As some of you may know from my other posts or conversations in IRC, I'm in the market for an RX8 (actually, I know I'm going to buy an RX8 I just need to find the right one).

I called Mazda's customer service with a VIN from one of the cars I'm considering and the representative told me that the vehicle was "Branded" and that it didn't have any warranties currently on it. The car is an '04 with 31k miles on it, so I thought he should a bit of warranty left.

He didn't say "branded" in the most positive of sounding tone of voice, so I'm assuming that the warranty was voided for some reason. Am I correct in this assumption? Are there other reasons that a car would not have any warranties?

 

I think most if not all 04 warranties are already over. Its almost like 5-6 years already. Even 05s warranty are running out (I have 3 months left)

Powertrain warranty might "Still" be there. Engine Warranty 100K miles or 8 yrs.

Why didnt u ask what does "branded" means ?

There is a chance that warranty on the car has been voided. You should go into a dealership, give them the VIN and ask them.

 

I would say that someone did something to the car that Mazda didn't like. And, they voided any remaining warranties on the car. As NYCGPS says, for an 04 RX8, they would be the 5/60 Powertrain Warrenty and the 8/100 Engine Core Warrenty.

 

I did, and the rep just said that "it wasn't covered by warranties anymore" and not much else when I tried to get more info.

 

I've seen a couple of posts where "branded" was mentioned. It was as Al said - somebody did something that Mazda did not like. I forget what those posts said. Might have been something like having a salvage title, or maybe it was a demo that went beyond some demo time limit. You might try searching the forum for "branded", but no matter how that turns out think really hard about whether you want to buy that particular car.

Carfax report on that car could be entertaining.

Ken

 

Thanks for the information everyone, I was very tempted to buy the car since it was really priced low. But instead, I went ahead and bought a different car that didn't make me as nervous. I may post about it later when I've had a chance to take some photos or something.

Thanks again

 

"What do you do when you're branded, but you know you're a man. Wherever you go for the rest of your life you must prove, you're a man." Sorry, couldn't resist.

As already cited, there must have been a mod to the car at one time that casued Mazda to "disavow' all warranties on it.

 

LOL, Chuck Connors!

Congrats on your new car, Neckhole!

 

Most likely they won't tell you the specific reason - everyone is afraid of saying something and getting sued.

Four reasons a car could be 'branded' on the Mazda warranty computer: Grey market import / ex-race car title; engine mods noted by dealer (ie, Turbo); odometer tampering; rebuilt salvage.

 

You should have a a 8 Year/100k mile engine warranty, a 5 Year/60k mile powertrain warranty, and the remainder or your (now probably expired) 3 Year/36k mile bumper-to-bumper warranty.

I know you know this, but your post confused me as written.

All 8s got a bump up in the powertrain warranty from 4 Year/50,000 miles to 5 Year/60,000 miles.

This was announced in tandem with the 8 Year/100k mile Renesis warranty rollout.

The only thing I may be mistaken about is underestimating the bumper-to-bumper warranty; has Mazda bumped that up to 4 Years/50k miles for existing owners?