ND battery under-spec'd?

[RBH58]

Yep, agree with MM. If there is a software fix they are not going to replace your dash panel for fun.
You can reasonably expect the Dealer to be right on top of this and should be able to confirm now - if they still don't know, they need to find out real quick.
I elected to put up with the famous NB8B clutch shudder for life because I was not prepared to allow a Dealer to replace a clutch in a new car. It was the right decision.

I’m telling you the software fix is available. I know of two USA owners that have the “software” installed already. I know of one Australian owner that has been told that their car will get a software fix.

So I’m not sure why Mazda Australia are still planning to swap out the instrument panels on my, and another person’s RF at City Mazda next week, other than they’d already ordered new instrument panels and haven’t thought to stop the ball rolling. Given how well they seem to communicate internally, nothing would surprise me.

[93_Clubman]

instrument panels

Yeah, sounds like a cluster.

[RBH58]

I think I’m going to be trying to contact Mazda Australia tomorrow. If the software fix works, I’m not keen on having my car needlessly pulled apart.

[madmort]

Maybe I'm missing something ..... Why would a Mazda Dealer replace an instrument cluster, with all the work that entails ( Billing hours) if the same result can be attained with a software patch/upgrade. Something does not sound right.
Maybe the two results are different? I'd be asking more questions.

[RBH58]

Maybe I'm missing something ..... Why would a Mazda Dealer replace an instrument cluster, with all the work that entails ( Billing hours) if the same result can be attained with a software patch/upgrade. Something does not sound right.
Maybe the two results are different? I'd be asking more questions.

Why would a dealer waste unnecessary hours on an unnecessary warranty repair that they will get fully reimbursed for by Mazda? Gee. I wonder.

[madmort]

Sounds like you highly recommend them. You chose them right? Mazda aren't that dumb.

[RBH58]

Sounds like you highly recommend them. You chose them right?

Good dealer. They’ve been great to deal with. And honestly...Mazda Australia seem to be pathetic at passing on information to their dealer network....or even inside their own organisation...so seeing as this “software fix” has only come to light this week, I probably shouldn’t be surprised that they are unaware of it.

The “software fix” actually seems to be a “fix” too according to some Americans who now have it installed. It remembers the Cruise Control settings.

[Mr Morlock]

"Why would a dealer waste unnecessary hours on an unnecessary warranty repair that they will get fully reimbursed for by Mazda? Gee. I wonder."
Thats a bit cynical. Dealers will be paid at the rate and time determined by Mazda- its not likely to be at the same rate as would normally be applied to the public. As mentioned earlier - I really doubt that this is going to take 2 weeks of actual hands on spanners work.

[greenMachine]

"Why would a dealer waste unnecessary hours on an unnecessary warranty repair that they will get fully reimbursed for by Mazda? Gee. I wonder."
Thats a bit cynical. Dealers will be paid at the rate and time determined by Mazda- its not likely to be at the same rate as would normally be applied to the public. As mentioned earlier - I really doubt that this is going to take 2 weeks of actual hands on spanners work.

Correct, it will be a discounted rate, and the time allowed will be tight at best.

So the service manager will schedule the job around full-paying work, let's say it is a 2 hour job, what he does is find a quiet 2 hours somewhere in that 2 weeks when he may not have any (or enough) full paying work and instead of not getting any revenue from those two hours, he gets 80 or 90% of the full paying work (or whatever the warranty rate is compared to the full rate). If there is no quiet time in that two weeks, guess who gets a phone call saying 'sorry mate, the new dash didn't turn up, we will have to reschedule the job' ... ? Oh wait, that would never happen would it ...

The service manager is already paying the labour costs for those two hours (assuming the staff doing the job are paid a weekly wage, and are not on piece work), so that revenue goes straight to the bottom line. Because it is paid at a lower rate, the full-paying jobs are going to get priority but when there is surplus capacity any revenue is better than no revenue (aka marginal cost pricing). Hence an 'unnecessary' warranty job can be very valuable to the dealer.

That's the Economics 101 version, the reality is a bit more complex but you get the picture.

[RBH58]

"Why would a dealer waste unnecessary hours on an unnecessary warranty repair that they will get fully reimbursed for by Mazda? Gee. I wonder."
Thats a bit cynical. Dealers will be paid at the rate and time determined by Mazda- its not likely to be at the same rate as would normally be applied to the public. As mentioned earlier - I really doubt that this is going to take 2 weeks of actual hands on spanners work.

No....most of it was “wait time” waiting for the odometer to be reprogrammed.

[RBH58]

Anyway. I’m not about to let anybody pull my car to pieces to fix something that now, seemingly, can be rectified with a software update. You’d have to crazy to go for anything other than trying the software fix first.

[Mr Morlock]

then no need to run it passed "us". If I get a recall on a car I don't ask whats is involved and its more than likely that Mazda will always do the fix that makes sense in time cost and effectiveness. Greenmachine sounded to me like a person who has had exposure to the service side- good to know how things work .

[RBH58]

then no need to run it passed "us". If I get a recall on a car I don't ask whats is involved and its more than likely that Mazda will always do the fix that makes sense in time cost and effectiveness. Greenmachine sounded to me like a person who has had exposure to the service side- good to know how things work .

You have far greater faith in Mazda Australia than I do! Nothing about the way they’ve handled this entire episode gives me a lot of confidence in them.

And my wife has worked in auto retail for the last 4 years, so I do have some understanding of how it all works.

[StanTheMan]

Well....if the software is anything like a VAG.... should sort out your cruise controll....but guck with your gearbox

[Wivvix]

So I’m not sure why Mazda Australia are still planning to swap out the instrument panels on my, and another person’s RF at City Mazda next week, other than they’d already ordered new instrument panels and haven’t thought to stop the ball rolling. Given how well they seem to communicate internally, nothing would surprise me.

I think it was established that the problem is an abnormally high phantom drain from the cruise control module. The software fix effectively switches the module off, but as you said, it doesn't fix the root cause.

I thought I read somewhere that Mazda issued a mass production change relating to this issue. Reading between the lines that's a hardware change and probably concerns a part inside the instrument cluster.

The software fix is the equivalent of applying a bandaid, whereas the instrument cluster is literally transplant surgery. I don't think the Mazda technicians have poked around inside too many ND's, so I'd be going with the least invasive fix.