Warranty Declined for Semi-Synthetic Oil
 

Hi Everyone,

I'm dealing with something that I never thought I would have to. My engine died without warning (no light, sounds, loss of power). Upon taking it to the dealer they replaced ozygen sensor, cat converter, along with 4 other trouble coded (a total of 6 in all). They then called and said they found a loss of compression in the engine and contacted Mazda for the warranty approval. He assured me that it shouldn't be an issue. Today (3 business days later), the dealership called and said that my warranty had been voided because I used semi-synthetic oil 1 time since owning the car. The dealership said the Apex seal was damaged and he said there's no way Mazda can honestly say that synetic oil causes this. He said they should foot the bill but they're not stepping up to the plate. My question is this; We all know many Mazda owners have had issues with the engine. What is my best course of action in getting some satisfaction? Funny thing is- I'm the Mazda is Great guy! I really don't want to become the guy putting signs everywhere I go about my experience and telling everyone to steer clear of Mazda. Help!

hmm thats why I dont use anything but Dino. But how did they know you used semi stuff?

Any 5w20 is a semi synthetic. So them saying that is like saying that having oil in the engine caused it to die. That's absolutely ridiculous, especially considering that's what Mazda (foolishly) recommends from the factory. They have to be able to prove that the oil caused the engine to die, according to the Magnusson-Moss warranty act thing. It pretty much makes Mazda prove that whatever it was killed the engine.

Bring that in with you when you go in next time, and I bet they'll play nice.

They asked me to supply my receipts proving that I did in fact change the oil. They said everything was fine except my most recent oil change receipt showed Semi-Synthetic. They said that the owners manual that came with the car specifies that you can't use Synthetic.
I thought they wanted to increase their customer base??? HMMMM

What year do you have? Some earlier years like my '06 for example does not state you cannot use syn, only that it recommends 5-20w, that's it. If yours states you shouldn't use syn then you may be out of luck.

It's BS. Tell them that whatever oil you have used met or exceeded the specs in the manual. They can't force you to use one brand of oil or a specific kind. Ask them to put your denial in writing to show to your lawyer so you can file suit under the magnum moss warranty act. See how long their BS excuse hold up.

Welcome to the WRONGFULLY DENIED WARRANTY CLUB

Thanks for the support everyone. 100% of the guys I work with here think along the same lines. I'm going to let everyone knows how this turns out every step of the way. Maybe we can all learn something about how Mazda treats you after the sale. Hopefully, they'll do the right thing.

My RX8 has 60,000 miles.

I believe that the Mazda 5w20 is exactly the same as (Ford) Motorcraft 5w20 Semi-synthetic. So they're probably full of shit. Semi-synthetic is not the same as synthetic, even by their own silly rules.

What oil did you use specifically?

Edit: Along those lines, you could get the Material Safety Data Sheets for both those oils, and they should be identical. Then staple them to the service managers head.

Such BS. First of all the owners manual only states that synthetic is not recommended, it says nothing about it being required and in the warranty it says nothing about it voiding the warranty.

See here, as long as your oil meets those specs you are good:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9krpmrx8/4622073691/

And also, the specific extended warranty on the engine core says nothing about oil type either.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5046/...3596bae4_z.jpg

Mazda is probably finally feeling the squeeze.

I even got an engine at 75k miles in 1976 on a 73 RX3, but the way people talk about engine replacement, the rates are very high.

What would be the failure rate if all engines were compression checked at 99k miles?

25%?

50%?

What year is your car? If your car is a 04,05 and some 06 the manual does not state to not use synthetic.

Just a word of warning last time I looked Mazda was rated the worst in service satisfaction, this was a couple of years ago.

I used 5w20 Semi-synthetic Castrol

2005- 60,000 miles

Show them that the oil you used meets (probably exceeds) the requirements in the manual. Then read them the extended warranty paperwork and ask them how you violated the warranty.


Don't pussy out, that is what they are expecting you to do. This is a pretty clear cut case.

Don't you just love MAZDA and double standards,here in the UK the spec oil is 5W30 semi synth,MAZDA even sell there own branded oil. I think there just looking for anything to void a warranty now, it must be costing them a small buck for this 8 year warranty and engine replacements.

"Castrol products are made to fit the precise needs of Mazda cars." :rolleyes:

http://www.mazdausa.com/MusaWeb/pdf/...l_products.pdf

Here in the Netherlands almost all official Mazda-dealers use fully synthetic 5W30 engine oil for the RX-8 and all other Mazda-models: mostly from BP because it is cheaper than Dexelia............

Most of the failed engines are '04 and '05...many of which are already past 100K miles. The low-mileage '04's will be dropping off the warranty radar next year, the '05's, the year after. I'm sure Mazda is counting the days...

Update #1
 

1. Just called Mazda North America for the second time to ask for a copy of the denial letter. They said that they will call me back as the rep. was on the other line. That was 30 minutes ago.

2. Also ontacted the dealer working on the "warranty work", that turns out isn't warranty, but should be warranty- we'll you know! I asked him for a hard copy of the warranty denial and said that he didn't receive one from Mazda and would do his best to get one.

I'll continue to post everything that goes on.

Pretty sure once you start throwing in the words "legal" "law" "lawyer" around things will go your way. I had to do the same when they denied my car a checkup at the dealership for the diff when my car only have 4k miles because i changed suspension.

Thanks man. Anyone who knows me well, knows that I won't go quietly.

We have a local guy who is a tech, the 06's are starting to roll in as well.

Give em' hell!!

Erm that says 'Do not use either synthetic or semi-synthetic motor oil'

So how can you use a non semi-synthetic 5w20?