This is my wife's story:

On the morning of Monday, May 25th at 1:30 in the morning, my cousin and I were on our way back from a relaxing Memorial weekend trip when my 2008 Mazda CX-7 with 15,000 miles stalled out in a cloud of smoke without warning. I was lucky enough that this happened while we were waiting to pass through a US border patrol stop, as there isn’t anything else for that 60+ mile stretch on US 77 north bound. The patrol officers foamed the car to put out any fire lurking under the hood and then pushed it to the side of the road once things were under control. I proceeded to call my husband and then Mazda Roadside Assistance, as the car is still under warranty and required towing to the nearest dealer (1.5 hrs away). Roadside assistance was finally able to find a tow truck willing to come get us, but the wait would be almost 2 hrs since they were in Corpus Christi (the driver later admitted that the only reason he took the call at the end of his 18hr day is because he was told two females were stranded on US 77 at 2:30 in the morning. Champion Mazda in Corpus Christi does not have a secure drop off lot, so we had to go to stop in Kingsville, TX, where the impound lot was for Town and Country Towing. My cousin and I were admittedly apprehensive about the idea of riding in the cab with a strange driver in the middle of the night – in the middle of no where, however, Sam, our driver, quickly put us at ease and has so far been the only ray of light is this ugly, on-going situation. I called ahead to book a room at Motel 6 as my husband began his 4hr journey to come and get us from this one stop light town. We arrived home at 12:30pm on Monday.

Champion Mazda was not open on Monday, so we had to wait until Tuesday to get the dealership to arrange a rental car for me so that I could make it to work the rest of the week. That was a small struggle, and took some explaining that we lived in Austin, not Corpus and not matter how quickly they could get it fixed, I would not have use of my vehicle until I was able to make the 4hr trip to and fro on Saturday. Brian at Champion Mazda (866) 326-7564 finally arranged a rental, but only for two days after we pushed the point. Later Tuesday morning, I put in a call to Mazda South, here in Austin where we purchased my CX-7 new last year. I was told I needed to speak with Thomas Pye 512-462-3131 the new car sales manager, but that he had just stepped out for lunch (at 10:45am). The receptionist took my information and said Thomas would give me a call as soon as he returned. By 3pm, I had not heard back form Thomas, so I called Mazda South again. This time I was told that Thomas did not work on Tuesdays. I explained that I had called earlier and was told that he had just stepped out to lunch and would return my call shortly. The receptionist went to check and said “he is here, but he just stepped out. Can I take a message?” Forty-five minutes later I received a call from a Scott Harm 512-740-9249 who said Thomas had asked him to give me a call and get the whole story for him so he could relay it. I explained to Scott everything that had happened and he said he would let Thomas know, and that Thomas would give me a call in “forty-five minutes”. I received a called around the prescribed time, but it was Scott who called. Scott had called Champion Mazda and told me that what happened to my car was a “fluke” and has “never” happened to any of their CX-7, ’07s, ’08s or ’09 and that there are always “those” cars out there and someone is bound to get it. He said “guess you won the lottery and got THAT car”. Scott also came well armed with a “solution” for my problem. Scott proposed that I could purchase a 2009 cx-7 and that they would “let” me have it for $19,995, the same as what I paid for mine after my trade in last year. How benevolent, especially since I’ve seen commercials for the 2009 CX-7s going for about $600 less than what I was being offered. Scott continued, making sure he let me know he “wasn’t trying to sell” a car to me. I let him finish his ramble about the trade in value of my car and the “deal” they were offering me and then I asked him if he had come up with any real solutions to my situation. He basically said that they didn’t handle any of that and that I would have to call Mazda warranty since, in Scott’s words “you only bought the car from us”. I reminded him that money is a contract, and with the regular service it has received from Mazda and only 15, 000 miles on the car, I’m reasonable to expect that my car should be able to make a 363 mile trip without completely breaking down and nearly bursting into flames. I told Scott that I wanted my car brought back to me in Austin, as I did not feel safe driving it the 300 or so miles back to Austin from where it was currently being worked on (especially since my husband is currently out of town and there isn’t anyone that could come and get me, should something similar or worse happen again). He said that it just wasn’t something they could do, but provided me with numbers I already had to Mazda Roadside assistance and told me to check it out with them to see if they would reimburse me for my forced hotel stay, my husband’s gas to come and get me, and get my car back to me in Austin once it was finished being repaired. I promptly called my husband and he put in a call to Scott and asked him to take ownership of the situation. They could at least do some research on their end to determine what my Mazda warranty would cover, push for it and get it set in motion. After my husband called him, Scott called me back and said he would speak with Thomas the next morning after his meeting, and also speak with the comptroller to try and get something done and would call me back by 10am on Wednesday. I received a call at 10am on Wednesday, but it was from a Debbie Clark 512-462-3131. Debbie informed me that unfortunately, they had to lay off some people recently and could not spare an extra body to send off to Corpus Christi to retrieve my vehicle. I told Debbie that I understood where she was coming from, but I asked her to understand where I was coming from as well, and proceeded to re-iterate the story, emphasizing the fact that two females were stuck in the middle of no-where on a stretch of road with spotty cell phone service, who just got lucky enough to break down at the border patrol stop, in the middle of the night. I took MY car instead of my cousins because mine was bought last year and regularly serviced by Mazda and hers was 3 yrs old and recently had the transmission go out. I figured mine would be the safer bet.

In the middle of writing this last part, Debbie Clark called me back and advised me that she received permission for me to stay in the rental car for the time being and would let Champion Mazda know. Debbie said that she is working with corporate to get permission for an arrangement that would get my car back to me in Austin, but can’t make any promises. Debbie advised that she would call me either by the end of the day, or tomorrow morning with information on hotel reimbursement covered by the factory warranty and returning my car to me in Austin. At this point I’m not holding my breath about Mazda, but at least Debbie seams to be getting some traction and tackling my problem…one step at a time, while keeping me in the loop.

My issue is not yet resolved, but my hope is that Mazda will make the situation right considering that we are loyal Mazda customers. We wouldn’t want to end out relationship Mazda based on abandonment during a situation when we needed them most.

 

Robin Haan from Mazda corporate called me today 800-222-5500 x1134. After several attempts at getting a hold of her, she finally called me back and proceeded to say in a snotty tone “we absolutely will not cover you hotel stay, you husband’s gas expense, and we certainly will not arrange to have your car delivered back to you. Mazda warranty does not cover that type of service”. I was so aghast at her utter rudeness right out of the gate that it took me a moment to process what she was saying. I asserted “so what you are saying is that you don’t stand behind your product?” To which I did not receive a reply. I then told her that I would be perusing any avenue made available to me in an attempt to correct this situation, especially since the dealership I purchased this vehicle from basically told me that it’s a lemon. Robin’s reply to that was that I was more than welcome to file a complaint with the BBB if I so desired. I then said “are you saying that you can’t do anything for me as a loyal Mazda customer? Not one thing for a customer that was inconvenienced by one of your faulty products?” Robin then said that she would be willing to give me $150 in Mazda service gift cards. Nice. Thank you…since it appears that having my vehicle serviced by Mazda worked so well in the first place.

Thanks a lot for your concern Mazda. It is definitely not the time in our economy to alienate loyal customers with non-existent, abandonment type service angle. What ever happened to standing behind your product and taking responsibility for it when it doesn’t work like it should? Oh, I forgot…that type of customer service doesn’t exist anymore. Shame on you Mazda.

 

Today I called Debbie Clark at Mazda South to follow-up with her, as I had not received a call back from her on Thursday. As Mazda is refusing to transport my “fixed” car back to Austin, I need to drive the rental to Corpus Christi to pick up my vehicle. I advised Debbie that I needed them to call Enterprise and arrange for me to take the rental to Corpus so that I do not personally incur the fee for taking the vehicle out of town. Debbie promptly called me back and said that she had cleared me for taking the rental to corpus to pick up my vehicle and had also talked to Mazda Roadside assistance about reimbursing me for my forced hotel stay in Kingsland and that it should be taken care of once I provide the invoice. Debbie advised that she is still working on getting our gas expense reimbursed, but has not yet been able to get that approved. Out of all of the horrible experiences and phone conversations I’ve had with Mazda and their continuing effort to pass the buck, Debbie has been the only individual that even seemed to care about what happened and appears to be diligently resolving the outstanding issues, one at a time. I would have much preferred to not be forced to waste 9 hrs of my Saturday driving out of town to pick up my vehicle that I purchased brand new last year from Mazda South, but if they will step up and cover the rest of my expenses, we’ll be on our way to resolving the situation. However, I must admit that having to go pick up that vehicle out of town still leaves me rather dissatisfied. I feel like they’re covering the bare minimum and I personally would rather eat the hotel stay and extra gas expense than have to waste my Saturday going to get that car. I’ll never again feel comfortable leaving the Austin area with my CX-7. I’ll also be hesitant to purchase a Mazda in the future considering what I’ve been through thus far. This was my first new car ever, and having had more trouble with this car than I ever did with any of my used vehicles makes me a tad apprehensive to give Mazda my business again in the future, considering the lack of concern and action on their part to make this situation right (with the exception of Debbie). The “peace of mind” that I purchased last year went up in smoke on Sunday on a dark 60 mile stretch of nothingness in south Texas. I’m not sure that feeling of security and comfort that I once felt while driving my new car will ever be restored, especially considering the hefty fight to make things right that ensued thereafter. What a God awful, stressful week….

 

WOW!! Well first of all I am sorry for your wifes trouble and understand the frustration. Under the circumstances I might've been a bit upset myself.
But I would also be surprised if any other car dealer or company would've been any more help than Mazda was in this situation. They are in business to make money and balance that need with customer service. e.g. If they gave you the moon in this situation they would have less to give the next customer with a similar problem.
So what did the problem with the car turn out to be in the first place? Was it turbo related? Did they fix it correctly and clean up any mess left behind?

And BTW: On a personal note, I am in Manor myself and drive to north Austin for work every day. I am familiar w/Mazda South. I know of a number of South's customers that swear by them compared to North or Premier. I bought mine from Premier in G'town. Their customer service has actually improved since '04 when I was very unhappy with the way I was treated. But face it, all three Mazda dealers here are all owned and operated by Roger Beasley.

 

Mazda's lack of customer service was the reason I refused my Mazda6 in Wayne, NJ (biggest group of pompous ****** I've ever dealt with at a dealership, rude simply because they're in an upscale area).

I wish you the best, and I'd urge you to file a lemon law suit if that's indeed the case with your CX-7.

 

Sorry to hear...

Note the only other one like this I heard of was due to the A/C clutch locking up and starting a fire when the owner kept driving it with it locked up. Did you wife notice a noise before she stopped?

There is a TSB due to A/C issues.

No warranty covers your expenses while dealing with getting your car repaired.
Great if you can get some of them covered, but complaining about Mazda not covering all your expenses and will not ship your car to another town seems a bit juvenile IMHO.