NHTSA Complaint #11131161 — 2009 MAZDA MAZDA6

THE SUBFRAME ON MY 2009 MAZDA6 HAS BEEN NOTICEABLY RUSTING OVER THE YEARS SINCE I PURCHASED THE CAR FROM A MAZDA DEALER AS THE ORIGINAL OWNER. OVER THE PREVIOUS YEAR, MID 2016 TO MID 2017, MY MECHANIC HAD BECOME INCREASINGLY CONCERNED WITH THE CONSEQUENCES THAT WOULD COME FROM THE SUBFRAME RUST AND SUGGESTED WE START DOCUMENTING AND REFERRING THE PROBLEM TO MAZDA. THE MECHANIC'S CONCERN WAS RELATED TO THE DECREASE IN STRENGTH OF THE SUBFRAME AND ITS ABILITY TO CONTINUE TO SUPPORT THE ENGINE WEIGHT. HIS FEAR WAS THAT THE ENGINE WOULD DROP OUT OF THE BOTTOM OF THE CAR ONTO THE ROAD AFTER GOING OVER A BUMP ON THE HIGHWAY. THE MAZDA6 WAS BROUGHT INTO A MAZDA DEALER IN MARCH AND JUNE OF 2017 FOR SERVICE RELATED TO BRAKE LIGHT AND TAKATA INFLATOR RECALL. THE PROBLEM WITH THE RUSTED SUBFRAME WAS IDENTIFIED BY THE SERVICE MECHANIC DURING THE SECOND VISIT, JUNE 1, 2017, AND THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT NOTED ON THE SERVICE TICKET "SUBFRAME ROTTED" AND "CAR IS NOT SAFE"(ATTACHED). THE PROBLEM WAS ALSO DIRECTED TO MAZDA ON THEIR ON-LINE COMPLAINT SERVICE. THE ORIGINAL TEXT TO MAZDA IS NOT AVAILABLE FROM ME AS THIS WAS AN ON-LINE FORM AS THIS ONE IS. THE RESPONSE FROM MAZDA (ATTACHED) WAS THAT THERE WERE NO RECALLS FOR THE SUBFRAME RUST PROBLEM AND THAT THE WARRANTY ON THE VEHICLE DID NOT COVER THE SUBFRAME RUST PROBLEM. IT IS UNIMAGINABLE TO ME OR ANYONE THAT I HAVE PRESENTED THIS ISSUE TOO, THAT A CAR WITH DAILY USE AND TYPICAL MILEAGE WOULD HAVE A SUBFRAME THAT IS RESULTS IN A VEHICLE THAT IS UNSAFE TO OPERATE AFTER ONLY 7-8 YEARS.