Let me start by thanking you for taking the time to write such a detailed reply, much appreciated.
First, a couple of answers:
Is there any case you bought a car with known faults and they gave you a discount for it? These cars are sold for £19k brand new or £18k brand new but registered. They were also giving £6k discount for a scrappage scheme but that could be for the full price which currently sits at £25k. There were brand new cars advertised at £15k at some point.
I don't think so, though the price sounds familiar. First, it was brand new and I requested the dealer to keep ALL the plastics on the car, including the ones on the alloys. Even the japanese delivery label was still in the windscreen, so the car was literally brand new (2 miles). Second, I have chosen my own colour after going back and forth about it and there was no attempt to make me go for a specific colour. What are the odds they would have a faulty car in every colour waiting around? Third, I haven't been told anything and I suspect this would be heavily illegal. I can't imagine a dealer would be able to sell something that's known to be faulty without at least mentioning it. Also, where would the fault come from? It's brand new, after all, it wouldn't pass quality control in the factory if it had an issue of any kind.
Do you have more information about this thing? I'd like to to do some more reading on it, please.Do you know if you have warranty? If your warranty is valid, you can inspect the car for free at any dealer. A dealer may not find a problem, but you can have another inspection to another dealer. Maybe you can keep doing that if you do not mention that somebody has checked the car already but just state that you have some concerns that you would like to check under warranty.
Yes, the car has full warranty for another two years, so that's set. Are inspections under warranty really free or is it a case that if the dealer refuses to acknowledge the problem or decides it's not worth dealing with I have to pay? The things I mentioned are there, clear as daylight, easily reproducible, it's more a case of them saying "this is how they all are" and asking me to pay for hours of "investigating".
However, if you go to the dealer, and if the dealer says that you need a new speaker somewhere to be replaced, keep in mind that cars are put together by robots and they are not designed to be taken apart. So if an eager dealer is happy to start removing fragile trims to replace a faulty speaker, you may end up with a visibly damaged car that may not have any speaker problems anymore but it may have plastic trim problems.
Unfortunately I'm more than familiar with taking cars apart, car guy here
. I know exactly what you're talking about and I'd probably get rid of the car if they fixed the issue but created another problem with the trim in the process. The most annoying thing in a car is weird noises from some plastic, for me that's a reason to get rid of the car straight away, even if it means making a loss.
The window issue is a feature of these cars. It was a huge thing when they were first released and a lot of people just part exchanged them for a premium car. There were a lot of adjustments to the rubbers around the window and the door but people who could notice the noise, were not convinced. There is a good chance that you can hear better than the average person and that is why you notice the problems with the audio and the window.
Not sure I understand your point here, are you saying there is a documented issue relating to the windows? If so, where can I read more about this again? I'm not sure what "feature" we're talking about, unless a window crane like you would find on an '87 Lada is something to be proud of. Those adjustments, can they be made under warranty and is there a chance they would help?
Having said that, I am extremely disappointed, especially after reading your reply. I tried really hard to become a Mazda fan, deciding to switch from Audi to Mazda after hearing about how good Mazda is lately and how their interiors are simply amazing, not to mention the reliability of the car overall. Unfortunately, I'm left thinking that it's nothing more but a glorified Vauxhall or Hyundai. The "premium" sound is not in fact premium, if it has problems after just 12 months. The power train is not that clever, nor is their SkyActiv platform, if a Dacia has less vibrations in the cabin. And that interior might look nice on the surface of it, but once you start looking at it in detail, it becomes clear that my 13 years old Audi with nearly 200k miles on the clock was a few notches above. Combine that with a price tag that sometimes exceeds a similar Mercedes or Volvo, true premium brands, and you start to wonder what the whole hype around Mazda is.
Shame really, as it did have potential and I was really hoping they are indeed trying to become a premium car maker. Instead, it seems they charge premium prices for just under average build quality.
Let's see how they handle the problem, that might save them, otherwise I'll probably change the car. That low price means I'm already in positive equity, especially lately with second hand prices going up.
Thanks!