Advice with MX5 issue please!

Spikey

Spikey

Spikey

Soldato
Joined
28 Feb 2004
Posts
5,988
Location
North East, UK
Hi all,

Some might remember I had a crash back in dec in my MX5 (55 plate) and it went in to get a new passenger door/rear passenger panel and a rear wheel and obviously a respray. Anyway after having the car back a month I started to notice the carpets (mainly on the passenger side) becoming damp. Anyway about 9 days ago I noticed the passenger footwell was sopping wet with water so I got straight back onto the repair garage and they took the car away a week ago.

I get a phonecall finally after a week (today) and the garage are telling me the the rubber seals on both sides of the roof are knackered. They are saying they don't see it as crash related and will be getting a report from my local mazda dealer (funnily enough the same one that sold me the car) to state that it could not have been caused by the impact of my crash. Now obviously I've only owned the car since June 2010 second hand of course.

I've contacted the dealer who sold me the car (who are meant to be doing a report) but they claim they've heard nothing from the insurance place who are fixing the car. They have appeared to be quite helpful and appear to want to help me get the car sorted out. Now the main worry for me is where do I stand regarding the work on seals? Obviously I've only had the car since June last year and don't think it's on that I should have to pay for the seals and the insurance garage have told me they should not go within 5 years! And considering I've only had the car a year.

Could anyone offer me any advice on where I should go from here? I've got a warranty for the car but I'm struggling to find the paperwork to see if this is covered or not. Does anyone have any ideas how much they actually cost to replace? It's getting very frustrating now and I need to get it sorted as soon as possible as I've not had use of the car for 5 weeks of the year already!

I'm not sure when I will get the car back as I rekon there could be a fight between who foots the bill, the insurance garage, the dealer who sold me the car or worst case me.

Thanks!
 
I would be more concerned with just getting it fixed, the longer you spend trying to find someone to blame for it leaking without fixing it, the more damage you will do to the car.

Get the seals done now and worry about who foots the bill later.
 
Thanks but its still with insurance garage at the moment and then it's going on monday to the dealer who sold me the car, I'll have to take it from there and see if anyone is willing to offer me any help.
 
Hmm, just found the thread where you detail your crash.

It would be worth checking the seal between the roof and the door by pouring water from a watering can rose onto the door/roof. If there is any water ingress it should be easy to spot.
While I can understand the insurance garage saying the water ingress is due to the seals on the roof not fitting as they should, it would be prudent to get them to check the door alignment as the door took a knock in the crash.
If the door is out of alignment, then that is their issue. If he door is aligned properly, then it's your issue to see if it's covered by the warranty you got from the dealer when you bought the car.

If there is not any obvious water ingress from the door/roof area, then your going to have to check elsewhere.
On the NA and NB MX-5s the drain path passes down through the body between the door and rear wheel arch to drain holes in the sill. I'm not sure if this also applies to the NC, but as that area was damaged on your car then check it drains through OK. (You can find info about this on the mx5oc website.)


Hope you get it sorted,
EP
 
Thanks for the advice! I'm hoping between the two garages this issue is resolved, it's getting a tad frustrating now, I probs won't hear anything until monday but I will keep the thread updated! :)
 
Update:

The car was sent by the insurance company to a Mazda dealership in Gateshead to strip the car down. Their report says that it's because of blocked drainage on both sides of the car, I should get the car back tomorrow. I've contacted the Mazda dealership in Middlesbrough who sold me the car and they want £150 to sort the problem out and replace the drainage system, I've spoken to their "business manager" this morning and told him it's not acceptable having the car only 10 months and he's going to get back to me tomorrow.

Does that price seem reasonable? I don't mind meeting them halfway but obviously I'm going to try and get them to sort it out for nothing if I can. Trading standards think I have a good case. I understand the vehicle will have to be stripped down on both sides for the problem to be resolved.

Any further advice would be great, thanks :)
 
I dunno about a MK3 but a MK1/2 is easy to access and unblock the drainage holes using a long flexible metal rod and a kettle of hot water.

I'd assume they are replacing the drain tubes where accessibility is a pain.
 
Dup said:
I dunno about a MK3 but a MK1/2 is easy to access and unblock the drainage holes using a long flexible metal rod and a kettle of hot water.

I'd assume they are replacing the drain tubes where accessibility is a pain.
Click to expand...

Thanks yeah apparently the garage in gateshead had to strip both sides of the car down to access it, does the fee the want seem resonable?
 
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