Mazda Tries to Get Around VVT Lawsuit with Sketchy Rules About Oil Changes

Well, that didn't take long. Just a couple months after a VVT lawsuit was filed in court, Mazda has filed a motion to dismiss the case. Their reason?

"Mazda says the extended warranty notice is clear that “if the noise is caused by poor vehicle maintenance (insufficient oil changes or using engine oil of viscosity lower than 5W-30), this warranty extension does not apply.” Without maintenance records, Mazda says there is no way to know if the car was properly maintained."

On the surface, that might seem reasonable. But according to owners all it takes is one missing oil change receipt to miss out on warranty coverage. Additionally, owners say they were offered less help because they had oil changes done at a local shop rather than a certified dealer.

It's even worse if they did their own changes at home:

"Two days later we received a call from the dealer and were informed there was excessive sludge and they would need to see receipts from where we changed our oil. We performed our own oil changes and did not keep receipts from the auto parts store where we purchased the oil. Dealer said without the receipts we would not get warranty work done and charged us $260 to do the investigation to better their case. –– 2010 CX-7 owner"

Additionally, Mazda wants any claims of consumer fraud, breach of implied warranty and concealment to all be dismissed.

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