Russ Dunmire Mazda Tried to charge me for in warranty service and lied about it Tacoma Washington

My 2001 Mazda Tribute was taken in to service at my trusted non-dealer mechanic when the engine light came on. Their diagnostic tool gave them code PO401. They called Russ Dunmire Mazda to see what this code meant and they said it was and "EGR Flow" code. They said it probably meant the "EGR sensor" had failed and that it was covered under warranty.

With this understanding my wife brought the vehicle to the dealer along with a report of the PO401 EGR Flow code diagnosis given by my trusted mechanic. Russ Dunmire Mazda determined that the "DPFE sensor" had failed and that it was in fact covered under an extended Mazda warranty that applied only to the failure of that part. This was an extension of the factory warranty which was expired. You can read about the warranty extension in the Mazda technical service bulletin at the following link:

http://www.alldata.com/tsb/Mazda/1096614000000_1100160000000_SSP59/901.html

Despite the extended warranty for this part Russ Dunmire Mazda wanted $80 for the diagnosis of the failure. This did not sit right with me or my wife and so we protested that this should have been covered under the labor portion of the warrantee that covers parts and labor. It is also my contention that we brought the Mazda diagnosis code provided by our trusted mechanic when we dropped the car off for service and it didn't seem right to charge me again to retrieve the same information from the engine computer as had already been provided. They insisted that they could not use other mechanics codes, even though they later admitted they got the exact same diagnosis code as our mechanic. Still they would not budge.

I called Mazda USA customer service at 800-222-5500 option 4. I told the rep (Wendy) that their authorized service dept was trying to defraud me by making me pay for warranty service. She told me that the diagnosis fee should have been waved for warranty service as was my contention. She told me she would call the dealer on the other line and get back with me. When she returned she told me that she now agreed with the dealer that it was fair to charge me a diagnosis fee. She said that diagnosis was covered under the terms of the general warranty (which was then expired) but not under the extended warranty. I questioned her about how this could be since the extended warranty was for parts and labor just like the general warranty. She insisted that diagnosis was not covered. I asked her to explain why diagnosis is not considered labor and she said it just isn't. I asked her to send or fax me a copy of the extended warranty so I could see for myself that diagnosis is excluded. She said she could not, but that my dealer could explain it better to me. In other words, I should contact the dealer who is trying to defraud me to have them explain to me again how they are defrauding me. Not encouraged with where this was going I ended the conversation when the rep became quite impatient and rude.

I called back and got a new rep (Tom) and explained the problem. He consulted with the first rep. He agreed with me that diagnosis was covered as labor under the terms of the extended warranty even if the general warranty was expired. He said he would call me back after he called the service manager and explained things to him.

When he called me back he said the service manager had given him a different story. They now claimed that the diagnosis charge was for diagnosing a different problem that we had asked them to look in to that was not related to the failed DPFE sensor that was covered under warranty. I insisted that this was not true. They only service we had asked them to perform was related to the engine light and the PO401 EGR Flow code, and some factory recall items unrelated. The rep explained that the dealer's position was that this PO401 EGR Flow code was unrelated to the DPFE Sensor they had replaced under warrantee. The rep seemed sorry to deliver the bad news but explained that it was the dealer's word against mine and that he was siding with the dealer in the resolution of the mater. I explained that my understanding from previous discussion with the dealer was that the error code was DIRECTLY related to the DPFE sensor. He insisted that dealer assured him it was not and that he couldn't refute that since he had no technical knowledge about the problem. This conversation also ended without satisfactory resolution.

Isn't it ironic that the dealer uses the same slimy lies and tricks that they use on customers to also pull the wool over the eyes of the untrained customer service reps at Mazda USA. What good are these people?

I called the dealer directly to confront him with my contention that he was trying to rip me off. I stated my position that I believed that the PO401 EGR Flow error code is as a direct result of the failed DPFE sensor. He insisted that they were totally unrelated and they had done an entirely different diagnostic using different tools that provided a different code which told them the DPFE had failed. He said he had to pay his mechanics to do both tests. He said they are two entirely different and unrelated systems. Not being a mechanic myself I was without ammunition to refute this latest (3rd) story given to justify the diagnostic charge. He also said that the EGR code was apparently a false code since there was nothing wrong related to the EGR and that it may be the fault of my un-Mazda trained mechanic for hooking up his computer and trying to read the code when he didn't know what he was doing.

He then went into his "poor me" routine stating that someone had to pay for this diagnostic since Mazda wasn't going to. He complained that Mazda corporate was only paying them (the dealer) $36 to replace the DPFE Sensor and that this didn't even cover his mechanics labor. I told him that was between him and Mazda and he disagreed. He said that if I were "a customer" then he would cut me some slack but since I was not "a customer" there was nothing he could do for me. I explained that I was in fact "a customer" and I had had my car serviced at his dealership before (which is true). He said he had no record of that. He asked me where I bought my car and I told him I had bought it at another Mazda authorized dealer. In sympathy he then offered to split the cost with me so that I would only have to pay $40 for the $80 diagnostic. He suggested he would also give me a 10 or 15 percent discount on future service so that I could get my $40 back. I told him I still didn't think I was being treated honestly but that we would be down to pay the $40 we had to pay to get the car back. When my wife picked up that car there was a zero balance. Apparently the service manager thought it better not to steal from me in the interest of good customer service and repeat business.

Upon further research I found the technical service bulletin that applies to this extended warranty online (linked above). It clearly states in a letter sent to customers that the repair is to be done free of charge. It also explains in the dealer bulletin that the VERY SIMPLE repair procedure is to run a diagnostic, and if you get code PO401, replace the DPFE sensor. This is of course the same code we brought into the dealership when we dropped off the car. I also learned that DPFE sensor stands for Delta Pressure Feedback EGR sensor(AKA EGR Sensor). So much for the dealer's false claims that the EGR flow code had absolutely nothing to do with the DPFE Sensor.

Jonathan
University Place, Washington
U.S.A.

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