Parmer8

It's probably RB North, because that's where I got my car from. I have about 26K miles @ 1.5+yrs.

jniamehr

I asked a friend of mine today at a local mazda dealership who works at service.... his reply was shhhh and he says that they are just wondering how it wears with all the temp and weather conditions, he says that thats what they are being told at least.... and its pretty hush hush

Matt RX8

You know, you won't have a matching numbers car then.

It won't draw nearly as much money if you put your car up for auction at the Barrett Jackson Auction 50 years from now.

9100RPM

Very good Japlish!
OZ has a great number of second hand Jap cars (even 15 years old) imported for resale. Many young blokes have very fast imported cars very cheaply. As we are RHD as in Japan, we are seeing many second hand car dealers only specialising in ex-Jap cars. This is really good for the drift scene as we are getting lots of FR Cars.
Keep sending them 9100RPM.

Japan8

Um no.. it was a typo. It was supposed to be "I aim to please."

Unfortunately the number of FR cars is only dwindling in general. There is the Nissan replacement for the Sylvia (sp?)... but it may end up as FF. There is the upcoming Skyline GTR, current Syline and... almost everything else is FF, auto only or both.

Toyota... hahahaha.

Honda... what's FR again?

Mazda... RX-8, MS Atenza/6

Mitsubishi... they haven't gone "Chapter 11" yet?

Suzuki... yeah right.

Did I forget anyone?

truemagellen

so you will have to break in the car again?????? ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hhhhhhhhhhhhh

Aratinga

I ran this engine swap thing by my boyfriend, who works for American Honda in their corporate office's Technical Engineering department. His immediate response was, "They (Mazda) have a problem."

He says Honda will do something similar when they become aware of a problem in a particular car and need to examine affected cars. The fact that this is being kept "hush hush" is even more incriminating.

So, high-mileage folks -- keep tabs on how your engines are performing! Something may be cropping up soon.

beachdog

I was a victim of this once. Everytime I would bring my car in for service (a Ford), they would hassle every little thing claiming that the part was brand new, how is it broken already again. I asked the service writer to turn the screen around. The record showed my car had a completely replaced drivetrain. The date of the work coincided with a date that my car was in for some brake work. Some friend of the dealer or mechanic had used my VIN number to get someone a complete drivetrain.

Mazda Monkey

Does not sound too hush hush to me if dealers are calling customers. Why does everything on this board turn in to some super-secret plot?

The fact is, you do not know why they are collecting engines.

Japan8

No... the issue isn't about it supposed being hush hush and thus some plot. The issue is the plain fact that Mazda is pulling engines. It just isn't done... not unless there is some potential problem they want to check on... Come on... SOP.

Ike

That was my first thought, but I didn't say anything since I knew I'd get flamed. I'm sure I'll still get flamed but at least I won't be alone :p

TRZ750

This is probably ligit. I feel the Honda guy and others are wrong. I bet Honda does what Yamaha does (where I work) and that is when a totally new product is released we do "Monitor" units. Usually we select the customers ahead of time and specially inspect the units before release. That way we know the exact dimensions of each part when new and later inspected. We also have bought back some normal production units for inspection, but prefer the monitor units as more know information.

This is done for many reasons. 1. No testing can exactly match what happens in real life. Look at the space program failures. 2. The number of test units is limited by the available facilities and manpower. So may not cover all conditions before some return on investment (selling the product) is required by the company. The need for the "M" flash is an example of this. 3. It takes a lot gasoline to do extensive testing, so cheaper to buy back a unit. Also gasoline chemistry varies quite a bit and not all variations can be tested. 4. Profesional operators in a test lab are good drivers, so may not duplicat the conditions of some of the wild drivers in the USA. etc. --- Got the idea.

Aratinga

I can certainly buy the idea that Mazda is simply gathering information on how well the Renesis holds up after a certain amount of use... but then why not simply purchase high-mileage cars at auction rather than inconvenience current owners?

My guess is that they're selecting certain cars based on a known maintenance history -- hence having dealers call specific customer-owners with high mileage 8s that have a documented maintenance history with the dealer. I still think they've come across something that may compromise engine longevity.

Apex seals were the Achilles' Heel of previous rotary engines, weren't they? Wouldn't Mazda have to pretty much dissect an engine completely to examine them? Wouldn't that preclude re-inserting that engine back into a car and thus require them to offer a brand new engine?

Just idle speculation here.... It's me and Ike against the world! :D

Japan8

I wonder how many Ford Taurus SHO owners got called to have their Yamaha V6 pulled so that Yamaha could *check it out."

Considering what motocycle engines go through and that it is the heart of both Honda and Yamaha, you'd think they'd do it on bikes. Doesn't seem like it. Never heard of engines being pulled JDM for this, nor would Japanese customers even stand for it. It's ridiculous. Even if it's free, an engine swap is an inconvenience and thus a no no unless it is deemed absolutely necessary... and then you still have to explain it to the customers.

Japan8

Yep... those are my thought exactly. So not just you and Ike this time. :D

Nubo

In America we have a saying

Surely, Mazda has test vehicles for the purpose of teardown and inspection at periodic mileage markers? I agree, pulling seemingly healthy engines in the field from owners seems suspicious.

Frank Patrick

Called my dealer (Galpin Mazda)Van Nuys CA)
The service department told me NO SUCH PROGRAM exists- and they have'nt seen anything unusal what so ever- on the early 04's- some of which are approaching and some over the 30K mark. Is this just an urban legend?

Ike

A couple people reported this at about the same time on different threads so I'd say it's something that Mazda is actually doing.

bxb40

Maybe they are interested in people that used synthetic oils in their engines? Or longer change intervals?
There should be a link between all those people.... here we go, full conspiracy theories

$0.02

Go48

Any offer like this should be spelled out in detail in writing. If it isn't in writing, it ain't for real. PERIOD.

Razz1

I live just a few blocks from Headquarters.

What they really want to check out is the new engine they give the owners.

20 more horses.

Aratinga

Not all dealers were notified... see below:

army_rx8

hmm interesting...i haven't gotten any calls and i'm sitting at 30.5k miles ah well guess they don't love me. most of those miles were down in Ga (savannah area)..hot and humid...no problems at all with my 8 (well not counting the dealership down there messing her up a lill bit)....but as far as my car is concerned she's doing great

Japan8

I'm not doubting that Mazda is doing... it's their reasons for doing that are suspect...

rx8cited

I hope they call me for the tranny replacement program when they start that one!