go there and complain about what the body shop screwed up.

They do guarantee their work, don't they?

Ken

They are the same and they do guarantee their work.

The whole event yesterday just seemed shady. Especially the spark plug wire bit. If I get any more hassle from them today I'm going to have to add "Modern Motors Inc, Mazda" to the bad experiences (NEGATIVE) thread.

You'd figure they'd treat loyal customers a little better. This is my 3rd Mazda.

That's why we call them stealer-ships.

I was just at Partyka (Hamden Mazda dealer) this morning to deal with this and they did not list a charge. That is, they had to order the tail light but gave me a bill anyway with a $0 charge. So I'm assuming when it comes in I'm done. Free.

I know its a pain but go elsewhere if you can. That place sounds no good.

They called me back today to tell me that my taillight has arrived. I told them they could put it on the shelf right next to my spark plug wires, and that I'd be taking my business somewhere else.

Ok, I was following the tailigh DIY and I have the light out, but I can't seem to open it to clean out the inside of the light. Is it even possible? Or is the whole thing glued or molded together?

It is fused together...you can't reliably open them. It is possible to heat them and seperate the seams...but it is hit and miss. If it can't be cleaned from the bulb holes.....and it bothers you...get new ones