NHTSA Complaint #11279145 — 2007 MAZDA CX-7

JUNE 2014, I WAS DRIVING VEHICLE OUT OF TOWN ON VACATION AND IT SUDDENLY BEGAN RUNNING ROUGH LIKE THE PISTONS WERE MISFIRING. MILEAGE WAS 69,700. I PULLED INTO A DEALERSHIP (1 MILE AWAY), DROPPED THE KEYS, AND CALLED TO EXPLAIN IN THE MORNING. LATER, THEY SAID THEY DROVE THE CAR AROUND THE LOT AND THE ENGINE LOCKED UP. THEY TOOK NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR MAKING IT WORSE AND CHARGED ME FOR CONFIRMING THE LOSS OF COMPRESSION IN THE PISTONS. WE REPLACED THE ENGINE AT GREAT EXPENSE AND TO A POOR RESULT. I FOUND THIS 2007 MODEL HAD A CHRONIC PROBLEM WITH THE VARIABLE VALVE TIMING (VVT) CAUSING THE TIMING CHAIN TO COME OUT OF ADJUSTMENT AND DESTROY THE ENGINE. INSTEAD OF ISSUING A RECALL AND FIXING IT, MAZDA OFFERED AN EXTENDED WARRANTY TO 6 YEARS-60,000 MILES. THIS IS ABOUT THE AVERAGE POINT OF FAILURE, MEANING HALF THE PEOPLE ARE NOT COVERED. A FEATURE OF THE TURBO CHARGER IS MAKING THE ENGINE RUN HOT, BURNING THE OIL, SO PEOPLE WERE OFTEN DENIED BECAUSE THE OIL "HAD NOT BEEN CHANGED." INTERESTINGLY, MAZDA SAID THE TIMING CHAIN HAD BEEN REPLACED UNDER WARRANTY WITH A PREVIOUS OWNER. THAT DATE AND LOCATION COINCIDED WITH A DATE OF SERVICE SHOWN ON CARFAX FOR TYPICAL MAINTENANCE ONLY. THAT DEALERSHIP SAID THEY COULD NOT POSSIBLY DO ANY WORK WITHOUT IT SHOWING ON CARFAX. I WONDER WHO MAZDA PAID FOR THE WARRANTY CLAIM... I WANT NHTSA TO COMPEL MAZDA TO COMPENSATE OWNERS WHO EXPERIENCED ENGINE FAILURE DUE TO THIS DOCUMENTED DESIGN FLAW.