Nate213 Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 So this morning my wife calls me with car problems. Didnt sound too serious, so I told her to finish the 2 miles to her work and call the dealership. The dealership wasnt much help on the phone diagnosing potential problems, so I hired a flatbed to drive the car down to them. They called my wife back and asked for all of the oil change records. Oh crap. Apparently the engine is blown on her 2007 car with 38,000 miles. I can find all but one oil change record, so the warranty is void. New engine costs $9k. I come home and do some research only to find this is an extremely common problem on her year and model. A faulty VVT causes the timing chain to fail prematurely. Has nothing to do with oil changes, but many of the dealerships are claiming sludge due to lack of maintenance. Here is the rest of the deal. Every time we have had the car in for oil changes they have reported sludge. Even when we change the oil at 3000 miles, (verses the manufactures recommendation of 7500 miles.) We have had the engine "flushed" a couple of times because of the reported sludge. It is pretty clear that I'm outta luck and the warranty or extended service plan wont cover the work. (flame) The really bad part is I have a truck on order that is supposed to be delivered next week. Now on top of the new truck purchase, I need to purchase another vehicle or fork out $9k to have her car fixed. Im torn between investing the $9k into a replacement or trying to fix that pile of garbage. Fortunately the car is paid off, so I wont have yard art that Im making payments on. Still though, we can afford one vehicle payment, but not two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoobtoSalt Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 Get in touch with the manufacture of the car. I had to deal with toyota a few years back nothing to this extreme but the dealership had to listen after that. They typically have an area customer service manager that works for the car manufacture vs the dealership. Wish you luck! Otherwise check at other dealerships as well. Just because this one won't help you doesn't mean that another dealer doesn't want the money from the car manufacture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mytshall Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 Oil Change? Did you do your own oil changes? Most places like jiffy lube keep records of everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 I'd say it's worth a hundred bucks or so for a consultation with a lawyer. You might find that all your oil change records + letter from lawyer = a very, very good deal on a new motor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 Sorry that sucks. When I'm stressed I just go to my "happy fish and coral world". If I were you I would do the following: 1. Check with the place you have the oil changed and see if they have copies of your oil change records. 2. Report the dealership to the Better Business Bureau. Sometimes they will try to work it out with you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate213 Posted April 23, 2010 Author Share Posted April 23, 2010 Get in touch with the manufacture of the car. I had to deal with toyota a few years back nothing to this extreme but the dealership had to listen after that. They typically have an area customer service manager that works for the car manufacture vs the dealership. Wish you luck! Otherwise check at other dealerships as well. Just because this one won't help you doesn't mean that another dealer doesn't want the money from the car manufacture. From all of the complaints to the BBB and NHTSA it is pretty apparent that the manufacture does not want to acknowledge the problem and is doing very little to resolve these cases. They are even denying claims to people that have all their records. There are a couple of thousand complaints and several groups trying to assemble a class-action lawsuit. Im still going to try, but it looks like many have gone there before me and very few have succeeded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danik Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 what kind of car is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate213 Posted April 23, 2010 Author Share Posted April 23, 2010 Did you do your own oil changes? Most places like jiffy lube keep records of everything. We have done several at Jiffy Lube and several at the dealership. My wife called Jiffy Lube today and they were extremely helpful, but they only keep records for one year. The one I cant dig up or verify was one that I did with a buddy. I even looked through all my bank statements, but cant find the receipt. Very expensive lesson learned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate213 Posted April 23, 2010 Author Share Posted April 23, 2010 what kind of car is it? Mazda CX-7. Our previous Mazda was a great car. This one has serious issues. The forums are jammed with stories of blown engines, turbos, AC compressors causing fires, and more. Many have their engines replaced at 30k to have them blow up again later. This thing has been bad luck from the start. We just got it back a few months ago from the auto- body shop. An uninsured motorist hit it while it was parked at my wife's work and caused over $10k in damage. This was 2 weeks after I adjusted the collision deductible to $1k from $250 to save on my insurance rate. I didn't realize that an uninsured accident comes out of collision and not comprehensive. Then the autobody shop couldnt get parts from Mazda, so my rental car insurance ran out. DOH! So now we have a very nicely rebuilt car that doesnt run. I will never be able to sell the darn thing with 2 strikes on the Carfax. Im thinking of launching it off a cliff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nwcoralfarm Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 I wish I had some useful advice but I don't. I hope it works out alright for you though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef165 Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 Sorry man! I hate car trouble! It is the one thing that I wish I didn't need but it is a nesesity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
undrtkr_00 Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 Man, that is a bad day! Buyer beware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racefan Posted April 24, 2010 Share Posted April 24, 2010 Wow that stinks! Missing ONE oil change record should not void your warranty. Even if you had missed one oil change there is no way sludge can build up that fast. I'd suggest a wiring fire under the dash that somehow spread to the rest of the car during the night, but the insurance company would probably refuse that claim(laugh) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted April 24, 2010 Share Posted April 24, 2010 Nate, just remember, cars are a LOT of fun to shoot up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef165 Posted April 24, 2010 Share Posted April 24, 2010 Hey ya, tow it to the mountains, call it in stolen then shoot it up and burn it to the ground then leave it for someone to find and report. Insurance buys you a new car. Disclamer, No I have not done that and it is illegal so do at your own risk. Although not any more wrong than refusing to honner a warenty just because of one misplaced oilchange recipt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R-3 Posted April 24, 2010 Share Posted April 24, 2010 Read your manual and see what the matinence that is required by the manufacturer. When I bought my 98 dodge I was suprised to read that Chrysler recommends oil change every 7500 miles not 3000 like we all do. Check it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R-3 Posted April 24, 2010 Share Posted April 24, 2010 Ehh not the case every 3000. Heres the pdf. http://www.mazdausa.com/MusaWeb/pdf/manuals/2007CX7OM.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate213 Posted April 24, 2010 Author Share Posted April 24, 2010 Read your manual and see what the matinence that is required by the manufacturer. When I bought my 98 dodge I was suprised to read that Chrysler recommends oil change every 7500 miles not 3000 like we all do. Check it out. Our manual shows 7500 miles, but we typically got it changed more often that that. The first oil change was at 3800 miles and the 2nd at 7700 miles. They told us there was sludge in the engine at 7700 miles? So I change the oil at half the recommended interval and then I get sludge. I got better news though today. My truck came in, so I can pick it up tomorrow. That at least gets us back to two vehicles until I can figure out what to do with the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate213 Posted April 24, 2010 Author Share Posted April 24, 2010 Nate' date=' just remember, cars are a LOT of fun to shoot up.[/quote'] Yah I know. I have a brand new Remington 700 SPS Tactical .308 in the gun safe that my wife bought me for Christmas. I havent shot it yet, maybe this is a good opportunity to break it in. (naughty) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted April 24, 2010 Share Posted April 24, 2010 See, there's a plus to everything LOL Although, it is more fun with a Gatling, I was watching something on history channel, and there's actually groups, clubs whatever you wanna call em, like PNWMAS, but for people who own original, hand crank, Gatlings, and they take em out and shoot em at old cars, its friggin awesome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate213 Posted April 24, 2010 Author Share Posted April 24, 2010 See, there's a plus to everything LOL Although, it is more fun with a Gatling, I was watching something on history channel, and there's actually groups, clubs whatever you wanna call em, like PNWMAS, but for people who own original, hand crank, Gatlings, and they take em out and shoot em at old cars, its friggin awesome That is way cool. Have you seen the Dillon mingun video shot from the helicopter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moovinfast Posted April 24, 2010 Share Posted April 24, 2010 What was the mileage from the one before and after the "missed" one? If its less that 7500 miles it shouldn't matter right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate213 Posted April 24, 2010 Author Share Posted April 24, 2010 What was the mileage from the one before and after the "missed" one? If its less that 7500 miles it shouldn't matter right? The mileage before and after the missed one was nearly 10K, so it was over the 7500. That is the problem. The way the dealership has treated us so far, I doubt they would have honored it anyway. I also found out yesterday that because we waived the 30k service, that voided my warranty as well. The 30k service included: an oil change, changing the cabin air filter, changing the power steering fluid, and inspecting the brakes and fuel system. We had in at 29,800 when they tried to sell my wife on the service. She was going to get it all done until they gave her the price...$985. Crooks.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racefan Posted April 24, 2010 Share Posted April 24, 2010 Nate, I'd love to know what dealer. If you don't want to post it publicly could you PM me? Just wondering if it's one of our local dealers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate213 Posted April 24, 2010 Author Share Posted April 24, 2010 Nate' date=' I'd love to know what dealer. If you don't want to post it publicly could you PM me? Just wondering if it's one of our local dealers.[/quote'] Mike. I sent you a PM. Not a local dealer, which is half the problem. I bought my truck locally though, so Im hoping I get better service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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