OKAY!!! PROBLEM SOLVED!!!!

Apparently the 2002 Mazda Protege and the MP5 have problems with Faulty EGR Valves around 35,000 kms. this is what i did:

Removed aftermarket intake.
Re-installed Stock intake(with a few missing bolts and nuts.. oops)
Called mazda and got an appointment.
Went in and he showed me EXACTLY everythign he did.

Now.. Its aparently SUCH a problem that the part is BACKORDERED for about a month!!! So anyone with a 2002 Protege or MP5. BE AWARE!

Good News!! Covered by warrenty.. Just make SURE you remove all aftermarket parts. If you have something on they did not install it will VOID your warrenty. Even a NON-MAZDA Oil Filter can VOID the warrenty!

Other FUN information:

Apparently the 2002 Mazdas have problems with Corrosion on their RIMS. Complain to your service tech and you will most likely get them Referbished for free. As long as the corrosion is bad. Mine is HORRIBLE!!! So i am going to get that fixed too.

THE GREAT NEWS.

My service tech at my Mazda dealership, who has helped me out alot, is also going to reprogram the computer to get better performance.. for FREE!!! A buddy who paid $500 to get his computer reprogramed and he will do it for free!!! WHoohoo!!!

 

also they had a recall on the clutch. slippage i believe, my dad has a 02 miata and got his redone twice, i believe he said they have the same problem for 02 proteges.

thanks for the info!

 

They can try to void warranty but magnusson-moss saves us. They gotta prove that the aftermarket product caused the problem.

 

actually this is an area where I believe I have more experience than anyone else....suing Mazda!

Magnusson-Moss act isn't law. It won't do anything. sorry to say.

Here is all you need to know if you have a warranty dispute:

Did you sign an arbitration agreement? If yes, then you have no warranty ever. If no, then you may proceed to use a lawyer on retainer since the dealership/slash mazda will put you off for months in hopes that you'll give up or weaken. Even if you have no arbitration agreement you will never get MNAO into a courtroom. They stall forever. They never return calls, they never even put my warranty denial in writting.

The final verdict: Don't buy a mazda product if you're counting on a warranty because you don't have one. Ever.

 

"what's a warranty?"

 

From what the Mechanic told me, if there is no Mazda oil filter on the car, that is a void in warranty.
Apparently, Car Dealerships are loosing money because consumers take their cars to other places for oil changes and repairs, a HUGE money market they fail to compete in.
From what i have heard, some dealers are installing(or looking into) computer chips that will inform you of an opil change and if you do not get the oilchange at the dealership, they car will not start. Meaning the dealership will have to turn something off.
Now i think this is BS and alot of talk, but i have heard it from several people including a GM dealer in my area...

Be all and end all.. If you get a problem, install your origional parts, bring it in. and they will ikely fix it. Suprisingly my Mechanic a the dealership is awesome! Got a WHOLE lot more fixed for free cause he "Informed" me of a few loop holes.

And thanks for the info on the transmission!! My bro have a 2002 Protege.. and his keeps poppin out of third and the clutch SUCKS!!!!

 

they cant force you to change oil at a mazda house.

we have never voided a warranty over a damn oil filter!

we have voided a warranty on some retard who 'had a weird ticking noise' in his miata. well, ken found the 10-lb. bottle and lines still hooked up and found the broken valves.

 

AHA! Dealership man...

 

haha BUSTED!

I am just going over what i was told BY THE DEALERSHIP service people. The mechanic that i delt with told me that he didnt care, but that they CAN and HAVE voided warrenty because you did not have a Mazda Oil Filter. I dont see the difference as long as it is the proper filter installed. But i was just voicing what i was told.

Car went in today to get its 24,000 check up. good times. also getting rims refirbished due to LARGE amounts of corrosion, and the engine mounts lubed cause they squeaking like a good thing.

 

Don't most dealerships overlook what's on the car, and just perform the work? I mean, the dealerships get paid by Mazda Corporate to do the work. It might be less than the hourly rate for non-warranty items, but it is billable hours for the dealership nonetheless. If the dealership voids the warranty, what gaurantee do they have that you'll come back to have work done there instead of going to the cheaper independent shop down the street or doing it yourself with aftermarket parts?

When I took my Neon into the Dodge dealership for a warranty item, the mechanic pointed out my cold air intake, cat back exhaust, and other mods to his buddies at the shop, remarked that it was "cool", fixed the warranty problem, and sent me on my way with a smile and a handshake. He wasn't about to drive me away just because I had an intake on my car... now if I brought it in with a bent con rod due to water ingestion and asked that he fix it under warranty, he might have a different opinion of the CAI... and could you blame him?

 

mazda TRIED to deny my warranty based on the tread depth of my tires at 3200 miles. They said I had been spinning my tires and that was abuse. Mazda will not warranty abused vehicles.

Each dealership is different. I still stand by what I've said. Never buy a mazda and expect to actually have a warranty.

 

to that i agree.

hence, i say if you like mazdas and like going to get them worked on you need to do several things:

1: make sure your car is always in good working order so that the shop never has to see it.

2: TAKE YOUR MODS OFF! i am a little different, but the Average Joe needs to de-mod the car.

3: always get in tight with the techs. we have several repeat customers who always come in and bullshit with the mazda techs while they get light maint./oil changes done. one of these customers got his transmission warrantied with the car brought in on a flatbed, numbers on his window, drag radial tires up front and a halfshaft hanging out the side of the case... us techs like bud light and free food! since i am a lincoln/mercury tech i dont get the free food and beer... sadly enough... but you guys are always welcome to hook it up

 

well, heres a fact of life: all ford motor company vehicles, be it lincoln/mercury/mazda/jag all use a warranty trend report to track the labor hours and parts sold per dealership. the bitch of it is that they dont go by a certain number of hours per area (AC, electrical, heavy line, front end, etc.), they COMPARE you to other local dealerships! so if some local dealership is only averaging 1.5 hours per AC work, and your dealership averages 2.0, it throws up a red flag. big time. ford comes down hardcore, make no mistake. they audit dealerships all the time, and wont stop until they find at least about $30,000 worth of overflags/flat-rated work. yes, the money DOES coe out of the owner's *******.

so if you take your mazda to a shop thats being warranty-watched like a hawk, they will be SUPER ****. they can't afford a warranty rep asking about the car. blown engines, totalled trannies, PCM failures... these are red flags. a dealership with a record of overcharging **** will try to keep heat away since if mazda does want to be ********, they can rape the dealer over little ****. ive seen it done, it isn't pretty, alot of people usually get fired over audits.

 

I had my egr valve replaced last year under warranty. Having after markert parts will not void your warranty until it is found to be responsible for some fault or failure. I had after market stuff in my car when I it was taken in.

As for your computer getting reprogrammed, are you sure it's not the flash for the cold weather rattle? If so, that's also under warranty and is free.

 

DonSVO -

FoMoCo has to afford those high incentives, 0% financing, etc somehow - seems like they are trying to take it out of your back pocket. Hardly fair.

Here's a novel way to save on warranty, instead of underpaying hard working techs for their work - put the cars together better in the first place! Less warranty repairs would be necessary, and less up front sales incentives would be needed to move the metal in the first place. Just ask Toyota how much they have to spend on incentives to move a Camry, and once its sold, how often it comes back to the shop with a ML.