BULLETIN: NHSTA Investigating 2004 RX-8 Clutch Pedal Bracket Issue
04-14-2010, 02:26 PM
#52
Registered
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Just happened to me April 8th, 2010 @ 63,000 miles...
If you've had this happen you should report the issue to the NHTSA as a safety issue. Follow the link and click to report a problem. Their website is:
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/recalls/
The government needs to be aware of the frequency of this problem. The more people that report it the more likely it is to get recalled and have the part properly redesigned and fixed. If not for the fact that a safety recall would result in Mazda picking up the bill for this repair, do it because you may save your own, a relative, or someone else's life.
Two instances have officially be reported where the clutch pedal broke off and got lodged behind the brake pedal, preventing the driver from applying full braking power.
My biggest concern is if you imagine yourself making a left turn in 1st gear in front of incoming traffic with plenty of time for the expected performance of your RX8 to clear the traffic, but the clutch pedal suddenly fails, preventing you from going into 2nd gear and getting out of the way of traffic, resulting in a collision.
http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/06/r...da-rx-8-clutc/
My report was filed with the NHTSA in April of 2010. I'm wondering if a class action suit is worth the effort.
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/recalls/
The government needs to be aware of the frequency of this problem. The more people that report it the more likely it is to get recalled and have the part properly redesigned and fixed. If not for the fact that a safety recall would result in Mazda picking up the bill for this repair, do it because you may save your own, a relative, or someone else's life.
Two instances have officially be reported where the clutch pedal broke off and got lodged behind the brake pedal, preventing the driver from applying full braking power.
My biggest concern is if you imagine yourself making a left turn in 1st gear in front of incoming traffic with plenty of time for the expected performance of your RX8 to clear the traffic, but the clutch pedal suddenly fails, preventing you from going into 2nd gear and getting out of the way of traffic, resulting in a collision.
http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/06/r...da-rx-8-clutc/
My report was filed with the NHTSA in April of 2010. I'm wondering if a class action suit is worth the effort.
04-14-2010, 03:03 PM
#53
Registered
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Incident April 2010 @ 63K miles, safety complaint to NHTSA, Durham dealer fraud
I almost got ripped off by Sport Durst Mazda Service Center in Durham, NC.
My pedal felt funny one day and on the next drive stuck to the floor only returning 2 inched of the normal 6-8 inches back into position. The clutch would not disengage with the pedal in the fully pressed position. The car drove fine but I had to match engine RPM to gear speed in order to shift from one gear to the next. I took it to the dealer and they diagnosed it as a need to replace the clutch (estimate of $1350+tax). They also offered to have a sales person call me and discuss trade in value. I felt that was complete BS as there was no clutch slippage, so I told them I would pass by after work and pickup my car. The service manager told me there was a $99 diagnostic fee. I paid the fee as he would not hand over the keys until I did. I asked if the diagnostic fee was posted anywhere in the shop and his reply was "No, but our guys need to get paid, they don't work for free, they work on commission" (yeah, unnecessary expensive work=higher commission).
I took my car to a local garage and the owner (after <10 min of poking around) told me that from first look it appeared to be a hydraulic problem with either the master or slave cylinder for the clutch line (estimate $335). He also said the symptoms do not indicate any problems with the clutch itself. I told him to go ahead and do the work. The next day when they started work they called and told me that they discovered the clutch pedal assembly had actually cracked and that is why the pedal would not come back (lack of leverage on the spring, estimate for replacement $390 total including parts+labor+tax). I called Mazda Corp. and explained the problem to a customer rep. They told me they couldn't do anything for me if I ignored the dealer recommendation and that if I expect Mazda to do ANYTHING with the cost of repair they would at the very least need to have it serviced by a dealer.
I had the car towed to Southern States Mazda (without attempting to drive it) and told them what the local garage found ($47 local garage work/inspection, $65 towing). The 2nd dealer confirmed the broken pedal and said they had seen about 3 RX8s in the past year with the issue. They also told me my engine was flooded (first time EVER for me) and that they recommended a de-carb maintenance (estimate $250). I told them to just fix the pedal (estimate $430) and I would worry about the flood start (procedure list on internet). After the pedal was fixed they told me the car was still flooded, but I told them I would perform the flood start myself (estimate $100). Unfortunately, I did not have a ride to the dealer before the service center closed so I told them to flood start it (cost $100) and verify the car worked (as I need proof the clutch is not in need of replacement if I'm going after the first dealer for fraud). They did and the mechanic/tech noted that after a 4mile drive the car is operational and the clutch does not slip.
I now have my car back in working order after approximately $760 worth of expenses, all of which could have been done for about $390. I'm going to write a letter to Sport Durst Mazda explaining the situation and I will take it from there. I don't know if their service center employees (which apparently work on commission) gave me the clutch replacement recommendation out of malice or incompetence, but either way it has resulted in much more agony and expense than it should have in the first place. Of course, I await a safety recall on this part, it was a crap design in the first place.
BTW I have the broken part and can submit it as evidence to the NHTSA. If you have your car repaired ask them for the original part back.
My pedal felt funny one day and on the next drive stuck to the floor only returning 2 inched of the normal 6-8 inches back into position. The clutch would not disengage with the pedal in the fully pressed position. The car drove fine but I had to match engine RPM to gear speed in order to shift from one gear to the next. I took it to the dealer and they diagnosed it as a need to replace the clutch (estimate of $1350+tax). They also offered to have a sales person call me and discuss trade in value. I felt that was complete BS as there was no clutch slippage, so I told them I would pass by after work and pickup my car. The service manager told me there was a $99 diagnostic fee. I paid the fee as he would not hand over the keys until I did. I asked if the diagnostic fee was posted anywhere in the shop and his reply was "No, but our guys need to get paid, they don't work for free, they work on commission" (yeah, unnecessary expensive work=higher commission).
I took my car to a local garage and the owner (after <10 min of poking around) told me that from first look it appeared to be a hydraulic problem with either the master or slave cylinder for the clutch line (estimate $335). He also said the symptoms do not indicate any problems with the clutch itself. I told him to go ahead and do the work. The next day when they started work they called and told me that they discovered the clutch pedal assembly had actually cracked and that is why the pedal would not come back (lack of leverage on the spring, estimate for replacement $390 total including parts+labor+tax). I called Mazda Corp. and explained the problem to a customer rep. They told me they couldn't do anything for me if I ignored the dealer recommendation and that if I expect Mazda to do ANYTHING with the cost of repair they would at the very least need to have it serviced by a dealer.
I had the car towed to Southern States Mazda (without attempting to drive it) and told them what the local garage found ($47 local garage work/inspection, $65 towing). The 2nd dealer confirmed the broken pedal and said they had seen about 3 RX8s in the past year with the issue. They also told me my engine was flooded (first time EVER for me) and that they recommended a de-carb maintenance (estimate $250). I told them to just fix the pedal (estimate $430) and I would worry about the flood start (procedure list on internet). After the pedal was fixed they told me the car was still flooded, but I told them I would perform the flood start myself (estimate $100). Unfortunately, I did not have a ride to the dealer before the service center closed so I told them to flood start it (cost $100) and verify the car worked (as I need proof the clutch is not in need of replacement if I'm going after the first dealer for fraud). They did and the mechanic/tech noted that after a 4mile drive the car is operational and the clutch does not slip.
I now have my car back in working order after approximately $760 worth of expenses, all of which could have been done for about $390. I'm going to write a letter to Sport Durst Mazda explaining the situation and I will take it from there. I don't know if their service center employees (which apparently work on commission) gave me the clutch replacement recommendation out of malice or incompetence, but either way it has resulted in much more agony and expense than it should have in the first place. Of course, I await a safety recall on this part, it was a crap design in the first place.
BTW I have the broken part and can submit it as evidence to the NHTSA. If you have your car repaired ask them for the original part back.
04-15-2010, 10:17 AM
#55
Registered
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Reimbursement
You only got that half right. If there is a safety recall you should be reimbursed the full amount, whether the repair was done by a dealer or a local shop. If it was done by a shop you will need to take the car in to be verified fixed by a Mazda dealer.
09-06-2010, 06:42 AM
#56
Registered User
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 19
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
This happened to me yesterday afternoon.....After it happened, i hopped on the forum to see if anyone else experienced the faulty clutch pedal bracket issue......I did stumble across what could be helpful info/grest news for everyone that experiences this in the future......Looks like the NHSTA officially closed their investigation on this issue on 8/19/10. Check out the link below to read the NHSTA's complete findings. Take note of this sentence within the report (near the bottom):
"Mazda has informed ODI that it will conduct an Owner Notification of an extended warranty coverage program increasing the clutch pedal assembly warranty to 8 years and limited at 100K miles for model years 2004 through 2009 RX8 vehicles"
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/defects/results.cfm
"Mazda has informed ODI that it will conduct an Owner Notification of an extended warranty coverage program increasing the clutch pedal assembly warranty to 8 years and limited at 100K miles for model years 2004 through 2009 RX8 vehicles"
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/defects/results.cfm
09-07-2010, 09:36 AM
#58
Registered User
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 19
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Had my car towed to the dealer where i purchased the car. I'm currently waiting to hear back from the service manager. I printed out a copy of ODI's findings and left it in my glove box....which includes the statement that Mazda will offer an extended warranty on the clutch pedal assembly. The person i spoke to on the phone, told me that they have to run my VIN thru a database for TSB's/recalls.....Since this issue is so new, they probably won't find anything related to a faulty clutch pedal bracket. If the service dept at this dealership tries to give me a hard time, I will go there personally and "raise hell" until the issue is resolved. Anyone that experiences this issue should not have to pay out of pocket to have it fixed......The clutch pedal should never break.
09-07-2010, 10:07 AM
#59
Had my car towed to the dealer where i purchased the car. I'm currently waiting to hear back from the service manager. I printed out a copy of ODI's findings and left it in my glove box....which includes the statement that Mazda will offer an extended warranty on the clutch pedal assembly. The person i spoke to on the phone, told me that they have to run my VIN thru a database for TSB's/recalls.....Since this issue is so new, they probably won't find anything related to a faulty clutch pedal bracket. If the service dept at this dealership tries to give me a hard time, I will go there personally and "raise hell" until the issue is resolved. Anyone that experiences this issue should not have to pay out of pocket to have it fixed......The clutch pedal should never break.
what are you talking abuot. Mazda said The bracket has a "design life" of about "10 years" !!!!
I wonder what is the design life of the body of the car? 11 years?
I bet the Engine's design life is between 1 month to 8 years then? cuz thats when the warranty runs out.
design life ... what a bunch of bs.
Last edited by nycgps; 09-07-2010 at 10:12 AM.
09-07-2010, 07:50 PM
#60
Registered User
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 19
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
So...... ofcourse the dealer isn't going to cover the cost of fixing the pedal bracket. Despite the NHTSA documents i provided.....Although i don't want to give them my money, I'm going to just to save myself the hassle. I live in the city & between work, girlfriend and baby & don't want to deal with fixing it myself. I will be holding onto my receipt though in the hopes this gets added to the warranty so i can get reimbursed.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Mr.Durden
RX-8's For Sale/Wanted
4
08-12-2015 02:21 PM
