I bought my CX-5 new at HB Mazda, but if you have a Mazda - Ed.S.
I bought my CX-5 new at HB Mazda, but if you have a Mazda that's out of warranty, think again about having HB Mazda do repairs.
I had a CEL and a DTC, and took my CX-5 to HB Mazda where they charged $200 to diagnose, and then said the car has a clogged heater core which they would charge $2,600 to replace... Replacing a heater core in any car with only 50,000 miles on it is the stupidest thing I've ever heard.
I did a bi-directional flush on the core and found lots of plastic chips that were coming from a deteriorating "plastic" impeller on the water pump. I was astonished to find that Mazda had actually installed a low quality water pump with a plastic impeller in the factory. Now I'm concerned that Mazda might have done other cheap, cost cutting things on this car when they built it, and I'm leery about keeping the car.
Anyone who has the same experience can look forward to paying what they quoted me, then, when the water pump goes out completely, due to the cheap plastic impeller, they'll also have to spend another grand to replace the water pump, as well... That's a projected total of $4,000 to have HB Mazda fix this problem.
I replaced the water pump myself and the total cost of the repair to me, including HB Mazda's dubious $200 diagnostic fee, was $600, plus six hours of my time.
I once thought highly of Mazda, but now I'll never own another one... Mazda and its Service people are seriously Unethical.
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