Announcement: New recall for R3s

[StormyBlue]

Received my recall letter (dated 15/12/21) today, December 21st.
VIN: 301207
2010 R3

[casey]

I have confirmed with a contact at a Mazda dealer who was briefed on the new recall today - process is the same as the S1. In with less than half/ quarter of a tank, do the job, fill and check for leaks, return to customer and charge them for the fuel.

Great to hear that Dan. It lines up with the official Mazda UK statement I have just received;

I can confirm the repair bulletins and guidance published to the UK dealers are constantly refined and enhanced to include the very latest hints and tips, so that further problems are avoided. The documents created for AM034A already include the improvements that were identified during the repair of vehicles affected by AH022A / AH023A.

Yours sincerely,

Stuart Stringer
Technical and Homologation Coordinator
Customer Service
Mazda Motors UK Limited

[SeanP]

Hmmm... Just had an interesting conversation with Lodge Garage, Bicester Road, Aylesbury about the recall...

Firstly the good news: they are familiar with RX-8s (they did my airbag recall, and AMH faired very well with a recent service, though due to various factors I cannot use them for regular servicing and MOT...)... And they are familiar with the Recall for both S1 and R3...

I have "provisionally" booked in for the 13th January. However, on a slightly worse note:
1) They have requested the car to be left with them for up to two days. Reason being they may find issues with corroded fixings etc. and cannot guarantee to have parts available - so planning for worse case scenario. That's probably a "positive" and proactive thinking.
2) They don't have any courtesy cars available "For Recalls" - only main services. Worse - though on a main road (A41 Aylesbury -> Biscester), the public transport links aren't the best - and for me is a logistical nightmare; they are relatively "in the ares-end of nowhere".
3) They request the vehicle has a 1/4 tank of fuel or less, and may be turned away if turning up with more than that... (Fine, understood).
4) That then ensued in the conversation about how they handle the "leak test" post modification... The fully admitted that they are NOT in a position to carry that out (no fuel station nearby), and request that the owner refills ASAP and reports back to them...
I said I did not think that was acceptable - a) I am not qualified to check for leaks, except perhaps an obvious puddle of fuel, leaking potentially onto a hot exhaust; and b) how are we supposed to return the vehicle if there is a problem? i.e. too unsafe!
She said that the "drive away" option was their only choice and "accepted" by the S1 recall - INCLUDING the modified instructions for that!?
The service person (female, knowledgeable but I did not get her name) then asked to put me on hold whilst she researched a little.
She read through the R3 and S1 recall side-by-side and stated this "The R3 recall is for a different reason and with different parts to the S1 recall. The Fuel Leak check is NOT part of the recall at all!".

So - despite that - I have provisionally booked in with them - and have to sort out my own "logistics" for getting the car to them and back (will involve a two vehicle journey, twice)...

Given the feedback from Dr. Frankenrex above this flies in the face - lowers my confidence with Lodge which until now have a pretty good reputation?

Should I quote the above documents to them to review the procedure (AM034A for R3?)?

If the service garage does not have a re-fuelling capability - should they not have the ability to e.g. drain a full fuel tank, and re-fuel with that fuel afterwards?

I may look towards another Mazda Garage, but does anybody have any other's "recommended" within reasonable distance of High Wycombe / Buckinghamshire? Since the Beaconsfield and Farnham Common dealerships disappeared, there are none that I am aware of "nearby"?
(Nearest I know of and on the list are: Milcars Mazda, Watford; Littlewick Green, Maidenhead; Johnsons, Oxford & Brayley MK and Harpenden;).

[rotatopotato]

It's not exactly a difficult procedure for draining the tank, I did it recently to transfer fuel from the 192 to the R3 so I think that dealer its just being plain lazy.

I am not filled with confidence over this recall and will be abstaining for as long as possible.

[warpc0il]

Hmmm... Just had an interesting conversation with Lodge Garage, Bicester Road, Aylesbury about the recall...


2) They don't have any courtesy cars available "For Recalls" - only main services. Worse - though on a main road (A41 Aylesbury -> Biscester), the public transport links aren't the best - and for me is a logistical nightmare; they are relatively "in the ares-end of nowhere".

If you do decide to go with them, push on the courtesy car, as it should be made available for any recall that isn't a "while-you-wait" fix.

They're not allowed to charge for the rental but they may try and charge for insurance, however they have to give you the option to provide your own insurance cover. When mine went in for the three S1 recalls, I rang my insurance broker and explained the situation. They needed full details of the courtesy car and provided the cover at no charge, emailing me a confirmation, which I forwarded to the dealer.

Our nearest dealer is a two-hour round trip, the other side of Belfast. Google maps says, if you want to arrive by 09:00 travelling by Public Transport, you have to leave home the day before!

[rotatopotato]

Sean, I have forwarded your report to Mazda UK, together with my concern about the inadequate leak checking procedure, requesting their comment.

[SeanP]

Sean, I have forwarded your report to Mazda UK, together with my concern about the inadequate leak checking procedure, requesting their comment.

I hope it doesn't cause "trouble" for the garage; though I would like to ensure they are all up to scratch on the routines and not just trying to take the "cheapest" option... After the discussion they did not seem comfortable that I continued to "pencil in" the date and somewhat expected I'd "ring back after doing some research" ;-)

[ChrisHolmes]

Sean, I have forwarded your report to Mazda UK, together with my concern about the inadequate leak checking procedure, requesting their comment.

I hope it doesn't cause "trouble" for the garage; though I would like to ensure they are all up to scratch on the routines and not just trying to take the "cheapest" option... After the discussion they did not seem comfortable that I continued to "pencil in" the date and somewhat expected I'd "ring back after doing some research" ;-)

It is not your fault the car has to go in for a recall which will cause you inconvenience therefore they should provide a courtesy car. They are being far from helpful and as a Mazda Dealer they are supposed to follow Mazda procedures so if they “have an attitude” when you take the car in report that to Mazda.

[rotatopotato]

Sean, I have forwarded your report to Mazda UK, together with my concern about the inadequate leak checking procedure, requesting their comment.

I hope it doesn't cause "trouble" for the garage; though I would like to ensure they are all up to scratch on the routines and not just trying to take the "cheapest" option... After the discussion they did not seem comfortable that I continued to "pencil in" the date and somewhat expected I'd "ring back after doing some research" ;-)

It is not your fault the car has to go in for a recall which will cause you inconvenience therefore they should provide a courtesy car. They are being far from helpful and as a Mazda Dealer they are supposed to follow Mazda procedures so if they “have an attitude” when you take the car in report that to Mazda.

Aye, it sounds very much to me like the dealer is being an arse on purpose to get you to book elsewhere as they don't want to do the recall work! I'm guessing they probably don't get a lot out of Mazda for this, but that is between them and Mazda - they choose to be a representative of the marque after all

[rotatopotato]

It is not your fault the car has to go in for a recall which will cause you inconvenience therefore they should provide a courtesy car. They are being far from helpful and as a Mazda Dealer they are supposed to follow Mazda procedures so if they “have an attitude” when you take the car in report that to Mazda.

Over the years I have reported/complained to Mazda about several dealers and unless things have changed it usually falls on deaf ears!
eg. When Trinity Mazda wrecked a new set of warranty replacement alloys and also scrapped one new tyre whilst actually fitting the tyres the dealer said they would get another new set,they then resprayed the front of my original corroded alloys and fitted them back on the car as another new set from Mazda, I immediately spotted what they had done (they had sprayed them a different silver) and when I confronted the service manager his answer was they came from Mazda like that!
So Mazda were supplying old used alloys repainted on the front as new warranty replacements - I don`t think so!

I complained to Mazda and the only answer I got back was "The dealer claims the alloys were supplied by us" they wouldn`t say no they didn`t supply them but just that the dealer claims the alloys came from them.

Mazda were obviously protecting their dealer as they couldn`t admit that one of their dealers was so blatantly dishonestly doing this with customers Mazda cars!

*
*
Del.

[warpc0il]

Over the years I have reported/complained to Mazda about several dealers and unless things have changed it usually falls on deaf ears!

Romford Mazda screwed my Father over for a set of plugs (@ full price) and a bottle of Screenwash, neither of which went in the car when they did a service, but were still listed on the invoice.

I was still a Manager at Ford at the time and Mazda were part of the Ford family, so I had an internal number for the Mazda Dealer Zone Manager. She took the details of my complaint and added it to the growing pile of evidence, that resulted in Romford Mazda not being invited to renew their franchise the following year.

Strangely, the same team ran Romford Alfa Romeo a few years earlier and my evidence as an AR owner went towards them losing that franchise, before they took up with Mazda - some people just refuse to learn from their mistakes

[Nickp47]

@SeanP, Maidenhead/ Littlewick Green have a petrol forecourt, When I have had S1 fuel pump recalls done there they called without any prompt to check they were ok to fill the tank to check for leaks (at my cost) and they are, generally speaking, a good place to go ime.

[SeanP]

@SeanP, Maidenhead/ Littlewick Green have a petrol forecourt, When I have had S1 fuel pump recalls done there they called without any prompt to check they were ok to fill the tank to check for leaks (at my cost) and they are, generally speaking, a good place to go ime.

Littlewick are probably the closest - and a totally new name to me... I will try calling them then and see what their reaction is... and take a drive out that direction to reccy them

[Michael73]

Hi,

So I booked my R3 in for the recall work to be carried out in early January. I questioned the guy a lot when booking it in. He was from the service desk, not a receptionist.

He pulled the technical bulletin up on his computer to check the procedure as he was answering my questions. He said: this recall is for the rubber gasket on the top fuel pump ring. He claimed the work could be done during a 1 hour waiting appointment. He specifically said that as long as the fuel tank wasn't absolutely brimmed, there was no requirement to turn up with quarter tank full or anything. Has anyone else heard anything similar?

My current plan is to phone them the day before and ask all the questions again. If necessary, I will go to the appointment and ask some very specific questions of the actual technicians that will be doing the work, picking up all the points that you have all mentioned in the previous posts..... As you can probably guess, I am somewhat sceptical they actually read the bulletin properly when I phoned them....

I hope it helps to share this.

- Michael

[New Duke]

Thanks Michael. I'd appreciate it if you could keep us updated. I'd like to know exactly what work is going to be done before I commit to a dealer taking it in. It's concerning that we're hearing conflicting things from dealers, as that wouldn't be the same procedure as the S1 model recall at all.

A replacement fuel pump filter might give me inventive to take it to them. Just a gasket and/or locking ring? Might as well do that job myself. As per the US series 2 TSB, it looks like fewer parts are replaced in this new recall.

[rotatopotato]

In addition to Malcolm reaching out to Mazda, I've messaged one of the Mazda Technicians who I know. I've sent him Sean's explanation as well as Michael73's and asked him how this compares to the procedure he's been sent and his interpretation.

He's pretty good and has done the S1 recalls on a few cars and owns an RX-8 himself, so is a pretty 'good guy' in that sense. I will update everyone in due course.

[casey]

No reply yet to the email I sent to Mazda UK on 23 December.

[SeanP]

Michael73 - which dealer did you try?
I'm going to try Littlewick Green tomorrow & see what they say compared to Lodge (whom I've provisionally booked with, but less confidence in for this recall though they handled the airbag one very well).

[SeanP]

Nothing official back, but the guy who I've spoken to says they have been advised parts won't be available until march... I'd advise calling your dealer before you go in to ensure they have the parts and everything in place...

[SeanP]

I've just tried to book mine with Littlewick Maidenhead, and they seemed knowledgeable...
HOWEVER, they too have confirmed that there is at present NO ETA for the parts from Mazda, saying not even into March!
Hence, they've created a job and ordered the parts...
They'll contact me when they get an ETA for the parts!
Unfortunately I they didn't say any more about the refuelling / checking process (I forgot to push and ask) - but said they'd follow whatever the bulletin says at the time...

I'll maybe give Lodge a call - to see if they DO have parts on order and an ETA as I'd provisionally booked that in for Thursday 13th and they've not contacted me back to say not possible...

Of course - paranoia sets in and I can now swear I have a "Fuelly" smell whenever I'm in Rex!

[rotatopotato]

@Sean (and others)

I've just received this response from Mazda UK:

We are always grateful for feedback with comments from within the Mazda Dealership network and we will contact Lodge Garage and draw their attention to the fact that the test procedure for checking for leaks has been updated and whilst the importance around checking for leaks remains – the actual leak test procedure itself has been updated, negating the need to completely fill the tank. Please confirm with the owner of the vehicle they are to proceed with the booking on the 13th Jan and we will liaise with Lodge Garage in the meantime.

It seems Mazda UK are not aware of any delays with dealers obtaining parts?

...the test procedure for checking for leaks has been updated and whilst the importance around checking for leaks remains – the actual leak test procedure itself has been updated, negating the need to completely fill the tank.....

Why are Mazda being so cagey about this

I would urge anyone having this work done to interrogate the dealership to find out EXACTLY how post-recall work leaks checks are being carried out, and post up in here, so we can all be re-assured. The original leak test on the S1 recall was, as we all know, totally unfit for purpose.

Maybe they are doing some sort of pressure test? But I doubt the dealers are equipped to do so.

[casey]

I have confirmed with a contact at a Mazda dealer who was briefed on the new recall today - process is the same as the S1. In with less than half/ quarter of a tank, do the job, fill and check for leaks, return to customer and charge them for the fuel.

Hmm, something is amiss here

[New Duke]

Next challenge for Mazda UK...

Put these random words in the correct order

Spoiler:

Up
Pi$$
In
Brewery
A

[Delanor]

That is a bit harsh, how about something a little more subtle - " What the hand doing right know is hand the left doesn`t"

*
*
Del.

[rotatopotato]

The recall isn't the same as the S1. I've had a chat with the technician and he has advised the below:

So have looked and it does look like just the gasket and fuel rings not the actual pump unlike the old ones. So it says after the check is just drive it for a bit and stop 5 to 6 times. So not as bad as the old one. They say it can be done in under an hour but well I'd still allow a bit of time as this recall is new. So partly the same as the old recall but not as bad.