Just venting

[rddmxmeth10]

So about a month ago I heard a ticking, clicking type of sound coming from my motor ('07 Mazda 3 with 85,xxx miles). I get home and check the oil. Nothing on the dip stick. I couldn't believe my eyes. I don't have any leaks, no smoke coming from the exhaust, it just burnt off which led me to believe most likely the rings are bad. Well, good thing I purchased the extended warranty with the car to 100k. So I bring my car back to the dealship where I purchased the car from and I receive a loaner car. A week and a half later, the service manager calls me and says the warranty company needs to come look at the motor and hear it run. He tells me that he took the valve covers off and the engine is clean enough to eat off of and that the motor looks like it has 20k on it. Great. A few days later he calls and says I need to produce oil change receipts for every oil change I have done. Well, I change my oil every 4,000 miles with Mobil1 Synthetic on my own. A little dilemma, but $100 and a friend with a repair center and I have all my receipts. I give them to the service manager and he says he will call the warranty company. Friday I call him and he says that he broke down the motor and is again watiting on the warranty company. I was a little skeptical that he was bsing me so I took a ride over. I get to my car and all my doors are unlocked which is what first pissed me off because I could have been anyone just walking up to my car and could take anything I wanted. So I start thinking, if my car is outside, they must have moved it. So I pop the hood, the motor is completely intact. Now I don't care if you havn't done anything to the car, but don't lie to me and tell me your doing things that you havn't. What kind of service is that? Just lie to the customers? Also, the manager starts to tell me that if the motor needs replacing, the warranty company replaces it with a junk yard motor....WHAT?!? I paid $2,500 for junk yard parts?? Eff that! I am so angry I just needed to get it out..Thanks guys.

-Steve

 

[master detailer]

all that time and they didnt do any thing to it. Get it out of there and call a lawyer to help you.

 

[rfinkle2]

OP where do you live?

 

[Y2KSVT]

Been there, done that. Back in 2000, I bought a brand new 2000 Ford Contour SVT. I paid I think $1,800 for an extended warranty, but I was young (18) and naive at the time and didn't realize that not all extended warranties were equal. It wasn't a manufacturer's warranty, which is the same case for you. At a mere 52k miles, my 2.5L V6 let go. One of the Ford techs pulled the motor apart and found that a bearing went out. I ran nothing but Mobil 1 full synthetic since the second oil change, and always did the changes myself every 3k miles. When the warranty company came out, they even told the Ford techs it was one of the cleanest engines they'd seen, but they needed documentation of my oil changes. Since I couldn't provide them, I was stuck. So a few months later, I upgraded to a 3.0L V6 and did a full engine swap and a couple thousand more dollars worth of upgrades. It sucked, but I ended up with a pretty mean motor after that!

Good luck dealing with the aftermarket warranty company. Take a look at the paperwork you signed. Sure enough, mine said in fine print that I had to provide service receipts if there was any catastrophic failure of any warrantied parts.

On a related note, I don't buy into any warranties. With automotive warranties (even factory), they can reject any claim you have if you don't follow the service requirements they outline in your owner's manual. At those intervals, you'll have to spend $500 - $600 every few months. No thanks!!

Mark

 

[CrownKote]

That is the life of dealers and extended war companies... I worked for an indy shop that did work on ext wars and they had the problem all of the time with the war company saying to tear this down and that down then when all said and done the things were rairly covered...

As far as the "junk yard" parts... You are not legally entitled to a new motor... you are however entitled to a motor of similar mileage... Most of the places that used motors are gotten through will give a 10k war on them and it is up to the shop to inspect and verify that the motor is good... You can't expect that you are going to get a brand new motor in a car that has 80+k miles because of some anomily... I bought a brand new Dodge Ram a few years back and the motor gave out at 25k... They replaced it with a like mileage motor and I got rid of the truck...

I do get the fact that this is very frustrating and honestly the stealership should not have lied and should have cracked the motor open... Those are in fact grounds for legal action!... On your side you did play a slide of hand though also... I am one who does maintenance my own vehicles but I do keep all the receipts for all the things I do to them as well....

Good luck in getting this all resolved...

 

[Jaretr1]

Just a crappy situation. I also do my own maintenance, and while I could provide receipts that I have purchased Mobil 1 from wallyworld routinely, does that prove I used the oil in my car? I log everything I do on the Acura owners website, and keep my fingers crossed I won't have any problems. So far, my car has never seen the dealership in 5 years.

Working in an auto repair facility, it is rare for a well maintained engine to have catastrophic failure under normal driving. Routine oil changes especially with synthetic oil greatly adds to the chance a motor will last a long trouble free life.

 

[Y2KSVT]

I tried to verify my oil changes with receipts of Mobil 1 oil purchases, but they needed to see receipts that the oil was professionally changed. 'WTF' I said!! So I guess I'm better off taking the car to Grease Monkey or Jiffy Lube and HOPING they do the work right than to do it myself, knowing everything will be to spec.

Mark

 

[BorisC]

Don't want to add to your frustration but did the dealer mention that until the repair is approved by the warranty company, you would be responsible for any labor charges up until that point if it's not approved for some reason? But if they haven't done anything what are they going to charge for?

Also, the manager starts to tell me that if the motor needs replacing, the warranty company replaces it with a junk yard motor....WHAT?!?

Btw since the mgr said "if" it needs an engine & they are supposedly waiting for the inspector to look at your car, what are they going to inspect, did they give you a diagnosis of the problem?

 

[Y2KSVT]

Very good point, BorisC! I should have noted that I was responsible for Ford's tear-down of the original motor. Because I had worked for that particular dealership year or so prior to the engine going south, they cut that bill in half for me. It would have been ~$750 for the tear-down itself.

While you're at it, check the policy on the loaner vehicle you have. Was the warranty company going to reimburse you if the claim was in your favor? If so, and you're paying out of pocket, you probably won't get reimbursed. My dealership gave me a free loaner for the entire time I needed it, due to a prior working relationship I had. I can't speak for the OP's situation.

Mark

 

[JSMet]

Sorry for your misfortune. I am not surprised with any type of double dealing from car dealers, they get you coming and going. You can't win with them, you can't even break even.

 

[Jaretr1]

After reading this, I checked my Acura warranty book. It states if a situation arose that I needed to provide receipts for maintenance, if I did the maintenance myself, I could write a statement with the maintenance items and provide corresponding receipts for parts. I think all warranties should probably read similar.

 

[Ted S.]

The majority of the time, extended warranties are a scam.:xyxthumbs:

 

[Flash Gordon]

So about a month ago I heard a ticking, clicking type of sound coming from my motor ('07 Mazda 3 with 85,xxx miles). I get home and check the oil. Nothing on the dip stick. I couldn't believe my eyes. I don't have any leaks, no smoke coming from the exhaust, it just burnt off which led me to believe most likely the rings are bad. Well, good thing I purchased the extended warranty with the car to 100k. So I bring my car back to the dealship where I purchased the car from and I receive a loaner car. A week and a half later, the service manager calls me and says the warranty company needs to come look at the motor and hear it run. He tells me that he took the valve covers off and the engine is clean enough to eat off of and that the motor looks like it has 20k on it. Great. A few days later he calls and says I need to produce oil change receipts for every oil change I have done. Well, I change my oil every 4,000 miles with Mobil1 Synthetic on my own. A little dilemma, but $100 and a friend with a repair center and I have all my receipts. I give them to the service manager and he says he will call the warranty company. Friday I call him and he says that he broke down the motor and is again watiting on the warranty company. I was a little skeptical that he was bsing me so I took a ride over. I get to my car and all my doors are unlocked which is what first pissed me off because I could have been anyone just walking up to my car and could take anything I wanted. So I start thinking, if my car is outside, they must have moved it. So I pop the hood, the motor is completely intact. Now I don't care if you havn't done anything to the car, but don't lie to me and tell me your doing things that you havn't. What kind of service is that? Just lie to the customers? Also, the manager starts to tell me that if the motor needs replacing, the warranty company replaces it with a junk yard motor....WHAT?!? I paid $2,500 for junk yard parts?? Eff that! I am so angry I just needed to get it out..Thanks guys.

-Steve

Contact the district manager

 

[yakky]

I tried to verify my oil changes with receipts of Mobil 1 oil purchases, but they needed to see receipts that the oil was professionally changed. 'WTF' I said!! So I guess I'm better off taking the car to Grease Monkey or Jiffy Lube and HOPING they do the work right than to do it myself, knowing everything will be to spec.

Mark

Stand your ground on that one, if you have receipts and you sign a statement, you should be good. The fact that a "pro" did the oil changes means nothing, lots of shady places claim to change the oil when in fact they just move the car over. I knew a friend that worked at a place that PAINTED oil filters to make it look like they changed them.

 

[rddmxmeth10]

OP where do you live?

Smithtown, NY

That is the life of dealers and extended war companies... I worked for an indy shop that did work on ext wars and they had the problem all of the time with the war company saying to tear this down and that down then when all said and done the things were rairly covered...

As far as the "junk yard" parts... You are not legally entitled to a new motor... you are however entitled to a motor of similar mileage... Most of the places that used motors are gotten through will give a 10k war on them and it is up to the shop to inspect and verify that the motor is good... You can't expect that you are going to get a brand new motor in a car that has 80+k miles because of some anomily... I bought a brand new Dodge Ram a few years back and the motor gave out at 25k... They replaced it with a like mileage motor and I got rid of the truck...

I do get the fact that this is very frustrating and honestly the stealership should not have lied and should have cracked the motor open... Those are in fact grounds for legal action!... On your side you did play a slide of hand though also... I am one who does maintenance my own vehicles but I do keep all the receipts for all the things I do to them as well....

Good luck in getting this all resolved...

When I purchased the car, my father wanted me to buy a Hyundai Elantra because of the 100k warranty, so instead I got the Mazda with an extended warranty. At this time I was under the impression that it was just as good as a factory warranty. (It was my first time buying a new car) And if I didn't have my friend give me the receipts, I would be up a creek with no paddle. I had no choice.

I tried to verify my oil changes with receipts of Mobil 1 oil purchases, but they needed to see receipts that the oil was professionally changed. 'WTF' I said!! So I guess I'm better off taking the car to Grease Monkey or Jiffy Lube and HOPING they do the work right than to do it myself, knowing everything will be to spec.

Mark

Mark, I agree. What makes the employees at Shitty Lube so qualified? I took my car there once, and after they did the oil change, I couldn't get the shroud off again, until I had an accident and it ripped off (Long story).

Don't want to add to your frustration but did the dealer mention that until the repair is approved by the warranty company, you would be responsible for any labor charges up until that point if it's not approved for some reason? But if they haven't done anything what are they going to charge for?


Btw since the mgr said "if" it needs an engine & they are supposedly waiting for the inspector to look at your car, what are they going to inspect, did they give you a diagnosis of the problem?

Yes they did tell me that everything not covered under warranty I would have to pay for, or they would leave the motor as is and give me my car back. If I have to pay for anything, I will take them to court.

Very good point, BorisC! I should have noted that I was responsible for Ford's tear-down of the original motor. Because I had worked for that particular dealership year or so prior to the engine going south, they cut that bill in half for me. It would have been ~$750 for the tear-down itself.

While you're at it, check the policy on the loaner vehicle you have. Was the warranty company going to reimburse you if the claim was in your favor? If so, and you're paying out of pocket, you probably won't get reimbursed. My dealership gave me a free loaner for the entire time I needed it, due to a prior working relationship I had. I can't speak for the OP's situation.


Mark

The loaner vehicle I have is just a service loaner. It's a new Sonata that they lend out to Hyundai owners when there cars come in for service. The manager gave it to me because my brother does there computer work. And that adds to the frustration because I figured one hand washes the other, guess not :bash:

The majority of the time, extended warranties are a scam.:xyxthumbs:

Slowly starting to realize this Ted.

Stand your ground on that one, if you have receipts and you sign a statement, you should be good. The fact that a "pro" did the oil changes means nothing, lots of shady places claim to change the oil when in fact they just move the car over. I knew a friend that worked at a place that PAINTED oil filters to make it look like they changed them.

That is horrible. When I did get the oil changed once at shitty lube, I went underneath the car with them and made sure they did what they were supposed to.

Guys thanks so much for the input I really appreciate it. I called the stealership yesterday and he told me that I blew a bearing. I confronted him about why he lied and he said that he dropped the oil pan so the company can see it. I said to him that I went there on Saturday and everything was intact and it looked like no one touched the motor. He became a studdering stanley and had nothing to say. So I called the warranty company, and they told me that they have nothing notated onto my account prior to today (yesterday). But, they did say that they were getting out there to look at the car yesterday because the stealership called in the morning. Well, it is now the next day and still no word. I spoke to the GM who when I bought my car, was the salesmen. He said the normal stuff, "'I'm so sorry, Ill talk to him blah blah blah". I mean this is absolutely rediculous now. It shouldnt take over a month to repair something. But hey, I got there loaner car with 679 miles, now it has over 3,200 (Think I drive alot? :xyxthumbs