Mazda - Life Threatening Defects, My Fault!? Say Mazda

[medievil2003]

Hi everyone,

 

As you all know i am still in dispute with mazda but!

 

My solicitor advised me 5 months back to immediately stop my payments to the finance department & at the time i thought great! my car is useless sitting on my drive so why should i pay for it.

 

Only until a few days ago, he had messed everything up, tried to get in contact with him for over 2 weeks and then found out he got the sack! had a big argument with the company and now i have a so called "reliable" solicitor on board which told me the old solicitor had made a huge mistake on telling me to stop paying.

 

He now advised me that i should start paying again, but more on top to cover my arrears. But the dispute will still continue and be classed as Payment under Dispute.

 

What do you guys think of this? i mean, my credit history is already gone bad because of this right?

 

Thanks.

[Conniff]

Will have to read through your thread again later to bring me back up to speed.

 

Your solicitor was very silly to instruct you to stop paying. This can only go against you not him. Whatever happened or is wrong, the agreement is still in force until cancelled. You could have claimed back any premiums once you had won.

 

I did say you shouldn't stop the payments, and any solicitor would be really stupid to advise otherwise.

You should contact the finance house and explain what advice you had been given and make an arrangement to restart payments and an amount to catch up on the arrears.

 

If you check you credit file, you will find that defaults have been registered. The finance company can get a cort order for repossesion and then sell the car at an auction and bill you for what is still outstanding between what they got at the auction and what is still owing.

 

So how far have you got with Mazda ?

Edited April 11, 2010 by Conniff

[medievil2003]

Hi Conniff, I know you did! and that's why im more annoyed with the situation.

 

I would always listen to the legal advice that a solicitor gives so at the time i thought, great. A payment break i thought.

 

I have now been appointed a new solicitor in the firm of whom seems good, but so did the first solicitor. Apparently the only reason they have not got a court order for the car is because mazda know when this goes to court they will have a problem explaining it. One lady i have been in contact with has settled an out of court deal with mazda of who had the same problem.

 

Ok my case! i want to laugh and say it's got amazing progress but i'lld be lying. The solicitor apparantly had problems, and lied to me - i found out he had not done anything since late Nov. after promising me i would recieve letters, faxes and that he had sent all correspondence to the finance company and Mazda! where the hell do i stand here? is it something i should tell the finance company? or do i let this new solicitor do that? Only reason i ask is at least i can do something to push this forward.

 

Where am i legally entitled to do things my self? i.e. make decisions with the finance company in regards to payments etc.

 

 

Thanks for your help. Oh and i have started a campaign, the website is in it's design stage though but there is a flyer of which is already being distributed across the UK with some help from fellow Mazda owners suffering the same problems.

 

www.mazda-campaign.co.uk (please IGNORE the simply layout! its temp.)

[ACSUK]

Hiya,

 

It sounds like a very unfortunate situation. I don't have years & years of motor trade experience, but I do have years of consumer action experience and my advice (just a personal opinion) is that you get a meeting with the lawyer and ask what they intend to do to progress your case.

 

All correspondence that they send should have your copied in anyway; explain that you are extremely annoyed that you had trusted a previous solicitor who has let you down and ask how they can get this case back on track as quickly as possible.

 

I hope all goes well with your case, please do keep us updated.

[medievil2003]

Hey guys,

 

I have an appointment with the solicitor tomorrow. I am just preparing my self.

 

I am really not happy with the service they have provided so far, and in a letter i got from them it mentioend because it's now been passed onto a senior member of staff which now means the costs go to £250 per hour therefore i would have to pay a large amount which the insurace will not cover.

 

Also, if i want to take my important files out they say i have to pay the outstanding bill from what the previous member of staff carried out even though he made mistakes and done no work since Nov. 2009. So they are holding my files that i need to persue the case my self.

 

My main point i want to ask, more on the legal side. I have made the decision anyway not to carry on with this solicitor mainly due to the costs but their rubbish service. My HP contract, because my previous solicitor told me to stop paying i done so, but now all advice points in the other direction.

 

Should i get in contact with the finance department my self and re-arrange payments with added payment on-top to help clear the arrears? of shall i just let it run as the damage (i.e. my credit is dead) has already been done. Any help before tomorrow is greatly appreciated.

 

Thank You.

[bigcul1]

Hi I have been having problems with the DPF on my car and engine oil levels rising. Turned out to be a temp sensor in the exhaust malfunctioning. Each time the DPF tried to regen it got up to temp and then the temp sensor knocked it off causing only part regen and diesel entering the oil. Getting it fixed on Friday so should cure this potentially painful problem. Hope this may help someone.

[medievil2003]

Hi Bigcul1,

 

That is an amazing help! Thank you so much i will look into that. You may have provided me another route to fight my case. I will look into that immediately.

 

Have Mazda given you any reason to why it failed? Also, did you have an engine over-run due to the diesel contamination and any warning lights?

 

Ok the following is to everyone who reads! legal advice more than anything.

 

I am going to get my car fully inspected by an independant company soon, they state that the outcome of the inspection, terms and conditions will mention that finding or not will be based on fact not opinion. Whatever the outcome makes the case final with no further disputes.

 

I cannot see how this will be allowed in the legal eyes? Independant engineers job is to find the fault if any and to submit a prognosis (basically giving their professional opinion on if the fault can happen again). So that opinion i know will swing in my benefit but under the terms of Mazda the findings will be only based on fact.

 

Another problem with the credit company and the debt collecting agency - i am not going to post on here but if any of you would be kind enough to help drop me a pm and ill explain.

 

Thanks.

[bigcul1]

Medievil2003

 

Just to clarify, my car isnt a Mazda but it works on the same principle. I posted the info as it may be an area to look into to resolve issues with the DPF. My oil was constantly rising, did not have the over-run issue but it you look on any GM/SAAB forum they are all having these problems, not just Mazda. By the way my car is a Cadillac BLS 1.9 TD. Yes a diesel Caddy!

[Conniff]

What has happened with your solicitor, have you paid the bill? have you got your files?

[medievil2003]

Well, since the last time we spoke i have had a few meetings with the solicitor of whom apologised over and over for the errors the previous solicitor working for them made. The lady who took over my case is excellent, i am getting exactly what i want. I.e. fast responses to letters sent and received.

 

This is what i should have got in the first place.

 

There is still an outstanding solicitors bill of which they agreed to reduce a lot and obviously the rest would be covered under the insurance.

 

My car is going to go in for the inspection but Mazda dealers terms is that the experts report and findings will be final on the basis of it being fact not opinion, only problem i face here is that a lot of experts also provide a prognosis on the fault. What legal rights do you think i have in respect of my solicitor telling the selling dealer that this is not final, once the inspection is complete the only benefit it would provide is that it will either help my case or help Mazda argue their case against myn? I would love to take this straight to court.

 

Mazda dealer are saying once the inspection is carried out thats final!

 

Also, as Mazda credit have passed my file onto a debt collection agency - this agency has paid off the debt and are now obviously chasing me for the debt but tell me the car is actually myn now? How does this work, even though i violated the agreement due to my solicitors bad advice - are they allowed to do this without my prior knowledge?

 

This now means now i cannot settle the outstanding debt with Mazda credit on the original interest rate? Mazda credit have confirmed they will have nothing more to do with this case, previous to this i sent the debt collection agency a letter asking them for a settlement figure of my outstanding bill so i can pay the debt off but i did not get any reply from them and then found out that they paid Mazda credit off so now i am left with no option but to continue not to pay.

 

This has not damaged my credit, which at first was my main worry.

 

 

Thanks!

Edited May 17, 2010 by medievil2003
Grammer Error

[Conniff]

Is the inspection by a Mazda appointed engineer or one of your choice?

 

If it is Mazda, then a letter should be sent saying that you reserve the right to have an indepedent inspection done with your solicitor appointing the inspecting company.

 

I say your solicitor as that won't have the ring of you knowing the company or your oppo doing it.

 

On the credit side, are you saying that Mazda has now sold your outstanding amount to a debt collection agency?

[medievil2003]

Hi Conniff,

 

The inspection was going to be carried out via AA on behalf of Mazda but i rejected that so legally my solicitor said ill need to find 3 independant experts CV's which i had and chose one of them. He is apparantly known by the dealer, so have to wait and see if they accept.

 

The credit side, yes mazda credit have now sold it to the debt collection agency, Mazda credit have no further need to be tied in with this case. But the car is officially myn? which i cant work out.

[Conniff]

Is there a great deal outstanding?

 

What to do now is to send a cca request to the dca with a £1 postal order and see if they have the agreement. If they don't, then you can put the account into dispute and stop paying until they do have the agreement to send a copy to you.

 

You should also make it clear that the £1 is for the cca and not a payment towards anything else and that if they fail to send the agreement they have to return the postal order to you.

 

Have they asked for monthly payments that equal what you were paying before, or are they asking for the full amount?

[medievil2003]

Hi Connif, morning. thanks for your quick replies.

 

Its around £14,000. When my solicitor told me to stop payments i done so with immediate effect but obviously his advice was wrong. Then Mazda credit passed it onto the debt collection agency to try and recover those debts from here is when i found out the advice was bad to stop payments, so i sent a letter to the debt collecting agency explaining that i had been advised wrongly and if we could come to an agreement to start paying again.

 

This is when the letter got sent to my solicitor saying they had bought the debt from Mazda credit and now Mazda credit have nothing to do with this.

 

What will the CCA show up? wouldnt it be invalid now as i failed to make payments?

 

As of yet, the debt collection have not asked for payments but they will once we reply back to them.

[Conniff]

Morning medievil

 

The cca is a copy of the agreement you signed. Without the agreement, the debt is unenforcable. If they fail to send you a copy of the agreement you signed because they don't have one, then you put the account into dispute and can legally stop payments.

It doesn't mean the debt doesn't exist or they will stop sending you letters, but until such time as they send you a copy, then they cannot legally enforce the debt.

 

Once/if they get the agreement and send you a copy then they can enforce payments, so this could give you a nice breathing space.

 

Don't take their word for it that they have the debt in its entirety and it is the end with Mazda, you want proof that they have purchased the debt and that there is no further responsibility to Mazda.

I'm sorry to say that dca's are not the most honest of professions and they do lie and cheat and (shall we say) 'embelish' the powers they have.

 

If you haven't already, I would want confirmation right from the horses mouth so would ask Mazda for confirmation in a letter. Where dca's are concerned, some things have a habit of coming back and biting you on the bum.

 

I trust you have the original copy sent to you when you took out the agreement, guard that with your life as dca's have been known to cut and paste signatures, so for that reason, you should never sign any letters to them, but write your name or if you feel you must sign it, then make your signature on any letters to them different to what is on your original agreement.

 

You can do all these things yourself so keeping the solicitors costs down.

Edited May 18, 2010 by Conniff

[medievil2003]

Ok I understand. So if now the DCA has as they say purchased the debt from Mazda Credit who will now hold the agreement? Any letters i write to Mazda credit will just get ignored or sent back now though. So it looks like i will have to ask the DCA?

 

I will of course get the proof, would this be something my solicitor would have to ask?

 

I do have the original copy, only one problem at the moment i have already sent a form of authority to allow my solicitor to be in contact with the DCA as previously i told the DCA to deal with me and me only at the present time. With my signature on!

 

Is it correct that the car is now classed as my self owning it not a company?

[Conniff]

It is almost certain that Mazda will retain it.

 

If you think you will get nothing back from Mazda, then you can send them a Subject Access Request which will get you a copy of everything they have on you including all correspondence, and the maximum they are allowed to charge for this is £10, and they must respond in accordance with regulation within 40 days otherwise they commit an offence.

 

I would still try a recorded delivery letter to them asking for confirmation that they have relinquished all responsibility of the agreement to the dca before sending a sar .

 

If Mazda have relinquished all responsibility, then yes, the car is yours as your agreement was with Mazda. The only way the dca can get his hands on it is if he has a legally enforcable agreement which you refuse to pay, and takes it to court, and wins and you still refuse to pay, they could then ask a bailiff to seize it.

 

If everything is fine with the dca and you want to continue payments, remember the agreement is not now in force so you can decide on the amount you can afford/want to pay each month to them as the dca will probably set it quite high so they get their cheaply purchased investment back as soon as possible.

[medievil2003]

I see. Does the Subject access request work on all areas? I mean, can i use this to ask Mazda UK for all information that they hold on file for me including all times the car has gone into them? I did try to ask for this at the beginning and they refused to give any files to me because the car is owned by the finance company until i pay the debt off & that i may need a solicitor to ask for these details.

 

If i can write letters whilst my solicitor deals with the legal sides then i would do that because at the end of the day by me writing as many letters as i can it will keep costs down. The job cards and all details on my car that Mazda UK hold on file are so Important that i cannot even describe how much it would help my case, it seems funny as they always try and cover up why they cannot give this info.

 

In regards to the car being myn, does this still mean i can reject the car once i found the fault and proven it? will it be the responsibility of the DCA or the selling dealer? You see, i would have prefered the agreement to still continue with Mazda credit because it still gives them a certain responsibiliy to help.

 

Conniff, you have been an amazing help! Really, i am so glad there are people like you to help us.

[Conniff]

Yes the car can still be rejected, this is part of the consumer regulation.

 

If you rejection is accepted, then you won't get back every penny you have paid out, there will be a reduction for what is called 'your enjoyment' of it, (don't matter if you enjoyed it or not, that's the term that's used).

 

You can send a sar to the selling dealer and to Mazda finance as well and it is a statutory request that they must honour, I'm not sure it will include job cards in that though.

 

You don't have to reject the car, you can ask for repairs to your satisfaction and then pay the dca. You could be better off with this arrangement as the dca is more likely to agree a settlement figure with you if you wanted to go that way as he never paid the full amount outstanding. You can also agree lower payments than you were to Mazda finance as well.

[medievil2003]

Right, as long as i know that. If a rejection is successful then i should get compensation for the time i have not had the car and all the problems it caused me, i.e. if i can prove that what happened is due to a manufacturing fault not myn.

 

I cant have this car repaired, its too dangerous to drive and i 100% believe it can happen again, apart from that the car should not have been sold to me in the first place when the selling dealer knows of the driving limiations, nothing like this was put in front of me to sign. Thats another story!

 

With the dca and repayments, do they charge a set interest rate? and where do they recover their losses from? So they purchased the debt from Mazda credit and for example. if i said i think £8,000 is a fair deal then they have lost out a few £ thousand.

 

Is this a tactical move by Mazda?

[Conniff]

No interest with a dca.

 

If you owe £14,000 and they bought if for £7,000, they will ask for the full amount, that is where they get their profit and why they have room to agree a lower settlement.

[Guest nez69]

According to the AA website, your driving style should have been enough to start the regenration process anyway:

 

This is incorrect, the 1st stage regeneration is detailed in the vehicles handbook but if it goes beyond then only a dealer can rectify it.

 

You have done 10k over 10 months? DPF equipped cars have variable service intervals, the DPF light flashes when the oil contamination is high then stays on when it is too high or blocked.

 

What sort of driving and trips do you do? long / short??

 

How many times has this happened?

 

The oil level rises due to the fuel added during engine/dpf operation.

 

If you pour any liquid into another the level will rise, this is normal and it "IS YOUR DUTY TO CHECK ON A REGULAR BASIS" be it yourself or a Mazda dealer. Do not take your car anywhere else as they will not know what they are dealing with.

 

What are the fault codes logged when the EML illuminates?

 

I will check what I can although there are no tech notes from Mazda regarding your "stuck throttle" I may be able to help on other issues.

 

You are concentrating on the DPF light and I would like to know why.

 

You will be due a service, that will or should sort the oil dillution and DPF light unless there is fault with your DPF filter.

 

Do you have mats fitted and if so which ones and how are they fitted?Do they have secure, screwed fixings?

 

The first service is around £480 as you will need to have the injector washers replaced and tappetts checked.

Filure to do this WILL cause premature engine failure as you will get gas blow by past the injectors.This is the most important service this car will have in its life, trust me on this one or speak to Mazda.

 

This may cause oil and DPF faults as well as engine / turbo faults.

 

Do you have any oil leaks?

 

Give me some of the above information and I will have a look.

 

I cannot say where I am from but I can try to help give you the correct information as per Mazda.

[medievil2003]

Hi Nez,

Thanks for your reply.

 

Ok to start i will answer the question in the same manner of your paragraphs

When my car had the over-run I had done just over 11,000 miles which worked out between 10-11 months I had the car from new. You see my oil is over the X mark and is heavily contaminated by fuel. I have NEVER seen the DPF light appear (only when i turn the engine on, it appears and then goes for testing like the rest of the lights)

 

My driving styles, are a mixture of long and short – I purchased the car to go to London and back most of the week so from my house its 25 miles each way. I am young, so when i go out driving even if its local it is a long journey. There were a few times I would stop and start but that’s when I first bought the car. When i had the engine over-run I had been travelling for at least 2 hours and most of them were on empty long roads ‘A40’.

 

I have been into Limp Home Mode once, that’s when I had the car for around 3 months. The only light that came on at that time was the EML but when i took it to Mazda they said it’s the DPF that’s clogged up because it had not been regenerating but couldn’t find any codes so they just ‘Reset’ the system. The engine over-run has only happened once thank god.

 

I fully understand how the DPF system works, I have now been without the car for 12 months as I refuse to drive it after the incident. This left me plenty of time to research

My car has never been anywhere else apart from Mazda, I do not mind paying a higher cost because I know it’s done in the correct place.

You see, Toyota had the “stuck throttle” this was not the case, the engine over-run and hit maximum revs and no matter what I don’t to the accelerator it wouldn’t make a difference. Mazda dealers have blamed this on the normal operation of the DPF system which comes down to my fault as they say, but again I emphasise no lights have ever come on and if Mazda were to turn the car on now there would still be no lights even though the engine oil is full of diesel (62% mix)

I understand that a service would have sorted the oil dilution out, but I was not due a service so Mazda cannot use that against me! It’s like saying the service interval is 12,500 miles or 1 year but make sure you have it done when your 2,000 miles due the service in case you have an engine over-run?

If there is a fault with my DPF filter then that is not a customer’s fault.

I had mats in the car and that was my first reaction as i thought the mat may be stuck on the pad but it wasn’t.

 

I am in the process of having an engine strip down report so it will show if there are any leaks.

I have not even started my car since it’s come back from the Mazda dealer. I am determined to prove there is a fault as many others who are in contact with me are having exactly the same problem and responses from Mazda

 

Any information you can give me would be greatly appreciated & I understand you may be “limited” on info but again I would appreciate it so much.

 

Thank You!

Edited June 2, 2010 by medievil2003
HTML Problem

[Guest nez69]

The main thing that concerns me is the 62% fuel to oil ratio. Has this been explained as yet?

 

Who is stripping the engine, the dealer?

 

If there is a fault that illuminates the EML or any other light then 99% of the time there will be a code.

 

Some cars now do have variable service intervals, although this model doesnt claim to have the DPF systme needs regenerating which also includes an oil and filter change so in effect it actuall does have variabl service intervals, just not officailly if you see what I mean?

 

 

The main causes of engine run on for this engine are glow plugs, which can melt in extreme cases, engine or turbo faults.

 

I am not saying that any of these are at fault obviously they would need to be checked. Mazda dealers can easily access this information which details exactly what they need to check.

 

Is your Mazda dealer being helpful?

 

ALSO;

 

Note: Diesel Engine Runs On may occur due to over refilling of engine oil. When refilling

engine oil, it is necessary for engine oil to refill between oil level gauge F and L.

This info is straight from Mazda.

[medievil2003]

Thanks for your reply. I understand what you mean yeah.

 

I have an independant certified company who are doing the strip down/report. There is a report i got hold of, a mazda 5 owner had the same problem as me and it was found to be a melted glow plug and problems with cylinder heads.

 

I have asked Mazda for all job cards including all codes and they are extremely reluctant to give them to me so i had to ask my solicitor to do it, this i am waiting on.

 

I have never filled my oil up, i check it every week but in that week i done a LOT of miles. I have questioned Mazda on why they say weekly checks not x amount of miles.

 

The 62% ratio, i just paid for a test to be done months back when this first happened, being fustrated i was on and off the phone to many diesel experts who all told me make sure you get a simple signed report of an oil test. Even though i have asked mazda to provide me with a response in regards to the ratio they have failed to do so, and again put it to the normal operation of the dpf and me not having my service, which again was not due.

 

Having 12 months to think about things, I am either at a a loose end or at somewhere that Mazda cannot argue. Only time will tell in these kind of things, but i do have many people supporting what i am doing.

 

Is there anything you suggest i can do? go? research etc?

 

Thank again,