NOHOME wrote:
To update (finish) the thread:
Mazda says there is nothing wrong with the struts. They would not have been warrantied regardless since they are classified as a wear item. Firestone has replaced the tires but claims "No Warranty" since the customer has been advised of a strut issue.
Firestone had predicted from the start that Mazda would OK the struts regardless of their condition. I would love to know how Firestone evaluates struts?
At this point, my niece pretty much hates everything and everyone associated with the automotive trade!
About all we know is that the Firestone guy is dishonest. What was wrong with the tires? No way marginal struts/shocks destroy a set of tires in a week.
Do you still have the OEM Dunflops on? I didn't think the suspension was that squishy, the sidewalls on the tires on the other hand are like bubblegum.
OEM tires on my 3 were Goodyear Eagle RSAs. They lasted ~35K.
If the tires were replaced previously, were they properly balanced? (no way to prove otherwise now BTW)
I ask because the tires on the GLI went horribly bad in 10K miles... The issue was the useless tire changer at Dicksvajajay Tire counterbalanced the new BFGs with two pieces of tape weight on the inboard side of the tires clocked about 75* from one another on each tire.
My 2 cents:
Thanks guys for suggesting KYB struts. I just called a local tire shop and they have them for $170, my Mazda dealer sells their mazda struts for $270.
My problem: My struts started going bad last Nov. My dealer never said anything, they were on that paperwork they give you back that says they checked battery, etc. I saw the paperwork in June and told the dealer service about it. He said he'd check. Needless to say, every time I went for an oil change I'd ask if he'd heard anything. I just went for an oil change a couple weeks ago and it's a new service guy. My other one isn't there anymore. I told him the story and he said he's check. Needless to say it's been a couple weeks again and haven't heard anything. My car seems rougher riding now. I was going to tell the service guy I needed two struts installed and give me one free for all the runaround since it was under warranty (I don't know if it was - from you guys it looks like it might be wear and tear - but why did just one fail) I did a G**gle search and found this forum. It's funny that two people like me would have had bad struts fairly quickly. I have a 2006 Mazda 3 and the one on the right is in the red according to their chart, the left one is fine. I saw a couple of people here suggest the KYB, decided to check them out online. Looks good, so will be having both fronts replaced this week.
Thanks again guys.
I heard this news that talks about Mazda Cars. It was a great car with unique style and different features. But, in the recent news I heard that 400,000 cars will have a recall because of the wind shield issue that has problems and can cause accidents. In the news they also mentioned that some 400,000 Mazda3 and MazdaSpeed3 models will be recalled in July by the Japanese car maker. The recall is coming due to a fault in the wiper motors which could potentially trigger a car accident. I found this here: Mazda recalls 400,000 cars because of wiper issues
