Diesel engine blown

[jaydee]

Dear Forum Members,

I have a 2013 CX-5 2.2L diesel turbo. I've owned it for over 3 years and I've enjoyed driving it. I recently drove it from South Wales to Yorkshire and back. No issues with it on that journey and I've often taken it on long trips without a problem. It's done about 140,000 miles (50,000 miles since I've had it) but that's not a lot for a fairly modern 2.2l diesel turbo.

I had it booked in for a service 2 days after that trip and on that morning it failed to start properly, went into limp mode, gave me an oil pressure warning. However, I stopped, restarted and drove it normally to my local Madza garage for the service. They called me to tell me they didn't do the service because there's a problem with the engine and asked if I would spend £630 for them to investigate it further. I need my car for my work so I had to agree to the investigation, hoping that a simple fix would then follow.

They called me again to say the car is not repairable, not driveable and that a new engine was the only way forward at a cost of over £8,500. The car would only be worth £6,000, so effectively it's now a write-off. So I declined the new engine and paid another £50 to get it towed away because Madza were going to charge me £10/day for keeping the car there.

From reading some stories on this forum I learnt that this is a common problem with these engines and that a faulty cam shaft at the time of manufacture was to blame. Mazda's own service bulletin RO73/15 states that this was a problem with cars with VIN numbers beginning with JMZKE and up to No 163230. That includes my VIN number and the date of registration of my car was 3 days after the problem was fixed. Clearly my car was affected by this engine manufacturing fault.

Mazda should have known about this and informed me of it. Instead they charged me £630 to investigate my engine. They only needed to check my VIN to know what the problem was. They didn't they charged me to demonstrate something they already knew! Then they ask me for another £8,500.

I'm about to write to Mazda UK to find out what can be done for me. Could they contribute to or pay for a new engine? Can they refund me the £630 at least? It hardly seems fair on me that an original manufacturing fault is my financial loss. I still owe the finance company on this car. Shouldn't this car have been recalled and fixed at Maxda's expense?

I'm not a car mechanic so I'm seeking some understanding or support from those of you who may be more knowledgeable about this or have experienced the same or similar issues with Mazda. From what I have read on here, Mazda seem to wash their hands with this issue so I think I'm facing an up-hill battle.

I look forward to hearing from anyone who can advise me on what I should do or what I can expect from Mazda..

Thanks,
jaydee

[Matey80]

Hi Jaydee,
I am sorry I cannot offer any assistance but just to let you know you are not alone.
My CX-5 is the same model and year as yours and my engine completely failed requiring a tow to the garage (in March 2020).
I was advised that a new engine was required. In my case I went ahead as the car was fairly low mileage (76694 when the engine broke down).
Mazda would not consider contributing to the cost unless I personally paid for an investigation which would have been expensive and would have added to the cost of replacing the engine if they subsequently refused to assist.
I was put off doing the investigation as my turbo failed in July 2018. On that occasion I did pay for an investigation and Mazda did contribute to the cost but it barely covered my outlay for the investigation.
Possibly I could have pursued more when the engine failed but it was during lockdown and I had many other issues at the time.
Your point about the known fault is interesting and I had not heard that before. It certainly was not mentioned by Mazda or the Mazda garage.

[nikimac]

Hi Jaydee and Matey80,

I know this is an old post but am wondering if you have any update on your situation. The exact same thing has happened to our car. We bought a 2013 CX-5 2.2L diesel turbo two years ago. After a year we started having problems with the engine overheating until finally the car broke down and we had to be towed 4 months ago. We have been told the engine needs to be replaced so now we are searching for a replacement engine while our mechanic has the car at his garage. As you can imagine there is a huge expense involved and we are at our wits end trying to find a solution. These engines seem to be hard to come by. Can anyone suggest a reputable company that sells replacement engines for this car? We are beased in Spain. Thank you.