Transmission blown at 72K miles

Annapolis MD area.

I'm going to argue with them more on Monday to clarify, they might have said $2800 but the email they sent my wife is $5k so...That's more than the original $4700 they quoted.

Also, they are claiming that transmission did not get required service. Unless we are crazy, owners manual doesn't call for required service before 67k miles for transmission. I do my own maintenance so they said they can't trust my workmanship so won't offer more money. I'm not sure what me changing the oil and air filter have to do with transmission failure. Total BS.
 
Annapolis MD area.

I'm going to argue with them more on Monday to clarify, they might have said $2800 but the email they sent my wife is $5k so...That's more than the original $4700 they quoted.

Also, they are claiming that transmission did not get required service. Unless we are crazy, owners manual doesn't call for required service before 67k miles for transmission. I do my own maintenance so they said they can't trust my workmanship so won't offer more money. I'm not sure what me changing the oil and air filter have to do with transmission failure. Total BS.
I'd be very interested in what they're referring to here. We're all saying lifetime fill and no maintenance on this forum.
 
Here is the email they sent my wife:

Dear Customer,

Thank you for contacting Mazda Customer Experience Center.

Thank you for taking the time out to speak with me this afternoon.

As we discussed, our technicians and District Service Manager had an opportunity to review your transmission concern.

Mazda North American Operations has determined that the cause of the transmission failure was due to lack of maintenance.

While we understand and respect that your husband performs his own maintenance on the vehicle, we cannot stand behind nor certify the quality of work being performed on the vehicle.

Being that the vehicle is now 7K miles removed from the powertrain warranty, Mazda North American Operations offered $1,000.00 toward the replacement of the transmission solely as a goodwill gesture.

If you decide to trade your vehicle in and purchase a new Mazda vehicle, we would be happy to extend our employee pricing (E-Plan) which offers approximately 4% below dealer list price for a new vehicle and you can participate in one incentive.

We would also like to offer an additional $1,000 e-Gift card on top of the E-plan certificate toward the purchase of a new Mazda vehicle both of which we would email to you if you choose to accept this offer.

We apologize once again for your frustration with the situation and would love to keep you as a happy member of the Mazda family.

Thank you once again for your time as we wish you a nice remainder of your day.

---------------------
Before anyone says take the trade in, they are only offering $6k for the car because it needs a transmission. Which means we'd have to pay a bunch of money just to get rid of the car.
 
Here is the email they sent my wife:

Dear Customer,

Thank you for contacting Mazda Customer Experience Center.

Thank you for taking the time out to speak with me this afternoon.

As we discussed, our technicians and District Service Manager had an opportunity to review your transmission concern.

Mazda North American Operations has determined that the cause of the transmission failure was due to lack of maintenance.

While we understand and respect that your husband performs his own maintenance on the vehicle, we cannot stand behind nor certify the quality of work being performed on the vehicle.

Being that the vehicle is now 7K miles removed from the powertrain warranty, Mazda North American Operations offered $1,000.00 toward the replacement of the transmission solely as a goodwill gesture.

If you decide to trade your vehicle in and purchase a new Mazda vehicle, we would be happy to extend our employee pricing (E-Plan) which offers approximately 4% below dealer list price for a new vehicle and you can participate in one incentive.

We would also like to offer an additional $1,000 e-Gift card on top of the E-plan certificate toward the purchase of a new Mazda vehicle both of which we would email to you if you choose to accept this offer.

We apologize once again for your frustration with the situation and would love to keep you as a happy member of the Mazda family.

Thank you once again for your time as we wish you a nice remainder of your day.

---------------------
Before anyone says take the trade in, they are only offering $6k for the car because it needs a transmission. Which means we'd have to pay a bunch of money just to get rid of the car.

Lack of maintenance? What a load of bulls***. Mazda specifically says not to change transmission fluid on these cars, how can they possibly make that their argument?

Dont go to the dealer, dont even talk to him. Find a reputable transmission shop and have them rebuild the transmission for you and save yourself some money.

Can you describe specifically what your transmission is doing? When you shift to R or D, does the transmission jump or just so nothing?

What sort of driving were you or your wife doing when the transmission failed? Did it clunk, or skip out of gear?
 
Do you have a tow hitch on CX-5 and/or do any towing? I'm trying to gather in mind how they can try to pin failure as a maintenance issue.

The word transmission doesn't even show up in the maintenance guide.

https://www.mazdausa.com/siteassets/pdf/manuals-and-guides/2015/2015-cx5-maintenance-schedule.pdf

I'm gonna see if FSM makes any mention....

EDIT: I wonder if it had a low "factory fill" on AT fluid and they are saying it failed due to inadequate fluid?
All I see in FSM are statements about too little fluid causing damage. No intervals listed.
 
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Failed on the highway going through West Virginia. A lot of uphill and downhill. Just cruising along at speed limit 70mph.

We got off the highway to get gas and it downshifted to accelerate up the hill and never upshifted. We pulled over at the first opening and engine revved and car didn't go anywhere. Turned it off, I checked for leaks, went to check dipstick an realized there wasn't one, found no mention in the manual, tried to check fuses everything seemed okay/no mention of an AT fuse in the manual. Let it cool for a few minutes, started it back up and tried reverse, that worked, tried drive, that worked. Continued on to the gas station. It was hard to get up over 40 because it wasn't really upshifting and when stopping, it sort of hopped forward like if you stall in a manual but did not stall. We could hear what sounded like a clicking sound too. The odd part, no lights leading up to this, right as we are pulling into the gas station all the lights came on (AT, CEL, TPMS, traction control). Made it to the gas station and called a tow truck. Been at the dealer since.

Dealer is saying it's clicking and not shifting or slamming into gear.

Negative about the tow hitch.

EDIT: it's at the dealer because we don't really want to pay. We feel like even though it's passed warranty, this is obviously a defect that they should make it right and take care of us.

EDIT 2: Here's another fun bit I left out. It had it's 60k required maintenance at the dealer. No one said anything about our transmission. I don't think anyone checked our transmission because no maintenance was due at that time. They say they did drain and fill the rear diff though.
 
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Failed on the highway going through West Virginia. A lot of uphill and downhill. Just cruising along at speed limit 70mph.

We got off the highway to get gas and it downshifted to accelerate up the hill and never upshifted. We pulled over at the first opening and engine revved and car didn't go anywhere. Turned it off, I checked for leaks, went to check dipstick an realized there wasn't one, found no mention in the manual, tried to check fuses everything seemed okay/no mention of an AT fuse in the manual. Let it cool for a few minutes, started it back up and tried reverse, that worked, tried drive, that worked. Continued on to the gas station. It was hard to get up over 40 because it wasn't really upshifting and when stopping, it sort of hopped forward like if you stall in a manual but did not stall. We could hear what sounded like a clicking sound too. The odd part, no lights leading up to this, right as we are pulling into the gas station all the lights came on (AT, CEL, TPMS, traction control). Made it to the gas station and called a tow truck. Been at the dealer since.

Dealer is saying it's clicking and not shifting or slamming into gear.

Negative about the tow hitch.

EDIT: it's at the dealer because we don't really want to pay. We feel like even though it's passed warranty, this is obviously a defect that they should make it right and take care of us.

That doesnt sound too serious. Im thinking low/dirty fluid and faulty solenoid(s)

Forget the dealer. Start by replacing the shift solenoids, and make sure you do a transmission fluid change with a new filter. If the transmission is still having issues, do a rebuild.
 
Annapolis MD area.

I'm going to argue with them more on Monday to clarify, they might have said $2800 but the email they sent my wife is $5k so...That's more than the original $4700 they quoted.

Also, they are claiming that transmission did not get required service. Unless we are crazy, owners manual doesn't call for required service before 67k miles for transmission. I do my own maintenance so they said they can't trust my workmanship so won't offer more money. I'm not sure what me changing the oil and air filter have to do with transmission failure. Total BS.

The dealer is saying this? They are incompetent - find another. What dealer is this? Here's a list to try: https://insidemazda.mazdausa.com/press-release/2017-mazda-gold-cup-dealerships-announced/

The dealer really makes or breaks things and in this case they're hoping you'll pony up for that sweet profitable transmission replacement.
 
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Sorry to heat your transmission situation on your 2015 AWD CX-5. We all know what Mazda North American Operations had said in the email is only the excuse for not helping you to get transmission fixed. You should keep trying with the argument of nothing been said in transmission maintenance in Mazdas maintenance schedule, and your CX-5 was at Mazda dealer for 60K-mile check-up and again nothing been said about the transmission either.

I believe the differences between yours and nohackles are the symptom is different as his transmission problem meeting the existing TSB, and he met a nicer regional Mazda rep.

Try to PM nohackle and it should be easier to get his attention to answer your questions.

If every attempt failed getting help from MNAO, Id try to find a used SkyActiv-Drive transmission like Chris_Top_Her suggested in the early post, and sell the CX-5 or utilize offered employee pricing if you still want a Mazda and the trade-in price is reasonable with working transmission.

And I agree with Kedis82ZE8 that your failed transmission could be caused by low "factory-fill" on ATF as its been verified that Mazda has a tendency to under-fill many fluids from factory including AT fluid. With some ATF leaking situation weve seen it eventually gets too low to make transmission functioning properly. In the rare case all you need is to add enough Mazda Genuine ATF FZ.

I havent heard any transmission shop can do repair on Mazda SkyActiv-Drive transmission may be its too new. All Mazda is doing so far is to replace the whole unit.

The skyactiv transmission is your conventional but well tuned unit, any reputable transmission shop will be able to work on it.

At 60k, you want to do a full fluid change, preferably with redline ATF fluid rather then just topping up, because the fluid will be dirty.
 
Mazda North American Operations has determined that the cause of the transmission failure was due to lack of maintenance.

While we understand and respect that your husband performs his own maintenance on the vehicle, we cannot stand behind nor certify the quality of work being performed on the vehicle.
Sorry to hear your transmission situation on your 2015 AWD CX-5. We all know what Mazda North American Operations had said in the email is only the excuse for not helping you to get transmission fixed. You should keep trying with the argument of nothing been said in transmission maintenance in Mazdas maintenance schedule, and your CX-5 was at Mazda dealer for 60K-mile check-up and again nothing been said about the transmission either.

I believe the differences between yours and nohackles are the symptom is different as his transmission problem meeting the existing TSB, and he met a nicer regional Mazda rep.

Try to PM nohackle and it should be easier to get his attention to answer your questions.

If every attempt failed getting help from MNAO, Id try to find a used SkyActiv-Drive transmission like Chris_Top_Her suggested in the early post, and sell the CX-5 or utilize offered employee pricing if you still want a Mazda and the trade-in price is reasonable with working transmission.

And I agree with Kedis82ZE8 that your failed transmission could be caused by low "factory-fill" on ATF as its been verified that Mazda has a tendency to under-fill many fluids from factory including AT fluid. With some ATF leaking situation weve seen it eventually gets too low to make transmission functioning properly. In the rare case all you need is to add enough Mazda Genuine ATF FZ.

I havent heard any transmission shop can do repair on Mazda SkyActiv-Drive transmission may be its too new. All Mazda is doing so far is to replace the whole unit.
 
I'd be going with stock fluid myself. I don't like mixing fluids in something that is difficult to fully evacuate.

Not sure I'd consider the SkyActiv AT just a run of the mill unit that anyone could "competently" work on... I'd want someone with proven experience.

..surely any transmission shop will give it their best effort ;-)

http://www.mazda.com/en/innovation/technology/skyactiv/skyactiv-drive/

Any transmission shop can work on it. How good the repair is going to be depends on how good said shop is.

However... in Mikes case, it sounds more like low/dirty fluid rather then an actual transmission fault.

Going with the stock ATF fluid would be your safe bet, but you cant go wrong with any redline fluid. They are among the best on the market (or pentosonin) and will result in added protection/smoother feeling transmission.
 
If it is low and/or dirty fluid this doesn't reflect well on Mazda since low is a factory defect and if a contaminant based failure Mazda needs to own up to specifying a maintenance interval.

Even Toyota with their "lifetime" fluid at least recommends a service if you tow. Now... towing wasn't an issue here but manufacturers needs to own up to reality and not try to overstate the absolute lowest maintenance cost of ownership at the cost of overall reliability.
 
Failed on the highway going through West Virginia. A lot of uphill and downhill. Just cruising along at speed limit 70mph.

We got off the highway to get gas and it downshifted to accelerate up the hill and never upshifted. We pulled over at the first opening and engine revved and car didn't go anywhere. Turned it off, I checked for leaks, went to check dipstick an realized there wasn't one, found no mention in the manual, tried to check fuses everything seemed okay/no mention of an AT fuse in the manual. Let it cool for a few minutes, started it back up and tried reverse, that worked, tried drive, that worked. Continued on to the gas station. It was hard to get up over 40 because it wasn't really upshifting and when stopping, it sort of hopped forward like if you stall in a manual but did not stall. We could hear what sounded like a clicking sound too. The odd part, no lights leading up to this, right as we are pulling into the gas station all the lights came on (AT, CEL, TPMS, traction control). Made it to the gas station and called a tow truck. Been at the dealer since.

Dealer is saying it's clicking and not shifting or slamming into gear.

Negative about the tow hitch.

EDIT: it's at the dealer because we don't really want to pay. We feel like even though it's passed warranty, this is obviously a defect that they should make it right and take care of us.

EDIT 2: Here's another fun bit I left out. It had it's 60k required maintenance at the dealer. No one said anything about our transmission. I don't think anyone checked our transmission because no maintenance was due at that time. They say they did drain and fill the rear diff though.

Look at the thin warranty book in your car, the next option is the BBB, assuming you've completed the chain of command. Dealer, MazdaNA and the the BBB number. They will give you a claim # and you have the chance of getting some kind of agreement on repair.
 
Sorry to hear your transmission situation on your 2015 AWD CX-5. We all know what Mazda North American Operations had said in the email is only the excuse for not helping you to get transmission fixed. You should keep trying with the argument of nothing been said in transmission maintenance in Mazdas maintenance schedule, and your CX-5 was at Mazda dealer for 60K-mile check-up and again nothing been said about the transmission either.

I believe the differences between yours and nohackles are the symptom is different as his transmission problem meeting the existing TSB, and he met a nicer regional Mazda rep.

Try to PM nohackle and it should be easier to get his attention to answer your questions.

If every attempt failed getting help from MNAO, Id try to find a used SkyActiv-Drive transmission like Chris_Top_Her suggested in the early post, and sell the CX-5 or utilize offered employee pricing if you still want a Mazda and the trade-in price is reasonable with working transmission.

And I agree with Kedis82ZE8 that your failed transmission could be caused by low "factory-fill" on ATF as its been verified that Mazda has a tendency to under-fill many fluids from factory including AT fluid. With some ATF leaking situation weve seen it eventually gets too low to make transmission functioning properly. In the rare case all you need is to add enough Mazda Genuine ATF FZ.

I havent heard any transmission shop can do repair on Mazda SkyActiv-Drive transmission may be its too new. All Mazda is doing so far is to replace the whole unit.
The skyactiv transmission is your conventional but well tuned unit, any reputable transmission shop will be able to work on it.

At 60k, you want to do a full fluid change, preferably with redline ATF fluid rather then just topping up, because the fluid will be dirty.
No Mazdas SkyActiv-Drive automatic transmission is not conventional but well tuned unit as it has many unique designs. I doubt any reputable transmission shop will be able to work on it until Mazda has released full factory service manual on transmission and made replacement parts available to those transmission shops.

Thiss irresponsible to keep recommending Red Line ATF where Red Line says it does not offer a suitable automatic transmission fluid for Mazda SkyActiv-Drive transmission!

Not to mention youre mixing half of the Red Line ATF, which doesnt meet the specs of SkyActiv-Drive transmission, with half of the left-over dirty Mazda FZ ATF. You can only get half of the old ATF out even if you take off the ATF pan. And theres no ATF lines to hook up a transmission flushing machine to get old ATF out completely!
 
If it is low and/or dirty fluid this doesn't reflect well on Mazda since low is a factory defect and if a contaminant based failure Mazda needs to own up to specifying a maintenance interval.

Even Toyota with their "lifetime" fluid at least recommends a service if you tow. Now... towing wasn't an issue here but manufacturers needs to own up to reality and not try to overstate the absolute lowest maintenance cost of ownership at the cost of overall reliability.
My 1998 Honda CR-V EX AWD with 179,163 miles has done ATF drain-and-fill 4 times so far. The last time about 3K miles ago I did it twice in 2 weeks to get higher percentage of fresh Honda Genuine ATF DW-1 with new formulation than old Honda Z1 ATF in the transmission. Maintenance schedule to Replace transmission fluid in Owners Manual is 90K-mile/72-month interval for Normal condition and 30K-mile/24-month interval for Severe condition. I highly suspect all of those transmission problems by Honda at the time were caused by owners who dont change ATF listed in the maintenance schedule. The examples from friends Honda Odyssey and Acura MDX both experienced some transmission warning signals approaching 100K miles and both refused to change ATF.
 
No Mazda’s SkyActiv-Drive automatic transmission is not “conventional but well tuned unit” as it has many unique designs. I doubt “any reputable transmission shop will be able to work on it” until Mazda has released full factory service manual on transmission and made replacement parts available to those transmission shops.

This’s irresponsible to keep recommending Red Line ATF where Red Line says it does not offer a suitable automatic transmission fluid for Mazda SkyActiv-Drive transmission!

Not to mention you’re mixing half of the Red Line ATF, which doesn’t meet the specs of SkyActiv-Drive transmission, with half of the left-over “dirty” Mazda FZ ATF. You can only get half of the old ATF out even if you take off the ATF pan. And there’s no ATF lines to hook up a transmission flushing machine to get old ATF out completely!

Someone on this forum got a transmission rebuild no problem...

My 1998 Honda CR-V EX AWD with 179,163 miles has done ATF drain-and-fill 4 times so far. The last time about 3K miles ago I did it twice in 2 weeks to get higher percentage of fresh Honda Genuine ATF DW-1 with new formulation than old Honda Z1 ATF in the transmission. Maintenance schedule to “Replace transmission fluid” in Owner’s Manual is 90K-mile/72-month interval for “Normal” condition and 30K-mile/24-month interval for “Severe” condition. I highly suspect all of those transmission problems by Honda at the time were caused by owners who don’t change ATF listed in the maintenance schedule. The examples from friend’s Honda Odyssey and Acura MDX both experienced some transmission warning signals approaching 100K miles and both refused to change ATF.

When you change your engine oil, do you also do a drain and fill? Leave that old oil filter in there?
 
No Mazda’s SkyActiv-Drive automatic transmission is not “conventional but well tuned unit” as it has many unique designs. I doubt “any reputable transmission shop will be able to work on it” until Mazda has released full factory service manual on transmission and made replacement parts available to those transmission shops.

This’s irresponsible to keep recommending Red Line ATF where Red Line says it does not offer a suitable automatic transmission fluid for Mazda SkyActiv-Drive transmission!

Not to mention you’re mixing half of the Red Line ATF, which doesn’t meet the specs of SkyActiv-Drive transmission, with half of the left-over “dirty” Mazda FZ ATF. You can only get half of the old ATF out even if you take off the ATF pan. And there’s no ATF lines to hook up a transmission flushing machine to get old ATF out completely!

GJ is a misinformation troll. Only common pattern in his posts.
 
Someone on this forum got a transmission rebuild no problem...
Never seen one. Please show us the post!

When you change your engine oil, do you also do a drain and fill? Leave that old oil filter in there?
Yeah, but show us how to completely drain the ATF from a SkyActiv-Drive transmission?! Even Mazda engineers couldnt figure out a way to do it! Drain-and-fill with half of the old ATF left inside is the only way mentioned in the Factory Service Manual!

As I mentioned in the other thread, in Normal condition on my 1998 CR-V Honda recommends oil change but leave the oil filter alone at 7,500 miles; and change both oil and oil filter at 15,000 miles or 12 months. Those Honda engineers are giving out wrong recommendation on maintenance schedule too?
 
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