Condensation in tail lights
 

To say the least my visit to Mazda today was amusing.

I took it in for a routine check-up /oil change. With the goal to investigate mazda's policy on tail light condensation.

I have a 2006 with 30,XXX KM so I figured the tail light condensation would be fully covered under warrantee. By the way it looks terrible.. and it bugs me everyday I drive with it.:banghead:

I was told that since my car is a US spec car and not Canadian manufactured my warrantee cannot be recognized on this matter. I decided to avoid a possible conflict of interests and gather my facts before pursuing this matter. I know Mazda fully garinteed all warrantees were transferable and it helped at the time make my decision to by the Rx-8.

Does anyone from either Canada or the US have experience with getting mazda to cover tail light condensation?

Or ideally any Canadians have american cars with the same problem?

Thanks, RX8CLUB

do you have bumper to bumper coverage still? there's a tsb for it if you do.

Ive gotten both mine replaced by the dealer, no questions asked. I am the 2nd owner so the warranty does transfer.

The dealership I went to was pretty good about it, but I know some dealerships can be tougher to deal with than others. My car has only been in the US though, so not quite the same situation I guess.

Good luck, hopefully they fix them for you

i have the extended warranty since my b2b is up and they wouldnt do it.. oh well. mine only shows up sometimes on one side.

Ya great news,

I love how some dealerships can shut me down and tell me nope, American car in Canada.. can't do a thing. and Than I go to another mazda dealership and get a completely different response.

I will vouche for OAKVILLE MAZDA for ever. Best dealership I have seen yet, out of any car company, they treat everyone with respect, they are extremely friendly. One lady remembered when I came in during the summer months and asked a brief TPMS question, I honestly want to upgrade to an R3 just because there sales team is so wicked. It makes me want to buy mazda forever. They have always came through, and like the lady said at Oakville, "its a phone call away, why not check for a customer if the warrantee is valid/transferable".

^Good result...

Car companies (especially dealers) can be confused about warranty work on foreign-sourced cars.

In the Canadian warranty book it basically says that the warranty is only valid for cars that are "Registered and Normally operated in Canada". I'd bet the US warranty book has a similar paragraph.

As far as Mazda, Mazda North American Operations (the US importer) is a separate company from Mazda Canada. I think this could cause some problems - the dealership thinking that they won't be paid for their work.


From a website:
From a different website:
As you can see from these two sources (I've found more...), there is a lot of confusion out there....

For a definitive answer, you should contact Mazda Canada in writing. Keep their response with you when you go to a dealer.


*http://www.canadaone.com/ezine/sept07/import.html
** http://www.apa.ca/template.asp?DocID=253#MAZDA

Oh, and for condensation, they are no longer replacing the tail light assemblies, they are just putting in new gaskets as per TSB.

When I tried to get mine done, they told me to beat it

They replaced mine for free......but then again i spent almost 8k on an engine just minutes before ...........they threw me a bone I guess.

Depending on the condensation, sometimes it may be better to just leave it alone. You never know if those wrench monkeys will end up making it worse. Mine has a bit. Not enough to bug me and certainly not enough for me to risk some fella who fixes mazda3 and 6 all day to touch my car.... especially after what they did with the sunroof rattle warranty. Still there but now with added grease marks! :banghead:

Spence read this one>> https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discussion-3/my-tail-lights-169057/


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If still under warranty then take it to a mazda dealer.
They will fix it by either replacing the gasket or the tail light. Most likely they will replace the gasket, less expensive.
They will remove the tail light, dry it out ( that will take some time), replace the gasket and the re install the tail light.

Go to http://www.finishlineperformance.com....php?pageid=11

http://www.finishlineperformance.com...05-09-2055.pdf
and print the second link ie pdf out the water in the tail light TSB.
Take it to the dealer so the dealer will know what you are talking about.

NOTE:
This bulletin supersedes the previous bulletin 09-014/07, issued 4/13/2007. The DESCRPITION, REPAIR
PROCEDURE, PART(S) INFORMATION and WARRANTY INFORMATION sections have been revised.
• Changes are noted below in Red beside the change bar.



Do not drill holes.

No need to search since you sound like a LMF BrotherHood member.( MemberShip currently closed to new members! ) Largest BrotherHood Club in the World!

is this for realz ?

A question to those whose car is out of warranty and experience the same issue:

I'm in the same boat (only the driver's side tail light has the condensation problem at this time), and went to the dealer to see what can be done. My car is out of warranty, but I asked my dealer anyway, since it can't hurt to see if they'd "goodwill" it. Not surprisingly, they said no. I can certainly understand that.

Now, when I went to the parts department to ask about the gaskets, I almost got a heart attack... the gasket alone costs $81.91 per side. On top of that, the extra pad that is mentioned in the TSB is $53.49 a piece! So, if I'd want to get the gaskets+pads and do it myself, that'd cost $270 for four pieces of rubber, which is outrageous and an example of highway robbery.

I was already able to locate the gasket for the driver's side (for almost nothing), so I should be OK for now, even though I don't have that extra pad. I'm wondering: how important is that? If I replace just the gasket, will it be OK?

Rosenthal has the gasket with the pad for $51 per side (plus shipping), and I saw the gasket (probably with no pad) for some $35 on a site... still better than paying the dealer's price.

If the pad is important, I think we should somehow trace the outline and make these things if at all possible, lol.

I know a couple locals that have been able to get parts from one of the local dealers at the same price we can get it from Rosenthal. They simply printed the order page and took it in to the parts department and they took care of it. You might want to try that Tamas.

Spence...glad everything worked out for you in the end. I wonder if you ran into a dealer policy or a Mazda North America / Canada policy. Would be interesting to find out.