Code P0420... covered under powertrain warranty?
 

I have an extra year of powertrain warranty, and my regular warranty is up -- is the catalytic converter covered under that warranty?

I only ask because I just threw a CEL with the code P0420, and I want to get it fixed (inspection is about due).

Need a fast response, since I have an appointment tomorrow!

Thanks!

Catalytic Converter is covered under the Emissions Warranty for U.S. cars. 8yrs/80,000 miles.

^what he said

Thank you very much, car just got dropped off for service tomorrow. I made a note to call me before doing any work that will cost $$$.

Thanks!

i got the exact same CEL and it is not stable (going on and off)

do what the OP did. take it to the dealer

this is how it turned out for him

ok... My car threw this error and I am now the 3rd owner on this 2004 Rx-8. Am I still covered under this warranty?

yes

Ok i've wiped the error code, and it came back. Went and checked for an exhaust leak, but didn't find one anywhere. My car does smell a little rich when running. Could it be the o2 sensor, or do you really think its my catalytic converter that has gone bad? I'm at 76k miles on my 04 MT so it looks like i'm still covered under this warranty. I just don't wanna go in there and then it be something else, and they charge me 300 dollars to fix something that might take me 50 bucks to fix.

it doesn't matter, any emission related stuff is covered under the emission warranty.

Cat, O2 sensor, etc.

best is to check ur CEL first to see what it is.

I did. It was giving me the code P0420 error when I plugged my laptop into it. I didn't know the O2 sensor was covered. Thanks

Hell of a Bump...

Rx-8 Cat. warranty 7/70K or 8/80K!?!?
 

This is an old thread, but this pertains to the information that has been posted in this thread previously which may not be accurate.

My RX-8 just threw the same code for the Cat., so I called the dealership about it and they said it was under warranty. Turns out I'd been transferred to the wrong dealership, and the one that's actually near me has really bad reviews. Still, that's where I took it since this should've been a no-brainer fix under warranty and it's near by, and they claimed the warranty on the Cat is only 7 YEARS, 70k! Which puts me just months outside of the manufacture data of the vehicle 8/2005, although still within 7 years of the "2005" model year. So, I need to know from someone who's sure... is the warranty on the Cat. 8/80K as posted here previously, or 7/70K as this dealer is insisting??

Also, don't know if it's relevant or not, but looking at the service history they showed today, the Cat. was replaced in 2006 under what was apparently a recall. I didn't purchase the car until 2007 as the 2nd owner, so I don't know anything about that. I'm facing a huge bill here if I can't get this covered, so I need all the help I can get.

TIA!

Depending on where you live most of the emission components are warrantied for 7/70 except the converter; it's warranty is 8/80! You should be covered, read this: http://www.epa.gov/oms/consumer/warr95fs.txt

Edenny,

Assuming you are in the US, then call Mazda North America 1-800-222-5500 and ask them. Once they tell you then put the dealer on the phone and have Mazda tell them. That outta do it.

But.....................it's 8/80 on the Cat like everyone is telling you.

Thank you both very much, and anybody else that may offer up add. info later. I read the EPA document and it seems pretty clear that it's 8/80K on the Cat., although it's a 1996 document and I don't have any way of knowing if anything more recent might supersede that, or if California, which has different emissions standards than the rest of the U.S., might also somehow supersede it. I will contact the phone number you suggested tomorrow and get clarity on this. The first dealer I was routed to said it was covered, it was only the one I physically took it to that said it wasn't. Btw, here's a copy of the warranty report that they're basing their denial on.

What is the Warranty start date on the top right of the page?
Does that say 8-3-2005?

Oh, and do you have the originally warranty booklet that came with the owners manual in your car when you bought it used? That will have what you're looking for in it.

What it sounds like your dealer is trying to do is tell you that since you live in California, that your emissions system is only covered for 7 years or 70k miles. Tell them nice try, but the convertor is covered under the federal warranty, which is 8 years/80k miles.

If you have the warranty information booklet that came with your car, all the proof you need is right in there.

BC.

+1 on that^. Here is a newer document: http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/warranty.pdf

I was incorrect in my original post. The build date was actually 4/05 and it was the original sale date that was 8/05. So my hopes that it might still be under 7 years since it was first sold were dashed, but of course that's irrelevant at this point since everybody under the sun and everything I've read says it's 8/80K for the Cat, not 7/70K. Still, it was only 3 mos out of warranty and only about 45K mi, WAY under the 70K they said was the limit. Plus the Cat had been replaced within the first 7K/1 year according to the vehicle history, so those things combined made for a lot of great reasons why they could've and should've chose to do the warranty repair even if the car WAS 3 months out of warranty. Of course they wouldn't have been obligated to do that, but IMO it would've been the right thing to do.

Anyway, hey/they didn't specifically say that California is only 7/70 on the Cat rather than 8/80 for the rest of the country, he just underlined the 7/70 under the line item for California Emissions when I told him that I believed the warranty on it was 8/80 (I'd done some quick research in this forum before I went to the dealership originally and that's what I'd read). So I can't really say that that he was trying to say CA. standards are different than the rest of the country because for all I know he has no clue what the warranty is in any other state, but in effect that's precisely what he was doing by referencing that specific section of the warranty to justify the denial on the Cat repair.

I'm the second owner of the car (bought it in mid 07) and I have the owner's manual, but I haven't found the warranty booklet yet and there's no specific warranty guide inside the owner's manual. I'm going to look online and see if there's a PDF of the warranty booklet available for the RX-8, then I'm going to call Mazda North America. If anybody on here has the warranty booklet for their RX-8 and would be kind enough to find the page that documents that CAT and could take a clear photo of it or scan it, I would be really appreciative!

Got off the phone with Mazda North America after a very long time spent on hold. The Cat is absolutely covered for 8/80K, even in the People's Republic of California out here on the left coast.

Shortly after I got off the phone with them, I got a call from one of the two guys that sent me packing yesterday from Galpin Mazda in Santa Clarita, saying it was 7/70K. One was the service manager, one was just working in the service dept., but I'm not sure which it was that called me today. Mazda North America had contacted him to correct his misinformation and he apologized for his screw up, and said he'd already ordered the part for me. He's a bit ahead of himself because I wouldn't take my car back there unless it was the only dealership within at least 50 miles of me, and it definitely isn't. I'll be taking it to the dealership Mazda transferred me to originally, Galpin Mazda of Van Nuys. They're both under the same ownership so you'd think that the reviews and quality of service wouldn't be so drastically different at two dealers only 20 miles apart, but it is. That's usually a good indicator of poor management at that location.

Thanks for everybody's help! I was pretty dejected when I first posted the question, believing that CA. must just have different warranty standards than the rest of the country as usual. Btw, after I spoke to M.N.A. I also found the warranty booklet finally as well, and it DID specify the 8/80K on those 3 major emissions components that the Federal EPA law outlined. The booklet was hiding in the trunk near the spare tire. It's now back together with the owner's manual in the glove compartment where it belongs.

Lessons learned: All Cats in every U.S. street-legal car built after 1995 are warrantied by Fed. Law for 8/80K, period, end of story. And, never take your car to Galpin Mazda of Santa Clarita.

I'm glad you got things straightened out, and that Mazda NA called the dealer, and set them straight, too.

BC.

well you see the Mazda printout that it says 7/70, easy mistake to make.

Easy mistake for someone to make who isn't a service technician or the service manager himself at a major Mazda dealership. It's their job to know the warranty coverage of every vehicle they service, and to have the ability to find the correct information if they're not sure. Really though, there's no excuse when it comes to the Catalytic converter, since every single vehicle made since 1995, from every single manufacturer, is required by law to have the same minimum warranty coverage of 8/80K. It's not like it varies from model year to model year, or model to model, or even manufacturer to manufacturer. It's the same for EVERY vehicle they service. How someone could make it to the level of service manager without knowing something as basic and universal as that, defies logic. Which begs the question of which is more likely... that he was just that ignorant, or was he being dishonest and trying to avoid repairs that were clearly covered under warranty.

When I called the Van Nuys dealership and quickly explained what had happened at the Santa Clarita dealership, he immediately said "oh sure! It's definitely 8/80K on the Cat., bring it right in and we'll get you taken care of! He couldn't have been any friendlier or more helpful, and just said to bring it in tomorrow and ask for him, and that he has the part in stock or can get it within minutes. The Santa Clarita dealership, only 20 miles away, said they had to order it and I would need to make an appt.. Not only was he rude and unhelpful yesterday, as was the other guy I dealt with at that dealership, but he was flat out WRONG about the warranty coverage. You couldn't have had two more polar opposite experiences as I've had with Van Nuys and Santa Clarita.

I haven't even told the whole story about the runaround S.C. gave me. They wouldn't accept just the code for the Cat. (verified at 3 different shops including theirs) coupled with the check engine light. Before they'd do anything they'd have to run a full diagnostic which would be $90, unless they ended up replacing the Cat under warranty, but they denied it was under warranty so I'd have to pay for the diagnostic before going any further. Before we even got to the warranty stuff, they started talking about how Cats just don't fail, and there has to be another problem with the car that's causing it, and he started talking about the O2 sensor and other stuff. He was clearly going down the road of trying to find something else to have me pay to replace, IF they were going to replace the Cat under warranty. Again though, that's before he found an excuse to deny the warranty repair.

He also talked about all these things that I might be doing/have done wrong to cause the Cat to fail, and all of them were things I don't do. I use quality high octane gas, I always let my car warm up before driving, I make sure to get the RPMs up periodically as everybody suggests with these engines, etc. etc.. I found that particularly offensive. The law is quite clear, as is the warranty booklet (which I didn't have at the time), about the very few things that might disqualify warranty repair of the Cat.. They're very extreme circumstances and have to be proven. Saying something like "Cats just don't fail unless there's something else wrong with the car or you're doing something wrong" doesn't cut it as an excuse to deny coverage, and it's not the sort of thing you say to your customers without have some sort of hard proof that the car has been mistreated. Besides, there was even a recall on the Cats for these, and this car itself had the Cat replaced once already in 06 after just several thousand miles. Awfully strange considering Cats just don't fail..

Anyway, just ranting. I don't at all appreciate the way I was treated and the BS information I was given, regardless of the reason. I might've driven it straight to another mechanic and paid for the repair, and I'd be out $1500+ right now. You know full well Mazda wouldn't just cut me a check and say they were sorry for the mistake. That's assuming I'd even discovered proof after the fact that the warranty WAS 8/80K as I'd told him I believed it was to begin with.

I quite enjoyed the moment where I had an issue with a dealer, and MNAO called them and basically flat out told them they were wrong and that I didn't owe anything. This situation made my week in fact. Good to see everything got set straight!