hey guys, i have a fuel leak, im going to be fixing it today hopefully. Its just under the UIM.

My car is from japan, and i noticed, that it hasnt had the re-call on the fuel lines. So this fuel leak i belive is because of the old style clamps they used before they recalled.

I took my car into a mazda dealership, and they told me cause my car is from Japan, they cant do the recall on my car. It would have to been done in Japan. To me this is total Bull. Its a mazda car, mazda US or Mazda Japan, it dosent matter, they were the ones to screw up, Mazda as a whole, not just US or Japan. So they should fix my car.

Im wondering what your guy's take on this is.

 

^ mazda North american operations and mazda motors japan are two separate corporate entities for all intents and purposes. Our warrenty/recall laws cover north american vehicles only. I wouldn't expect support from a manufacturer on a JDM vehicle. it would be like going to nissan with a GT-R and asking them to do warrenty work.

my 2 cents

 

anything fuel system related under the UIM is not THAT big of a job. It will be decently time consuming but its no where near pulling the engine etc. Just try and find a good rotary mechanic or attemp it urself

 

dosent make sence to me. Mazda is mazda, sure there is the Different divisions, But Mazda Japan and Mazda northamerican, both worked together or whatever on creating the rx-7 with crappy fuel lines. Mazda as a whole is responsible for it.

And your GT-R comparison dosent make sence, as they never even made them here in US.

I belive, mazda made them here, made them in japan, they should be responsible for what workmanship they slaked out on.


Monsterbox: im going to do the work myself, as my rotary mechanic is on vacation for 1 ore week, and i want to drive my car ASAP. Its just that when i take that damn UIM off, there are going to be some old vacum lines and/or selenoids that may break or crack cause of old age. So im contemplating it if i should attempt it or not.

 

LOL!! This is like me going out and buying a Nikon Camera thats distributed by Nikon USA vs. Nikon camera thats imported by someone else, where I paid $100s less.. And asking the Nikon USA to repair it when Nikon USA didn't make a dime. And now you are asking them to repair it??

Same with your FD.. If its not distributed by US distribution, you would have to get the original distributor to take care of it as they are the ones who made the money.

 

Fair enough..i'll use ferrari as an example. They wouldn't honor US vehicle grey market import warrenties.

legally they're not bound to honor them so they won't. reasons their lawyers might site are:
- differences between JDM/USDM cars presents a liability
- grey market car
- not legally required to

etc etc etc

would it be nice if the did do the recall for you? yes, i agree with you
legally are they bound to? no.

 

good analogy herb.

 

i guess, It is BS though i think. They manifactured the car improperly, so they should fix it. Its not warrenty, or anything, its a RECALL! waranty i can see, but a recall i cant.

Thats where i get kinda mad. Its a recall on a fault by mazda.

 

Again, You are missing the point. Mazda is willing to take care of it, just not thru Mazda USA. You obviously care about money and so does Mazda North America..

 

I agree I can see your point here

 

well to tell you the truth man, I probably wouldnt let the dealer do the fuel line recall anyhow..yes they'll fix the leak but your turbos will not work on the way back.

Seriously tho...its probably a good excuse to pull off the UIM and replace all the brittle vac hoses (which mazda will not do under warrenty and will probably break themselves) and replace your FPD, etc

BTW- b4 I bought the car, 2 previous owners back, the car was taken to the dealer for recall fix (fuel) and the engine was replaced LOL!

 

Maybe at the very least you can contact Mazda Japan and have them send you parts for install?

 

But, then, again, if they were really interested in keeping (and getting new) customers, this is the sort of thing that people are influenced by. "It isn't my responsibility" is NOT a good reason. Companies have to go the extra step to maintain and grow their customer base!

 

In a perfect world, Sure! Unfortunately we don't live in a perfect world. Its like me wanting to do a RHD and asking Mazda dealership to bring in all the RHD components to US because its Mazda... and asking them to warrantee it! Mazda NA will never do this for me... and the reasons above is the reason.

 

I beg to disagree - it's more like the difference between Ford and Toyota. The attitude helps to define the perception of quality.

 

I wouldnt let the mazda dealers touch my car with a 10 foot pole. Just buy the parts and install them. you'll learn alot more about your car at the same time.

 

But you do understand that this is a common practice among other companies and not just Mazda.. I don't think Toyota or any other Japanese auto company will honor cars that are imported not thru their distribution. Just as my example about Nikon cameras, I understood this and for that reason, why I opt'd to buy non grey market camera and spent that extra money buying camera that has been registered and imported thru Nikon USA. Mentioning Mazda is a bad guy when this is common practice seem bit silly.

 

well if it was warranty, like i said above i wouldnt be mad about it.


Its a recall, has nothing to do with warranty, but bad workmanship on Mazda's part.

 

herblenny,

Certainly, I understand your points. And, of course, technically and legally, you are absolutely correct.

My point, however, is that good will is hard to generate, and ill will very easy. Most companies never seem to learn that a good rep is worth a few bucks off the bottom line, and, in the long run, will generate more profit than it costs.

Dave

 

Dave, i also understand your point. I agree that small goodwill goes a long way.. ie, sometimes word of mouth is better than millions of dollars the company spend on ads.

I have very good relationship with my local dealership and they have gone out of their way to make me happy.. example, when my 2006 MX5 fog light bulb blew, they told me to come in and replaced it for FREE. When one of the window plastic cover thing flew off, they gave me one for FREE. When my car went in for quick recall, they just gave me a car to drive around.. Its small things like that make me get an RX8.

 

A recall is worldwide. contact mazda USA and get it taken care of. At least get them to give you the parts and note on the VIN taht the recall is completed. This take liability off of them

warranty will never apply to an imported vehicle unless you somehow made arrangements with the manufacture.

 

Exact same story here in Australia. As soon as you call up Mazda AUS for parts and say that your car is JDM FD, they immediately go all emo on you. This is even when you have a part number ready they still refuse to know about it. I've tried a few different dealers and the response is exactly the same so good luck trying to get that fuel line fixed as you've got Buckley's chance.

 

I believe this fuel line recall kit is about $100.

Yes it makes sense that Mazda NA won't honor the recall on an import that doesn't even have the VIN in their systems. The dealer would probably not be able to process it like a recall fix without special effort.

So far if this is the only downside to importing an FD, it's still a pretty good deal.

Dave

 

well working in a dealership the manufacture runs the vin whe you report the claim. if its not in there system then they are going to decline the claim therefore sticking the dealership with the cost of parts and labor. and no dealership is going to want to pay for them working on your car. just a little more info from a dealerships point of veiw.

 

Yea, like stated above, a recall is worldwide. Its a hazard that should have been fixed before they even produced it. Im going to go and talk to my local dealer, and see what they really have to say.