NHTSA Complaint #10477007 — 2010 MAZDA MAZDA3

THE CLUTCH ON MY MANUAL TRANSMISSION 2010 MAZDA3 SUDDENLY STOPPED OPERATING PROPERLY. IT GRINDS GEARS AND DOES NOT CHANGE GEARS WHEN I SHIFT. I DROVE THE VEHICLE IN TO A MAZDA DEALER ON SATURDAY, WITH A WEEK LEFT ON MY WARRANTY. ON MONDAY, THEY CALLED TO TELL ME THAT THEIR TECHNICIAN COULD NOT EVEN DRIVE MY CAR AS THERE WAS NO CLUTCH PAD! I WONDERED HOW I COULD DRIVE THE CAR TO THEM, BUT ONCE IT WAS IN THEIR POSSESSION, IT WAS SUDDENLY UNDRIVEABLE. I AM NOW BEING FORCED TO PAY $1100 TO REPLACE THE CLUTCH, BECAUSE THEY SAY MY WARRANTY DOES NOT COVER NORMAL WEAR AND TEAR. I ASKED HOW A COMPLETELY DISINTEGRATED CLUTCH PAD IS "NORMAL WEAR AND TEAR" ON A VEHICLE WHICH HAS ONLY BEEN DRIVEN 16K MILES! THIS COULD HAVE BEEN DANGEROUS HAD IT FAILED COMPLETELY WHILE DRIVING! I FILED A CLAIM WITH THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU. I ALSO CALLED THE MAZDA CORPORATE OFFICE FOR ASSISTANCE, WHERE I WAS TOLD I COULD SIMPLY VOICE A COMPLAINT. "TOM" REFUSED TO ALLOW ME TO SPEAK WITH A SUPERVISOR OR ANYONE HIGHER THAN HIMSELF (HE WAS JUST A CALL-CENTER EMPLOYEE). HE OFFERED TO CALL THE DEALERSHIP AND ASK THEM TO PROVIDE ME WITH A DISCOUNT. WHEN I SPOKE TO THE DEALER TODAY, THEY SAID TOM DID CALL THEM, BUT NEVER ASKED FOR ANY DISCOUNTS! ALL HE DID WAS EXPLAIN THAT MAZDA HAS NOT RECALLED THE CLUTCH, SO MY WARRANTY WOULD NOT COVER THE NECESSARY REPLACEMENT. MAZDA SOLD ME A SUB-PAR VEHICLE, AND NOW THEY LIED ABOUT THEIR WAY OF HANDLING THE ERROR. I LOOKED ONLINE AND HAVE FOUND SEVERAL COMPLAINTS ON THE SAME VEHICLE CLAIMING THE EXACT SAME PROBLEMS ON A LOW-MILEAGE CLUTCH. THIS CLEARLY IS A MANUFACTURING DEFECT, NOT DRIVER ERROR. IT SHOULD BE RECALLED AS THE PROBLEM IS SO COMMON IN THIS EXACT MAKE AND MODEL WITH SUCH LOW MILES. $1100 LATER AND I GET A NEW SHODDY CLUTCH WHICH I WILL HAVE TO REPLACE IN ANOTHER 16K MILES. DISAPPOINTED AND WILL NEVER OWN ANOTHER MAZDA AGAIN IF THIS IS NOT RESOLVED. *TR