I, like many others have suffered with intake shutter valve issues with my 2015 Mazda 6. This problem is so common across forums just like this one that I believe there may be a case for a class action lawsuit against Mazda for their poor diesel products which appear in the Mazda 3, Mazda CX-5 and the Mazda 6 (which may I add, they continue to sell).
If this problem occurs on your Mazda Diesel car, you will be greeted with a large bill to have it fixed. You can get it fixed but there's no guarantee it won't happen again and again.
The latest recall, regarding said intake shutter valve has made the vehicle you bought less effective at the very job you bought it for. In my case and I suspect others, this recall has had a significant detrimental effect on the cars MPG figures. I have just read a post I made on a Mazda forum from September last year, before my car went for this recall. I state I regularly get 55mpg average and hit 60mpg on a single trip on occasion. However, driving the same style and route now I am lucky to hit even 50, and I average 45-48 over a longer period of time. This is my commute to work so the drive/distance has not changed.
One could argue I have lost 10mpg out the car since I bought it, through a recall which is dubbed as a safety recall and thus one which many will not ignore.
Let us look at some figures to see what effect that could have.
If you took an average of 10,000 miles per year, at 55 MPG and £1.29 a litre for diesel, that amounts to £1045 a year in fuel. If you then take those same figures but replace 55 MPG with 45 MPG, the cost increases to £1277. That is a difference of £232 a year.
Realistically, you did not buy a Mazda 6 Diesel to do 10,000 miles a year so that number will obviously increase the higher your mileage.
This is not an insignificant amount of money, if you own the car for 4 years and do 15,000 miles a year this would cost you approx £1400 for something which you did not choose to do.
As customers I believe we should have more rights, our only option is to accept this decrease in fuel efficiency or sell the car. However, in selling the car we have created a new issue. The person who buys your vehicle will do so on false fuel efficiency numbers. Therefore, Mazda are withholding information to protect themselves and the value of their cars used.
Due to finances also, selling the car is not always an option.
If Mazda openly admitted their recall has caused a decrease in MPG it would then impact the value of your car, which would then cost you even more money in lost value.
There is no way you, as a customer will win in this situation without doing anything about it. I hope by posting this I will catch the attention of others who have also noticed this decrease in MPG.
I am interested in gathering some information, so if you would be so kind to complete this short survey it could be very helpful -
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/WGSC8T6Please use this thread as an open discussion, I am happy to hear anyone who wants to disprove my feelings as this is born out of my own experience plus others I have seen post about it on similar forums. At this stage, I’m not quite sure how wide spread the issue is so I am using this to gauge that.