Just bought an 07 MS3, already needs $1200 in repairs.. does this sound right?
 

Bought my 07 MS3 a couple months ago, and recently I noticed the check engine light come on after decelerating downhill in 6th gear. On top of this, I have noticed a general tendency for the car to pop out of 2nd and 3rd gear. Getting the car to fully engage in gear can sometimes be a challenge, mostly with reverse. It feels engaged, but then I rev and hear grinding. I doubt it's user error, this is my 6th car with manual transmission. I also get the fun white smoke out the exhaust on cold start.

So I get the car to my local Mazda dealership this morning (Putnam Mazda in San Mateo, CA), and they tell me I had two CEL codes, one each for a sticking EGR valve and a stuck thermostat, and it will cost $1,268.01 to replace the EGR and thermostat. Of course it's not covered under powertrain warranty.

They couldn't reproduce my popping-out-of-gear problem, nor did they find anything obviously wrong with the turbo that would produce white smoke on startup. I read recently there was a service bulletin related to this very problem, but the service adviser says it was only for CX-9. He also thinks the smoke could be related to the EGR malfunction.

I'm going back in tomorrow morning to show them the gear popping and the smoke, as it usually smokes the most on a cold start.

Here's the kicker, two months after buying the car I get a letter from the dealership that sold me the vehicle saying my smog certification expired before they got to the DMV to complete the registration and that I need to come back and get re-smogged. Obviously, it is not going to pass smog with 2 CELs and a possibly smoking turbo. I'm waiting to hear back from them to see if they will pay for repairs if it does not pass smog, but in my mind they pay for it whether they want to or not. There's tons of consumer protection for smog in California and I don't believe it's legal for a dealership to sell me a vehicle that can't pass smog.

Any recommendations or similar experiences shared? I'm expecting the dealership to put up a fight.

I'm not from California, but I know ya'll have some strict smog regulations...they shouldn't be able to sell you one that didn't pass in my opinion.

Dr. Gentleman please see a thread called "keeps popping out of second" in this section posted by "TWOptSL0W" about the tranny problem....

i tried reading that shit....but i couldnt...i did get to the egr and thermostat part.

nig do that yourself....thermo i think its like 60 bucks , i bought one....and egr clean the fucken valve....gunk and shit makes it stick....u can prolly fix it ..easy to get to. the thermo is a lil pain..but with some swivels u can get to it from bottom as well.

total cost...prolly under 100 and a few hours of sweat.


tell your dealer that he is a pos cunt cocksucker.....this should make you feel better

yea im with ^^^ for the egr and thermostat. theres a how to on the egr and possibly about the thermostat. if you are not mechanically inclined, a local shop will always be cheaper than the dealer.


as for your trans, i was the one who posted the popping out of second thread and i was told that my tranny is on its way out. i can't reproduce the popping out either, so i will have to wait to see what happens. you may want to check your shifter bushings though because that might solve your problem.

Damn man sorry to hear, good luck I hope you at least try to take care of the EGR yourself. Good luck. Cali seems insane when it comes to cars.

As far as the thermostat goes that is co Er under powertrain, recently had mine replaced after the dealer told me it wasn't covered I showed them right on mazda's website where it states that the thermostat is covered

Well the powertrain is 3/36 right? He may be out of luck in that aspect. If the dealership sold it certified used then you should be able to fight to get the thermostat fixxed. I mean without it functioning properly it can lead to a catastrophic failure and a seriously more expensive repair than a damn valve.

Thanks for the advice, I'll update when I get more info tomorrow. If I am truly backed into a corner on the EGR I don't know that I would do it myself (I have the opposite of midas touch), but $878.76 to replace it seems retardedly excessive.

I'm under the impression powertrain is 5yr/60k and 3/36 is everything else.

Extended warranty did you buy grass hopper? If you are gonna use the dealership for car issues then you might as well get the extended warranty.

cx-9 doesnt have a turdbo why the fuck would it smoke at idle?

search here for mod friendly dealers and take it there next time. At least they wont feed you as much bs.

First, is your car red?
If so, you're fucked, it's probably philly's old car.
Good luck.

Well, you did by a 1st year model, known to have issues. I know, I have one too.

Sticking EGR is an easy clean...if you know what a wrench is.
http://www.mazdaspeedforums.org/foru...d-3-egr-50596/

As for the smoking, it was for CX-7, not CX-9....one of you is wrong about the car. It does not truly fix it.

Donate $10 to the forum, then head to the VIP accessible section, grab a @MATT DAMOND OCC and then collect the oil passing through the shitty PCV.

+1...I had the stat replaced under warranty at 50k miles...

^^^ this. vin # for confirmation that your couch has been raped.

Read Raider's EGR cleaning thread. It really is super easy. Donate $10 and you will have access to the repair manual which will tell you how to replace the thermostat.

Bumper to bumper warranty is 3 years or 36,000 mi. Powertrain warranty is like 6 years or 60,000 mi.

You're good, man. Raise hell, they'll fix your shit.

Normal issues, easy fixes

op please post pics of car

I brought the car back to the original dealership that sold me the car, and while I won't know for sure until Tuesday, they're probably going to fix my thermostat and EGR (they weren't stoked about the $1200+ quote I brought them). Seems like a simple enough fix that I can trust a non-Mazda dealership to take care of.

Here's my car in all it's blurry blackness, the best I can do til I unpack the SLR
http://i769.photobucket.com/albums/x...e/IMAG0106.jpg

Ok, not red, not a repaint. You're safe.

I wish I read about all the problems these cars have before I bought mine.

These cars don't have any more problems than other cars.

love the avatar DrGentleman...Doom 2 FTW!!!

Things have been moving slowly due to me being in the middle of the move, but here's where it stands now:

Original dealer who sold me my car (not a Mazda dealership) says there is a California emissions warranty that is supposed to cover emissions-related stuff, including the EGR valve, til around 80k miles. So I called the Mazda dealership I took the car to and after them mulling it over a bit they realized yes the thermostat is covered under warranty, but apparently there is some ULEV vs. PZEV emissions law discrepancy and my car doesn't have it's EGR valve covered. Still smells of horse's shit, so I have my original dealership doing some more legwork to verify (apparently they checked with a different Mazda dealership and they said EGR and thermostat are covered).

Other than this, and apparently me needing new tires (good excuse for a new set of Enkei RPF1s in black) I'm liking the car. In the near future I plan to do RMM, SRI, BPV, AP, and whatever other acronyms I can think of. That poor stock rear motor mount, pretty sure it's just there for decoration.

I have 69,000 my 07 ms3 gt, 82,000 on my 07 CX-7 gt. Both bought new. I stacked up 40 or 50 oil change and oil/filter receipts last night, average is every 3000 miles. Coolant flushed on both, cabin filters every 30k, tense fluid every 30k too. I maintain my cars. Lucky for me, 2006 build cars, like April 2006 and October 2006 build. Lots of others have blown up by now.

You might have a shitty poorly maintained car that just had issues. Fu k, our CX-7 battery lasted nearly 4 years.

If you saw my cleaning how-to for the egr which I wrote, it's common. 1-2 hours, solves the problem.

A carfax can only do so much. A pre-purchase inspection for $50-100 can find the shot the dealer will not report.

Ya bought used, and extended warranty is always pitched then, not too much more overall for a lot of coverage.

Just clean the egr and get a full inspection from a non-dealer.

Turns out I was right all along, thermostat and EGR valve ARE COVERED UNDER WARRANTY, at least in California. I guess the CA emissions warranty is til 70 or 80k. Hooray for happy ending, boo for misinformed service adviser wasting my time.