Kerryn Woodward bought a used Mazda a year ago and the dashboard is melting.
"It is a really bad problem, it's very unsafe," says Kerryn.
The fault is emerging as a problem in New Zealand for some Mazda models made between 2008 and 2010. In the US, there are reports many thousands of vehicles are affected and are being covered by Mazda there.
Fair Go is aware of eight cases in New Zealand; all of them are used Mazda imports. Mazda NZ says it is not deemed a serious fault by either Mazda Motor Corporation or NHTSA, the US transport safety agency and there has been no recall issued here in New Zealand.
Kerryn says her melting dash causes major vision issues. "I can't see. It reflects really badly on the windscreen and it just happens to be right in my critical vision area".
Kerryn paid $22,000 for the high-spec 2009 Mazda Axela - she was the first owner here. She's had it about 15 months and the dash has been melting since last summer.
"It's a second hand car so you expect a few little pieces to be wrong with it. I don't expect it to be completely perfect but I don't expect the dashboard to be melting away in direct sunlight.”
A recent ruling by the Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal has found another case similar to hers was bad enough to give the buyer the right to reject the car for a full refund from the dealer. You can read the whole decision here :
The law does gives the car buyer the right to have a fault fixed if they chose. Many think this means they can expect to take it back to the manufacturer - Mazda in this case - but the law says otherwise.
Mazda NZ says if there's a problem with a used import the vehicle owner should approach the car sales dealer from whom the vehicle was purchased.
Kerryn has some sympathy for the car maker's representative - after all it didn't bring her car into the country, but thinks nonetheless Mazda NZ should take responsibility for her faulty dash.
"It probably doesn't seem fair to them. It's not their problem. They didn't cause the issue. But it's their brand. I wouldn't know where to begin with Mazda in Japan."
Kerryn reluctantly went back to the dealer she'd bought from, to get her melting dash replaced.
Indy Cars in Christchurch said it would be happy to look into a solution and suggested an upholsterer could make a surface repair.
When Kerryn checked, the advice was it might not last and wouldn't be guaranteed.
After Fair Go got involved, both companies promptly offered to replace her faulty dashboard – Indy Cars with a second-hand part, Mazda NZ with a new one. Kerryn took the new part, with thanks.
Mazda NZ says it is a goodwill gesture. It says it also knows of eight melting dashboards here and says only two are its responsibility. Others will have to take it up with the dealer who sold them their car.
That should be easier now the MVDT has ruled this fault can be a failure of substantial character, but that also suggests used car buyers need to be extra careful to check these models before they buy and that owners may need to prepare to argue their case if their dashboard starts melting.
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