For Railton and anyone else with an RX8 - Business Section of Today's Star.
$40,000 car may not start if stopped cold
ELLEN ROSEMAN
At age 48, Kevin Nullmeyer thought his sports car days were behind him.
But last July, he paid $40,000 for his "midlife crisis car," a 2004 Mazda RX-8, designed to seat four adults.
"It's a fabulous car and I love it," says Nullmeyer, who has already driven 30,000 kilometres in less than a year of ownership. "My kids, age 8 and 10, think it's the coolest thing."
There's a potential problem, however, that makes him nervous. The car has a rotary engine, which is known to stall and flood with gas under certain conditions.
All rotary engines, including those found in previous Mazda RX-7 models (last sold in 1996), are susceptible, says Mazda Canada Inc. president Michael Benchimol.
"Because the rotary engine is so unique and different, it also has characteristics of its own. One of these characteristics is that the engine may experience difficulties starting if it is not properly warmed up during the previous usage," he wrote to Nullmeyer last September.
The salesperson at Downtown Mazda didn't tell him about problems starting the car if it wasn't warmed up, Nullmeyer says. Neither did the owner's manual, which he read carefully.
So, he was surprised by an incident last August at his cottage. He started the car on a Saturday morning and moved it 30 metres up the driveway to get away from tree sap.
On Sunday night, with his family inside ready to head back to Toronto, the car wouldn't start.
"One hour later, after trying the instructions in the manual over 20 times, phoning my brother to come over and help me, and then trying anything we could think of, we finally were able to barely get the car started," he says.
He searched the Internet to find out about engine flooding with the Mazda RX-8 and found he wasn't alone.
We did our own search and found many similar stories, including one from a female owner who gave the car a one-star rating (out of five) at Consumer Reports magazine's website. "A nightmare for any woman," she wrote. "Cannot move to wash, etc., or engine will flood."
Mazda put out a service bulletin in February, which can be found online, covering repair techniques for flooded 2004 and 2005 RX-8 models that have to be towed into dealerships. (The title: "Engine cranks no start.")
Nullmeyer wants Mazda to cover towing and repair costs under the three-year warranty in case the car won't start again. He also wants an extended warranty to help with resale value.
Gregory Young, a spokesman for Mazda Canada, said new cars come with a three-year roadside assistance program thatcovers towing to Mazda dealers up to 100 kilometres away.
What about repairs? The dealer has to spend an hour or two removing spark plugs and excess gasoline and letting everything dry out.
"Our corporate warranty covers all repair work in the first instance, but not subsequent incidents," Young says.
That's because Mazda dealers are supposed to explain proper starting procedures to RX-8 owners, which should prevent problems from recurring.
"But we think we've eliminated the flooding problem," Young said. "We've come up with a solution, involving a more powerful starter, heavier spark plugs and changes to the engine's computer."
Nullmeyer received the free adjustments, as did other owners who went to their dealerships for regularly scheduled maintenance.
However, Mazda Canada did not recall the model for repairs, Young said. Nor did it communicate with every RX-8 buyer.
Simon Derderian, general manager of Downtown Mazda, told us that engine flooding isn't a common problem.
"If we sold 30 cars last year, about five came back with a flooding problems."
At a meeting with Nullmeyer last February, Derderian says he was willing to buy back the car at the current retail price — then about $35,000. "But he didn't give me the chance to make an offer."
Nullmeyer says he didn't negotiate a buyback price since he felt he would lose too much to depreciation in the first year.
We think Mazda Canada can do a better job of disclosure. For example, Young told us that there's no information for prospective RX-8 buyers on the company's website, only for those who already own the car.
To be upfront with customers, Mazda should have customers sign a notice saying they'd been informed of the problem before buying, Nullmeyer says.
To avoid being stranded, he makes sure to keep the car idling for five minutes after short trips to the bank or gas station or to visit his children's friends nearby.
"I'm stuck with the only $40,000 new car in the world that won't restart when turned off cold," he says.
