Introduction

It’s only been a week since I started this BLOG, but I’ve already written a lot in it. So maybe an introduction is in order. In fact, I think I'll try to keep this posting at the top of my BLOG at all times as a reference and introduction.

So what is this BLOG all about? The BLOG is a chronological depiction of my fight against Mazda to recognize my leaky car as a problem under warranty. As BLOGs go, read it from the bottom up to get the whole story. But following you can find a short summary of the BLOG.

My 2004 Mazda 6 is leaking water. A lot of water. My entire carpet (especially be back seat area and the driver area) is soaking wet. Now it started to grow some mold, too, as evident by the smell. In addition, since there is a lot of water in the car, I get a lot of condensation on the inside of my windows and even frost on cold days. And there is a high level of humidity in the car, so everything in the car is getting moist after seating in the car for a few hours.

My car is still under normal warranty, so I figured a leaking car should obviously be covered by warranty. But Mazda’s warranty conditions are tricky. It is not based on the problem, as one might expect, but rather on the solution. In my case, since the leaking part had to be repositioned and sealed (and not replaced), it is only covered by a limited 12 months warranty instead of the normal 48 months warranty. Of course, if the part was bad and had to be replaced, it would have been covered under warranty. My contention is that the problem, and not the solution, should be the driver for warranty claims! I believe that having a car that leaks water is definitely a warranty issue regardless of how it is being fixed!!!

Now, you may think that Mazda is saying that the root cause of the problem is something that I’ve done to the vehicle and this is why they would not cover it under warranty. But this is not the case at all. In fact, both the dealership and the Mazda customer care rep that I talked with agree that the issue is likely caused by a manufacturing problem. Nevertheless, since no parts need to be replaced, it is not considered a regular warranty problem. Don’t you think it is crazy?

For the rest of the story, please read this BLOG from the bottom to the top. I’ve also included some pictures of the problem so you can get a first hand impression of Mazda (lack of) quality.