Hey guys!
Well, I have had problems with my Mazda3 5-door recently, because in November I had hit a curb and I needed a new rim. I got one, but my tires were wearing prematurely because of bad alignment and balancing. I got a new rim, new tires, did an alignment 2 times, and of course balancing. But my car continued to rock back and forth, not as bad as before, but still bothered me alot. Today, by accident, I found out why the car was rocking for such a long time.
Of all the idiotic things, yesterday, a nail got into my passenger side tire. I removed it and put on my spare, and right after I put my spare on, I took the tire and wheel, and right before I put it in my trunk, I saw, there isn't any balancing weights on the damn rim!! I was like, what the???
I took it to a small tire shop to get the nail out of my tire and to check about the weights. He put the tire on a machine, and he told me the balancing on the tire was completely off! WHich is why my car was rocking! Now, the rocking is gone, and the ride is smooth. But there is a little sound coming from the car when the car approaches about 57-60 mph.
I took the car to 2 STS tire centers, a Sears Auto Center, 2 (count 'em) Mazda Dealers, and NO ONE could tell me that there was no weight on the rim???
To think someone told me my struts were bad, and all because no one could tell me all I needed was a weight chip on my rim, this aggravation cost me approximately $800....all it should have cost was around $250.
Shows you it is very hard to trust anyone with your car. Make sure you keep an eye on your car, and take good care of it, because no one (especially the lazy-*** Mazda dealers) won't take care of it.
Now all I have to do is get my alignment fixed, and find out what sound could be coming from the car when it approached 57-60 mph.
Talk about frustration!

 

it sounds like you have had some bad experiences with these places, that really sucks. it seems like such a simple fix really, make sure the rim is balanced, if anyone that you took it to actually rode in your car, they should have been able to tell that right away. True it is hard to trust a mechanic at a dealership or other place like Sears, cause alot of them just want you to keep coming back in for the money. Personally, the dealership i take my car to is great and have not had one problem with them.

 

I'm petty mechanically inclined,..and anything that is done to my car that i can't do myself,..i supervise and watch, to make sure was done correctly. I feel sorry for people that aren't to mechanically inclined, because dealerships and mechanics will take advantage of this,...there seems to bemore bad auto shops out there than good ones. You can tell alot about a autoshop by how clean it is when you go there,...not very clean?? go somewhere else. Good mechanics take pride in their work, and even more pride in their tools! Their tools will ALWAYS be kept clean, and their surrounding work area will be clean as well..and they won't work at a place that isn't. Sorry to hear about your problems that you had,..that really does suck. I would consider reporting them to the "better buisness bureau" and state that there was a problem that was a simple fix,..you got overcharged, and they still didn't fix the problem. The dealerships are the LAST place i go when i need something fixed on my car....unless it is warrenty work..and then,..i NEVER accept the answer.."thats just the way they are..." or "we can't find the problem..." Those are just unacceptable answers to me. Anyways,..i'm off my soap box now. Hope that last little problem is a easy fix.

 

I saw that you live in NY. I live in NY also and i would like to know what dealerships you went so I dont go to them. I would greatly appreciate it.

 

I trully agree with you, I am not a mechanic but very interested in machinery, as well how? where? why? about cars. I have only 4500 miles on my new MAzda 06 and had done an oil change myself, at which point i think could be better to take it to a dealership just to have some record, but oh well i will be having this car for a long time, and want to be sure that i use what better for the vehicle not what the dealership or other mechanics think or want to do. Yes, good mechanis always take care of theit tools, keep place nicely and organized, I am the same way too, easier to work. As for the times when I CANNOT do something to a car myself i will take it to a mechanic, and will stand 3 feet away and look at everything he does, if its dangerous or I cannot be there like sometimes they say, I say "Do your job and ignore me", but this happens very rerelly. This way to make sure what was done and can see what the exact problem. Curiousity helps[>:]