Need help. don't want to get ripped off
 

Hey everyone. I need help. I drive a 2005 rx8 auto. 2 weeks ago I was driving down the interstate and my car just shut off while driving. The engine, oil, and battery light all came on. I got the car towed to the mazda dealer and a few days later they coddled and said that if I had then change the spark plugs and wires and have them deflood the engine that my rx8 would be perfect again. So I dropped 1000 dollars and had then do everything they suggested. Well, I drove it for about a week and it happened again. The car just shut off. So I had it towed to the same dealer and now they say that I need to replace the engine. I am aware of the extended warranty, but I didn't know I was supposed to keep documentation if all of the maintenance. But I feel that it is the dealers fault for not correctly diagnosing the problem the first time and now the issue got worse. What should I do now!? Thanks

Try taking it to another Mazda dealer first.

The one I go to in Central Florida was really nice about replacing my engine in my 04. I purchased it in November of 2010 and had to have the engine replaced in June of 2011 and they did not ask for any records. Before they even called me to let me know of the issue, he said he had already put in the request and it had been approved and the engine was getting shipped out.

You paid $1000 and now you need a new engine...? That's sucks. Anyway, try calling the Mazda USA headquarters and complain about this issue your having, good luck.

You will more than likely need documentation of your oil changes, some people do not get asked for it but most do. That documentation could simply be that list you keep in your garage of the mileage and dates you changed your oil. You know the one, right? ;)

Most of the time before they will call an engine dead they have you replace coils plugs and maybe wires and run some zoom-zoom cleaner through it. Now if they charged you $1000 for just spark plugs and wire, then that is taking advantage of you IMO. Are you sure coils were not involved in that as well? Still way way to expensive but plugs and wires cost about $100 flat for the parts, so you got charged $900 labor(not sure what deflooding costs).

Check your battery connection.

Wow, 1,000 $$$ is a LOT of money for plugs and wires - including labor. Good grief, they should have charged no more than an hour's labor for that.

Not sure how many hours they would charge for de-flooding, but damn, that was a steep bill.

Can you look at the invoice and tell us what it is they did exactly?

I got charged about, $800 for coils, wire and plugs from the dealer. I then needed a new CAT which I got under warrantee. It's very expensive, now I do all the work myself.
I keep the lids off oil filer boxes and write the milage and date down. It might be time to invest in half a dozen oil filters and some dirty hands.

But at least that price included the coils.

Doing that work is relatively easy, which I've always done myself in my other cars.

But with so many horror stories about warranty issues, I've decided to dump some money at my local dealer just to develop a "relationship" with them

OP: if they replace your engine, it is recommended you replace the coils, plugs and wires anyway. So at least you got most of that out of the way already.

hey guys, thanks for all the help. I am turning in my maintenance paperwork tomorrow to the dealer. wish me luck with MazdaUSA helping me get a new engine. I will let u all know what the outcome is. lesson from all of this. keep all of your paperwork ie. receipts, maintenance records and anything you do with your car logged! btw, that price did include coils.

were we supposed to get the extended engine warranty notice letter or do people just record their maintenance (receipts) after factory warranty expires just in case. clutch pedal, engine warranty... i'm getting all these info from this forum not from mazda nor dealer. i went more than a year before knowing that i need to keep all my receipts.