On A Trip To The Mazda Dealership

Mon, March 21, 2005 - 8:20 PM PST

I took my car into Olympia for a visit to the Mazda dealership on Saturday morning. I had been dealing with a rattle in my dash for a few months that was absolutely driving me insane and I know those are next to impossible to find sometimes so I didn't hold much hope for getting it fixed. But when I started hearing something in my rear suspension creak and moan when I put it in reverse or turned the wheel sharply in low gear, I decided it was time to take my spicy orange Mazdaspeed into the shop for a checkup.

That was two weeks ago. I wanted to do it on a Saturday so I wouldn't have to skip work but that Saturday they didn't have a Mazda mechanic on staff so I had to wait until the next Saturday (which would be two days ago). And in the meantime I just delt with my car making annoying noises. But the day finally comes and I drive her up there and low and behold, they found what was making the rattling noise in the dash. It was some sort of heat shield. And unsurprisingly they didn't have one in stock so they had to order one, but it'll be in Wednesday hopefully so I can get it swapped before I leave for my vacation.

And the noises in my suspension? Oh, those were my rear swaybar bushings again. But at least this time they had those in stock and replaced them while I was waiting - and apparently they are a different kind this time and are a little stronger. Which is good since having to replace them twice within two years is a little ridiculous if you ask me (which nobody did).

And while I was waiting I talked to one of the salesmen about the new Mazdaspeed 6 coming out in a month. I am now on their waiting list for a test drive. And he's going to look into the tradein value of my Mazdaspeed Protege for the 6. I don't know why I had him do that. Well, that's not true - I did it because I really think the 6 is going to be just pissed off and I want one. But I already have a cool car and it's only two years old and I probably won't get that fair of a trade value. But they're going to be so rad!

Oh, and they don't come in spicy orange. That definitely hurts it.