NHTSA Complaint #10460013 — 2006 MAZDA MAZDASPEED6

DRIVING THE CAR ON THE TURNPIKE AND HEARD WHAT SOUNDED LIKE A BLOWOUT. IMMEDIATELY PULLED CAR TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. NOTICED THE ENGINE WAS NOT RUNNING. ATTEMPTED TO RESTART, BUT MADE NOISE AND WOULD NOT START. CALLED HUSBAND, WHO ARRIVED AND SAID THE ENGINE HAD COME APART. THERE WERE PHYSICAL PIECES OF THE ENGINE BLOCK UP TO THE SIZE OF A GOLF BALL IN THE SKID PLATE UNDER THE ENGINE, AS WELL AS OIL UNDERNEATH THE CAR AND ON THE ROAD. WE HAD RECEIVED A LETTER FROM MAZDA A FEW WEEKS EARLIER INDICATING A PROBLEM WITH THE SEALS IN THE TURBO AND A STOP PIN IN THE VARIABLE VALVE TIMING (VVT) AND IF THE VEHICLE EXHIBITED ANY OF THE SYMPTOMS TO BRING IT TO THE DEALER FOR EVALUATION AND REPAIR, UP TO 7 YEARS/70K MILES. CALLED DEALER AND MAZDA HQ NEXT MORNING. MAZDA CUSTOMER RELATIONS ACTED IF THEY WERE INTERESTED IN THE ROOT CAUSE AND REASON FOR FAILURE, ESPECIALLY SINCE IT WAS 1K MILES OUT OF THE COVERAGE PERIOD. MAZDA PAID FOR TOW TO DEALER, BUT ONCE THERE MAZDA CUSTOMER RELATIONS WANTED ME TO PAY FOR THE ENGINE TEARDOWN AND BEGAN TO DANCE AROUND THE WARRANTY EXTENSION FOR THE VVT PROBLEM INFORMING ME THAT MAZDA IS RIGID ON THE 7YRS/70K MILES. I QUESTIONED MAZDA ON THE DISCUSSION THE PREVIOUS DAY REGARDING THE POST-MORTEM TEARDOWN AND ANALYSIS, WHERE I WAS GIVEN THE IMPRESSION MAZDA WOULD TAKE CARE OF THE TOW AND THE TEARDOWN TO DETERMINE ROOT CAUSE OF THE FAILURE AND THEN THE CLAIM WOULD BE EVALUATED FROM THERE. MAZDA DID A COMPLETE TURN AROUND AND WOULD NOT HONOR THEIR INITIAL WORD, NOW INFORMING ME I WOULD BE FINANCIALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY WORK PERFORMED ON THE CAR. *TR