Mazda CX-3 with vibrations: the dealership says it's normal

Vibrations in a new Mazda CX-3: "it's normal," say the workshop

A Mazda CX-3 with a 120 hp petrol engine, six months old. Engine vibrations felt when changing gears and a noise that appears at certain revs. The owner has taken it to the workshop twice, has filed a complaint with Mazda España, and is still waiting for a dynamic test with another identical car to prove that his doesn't sound like the rest. The dealership's response, for now, is that everything falls within normal. The problem: the owner has already tried another identical unit and it didn't vibrate.

The case, raised on a consumer forum, sums up an old dispute between buyer and brand: who has to prove that a new car is faulty. The buyer argues that the burden of proof is reversed during the first six months. The brand, meanwhile, isn't making a move. And the story is filled with crossed experiences: from someone who won a lawsuit against Mazda over a clutch to someone who ended up in court with both the brand and the dealership over a repair that fixed nothing.

Who pays the expert witness when the brand says everything is fine

The first question is evidence. In a mechanical problem, the brand has mechanics; the customer doesn't. The answer circulating in the case is specific: in court, workshop mechanics can only testify as witnesses, not as expert witnesses. The expert must be an engineer accredited before the courts. And the customer can bring their own. The evidence, moreover, is straightforward: it's enough to compare the affected car with another identical one.

The buyer has already done part of that work. He has a workshop report dated four months after delivery, which places the fault within the period in which, under Real Decreto Legislativo 1/2007 (Spain's general consumer law), the lack of conformity is presumed to have existed at the time of delivery. Article 123 sets two years of seller liability and six months of presumption in favor of the consumer. The brand hasn't disputed that point; it simply, according to the account, hasn't accepted that there is a fault.

The dealership as the only option and a network that shrank to two

In Valencia, the Mazda network is down to two names: the dealership where the car was bought and another in Gandía. The former accounts for most of the sales in the area. To file a claim, the buyer is clear that he must go to the seller, not to a workshop in another province. But he has also identified an alternative for technical service: Fujiyama Motor, with a workshop on calle Literato Azorín, which keeps the Mazda service even though another brand is on the facade.

The discussion drifts toward the business model. Some argue that the dealership doesn't lose money on a warranty repair, because the brand pays for it; if it doesn't fix the car, it's not out of self-interest, but because it doesn't know how. The owner's conclusion is the opposite: either they don't know how, or the repair is so expensive — gearbox or transmission, even engine — that the brand won't authorize it. In both cases, responsibility ends with Mazda.

From the complaint form to the burofax to the manager

The route mapped out in the conversation has concrete steps. A complaint form first. Then a burofax (a certified fax-style notice) to the dealership's manager, stating that the car will be repaired at another workshop and that the costs of repair, expert assessment, lawyer and court costs will be claimed. And, in parallel, the consumer route: FACUA-Consumidores en Acción, a Spanish consumer rights group, appears as a resource. Recording conversations with the workshop is legal for a natural person who is part of them, without needing to give notice.

The other side of the case is the accumulated experiences. One owner recounts a lawsuit against Mazda España and the dealership in his province over an invoice for a repair that didn't fix the fault; faced with the refusal to pay it, the car was held for nine months. Another recalls that Mazda responded back in the day to a dealership's bankruptcy and delivered cars to customers who had been left with nothing. The brand, in that version, no longer looks after the customer the way it did when it was small.

A CX-3 that vibrates and a brand that doesn't call

The owner is still waiting for the call for the dynamic test with another unit. Meanwhile, he keeps the legal route open and holds on to an idea: every brand has problems, but what makes a brand great is acknowledging them and fixing them. The car is six months old. The brand, for now, hasn't found the fault. How much time has to pass before "it's normal" stops being an answer?