2000 Mazda MPV from North America - Comments

WHY I WILL NEVER BUY A MAZDA AGAIN...!!

Under 200,000km...closer to 170,000 and now I will be lucky if a wrecker offers me 500 for my 2000Mazda MPV.

I just had my Mazda MPV serviced about 3-4 weeks ago... told the service manager at my dealership (not Mazda) to make sure everything was tip-top as I was going to be out of town and on the highway a lot!! So I didn't want anything to happen. I didn't want to end up standing at the side of the highway with a broken-down vehicle. We have always had the vehicle serviced regularly.

But yesterday the plastic tube carrying coolant to the back of the vehicle "apparently" rotted out and the coolant leaked out. The "check" engine light came on when I was on the highway about 5 kilometres from a service station. I thought I could pull in there to find out about it. About 2 kilometres from the station the check engine light started to blink...so I pulled over immediately!. Smoke poured from the engine and there was a puddle of coolant on the ground behind the rear right tire.

So there I was standing at the side of a major highway - my worst fear... hoping for help. After about 15 minutes, a kind person gave me a lift to the service station. I then had the van towed to a Mazda dealer...$150. Then the service man at the dealership arranged for a rental car for me... another $25/day plus they want another $16/day for insurance on top of that.

The Mazda service man called me at the end of the day to tell me the engine is completely ruined! I can get a new engine for at least 5,000. He said it's not worth it... but a wrecker "might" give me 500 dollars for the body. He told me also that in spite of my previous servicing of the vehicle... no service technician would have spotted this problem. So tough luck for me and gee whiz I only still owe $6,000 for the vehicle. And I still have to get the bill from the Mazda dealership for their "diagnosis".

Less than 200,000 kilometres...!!! What a piece of junk!

So now you know WHY I WILL NEVER BUY A MAZDA AGAIN... AND WHY I WILL WARN EVERYONE THAT I CAN ABOUT IT - IN PERSON - ON BLOGS - WHEREVER...ALL BECAUSE OF A CHEAP PIECE OF PLASTIC TUBING...

BEWARE OF MAZDA!!

Elaine McEwen

Ontario.

We loved it when we bought it. We loved it for taking stuff to and from our cottage. We thought it was a good van... other than having your leg go numb when you were the driver. We had it regularly serviced/maintained. But, service always seemed to be expensive.. there was always something that had to be done, so you rarely got away with less than $6-700 for regular maintenance.

If your engine warning light comes on, you should stop immediately & contact your dealer. I'm sure your car manual will tell you that. So you've only yourself to blame!

Coolant to the back of the car???

Mazda is well aware of the problem with this leak and issued a limited recall; see their bulletin: http://www.mpvclub.com/tsb.php?id=168.

Unfortunately they do not offer to replace your engine if the leak causes it to get ruined and on top of that they only honor the repair for 7 years from the date the van rolled off the assembly line. even though it is an obvious and admitted design defect. Our line started leaking this weekend during a four hour drive - Mazda let us know our warranty to cover this expired in October, 2006. Not only are we purchasing Hondas from now on (after owing a Millenia, a 626 and the MPV) but we will never give Mazda another penny worth of our business. We are also considering taking them to small claims court to pay for the $450.00 repair and we will keep looking to see if someone initiates a Class Action Lawsuit.

I just learned that to have a tune-up done on my MPV would cost $561 US at the dealer because the spark plugs are on the bottom of the engine, meaning the engine needs to be removed to do a tune up! Who in their right mind puts the spark plugs on the bottom of an engine?

The catalytic converter died last year, and the Mazda replacement cost $1,000 US.

The window regulator died last week, and Mazda only sells the part in a kit with a new motor (my window motor is fine) for $300 US.

This van is designed to be a money pit. I will never, ever, ever buy a Mazda again.

Dear everyone, welcome to the world of modern cars! Japanese or otherwise, you will start learning over the next few years that these modern cars are not old Chevys or Cressidas.

There are items like that coolant hose which are NOT maintenance items -- they will last a very long time, but not forever, like an alternator or heater matrix. That's just how they are. Even the highest quality plastic or rubber will fail in time. And mechanics will not fix it unless it is very, very obvious, because as you will well know, they get blamed for trying to charge for "unnecessary repairs."

Spark plugs located inconveniently? My Galant's front plugs are a 10-minute job. The rear 3 plugs need the inlet manifold out to get to, because that's where they have to be to do their job right. That's why Mitsubishi fits expensive plugs which only need replacement at 100,000 km, but they STILL need to be replaced at that time. Just the way it is.

We want cars that will meet emission legislation and still be powerful and be frugal all at the same time? No problem! But they'll put the components where they can be fitted, and add computers and sensors to get there.

No guarantees these days, not even on Japanese cars. Don't blame Mazda for that. Luck of the draw.