Author Topic: Mazda 6 traded in  (Read 3533 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Siw

  • TS Class
  • **
  • Posts: 30
  • Gender: Male
  • Colour: Aurora Blue (34J) Metallic
  • Engine: 2.2L
  • Fuel: Diesel
  • Transmission: Manual
  • Trim: Sport Nav
  • Year: 2013
Mazda 6 traded in
« on: January 08, 2021, 07:41:33 pm »
Had some suspension bits as advisories on the MOT, plus the garage said the dual mass flywheel was starting to get noisy... plus the car felt lumpy from low revs and sometimes seemed to hold back higher up the Rev range (another fly wheel symptom).

With a quote of 2k to fix it, it was time to say goodbye. Shame really as was a lovely car!

Looks like the forum is also on a downward slope with hardly anyone posting?

Offline apav

  • Takuya Class
  • ******
  • Posts: 547
  • Gender: Male
  • Engine: 2.0L
  • Fuel: Diesel
  • Transmission: Manual
  • Trim: TS2
  • Year: 2009
Re: Mazda 6 traded in
« Reply #1 on: January 10, 2021, 08:48:32 am »
I thought a clutch/dmf job costs around £1K which makes it OKish as it will last another 6 years of so, returning a cost of 50p per day. With £2K cost to fix it, it is always tricky to calculate whether it is worthy. You usually take up this cost versus the total ownership so far and figure out whether it is worthy.

The problem with the current market is that with £2K you buy another car which used to cost £500 and needs £2K in repairs. So somehow you are forced to spend much more to avoid coming back to the garage.

How much did you manage to sell it?

Fora are tricky to gauge as most of the drivers are not really car people but more like finance payers. There were lots of posts about second and third generation cars from people who bought them brand new. Then they had to go through several timing chaings and engine rebuilds. So after paying £1K-£2K each time to Mazda dealers, they decided to cut their losses and never buy anything zoom zoom again.

So now with the third generation car almost at retirement age, you will not find a lot of people buying them and posting. Most second generation cars are now scrapped thanks to the timing chain and so there are not a lot of cars to write about.

I have the second generation car. I had to do the airbags, driver seat and hatch recalls. The dealer vandalised the car. The hatch leaks water, the seat is not secure, and the airbag light is on. I asked him to take the car back and fix it and he ignored me. I contacted mama Mazda and they replied that they sold the recalls to traders and so I had to deal with the trader.

It is at that point that the trader went hell bent that he had taken the car back several times and he did several inspections and repairs. I was in shock. This never happened. But he insisted and wanted £100 per hour to fix the car, if he could fix it. Then the pandemic started, I tried to reason with him again and I ended up making a case to the motor ombudsman.

Nothing happened, I got an MOT extension and then the airbags completely died. The passenger airbag light does not come on and so there is a dash airbag light always on. Such a bad luck with the pandemic and the extension because after the recalls the airbag light was on but you could turned it by deactivating the passenger airbag. Apparently this is acceptable for the MOT because a lot of new cars automatically deactivate the passenger airbag when there is no weight on the seat.

But since the extension, the recalled passenger airbag died. I followed the service manual instructions and they says to check the fuse and the bulb. I checked the fuse and it does not seem to be dead but I did not put a new one in. I tried the spares one from the case but nothing changed. I took out the deactivation bulb and tried it at the number plate slot and it lights up.

The next steps is to disconnect all the airbags and check the wiring for continuity. I did not do that. All the wiring is cut and taped together after the recalls. If the wiring is found at fault, you need to replace it. But the trader just cut it and taped it despite the warnings on the service manual.

The final step is to take out the airbags ECU and ground it. If the light come on, then you need a new ECU. These ECUs are under recall in USA but not in the UK. There are no ECUs available but there are parts to fix it. The same with the airbags wiring, there are no harnesses available and the trader I went cut and taped the wires.

The MOT extension would expire, the case with the ombudsman was not moving, the trader was going hell bent that he inspected and repaired the car, and so I risked my life and went to the MOT garaged. Once they saw the airbag light on they went lalala. They refused to even do an MOT.

At the end, one of them gave me some old school auto electrician details. The first is a Bosch franchise and the other is a Lucas franchise. I went to the Bosch guy who was great. He tried to use the diagnostics but of course the system did not read anything. I explained to him about my homework with the harness and the ECU and he agreed that in order to fix the car, you need to go through both of them.

But the problem is that there are no harnesses and ECUs. Even if there were, you need to go back to Mazda to configure the car. But no Mazda trader accepts to take the car back. There is admission by omission that as Vertu vandalised the car, they do not want to be involved in a dead end case.

So I got trapped with no Mazda able to fix the car, the crook trader going hell bent and me being left with a vandalised car. The MOT expired and I cannot fix the car. We have a new lockdown over here but the MOTs still do business tramitting the virus. The latest email from ombudsman was on 16/12 and they want 90 days to come to a decision.

The trader initially offered to take the car back but at the end he refused. So the ombudsman will make a decision now. If the ombudsman decides to take the car back to the trader, he will just lie that there is no problem like he had already lied that he took the car back and fixed it. Bosch asked me to request a print out of the Mazda diagnostic but there is none even after I made a request through the Information Commissioner Office.

Before the MOT expired, I was offered £400 in part exchange which is crazy for a car that run perfectly, 65+ mpg, 50p per day tax, 50p per day insurance and £1 per day for proper maintainance. With the MOT expired, they offered me £55 less which is the MOT fee. But with the airbag light on, they offer £50. Scrap companies offered £200-£300. Autotrader part exchange value is £150.

But the problem is that on Autotrader you need £1K to buy a similar age car and with that money it is car with no engine or MOT failure on rust. If you pay £1,500-£2,000 you can buy a high mileage second generation facelift which then requires a new chain every other month.

So I am doomed. I contacted the DVSA and I have some hope that they will act because this was supposed to be a safety recall. The other crazy thing is I got official email communication with DVSA confirming that I can still MOT the car as long as I butcher the dash and burn out the airbag light LED. This is just crazy for me. I suppose you could also tape it, not externally, but when you open it up, you just tape it instead of burning it.

Gradually I will need some new tyres, wipers, a battery, a new oil service, and on June a timing belt job. All that will cost £1K but it is a cheap to run car. If I buy a £500 car, I will get into trouble doing the same jobs as I would need to do on mine. I drove my car on the last day of the MOT, and it was such a sad moment. I cannot believe that I have to scrap the car but as DVSA confirmed, all I need to do is to take the LED out.

As the ombudsman has not decided, I keep the car to a common car park we have and I hope I will not get any fine. I still have insurance and tax but no MOT. When I had contacted the insurance company during the summer extension when I was staying in again, they said not to do the MOT until it is safe. Luckily I got an extension and unluckily the airbags died. Also, I had asked the police and they told me that as long as I do not drive, there is no MOT fine. So I am hopeful that I will not pay any fine.

I started the car yesterday at -7C and it was going crazy. More damage is caused to the car now than when I was driving it normally. But as I have no ombudsman decision, I wait. If they do not fix the car, which I think is very likely with the crooks I ended up, I will consider very carefully following the DVSA guidance and remove the LED.

I am worried that I will end up with problems with the MOTs because they do not know about that. They tell me that they want to see the bulb on and then off while DVSA tells me otherwise and appeal such failure. DVSA will give me a certificate but then I am afraid all MOTs will run away from me refusing to test it.

If I scrap the car, I will get £200 or so and all the problems get away. If I try to sell it privately in an honest transaction, I should get £500 or so but then this new owner will just remove the LED and do the same MOT I could have done. One way or another, if I sell the car, I do not want to buy an auction quality car and so I will be forced to buy a new franchise car. Such cars are now double the money compared to before the pandemic price tag.

A complete mess just because I did safety recalls. DVSA now has a new system that you can negotiate with the manufacturer to remove the recalls. If that was existing before, I would have done. But all that was there when I did the recalls was that the car will fail the MOT because the recalls were not done. I would have ended up with a scrap car. Instead, I did the recall, a £325 MOT, a £200 service and still I ended up with a scrap car.

Buying a segment A car will be a shock after driving a segment D car. I will save money on tax and fuel, but I am not sure whether the insurance will increase. I will save on the service items as well as there will be no timing belt. But still I cannot come to terms with that, that I have to scrap my car and buy a segment A car up to 7 years old for around £4K.

So to conclude about your comment why the 6 fora died, it is because Mazda got it wrong. The first generation cars were recalled to do rust repairs. The second generation cars were recalled to do engines and so called safety recalls. And the third generation cars did not do any better with their engines.

That is why nobody buys them anymore. Company drivers pay a few pence more and get German cars. Family people just lease an SUV. Whoever bought a Mazda, never ever again buys another.

Offline Siw

  • TS Class
  • **
  • Posts: 30
  • Gender: Male
  • Colour: Aurora Blue (34J) Metallic
  • Engine: 2.2L
  • Fuel: Diesel
  • Transmission: Manual
  • Trim: Sport Nav
  • Year: 2013
Re: Mazda 6 traded in
« Reply #2 on: January 10, 2021, 11:50:02 am »
I got £4250 for it as a part ex. (92k, FSH, excellent condition) They are selling on autrader for £5500-£6000 for similar mileage and spec. This way I don’t have to deal with hagglers and have no comeback should anything let go on it!.
I’ve had multiple recalls since owning it and the car also suffered from the soft cam issue which meant it also needed two new turbos within a week of owning it (luckily covered under warranty)
Other than that it’s been a reliable car, with only minor things annoying me (auto locking (anti hijack) not an option on uk, although you get it in the USA)
We did consider another Mazda 6 (same spec but newer) or a CX5, but the wife preferred the Kia Sportage, especially with the 7yr warranty.

Offline apav

  • Takuya Class
  • ******
  • Posts: 547
  • Gender: Male
  • Engine: 2.0L
  • Fuel: Diesel
  • Transmission: Manual
  • Trim: TS2
  • Year: 2009
Re: Mazda 6 traded in
« Reply #3 on: January 11, 2021, 06:44:38 am »
That is a very good price you got for a 2013 model as the auction traders sell them for less. Plus the benefits of having to do only one transaction, drive in, drive out.

The previous work on your car may explain the current problems. The price tag of these cars, does not justify this quality.

Gradually all the tricks like auto locking will become more common but yes there are always things missing from cars.

The Sportage is very popular and the 7 years warranty is a huge benefit for a lot of people. Enjoy your trips!