Car part tends to fail just after warranty expires

RobertinHerts

Just had a warning light come on my car dashboard. Checked on an online forum and there are loads of reports of this same part failing three months after the warranty expires, as mine has.

The local dealer, who has carried out all the regular services, automatically provided a statement that the manufactuer would contribute 75% towards the part as a 'goodwill' gesture, though nothing towards the labour. This percentage being due to the short time from the expiry of the warranty and that the servicing was in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. He said that this problem has occurred on three models and several other manufacturers cars.

Following MSE website information I'm about to write to the original main dealer who sold the car, I was the first registered owner however, just to complicate matters, they are no longer dealers for this manufacturer.

I plan to use the MSE Sale of Goods Act complaint template letter.

So my question is: In my letter would it be to my advantage to refer to the number of customers who find that this problem occurs 3 months after the warranty expires?

For reference the manufacturer is Mazda and the part is the [FONT=&quot]Pressure Transducer Main Primary Input on the DCS system (anti-skid feature in English).

Thanks in advance, Robert
[/FONT]

whitelabel

on a bmw you can programme some warning lights to come on after a certain period of time,eg service light, oil light etc
perhaps mazda do the same to this part via ecu

perhaps the part has a lifetime of that ?

bod1467

Highly unlikely to be a programmed failure indication, and certainly not for a part like described.

RobertinHerts

I wasn't looking at 'programmed failure' however it is interesting that so many customers report this part as failing 3 months after the warranty expires. Some were being charged £1500 to replace this anti-skid device. I believe the service manager said it wasn't only Mazda who had used this component.

JohnnyB

Interesting story Robert. Most coincidentally, in our Mazda 2 the ABS control unit (sounds like the same part) also failed exactly 3 months after warranty expiry. The dealer (Alan Gibson Basingstoke) was singularly useless quoting us £1100 for replacement (any goodwill discount had to be taken up with Mazda direct) and Mazda UK too was most unhelpful. The claim was that our service record was not up to date; one service was done by the selling garage (not a Mazda garage) when we bought the car, who was not able to update the Mazda service system. In the end we went to our friendly local garage who fitted a recon unit for £600.

Two points to note: the online electronic service book is just an underhand way of forcing you to go to expensive Mazda main dealers for servicing and, secondly, Mazda do not stand by their products. Most disappointing for an otherwise perfectly nice little car. Guess what though: an experience like this is enough never to touch a Mazda again.

Do these people ever learn? A manufacturer differentiates itself first by the quality of its product but much more by the quality of its service should it ever go wrong.

It would be interesting to know if there is a trend with these units.

Best wishes

Johnny

RobertinHerts

Johnny, Until last week I was very pleased at the reliabilty of my Mazda. OK there has been the odd problem, but it quickly disappear or was resolved under Warranty. I read the extended Warrant offer but it meant switching away from RAC (Odd I wonder why warranty and extended warranty would be different in this respect?) and didn't seem to cover much.

I've now posted the letter, recorded delivery of course, to the original seller who were a Mazda dealer at the time. I pointed out that this part frequently fails 3 months after the warranty expires.

See this very long list of complaints / complainants about the same part as I had fail. First report here was over two years ago. Like your experience any deviation from a rigourous Mazda service wold not be tollerated.

Regards, Robert

JohnnyB

I quite agree. The logical response: We will never look at a Mazda again! A real shame because the Mazda 2 is a lovely little car but if they do not support their product then it is not worth having. In the end we managed to get a reconditioned unit for £600 rather than the £1100 quoted by Mazda. We had it fitted by our very helpful local garage; Will Sawyer in Abbotts Ann, top bloke.

Caveat emptor!

arcon5

Op wouldnt necessarily be entitled to a free repair - ops contribution should be proportionate to the use. For example, if the part had lasted half of the expected life span then op should pay half the cost. Assuming that is the vehicle hasn't been treated badly