If you choose to ignore the reality of the situation then that is your prerogative. The point is that every auto manufacturer that has ever offered a warranty has placed a limitation on mileage AND TIME, and there is a reason they do it. In the opinion of most REASONABLE PEOPLE, 8 years is plenty of TIME for an engine warranty. There's not much else that can be said.

I can't count on one hand the number of my friend's and family's marriages that have failed before 8 years.

Mazda is always going to make their money no matter the part, that's just the way it is. That's another way of saying mazda parts are VERY overpriced. All BS aside, this same car built brand new with parts purchased individually from mazda at dealer retail would probably exceed $100k. This is why it costs so much to build/rebuild a rotary engine, mazda's part pricing. The builders usually make a few hundred bucks labor per engine, the rest is parts cost.

The parts store version parts are usually of lesser quality and are often rebuilt in other countries not known for quality. Also they may likely not know (or care) about mazda's upgrades and revisions to a part through it's history, so a reman starter is likely based off the original 11 tooth "slow" starter and is not one of the revised 13 or 14 tooth "fast" starters that you'd like to use.

An update ...

Battery checked at the local auto parts store shows it's still within specs for a two year old battery. Mazda dealer said I needed a new one.

Duralast starter motor was installed and I left a trickle charger on the battery for a day ... so for the time being, it starts like new. I'm planning to replace my plug wires just for the sake of matching up with the new plugs and coils recently added. We'll see how that changes things.

No word from Mazda NA, though the local dealership has called in response to my less than favorable service survey. The Customer Service Manager has promised to follow up with Mazda corporate, but I'm not holding my breath. The Service Manager asked that I not bring my cars back to the dealership for service. Lol.