NHTSA Complaint #11112905 — 2010 MAZDA CX9

CAR WAS ALWAYS SERVICED REGULARLY. ONE DAY I WAS ABOUT TO GET ON A BUSY HIGHWAY INTO BOSTON JUST BEFORE RUSH HOUR, WHEN MY CAR SUDDENLY MADE A LOUD KNOCKING NOISE IN THE ENGINE. I IMMEDIATELY PULLED OVER AND THEN THE CAR SHUT OFF. NO LIGHTS EVER CAME ON BEFOREHAND AND NO LEAKING OF FLUIDS EVER HAPPENED BEFORE INCIDENT. HAD IT TOWED TO MAZDA DEALER, WHO AT FIRST TOLD ME THEY WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO EVEN LOOK AT IT FOR 6 DAYS. FRIEND WORKED THERE AND GOT MECHANICS TO LOOK AT IT RIGHT AWAY. THEY SAID THE WATER PUMP WAS GONE AND IT WOULD COST $3500 TO FIX IT. THE WORST PART OF IT WAS, THAT ACCORDING TO THE DEALERSHIP, THEY KNOW THAT THERE IS A FLAW WITH WHERE THE WATER PUMP IS LOCATED IN THE ENGINE, AND THAT BECAUSE OF THIS THE ENGINE WAS MOST LIKELY GONE AS WELL. IN THEIR WORDS, THEY HAVE REPLACED MANY WATER PUMPS IN THESE SAME SITUATIONS OVER THE YEARS, AND ONLY ONE CAR DIDN'T NEED A NEW ENGINE. THEY RECOMMENDED FIXING THE WATER PUMP, THEN PUTTING IN A NEW ENGINE--$10,000 WORTH OF WORK. WE BOUGHT THIS CAR CERTIFIED PRE-OWNED FROM A DEALERSHIP. IT ONLY HAD 108,000 MILES ON IT AND THE EXTENDED WARRANTY HAD JUST ENDED 8 MONTHS BEFORE. I HAVE NUMEROUS OTHER CARS IN MY LIFETIME AND NEVER HAVE I HAD TO REPLACE AN ENTIRE ENGINE, JUST BECAUSE THE WATER PUMP WAS GONE! THIS CAR SHOULD HAVE BEEN WORTH ABOUT $9K-$11K FOR RESALE, AND INSTEAD MAZDA WANTED TO GIVE US $2K TOWARDS A DOWN PAYMENT FOR LEASING ANOTHER OF THEIR CARS. THEY GAVE US A RATE THAT THEY CLAIMED WAS A SPECIAL ONE, HOWEVER, I FOUND OUT I COULD GET AN EVEN BETTER ONE ONLINE MYSELF! WHEN WE CALLED THEM ON THIS AND SAID WE WERE TIRED OF DEALING WITH THIS, THEY TOLD US THEY WOULDN'T TALK WITH US ANYMORE. VERY DISAPPOINTING TO A FAMILY THAT CAREFULLY WATCHES ITS MONEY AND BUDGETS FOR EMERGENCIES, BUT WEREN'T PREPARED TO NEED AN ENTIRELY NEW CAR BEFORE THE OTHER WAS EVEN PAID FOR! SO UNFAIR!