I purchased the car new in July, 2010 from Southern States Mazda in Raleigh, NC and immediately complained to the dealer that the air conditioner WAS NOT cooling sufficiently. For months the service writer told me that it was nothing wrong with the car and that small cars did not cool like their larger counter parts. He told me the same about a defective gas cap. I sent several emails to that dealership about the service writer's way of handling my concern but they never contacted me, so I stopped going there because of lack of confidence in them.
So I started going to another Mazda Dealership, Sport Durst in Durham. NC. At 11,000 miles they put die in the system and added freon to system. It operated perfectly. During this time, my wife of 43 years got deathly sick with Lupus and Scleroderma, so my attention turned away from the automobile. About a year after she died (12-23-2011) I started driving this MX-5 several days a week and never thought about the air conditioner unless it was a hot day I was driving.
The car now has 40,000 miles. One very hot day in April, 2014 I went to Sport Durst Mazda to check the air again and the die revealed a pin hole in the high side line. They said warranty would not cover it since I had waited so long for repair but they could fix it for $600.
WHAT I WANT: I feel Mazda warranty should repair the problem since I had reported it to both Mazda dealerships when the car was well under 36,000 miles and under 3 years old. When I had free time to have the repair, neither dealership wanted to take it in and make the repair.
Thank you.
Update from Apr 30, 2014: UPDATE:
A/O Wednesday, 04-30-2014:
Hi. I received a phone call from Sport Durst Automotive, a Mazda dealership in Durham, NC, yesterday Tuesday, 04-29-2014. The Service Desk representative, Jennifer, said that they had received an order from Mazda USA to repair my car’s Air Conditioner as a warranty item. I made an appointment to take it in for repair on Friday, 05-02-2014. I really appreciate Mazda's quick response, and especially their taking the initially to handle the repair as a warranty matter. Thank you Mazda USA. I will report back to you how it goes at the Mazda dealership.
Update from May 19, 2014:
PROBLEM:
Okay, the Sport Durst AC repairs did not last a week (Saturday May 3 thru Monday May 5, 2014), so I made another appointment with Jennifer Rimele at Sport Durst for Friday, May 16, 2014 to take it back in. Seems to me that the Freon leaked out over the weekend.
Friday, 05-16-2014, Jennifer Rimele at Sport Durst said that a rubber grommet on the high-line side apparently had a crack in it from the factory. They replaced the grommet and thought it would fix the problem. Asked me to drive it and let them know if the problem recurred (Repair work # 2).
Today is Monday, May 19, 2014, and I drove the car to work. It is a cool day (temperature started out in the 40s and by lunchtime it was 72 degrees), so I am not sure the repairs are successful. The temperature is supposed to go up as the week progresses. I will keep you informed.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
I purchased the car new in July, 2010 from Southern States Mazda in Raleigh, NC and immediately complained to the dealer that the air conditioner WAS NOT cooling sufficiently. For months the service writer told me that it was nothing wrong with the car and that small cars did not cool like their larger counter parts. He told me the same about a defective gas cap. I sent several emails to that dealership about the service writer's way of handling my concern but they never contacted me, so I stopped going there because of lack of confidence in them.
So I started going to another Mazda Dealership, Sport Durst in Durham. NC. At 11,000 miles they put die in the system and added freon to system. It operated perfectly. During this time, my wife of 43 years got deathly sick with Lupus and Scleroderma, so my attention turned away from the automobile. About a year after she died (12-23-2011) I started driving this MX-5 several days a week and never thought about the air conditioner unless it was a hot day I was driving.
The car now has 40,000 miles. One very hot day in April, 2014 I went to Sport Durst Mazda to check the air again and the die revealed a pin hole in the high side line. They said warranty would not cover it since I had waited so long for repair but they could fix it for $600. WHAT I WANT: I feel Mazda warranty should repair the problem since I had reported it to both Mazda dealerships when the car was well under 36,000 miles and under 3 years old. When I had free time to have the repair, neither dealership wanted to take it in and make the repair. Thank you.
Update from Apr 30, 2014: UPDATE: A/O Wednesday, 04-30-2014: Hi. I received a phone call from Sport Durst Automotive, a Mazda dealership in Durham, NC, yesterday Tuesday, 04-29-2014. The Service Desk representative, Jennifer, said that they had received an order from Mazda USA to repair my car’s Air Conditioner as a warranty item. I made an appointment to take it in for repair on Friday, 05-02-2014. I really appreciate Mazda's quick response, and especially their taking the initially to handle the repair as a warranty matter. Thank you Mazda USA. I will report back to you how it goes at the Mazda dealership.
Update from May 19, 2014: PROBLEM: Okay, the Sport Durst AC repairs did not last a week (Saturday May 3 thru Monday May 5, 2014), so I made another appointment with Jennifer Rimele at Sport Durst for Friday, May 16, 2014 to take it back in. Seems to me that the Freon leaked out over the weekend. Friday, 05-16-2014, Jennifer Rimele at Sport Durst said that a rubber grommet on the high-line side apparently had a crack in it from the factory. They replaced the grommet and thought it would fix the problem. Asked me to drive it and let them know if the problem recurred (Repair work # 2). Today is Monday, May 19, 2014, and I drove the car to work. It is a cool day (temperature started out in the 40s and by lunchtime it was 72 degrees), so I am not sure the repairs are successful. The temperature is supposed to go up as the week progresses. I will keep you informed.
- hlm, Durham, NC, US