Mazda failing to issue Safety Recall Notifications?

Ponsienella

My Mazda 6 2.2d Sport Nav's engine has failed 11 weeks outside of the 3 year warranty.

Driving along, it went into limp mode so after paying £445.20 it was diagnosed as having a snapped Oil Pump Chain and guide which has caused scarring and scoring to the Big End Bearing. Essentially it requires a new short end engine, gaskets, Oil Pump Chain and guide at a cost of around £5.5k including the cost of diagnosis above.

I am stunned. Mazda UK do not know what Customer Service means. They fob you off with a few sentences and just expect you to take it on the chin.


They have informed me that a wrench was illuminated indicating it required an oil change. I have told them that, although I have had services and oil changes since then, that following a service at Stourbridge Mazda on 3rd Jan 2018, the message about servicing or oil change (which is a narrative message and is really in your face) has not been displayed at all. They just insist the online Data Recorder shows it was on with no consideration of whether the PCM or ODR has malfunctioned.
I have even provided photographic evidence of the dashboard and it wasn't on at the point at which the engine failed. They tell me it was on until I had an oil change at 57, 549 miles yet I didn't have an oil change at that mileage. I think they just make up stuff as they go along so that they don't have to pay put for their faulty diesel engines.


They have not uploaded the service invoices to the Digital Service Record because most haven't been carried out by Mazda and are happy to flout EU Block Exemption Legislation which states a manufacturer cannot insist of their dealerships serving your vehicle.

Furthermore, I received a Safety Recall Notification last year for the PCM to be reprogrammed and some engine calibration software to be updated. We had this done.

However, I can see 2 safety recalls on the database which my vehicle's VIN falls into and we have not received Safety Recall Notifications for. These are recalls R/2018/236 which is to fit a modified Vacuum pump because it may wear prematurely and R/2018/289 which is for the engine/oil to be checked for contamination and replaced if necessary and for the fuel injectors to be re-tightened to the appropriate torque. The injector mounting nuts tightening force may be insufficient which can cause combustion gas to leak from the injector and contaminate the engine oil within the cylinder head. This in turn could cause the engine oil strainer to become blocked and cause the engine to stall.

Our car has stalled a few times unexpectedly which we didn't understand so blamed driver error. Maybe it wasn't the case though?

I believe that one of the two recalls on which our vehicle's VIN is listed but which we haven't received notification about, is responsible for this major fault.

No outstanding Safety Recalls are listed on DVSA site for my vehicle.

Who is responsible for actually making sure that Mazda (and other manufacturers) do actually issue Safety Recall Notifications for all the vehicles they state are affected? Whoever it is, they don't seem to be doing a very good job.

daveyjp

Unfortunately you took the gamble of buying a Mazda diesel which has a well documented history of expensive failure and then doubled down by having it serviced outside of the main dealer network.

The dealers don't need to make anything up, they can just state this fact back to you and ask for evidence that the none dealer service was carried out to their specification.

You have shown in this post that the work wasn't carried out to the main dealer spec as the recall work wasn't carried out. A main dealer would have done it so your service fell short.

You will only be contacted for a recall if the affected part is likely to cause serious injury or death. Neither of those recalls fit this category.

Had you a full dealer history they may have considered a goodwill contribution (and possibly a full warranty claim if they can't show the recalls were done as part of the main dealer service) but as soon as you go elsewhere this option goes with it.

By all means try a formal complaint, but Mazda are good at fobbing off complaints from owners with faulty diesels (even those serviced at main dealers) so good luck.

Car_54

Ponsienella wrote: »

They have not uploaded the service invoices to the Digital Service Record because most haven't been carried out by Mazda and are happy to flout EU Block Exemption Legislation which states a manufacturer cannot insist of their dealerships serving your vehicle.

A manufacturer cannot insist on their dealerships serving your vehicle in order to preserve the warranty.


In your case, the warranty has expired, so the EU Block Exemption Legislation seems irrelevant.

Ponsienella

When we bought the car we went on recommendations from Which? and What Car? magazines. We previously had a Mazda 6 petrol car from new and someone smashed into us and wrote it off. It was brilliant.



They are making up stuff. The wrench light hasn't been on for 12,892 miles despite what they say.


We also didn't have an oil change at 57,549 miles, despite them saying we did. We have our service invoices and sheets and none of them were carried out at this mileage. They are not stating facts.


Arnold Clark's invoices and back-up info for services seems to be in-depth in the same way that Mazda dealerships are.


What I am saying about the Saety Recalls is that there are 2 we have not been notified about by Mazda. How come we had a Safety Recall Notification for PCM re-programming for the fuel injector sofware yet we didn't have one for removing, checking and re-torquing the fuel injectors when they are suppose to require tightening? They were the next recall numbers to each other.



Mazda are fobbing us off. Just a pity we haven't kept an eye on complaints. I'm quite shocked that Mazda have such a bad reputation. Wish we'd bought a petrol car now as our previous one lasted 13 years and was brilliant. We thought back in 2016 that we were doing the right thing for the environment and reducing fuel costs by going to a diesel.


I've just read a What Car? article about someone with a 2014 Mazda CX-5 who had problems with the vacuum pump and braking and she's been to Mazda and been rejected. However it is a known fault because her car is listed under a Safety Recall number yet she clearly hasn't been notified of it.


I just don't get how Mazda get away with not telling people and not doing anything when a buyer has known problems that are meant to be the subject of a Safety Recall.

AdrianC

Ponsienella wrote: »

My Mazda 6 2.2d Sport Nav's engine has failed 11 weeks outside of the 3 year warranty.

Driving along, it went into limp mode so after paying £445.20 it was diagnosed as having a snapped Oil Pump Chain and guide which has caused scarring and scoring to the Big End Bearing.

Lubrication-related failure.

They have not uploaded the service invoices to the Digital Service Record because most haven't been carried out by Mazda and are happy to flout EU Block Exemption Legislation which states a manufacturer cannot insist of their dealerships serving your vehicle.

No, but they do want you to prove that the service was carried out to dealer standards using OEM parts. Can you do so?

But that's beside the point. You're outside the warranty, so reliant on goodwill. And there's not going to be much of that for a car serviced outside the dealer chain.

However, I can see 2 safety recalls on the database which my vehicle's VIN falls into and we have not received Safety Recall Notifications for. These are recalls R/2018/236 which is to fit a modified Vacuum pump because it may wear prematurely and R/2018/289 which is for the engine/oil to be checked for contamination and replaced if necessary and for the fuel injectors to be re-tightened to the appropriate torque. The injector mounting nuts tightening force may be insufficient which can cause combustion gas to leak from the injector and contaminate the engine oil within the cylinder head. This in turn could cause the engine oil strainer to become blocked and cause the engine to stall.

They don't sound like safety recalls.

That aside, perhaps that's one of the "not to dealer standards" things about the garage you used...? After all, if it'd been to a dealer...?

A_Nice_Englishman

Didn't the garage which did the servicing check the recalls you mention had been dealt with and if not do the work itself?

daveyjp

Drip, drip of relevant info is not helpful.

Arnold Clark are Mazda dealers.

Have they done all your services, or has the car at any point not been serviced by a Mazda dealer?

Car_54

daveyjp wrote: »

Have they done all your services, or as the car at any point not been serviced by a Mazda dealer?

See post #1: "They have not uploaded the service invoices to the Digital Service Record because most haven't been carried out by Mazda ..."

daveyjp

At the moment we don't know who or what 'they' is/are. Hence my query about Arnold Clark.

debtdebt

You're out of warranty and are relying on a good will gesture from Mazda.

What isn't helping you is you haven't got a full service history from a Mazda main dealer. What you say is that you were seeing to rely on the block exemption. That's fine if you were in warranty but you're not. You took your business elsewhere so Mazda quite rightly don't think they should offer any goodwill.

The services weren't uploaded to the digital service record. That's not Mazda's fault. That's down to the garage who you used to service your car. They should update it if they have access. Most non franchised dealers won't have access to the Mazda digital service records. The onus is on you to prove servicing. Once again, given you are out of warranty, this is again a moot point.

LandyAndy

My Mazda6 2.2 diesel suffered a stretched timing chain, not an unknown fault and a pretty expensive repair.

Even though it was 18 months and 26k miles out of warranty I got a 50% contribution from Mazda because the vehicle was bought from and serviced by the same main dealer.

It has now done 163k miles without any further problems

I believe moving away from the dealer network for servicing in warranty is a penny wise, pound foolish decision and it has certainly bitten the OP.