1st Sep 2010, 21:17
Having had almost 10 imports (you'd think we would've had more than that over a span of 30 years, but they just lasted so darn long) NONE of them suffered from any kind of structural weakness. Even our 1996 Honda Accord, which was rear-ended by a Buick Roadmaster going over 35 MPH, had no frame issues. In fact, it was the Accord that drove away from the accident while the Buick was written off by the insurance company (it was totaled completely and had to be towed). It wouldn't even START after the accident. I had my cracked rear bumper replaced, and continued driving my Accord.
1st Sep 2010, 10:36
Yeah, because "tire shops" are the ends all when it comes to auto mechanics.
I have never, and will never hear of a car sagging under its own weight under normal circumstances. I had an old '80 Toyota Celica that the frame rail under the drivers door had completely rusted through. I was told by my good mechanic that it needed replacing sooner or later, as it could eventually compromise the integrity of the car. Even with that, it never sagged or showed any signs of weakness. If this was the case, millions of Mazdas would have been recalled for that failure as it would be unsafe. Since that is not the case, and I have never heard of this happening to anyone but you, I'd have to say it is false to assume that all Mazdas of the same time period suffered from this.
Your Mazda was surely dropped in transport, and probably had a weld seam snapped or something major like that, and they sold it as new. This would go undetected, as most people who buy new cars don't crawl underneath to make sure there is no damage. I have heard countless stories of wrecked cars being fixed up and sold as new. This is obviously one of those cases.