Mazda 6 TS 2.0 Diesel 2007 - catastrophic engine failure 41000 miles

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Tue 25 May 2010 23:21
Mazda 6 TS 2.0 Diesel 2007 - catastrophic engine failure 41000 miles - Vanillaslice

Hi all - possted this in the technical area as well - I'm under a bit of pressure for time so I hope you don't mind me duplicating it here as I feel it may require legal sorting out and I need some good advice quickly.

I purchased a second hand Mazda 6 2.0 TS Diesel in Sept 08. It had around 20000 miles on it and a full service history (I was shown receipts to prove it although I now believe it to be non Mazda specialists but genuine Mazda parts) I was really happy and chuffed as it was a fantastic car - it never missed a beat.

I got the car serviced on 25000 miles at a Mazda dealer and I had the oil changed with genuine parts at 37000 miles. On Saturday past I was driving home with my 1 year old daughter in the car when the car started revving erratically between 5/6000. White smoke came billowing out of the exhaust and I pulled over and got my daughter out of the car. i know I should have stalled it, but my main concern was my daughter - I thought the thing was going to explode.

Eventually it stopped, but the engine had leaked a load of coolant and the radiator head had blown off. When Mazda Assistance's roadside guy arrived he reckoned it was the turbo, but said he could not see why this had blown the radiator.

When the car got delivered to the Mazda garage the Mazda dealer's service engineer informed me when they received the car that I had no service history on the electronic record and therefore Mazda were not allowing him to touch it - not even to diagnose the problem. I explained that his garage had carried out the 25000 mile one so how was this the case - he said take it up with Mazda. They in turn are refusing to accept any liability as I have nothing on their digital record and I don't have the full recipts for the 3 services (I found all the receipts that I had apart from the most recent 37000 one as I am moving home and have misplaced it) They say that it is my duty to keep the digital record updated and that I have until my warranty runs out on Thursday at 12am to provide them with evidence of the services.

Does anyone have any ideas of how or why this may have happened or has anyone heard of problems with the Mazda 6 Diesel engine? I have found a recall for Mazda 6 diesel engines in the AA but it's for an RF diesel engine and I'm not sure if mine is that type. (Forgive my ineptitude at car knowledge.)

My warranty runs out on Thursday and I am not sure how to proceed as I believe that the engine has catastrophically failed due to a manufacturing defect that could potentially have put my and worse still, my daughter's life at risk. They are not willing to help because I can't find details of this final service.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Michael.

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Wed 26 May 2010 09:27
Mazda 6 TS 2.0 Diesel 2007 - catastrophic engine failure 41000 miles - LucyBC
I can answer on the legal issues but not those relating to the mechanical position.

If you car failed in a period when it was covered by warranty then in most cases the cover offered by warranty would apply. Hence if the vehicle failed last week and the warranty expires this Thursday then assuming the conditions of the warranty had been met the warranty would still apply as the faillure took place during the period when the vehicle was covered..

You need to put Mazda on formal notice of the vehicle failure but there can be no compulsion or deadline imposed for proof that the terms of the warranty had been met.

Under EU regulations, specifically the Block Exemption Regulation (BER) 1400/2002 which came into force in 2004 car manufacturers cannot use warranties to compel servicing to take place within thir authorised dealer network. However the service must be carried out following the manufacturer's guidelines and use replacement parts to the quality and specification required by the manufacturer. Assuming these guidelines were followed then whether the car was serviced within or without of the network in law should make no difference to the validity of the warranty - although this can have a significant effect on the market valueof the car. There are additional rules in respect of greatly extended warranties but they should not apply in this case.

That said you are also required to show compliance with the terms of the warranty for the warranty to apply. This means you need to show that the car had been serviced within the manufacturer's guidelines - so it is essential you canb show proof of the 37,000 mile service. If you cannot find the receipt then although the Thursday deadline is largely irrelevant you will need to show proof of the service before they will contemplate fixing the car.

In respect of Mazda's Digital Service Record (DSR) the intention was to create a central record of service history which eliminated this kind of problem. You cannot be held responsible for the first three services being recorded on it and the 25,000 mile service should have been recorded by the main dealer so the car should have some history.

I am however sceptical whether Mazda could make its warranty contingent on servicing being recorded within its DSR system providing the services could be shown to have taken place by some other means.

Thus if you wish Mazda to consider a warranty repair you will need to provide proof of all the services taking place. If it is lost you could try obtaining a duplicate - which may be available but it depends on the quality of the record keeping system for the firm undertaking the work.
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Thu 27 May 2010 04:01
Mazda 6 TS 2.0 Diesel 2007 - catastrophic engine failure 41000 miles - rtj70

Mazda have an electronic/computer log for services. Therefore all of the services (12500, 25000 and 37500) need to be logged with Mazda on their computer. If any are missing then the car might be considered unserviced??

If any of these are not logged... why are they not logged with Mazda? And if any are missing then goodbye warranty argument I am afraid.

As for being held responsible for the services being logged.... well you're not but if they are not logged then tough luck.... all services including your 25000 and 37500 history need to be on there as does the initial 12500 one too.

Best of luck. You are likely to need to pay for the total cost of repair or sc*** the car I am afraid. The electronic service history surely was brought in to make us service cars with Mazda.... I have a diesel Mazda6 BTW.

PS I assume LucyBC works for HJ?

Edited by rtj70 on 27/05/2010 at 04:03

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Thu 27 May 2010 08:23
Mazda 6 TS 2.0 Diesel 2007 - catastrophic engine failure 41000 miles - LucyBC

If any of these are not logged... why are they not logged with Mazda? And if any are missing then goodbye warranty argument I am afraid.

Under EU regulations you would need to show that the service had been completed (as I said) but the warranty would not be automatically voided because Mazda's system was not used or the services did not show up on their system.

The Mazda Digital Service Record (DSR) is a good idea but if VanillaSlice can show his car was serviced in line with the requirements of the warranty agreement then whether these services were recorded on Mazda's proprietary system would not make any difference and the warranty wouldhave to be honoured.

Making the warranty wholly contingent on the use of Mazda's DSR would almost certainly be deemed a breach of the EU's Block Exemption Regulation (BER) 1400/2002 and were Mazda to try to make it contingent (which they are not - they want to see receipts) they could potentially be prosecuted for doing so.

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Thu 27 May 2010 13:04
Mazda 6 TS 2.0 Diesel 2007 - catastrophic engine failure 41000 miles - Vanillaslice

Hi Lucy, I have provided them with all that I can. The first service occured with the first driver - the third I cannot get a duplicate as I had it serviced through the guy that I bought the car off and he is no longer reachable. Mazda are saying that the first service the car needed certain seals - I had them fitted at the second - so they will not honour it. can they do this?

My next question is regarding the fact that there was a recall for this vehicle in Jan for exactly the thing tha twent wrong - Mazda sent the info to the previous owner, he should have sent it back and then they should have tried to find me - this is what I was told by the service manager at the dealership.

Are they obliged to fix it now given that I did not receive notification of the engine recall?

Thanks for all your help,

Michael

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Thu 27 May 2010 13:41
Mazda 6 TS 2.0 Diesel 2007 - catastrophic engine failure 41000 miles - LucyBC

I would need to see the warranty documents and also know the circumstances of the recall. Are there any details online?

Can you also give me an indication of the total cost of repairs if this had to be settled outside the warranty (if you know)? It would also help to know if you have legal insurance which deals with consumer disputes - probably with your household policy or as a member of a trade body or association - not the usual motor accident legal expenses legal cover.

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Thu 27 May 2010 14:46
Mazda 6 TS 2.0 Diesel 2007 - catastrophic engine failure 41000 miles - Vanillaslice

This is the link to the recall page

http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/apps/recalls/searches/expand.asp?uniqueID=111252F950651C4780257522002EC130&freeText=Blank&tx=VOSA

Total cost of repairs - unsure of at the minute - service manager reckons a new engine- suggested £8000 - £9000

The only documents that I have re warranty are the ones that you can download on the page - Mazda keep refering me to the dealership who say that I should have them.

I need to check about the legal insurance with my financial adviser - can I ask what this would be for?

I'm sorry if this is not helpful I am amateurish at best with issues like this.

Michael

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Thu 27 May 2010 16:32
Mazda 6 TS 2.0 Diesel 2007 - catastrophic engine failure 41000 miles - LucyBC

Legal insurance is often sold with household contents or property insurance. Unlike motor legal expenses it actually works - but many people don't realise they have it. If you have any property insurance you need to check as it may be included and will probably cover a consumer dispute such as this.

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Thu 27 May 2010 18:22
Mazda 6 TS 2.0 Diesel 2007 - catastrophic engine failure 41000 miles - smokie

Just finished a similar dispute with Ford unsuccessfully - I lost the will to carry on, as I was on dodgy ground. I'd carelessly missed a service on a 57 plate Mondeo by 7k miles, and engineers tell me the grunchy noise I now have is bottom end failure. The car has just been taken away for a recon engine - I was fortunate enough to locate a bench engimne from Ford with equivalent of under 1k miles at a very reasonable price.

That doesn't help you much, but people I've spoken to during my battle have said that it is very difficult getting any good will out of car makers these days.

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Sun 20 Jun 2010 20:43
Mazda 6 TS 2.0 Diesel 2007 - catastrophic engine failure 41000 miles - cj1000

Hi it states on the mazda service sheet that the cars ecu must be updated, the injection reset must becarried out, the oil degredation reset (these can be checked by the mazda diagnosic computer) and the dsr record has been updated. it is possible for none franchise garages to carry out all these things the updates through the diag socket and the dsr web address is in the warrenty manuel they can easly access this if they cant be bothered thay have not performed the service as manufactures guide lines have they? So it 's up to mazda's warrenty department if they pay this or any claim (they may decide that a supplied invoice is ok ). so if you have a mazda car make sure the dsr system is updated a dealer should give you a print out when you collect the car a dealer can update the dsr record if they have forgot to when serviced they pay a charge

hope this info helps

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Tue 22 Jun 2010 20:48
Mazda 6 TS 2.0 Diesel 2007 - catastrophic engine failure 41000 miles - mike123mike

hi michael, im michael too. read my thread on my saab going bang. i think its same problems as yours feel free to mail me and i can advise as i have learnt lots in past few days.

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