So most of you know from helping me recently, I've put new plugs, coils, wires, and starter in my car. Cold start, a hard crank and it starts strong. Warm start: its not a pretty picture.

Theres only so long I can wait to get a compression test but here is my question.

One of the reps from a mazda dealer I spoke with told me I still have 2 more years on my warranty. However, he said that you need sufficient proof of regular maintenance such as oil changes.

I bought this car used, so I do not have control over the owner. However, there is no regular records of oil changes. It might have been done by a seperate dealer, or done by the owner. However it does note other repairs such as 2 engine rebuilds, clutch, cat, etc.

Am I going to be on my own for an engine rebuild if I need it? Or is there something I should be searching for, doing, etc. to justify that I at least treated the car respectfully.

 

If it was a dealer maintained car then they might have records of all the oil changes. You say it has had the engine replaced twice already, so the dealer has at least some maintenance proof.

Are you able to contact the person you bought this from and request the oil change records, or was it at a dealer?

 

It will likely be a struggle with them, but yes, you are still eligible. If the cost of an engine replacement ($3,000 to $6,000, depending on how much you do yourself) isn't worth the struggle, then yeah, go ahead and meekly submit

Worst case? They still say no and you are still at the same point.

 

that is worth the struggle 10x over and then some for me...

 

I bought my eight and took it in for an oil change and they said I needed a new engine. I had no records since I had just bought the car off a dealership and they replaced my engine no questions asked.

Not to say there was anything obviously wrong with the engine but hey I'm no mechanic.

 

^ it's stories like those that make us think that many engine replacements are not actually necessary.

Unless they had you waiting for 2-4 hours (or more) to do the entire list of checks they are required to do before declaring an engine replacement, they likely made the decision based on some other factor, like dealership profit. Since dealeships make a large chunk of money off of engine replacements, slow or poor sales can be offset by warranty claims. And after all, who is going to question an RX-8 needing an engine replacement?


I mean, it's good for you, but an actual failure is better than a falsified claim to me. One supports a reputation, the other sends it further down the drain unjustly.

 

Yeah that's a good point.

That was just the condensed version. They did find something funky with the oil once they drained it. That's when they told me they were going to check out a few other things. A little under four hours later was when they came back to tell me what was going on.

I did have a feeling that maybe nothing was actually wrong with my engine but I don't have the knowledge nor experience to questions such things. In the end a new engine is a new engine and it's good to have a new used car with a new engine.

When I picked up my car I was able to glance at the paperwork briefly before it was snatched up by the service advisor and I saw $2700 dollars that the warranty was going to pay. I found that oddly low. I use to work at a few automotive dealerships and I know warranty always pay less than the actually work cost. In the end it still seemed too low.