Back in March we bought a Mazda MX-5. It's a 2007 57-plate 2.0 Sport. We test drove it and thought the gearbox was a little tricky to get into first gear to start with, but once down the road it was fine. Having owned a Mk2 we are aware they can be notchy and stiff when cold. We were happy to go ahead and buy it, and I should add that the dealer is a main dealer but not Mazda.

We picked it up the following week and again noticed the same thing with the gearbox, but again once down the road it was fine. Come the Monday, the wife drove it for the first time apart from the test drive, and she really struggled to get first. I phoned the dealer that night, and the reply was, 'take it to Mazda as it's under warranty'. This we did, and Mazda agreed it wasn't right. We left it with them for one month and finally got it back, then, less than two months later, the gears starting crunching, mainly going up into third but lately when going into fourth and occasionally into first.

The car went in last week for them to look at and they did various tests. Mazda phoned us today to say that the car will need the gearbox stripping and have booked a loan car for for up to ten days. Apparently they tried to get a new gearbox but Mazda UK wouldn't have it.

Basically, have we any right to go back to the supplying dealer and reject it, as we have lost all faith with it? We are due to go away in August and basically don't trust the car to be right. The other concern is the fact the warranty will run out at the end of September this year, so what happens then? I guess we will have to pay for any repairs to the gearbox?