Hello all,

There is a recall that needs to be made for all Mazdaspeed6 models. After replacing the front-left wheel with the factory spare, the front differential broke after driving for no more than 10 miles. The car was towed to the dealership and I was told by a representative at Mazda that he felt that the spare's radius was too small. He went on to say that the AWD made the differential try to keep the tires rotating at the same rate, which caused it to break.

I have spoken with a Mazda representative, Chtchi at extension 1149, who has said that Mazda was not willing to provide any support in paying for the repair due to the defect. I have used the dealership to perform all routine maintenance and, until now, was a tremendous fan of Mazda and what they stood for. Please be aware of the issue and that this has completely changed my view of Mazda corporate's customer service/support staff.

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If you have time to kill and want to read my letter that I sent to Mazda about the issue, here it is:

Hello,
This is the first time that I have ever written to someone who sold me a product, but I feel that it is needed at this point. The following is the story of my Mazda ownership that, up until a week ago, I was completely satisfied with.

I was a first time car buyer coming out of college in 2006. However, cars were my passion since I was in elementary school. During my freshman year of college I read something about a turbo, AWD Mazda 6 and immediately needed to know more. I followed all of the updates from that point forward and knew that I wanted to see it as soon as it came into production. This happened to coincide with the time that I graduated college and was looking for a car.

I also had my eye on some of the other new models that other manufactures were bringing to market, so I was very meticulous in my process. I went to all of the websites and all of the dealerships. I test drove Scions, Volkswagens, Honda, Mitsubishis, Subarus and many other makes and several models from each through my quest to find my perfect car. There were several that I felt would do the job for a much cheaper price, but I kept thinking about the Mazdaspeed6.

I decided to go with the Mazdaspeed6 because I thought that I would regret it every time that I got into the other vehicle if I went with another car. This was absolutely true, until now.

On the day before Thanksgiving, November 23,2011, I was stuck in traffic. This was not too out of the ordinary, but still frustrating. I was creeping along at two miles-per-hour when I felt/heard scraping coming from my front-left tire. I could not believe that I had a flat. I pulled to the side of the road and used my AAA service to have someone come out and replace the flat for me. This went smoothly and I went back onto the road.

I then traveled in stop-and-go traffic for ten miles when I noticed that a mild humming sound, which started after the tire was replaced, began to get very loud. I had thought that the sound was just from the spare that was from the factory and was never used. I began to pull to the side of the road when a loud noise came from the front of the car that sounded like the motor falling out of the engine compartment. I then had to call AAA yet again to have my Mazdaspeed6 towed to the dealership.

While waiting for the tow truck, a news van pulled behind my car. I got out of my car to tell them that they were looking for someone else, but they were following the tow company that was en route to tow my car for the day. They interviewed me, which was the last thing that I wanted to do at the time, and then took shots of my car and it being towed away. I watched the piece on the towing company that night and found that I was luckily not one of the “people who made mistakes” who were featured in the report.

Later that day, I received a call from a Mazda service manager who said that the front differential broke. He went on to say that he felt that it broke due to the factory spare being too much smaller than the factory wheels. This caused the differential to try to maintain an equal rotation of all four tires while the all-wheel-drive was active. The front differential then broke after only driving ten stop-and-go miles. I was immediately puzzled because everything involved was straight from the factory. He then told me the price to fix this mistake and I knew that I needed to speak to someone about a resolution.

Since it was late in the day before Thanksgiving, I decided to wait until the day after Thanksgiving to start making phone calls. I called Jack Giambolvo Mazda in York, PA first and they gave me Mazda’s customer service number. I called and received a message saying that they were closed. Lance, the service manager at the dealership, also said that he would not be able to order any parts until Monday.

I called Mazda’s customer service number Monday morning and a gentleman named Chtchi at extension 1149 picked up. I told him what happened and he said that he would need to speak to his supervisor and then get back to me. I asked for a time frame of when that would happen and he said that it would be 24 - 48 hours. I told him that I did not have a car and need to move things forward as soon as possible. I was not contacted by 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, so I called him back. I got his voicemail, so I left a message asking for an update.

He then called back while I was away from my desk and left me a message saying that Mazda will not provide any compensation. I was told that due to the car having 90,000 miles on it highly contributed to the decision to not provide compensation for the defective part. While I was on hold to talk to Chtchi, I was told by a recording that Mazda was proud to say that there was a Million-Mile tested 2010 Mazda 6. This is a clear conflict in messages that are being portrayed by your company. He also said that the wheel may have been installed improperly. The wheel was installed by a AAA agent and is still on the car if they would like to inspect it. This was clearly not an issue.

I called back a few minutes later and received his voicemail again. I left a message letting him know that I will speak with him tomorrow so that we can discuss how this could possibly be Mazda’s solution. I love Mazda’s vision with the future of automobiles and follow its progress regularly. I have been following the Skyactive technology and planned to purchase a car with its features in the future. This car was my baby and I spoke highly of it every chance that I was given. So much so, that my best friend bought a Speed3 two years after I bought my Speed6.

I am not one to write long explanations describing problems, but this is something that I am very upset about. I will be sure to spread this story throughout the Mazda community through the forums that I frequent and elsewhere. I sincerely wish that we can resolve this situation in a fair way and not immediately dismiss a formerly proud customer as I was earlier today. Please let me know if you need any documentation of any of this and I will be happy to provide it. Thank you for your time.

 

So the tires at the other 3 corners ARE factory size?

 

That is correct! All four wheels were stock/factory rims and the spare that was put on the front-left corner was the factory spare that had not been used before.

 

Check the owners manual. I think the spare is to be used only on the rear.
If you get a flat on the front, the full size rear tire should be placed on the front and the spare placed on the rear.