I'll leave my choice comments for the dealership to another thread and another time when they have either fixed or not fixed the problem once and for all.

Bottom line - my airbags were replaced after a colission by a Mazda service center at a Mazda dealership, but the airbag light has been on intermittently ever since and they refuse to fix it

After 6 weeks of waiting for parts and repairs they called me to pick up my car. When I arrived I found 2 minor issues, plus the airbag light was on. They quickly fixed the minor issues, but were stumped by the airbag light. They needed to talk to the Mazda tech-line and the tech-line was closed for the night. They sent me home (2 hours, one-way) and apologized for my taking a day off work for no result. I went home without paying (much to the irritation of the office clerks).

Next day, they said I could pick it up the following day. One more day off work, another 260 mile round trip, but this time the airbag light was out so I paid them (over $10,000 - thx USAA insurance) and took delivery of the car.

Correction: the airbag light was out until I got halfway home. Afterwards, the light is intermittent - sometimes on when I first start, sometimes comes on during a trip, sometimes no light at all during a trip.

I call the dealership the next day to report the problem, but I have a temporary assignment to work off-site so I can't return to the dealership for a few weeks. Delay is bad.

However, in the meantime, I develop tail-light water and brake squeal so I have reason to bring the car in under warrenty anyway. I faxed them my fix-list on Monday so they could be ready by Thursday. The dealership should be pleased to get profitable warranty work in addition to another chance and fixing this grievous safety concern.

In a word, they're not. They dig in their heels and want either $88/hour from me or more money from the insurance company. They didn't even want to pull the code from the car to see what the light meant unless I promised them $88/hour. I explained how it was in their best interest to at least start by pulling the code so we could talk about what they need next.

The insurance company says no-go - they already paid for the new airbags and install. A bad install is the dealership's problem.

Here's my question for the forum - do you know the meaning of the airbag light flashing twice, pausing, then flashing three times? I know some members had problems with loose harnesses - is this like that?

The service manager mentioned the passenger airbag (could only be that or the driver's), but no details. He's been a bit odd to talk to so I'm never sure if he's understanding me or if I'm understanding him or not - so I don't have any clear information or hard data on the problem in spite of spending a couple of hours at the dealership Thursday and a couple more Saturday. I've already talked to the owner of the dealership twice (advice about that is welcome too.... I know many of you have had showdowns with your service centers too), but I'm not making much head-way so far.

(and for those of you with good memories.......... yeah, this is in addition to the 'installation kit' fiasco with the Kazera rims - not a good week for the home team)

 

Yeah, the dealer has Mazda plus another unrelated import franchise at the same location. They have a certified BASF paint set-up and full any-make, any-model collision repair shop. They give lifetime warranty on workmanship for any collision repairs.

The list for my deer-strike was huge - the original quote was about 6 pages. They only replaced the two airbags deployed in the crash - front driver's and front passenger's. I'll have to check the quote to see if there was a pre-tensioner.

What do you mean by 'inhale it with a PMI'?

I would fully support them placing a supplemental claim if they find additional damage which was not known previously - I would be happy to stand with them and twist the insurance company's arm. However, the dealership has not told me anything about the 'new damage', in fact, they seemed uninterested in even looking into it. That was the problem.

New information - the service manager called, claimed to have spoken to my insurance company and wants me to bring the car back.

One additional wrinkle - they're two hours away and I burn a day off work or a Saturday for every trip. When they did the original repairs they burned me with one $30-in-gas + day-off-work-wasted and when I went for warranty repairs last week they burned me again. Now, this will be a 3rd and 4th time burning gas and a day off which could have been prevented if they had either fixed the car right the first time or kept it to fix the second time (last week).

 

I don't want to get too far OT, but since you asked; yeah, it's a burden I must bear. Within 130 miles there are 5:

From closest to furthest - mileage reported by www.mazdausa.com from 14830:
Canandaigua - 55 miles - Not open Saturdays - no luck trying to talk to them by phone when I first bought the car.
Binghamton - 60 miles - dealership lets sales-staff take home cars - made me an absurd offer on a 'demo-car' which owner's son had driven - BANNED
Williamsport - 61 miles - Claim to be MAZDASPEED, but gave very poor phone service and made no effort to appreciate or accomodate my bringing the car to them from such a long distance - BANNED
Rochester #1 - 71 miles - Answered phone, very polite, made accomodating arrangements for my clogged cat warranty repair and did an excellent fix with Service Manager #1. Service Manager #2 gave even better service for my collision repair, but I had follow-up problems on the repair (well, it *was* a big job). Service Manager #3 gives me serious concerns. Rochester #1 may lose my business as a result.
Rochester #2 - 71 miles - Ended up not calling them because Rochester #1 answered the phone.

However, from my home the one-way total to Rochester #1 works out to be ~130 miles so never trust the driving directions completely.

I knew there was no local service when I purchased, but considered it an acceptable trade-off. It's harder to wring what you want out of a not-so-helpful service department from a long distance, but I consider the RX-8 to be worth it.

Fortunately, I have a few friends in Rochester and some business contacts and know of a few fun recreational spots, so it's not awful to go there. Last Thursday I had training for work so I was able to expense the mileage for that round trip. Unfortunately, since the dealership did not finish in one day I had to go back and could not expense the mileage for *that* trip.