It was a record heat setting day with temps of 103 degrees on a Friday afternoon. I had just picked up my mom ( a disabled heart patient), and had my three small children (including an infant) in the car. We drove several blocks and as we drove the car started shaking and shuddering, the oil can, battery, and wrench warning lights lit up. The car seemed to lose power and no response to pressing gas pedal upon losing acceleration. Car was ON the entire time. Battery was not dead. Restarted car twice, but could not get it moving. Same symptoms. So here we are stuck on the side of a road, with multiple people in the car who are at high risk of injury or death due to excessive HEAT.
I called service tow truck, who stood us up. I called a neighbor to come pick up at least my mother (who was pale, sweating, dizzy, and weak) and the infant (who was sweating and getting overheated) to prevent them from becoming medical emergencies!
Once again, calling Mazda service-- "Gee, that is really unusual. We aren't sure why that happened". At first they persisted in thinking it was a dead battery. NO. I can start the car successfully, the battery is not dead. I checked all fluids under the hood, everything was fine. I had to leave the car by the side of the road because the tow truck was "too busy" to come get it. Eventually it was dropped off to service center the next day. By 2 pm (service center close time) they called me to tell me they "THINK" it "MIGHT" be the THROTTLE CONTROL MODULE. If it is not that, they will try something else (BCM). Here we go again. What a surprise-- they have to order the part and it won't arrive until WEDNESDAY. No idea how long it will take to fix it.
This is now the third time I have been stranded by this three year old vehicle with only 65,000 miles on it. I am a single mom who works full time and has a disabled parent. I can not afford the risk of being stranded like this, and yet it keeps happening.
This was my fourth "YOU MIGHT BE DRIVING A LEMON" incident with this same vehicle.
I will never buy another Mazda again. There should not be this many expensive problems with a vehicle of this age and mileage!
Update from Jul 27, 2017: As of today, my vehicle has 47,000 miles, not 65,000 miles. This repair was just completed yesterday (7/26/2017).
They didn't give a crap about how dirty the driver seat got. The steering wheel, side door handle area and dash were full of grime and just awful. I realize my car wasn't the most spic and span thing on the road the day it BROKE DOWN and left us STRANDED, but they didn't even bother to cover it with a paper floor mat while working on it. Just awesome. And what is even better, I found a scratch on the bumper this morning. I'm sure they will blame the tow truck company, which is possible--- but it is still the service provider they contract with under their service plan and warranty. I guess once they have your money from a sale they can treat you and your vehicle any kind of way and it doesn't matter.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
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It was a record heat setting day with temps of 103 degrees on a Friday afternoon. I had just picked up my mom ( a disabled heart patient), and had my three small children (including an infant) in the car. We drove several blocks and as we drove the car started shaking and shuddering, the oil can, battery, and wrench warning lights lit up. The car seemed to lose power and no response to pressing gas pedal upon losing acceleration. Car was ON the entire time. Battery was not dead. Restarted car twice, but could not get it moving. Same symptoms. So here we are stuck on the side of a road, with multiple people in the car who are at high risk of injury or death due to excessive HEAT.
I called service tow truck, who stood us up. I called a neighbor to come pick up at least my mother (who was pale, sweating, dizzy, and weak) and the infant (who was sweating and getting overheated) to prevent them from becoming medical emergencies!
Once again, calling Mazda service-- "Gee, that is really unusual. We aren't sure why that happened". At first they persisted in thinking it was a dead battery. NO. I can start the car successfully, the battery is not dead. I checked all fluids under the hood, everything was fine. I had to leave the car by the side of the road because the tow truck was "too busy" to come get it. Eventually it was dropped off to service center the next day. By 2 pm (service center close time) they called me to tell me they "THINK" it "MIGHT" be the THROTTLE CONTROL MODULE. If it is not that, they will try something else (BCM). Here we go again. What a surprise-- they have to order the part and it won't arrive until WEDNESDAY. No idea how long it will take to fix it.
This is now the third time I have been stranded by this three year old vehicle with only 65,000 miles on it. I am a single mom who works full time and has a disabled parent. I can not afford the risk of being stranded like this, and yet it keeps happening.
This was my fourth "YOU MIGHT BE DRIVING A LEMON" incident with this same vehicle.
I will never buy another Mazda again. There should not be this many expensive problems with a vehicle of this age and mileage!
Update from Jul 27, 2017: As of today, my vehicle has 47,000 miles, not 65,000 miles. This repair was just completed yesterday (7/26/2017).
They didn't give a crap about how dirty the driver seat got. The steering wheel, side door handle area and dash were full of grime and just awful. I realize my car wasn't the most spic and span thing on the road the day it BROKE DOWN and left us STRANDED, but they didn't even bother to cover it with a paper floor mat while working on it. Just awesome. And what is even better, I found a scratch on the bumper this morning. I'm sure they will blame the tow truck company, which is possible--- but it is still the service provider they contract with under their service plan and warranty. I guess once they have your money from a sale they can treat you and your vehicle any kind of way and it doesn't matter.
- Amy G., Chesapeake, US