NHTSA Complaint #11114477 — 2011 MAZDA MAZDA6

I AM WRITING THIS LETTER BECAUSE I RECENTLY LEARNED ABOUT A SAFETY ISSUE WITH MY CAR DURING A ROUTINE OIL CHANGE ON THURSDAY, JULY 19, 2018. I WAS MADE AWARE BY THE MECHANIC THAT THE SUBFRAME ON MY 2011 MAZDA6 IS COVERED IN RUST AND SHOULD BE REPLACED. UPON TRUSTED INSPECTIONS FROM TWO DIFFERENT AUTO SHOPS, THE RESULT IS THE SAME: I NEED A NEW SUBFRAME BECAUSE IT IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS IF IT BROKE AWAY. I BOUGHT MY CAR NEW IN 2011, SO I AM SHOCKED THAT A MAJOR STRUCTURAL COMPONENT OF MY CAR IS NOW COMPROMISED, PUTTING MY SAFETY AT RISK. THE SUBFRAME IS ON NATIONWIDE BACK ORDER, WHICH TELLS ME (AND BOTH MECHANICS ECHOED EACH OTHER) THAT THIS IS A MUCH BIGGER PROBLEM. MY DAILY COMMUTE TO MY JOB HAS ME DRIVING ON THE INTERSTATE, AT 70 MPH, AT A TOTAL OF APPROXIMATELY 80 MILES PER DAY. I NO LONGER FEEL SAFE WHEN DRIVING MY CAR. I DID SOME ONLINE RESEARCH AND DISCOVERED MAZDA HAD OVER 20 REPORTS FROM OWNERS WHO SAY RUST IN THEIR 2009-2010 MAZDA 6S HAS CAUSED, OR NEARLY CAUSED, A STEERING FAILURE. THIS EXTENDED EVEN FURTHER INTO OTHER MODEL MODELS FOR SUBFRAME ROT DEEMED DANGEROUS. IN 2016, MAZDA HAD TO RECALL 190,000 CX-7S FOR A SIMILAR ISSUE WHEREIN CORROSION WAS CAUSING SUSPENSION FAILURE. DAYS LATER, 2.2 MILLION MAZDAS WERE RECALLED WORLDWIDE. I CALLED MAZDA'S CUSTOMER SERVICE, BUT THEY DECLINED TO HELP ME BECAUSE 'I DIDN'T CONTINUE MY RELATIONSHIP WITH MAZDA", AFTER MY WARRANTY WAS UP. HOWEVER, WHILE UNDER WARRANTY, I ONLY TOOK MY CAR TO MAZDA FOR SERVICE BECAUSE I KNEW I HAD TO DUE TO THE WARRANTY, DESPITE THEIR COMPLETE INCOMPETENCE. DURING THE TIME MY CAR WAS UNDER WARRANTY AND WAS SERVICED AT MAZDA, THEY INSTALLED MY DRIVER'S WINDSHIELD WIPER BACKWARDS. IT POPPED OFF THE NEXT DAY DURING A DOWNPOUR. TWO TIMES THEY DIDN'T CLOSE MY HOOD FULLY (ONCE LEFT OIL CAP ON TOP OF MY ENGINE). FOR THESE REASONS, I SOUGHT OUT A MORE RELIABLE MECHANIC AFTER WARRANTY.