Mazda MX5 RF GTS Blog
Kasumi hit the big 23,000 mile mark today. Started doing the math on it, and I realized I'll be running out of warranty on time instead of mileage for the first time ever in my entire life. I have never owned a car that I didn't drive into the ground, and this is the first time I've ever had a car that I didn't drive into the ground.... Outside of the Corvette of course. I guess it's a sign of maturity or something, but it is strange for me and my typical cycle of behavior. I also decided to give the Chemical Guys Spray-On Ceramic Detailer a shot to see how it does overall compared to a full day's worth of applying the Meguirar's ceramic out of the bottle. So far, it's been applied as easy as any spray-on detailer, and the results so far have been decent. But we're still in the short term test phase of only a few weeks. We'll have to see how it holds up over the next month or so to really gauge how durable it is.
Kasumi got some TLC today down at the Shop Club Houston. What's really great about the Shop Club is that every wash bay has a foam cannon and a full scope of products, including bug-remover, wheel and tire cleaner, car soap, a wash bucket with a grit-gaurd in place at the bottom, a car-soap pre-mixing machine, and the option to use hot water. I brought a second 5 gallon wash bucket with a grit gaurd for rinsing the wash mitt I also brought with me. They do provide wash mitts, but I only use those for washing the wheels. After the wash phase I moved over to the detailing bay and dried the car. I then went over her with the Chemical Guys Ceramic Detailer, which they claim can act as a stand-alone product for paint protection... I'm not entirely convinced it's going to hold up over the next couple of months or a couple of repeat washings. I also took the time to clean the interior and vacuum the carpets and I have to say, I am really happy with how she looks now, although I did find some issues on the front bumper re-paint form Best Colision that I will need to bring up with them as soon as I have a chance to get back over there.
I began noticing some strange handling behavior when turning left, like the inside rear wasn’t keeping contact with the road. A little weird, but another tip-off that something was amiss was the sudden degradation in ride quality. Some bouncy behavior is normal on these cars with the stock Bilsteins, but this was way more than normal. I began looking the car over and I found that the ride height was really off. So I took it over to GHM since she was due for an alignment anyway, where we promptly found that the lowest corner (driver’s rear) had a wet shock absorber. This would indicate that the seal has failed, the monotube has lost its gas charge, and now oil was seeping out of the shock. Well good thing I still have my bumper-to-bumper warranty! Or so I thought… I took the car into the dealer I bought it from, Jeff Haas Mazda for its regular service and explained to them the situation with the shock. To probably nobody’s surprise but my own, they denied that the shock had a problem and then attempted to tell me that a Bilstein leaking fluid was “totally normal” for them. Well, that’s strike one. Strike two would happen just a little later when I was called and told that the same tire on that corner had a nail in it and that was probably what I had felt…. Right. Well, as if this could not get any more hilarious, I was also told that the nail was in an un-patchable spot (it wasn’t) and they couldn’t get the replacement tire. I told them to leave the car alone, just air of the tire and I’ll take it home. I did, and what do I find? They had already pulled the nail out without sourcing a replacement tire and the spot the nail was at was totally patchable, which I proceeded to do myself. As far as the leaking shock goes, I sourced a set of 500 mile replacement shocks for $100 dollars from a friend, so I’ll be doing that myself. Although, I am tempted to buy a set of Tecna coil-overs from 949 racing instead of going with the same Bilsteins… At the end of the day, Jeff Haas Mazda lost a customer, as did Mazda in general as I won’t buy from a company that won’t stand by its product.