Monday, November 30, 2009

21 days 510 miles and first problem with Mariner



Ok, so today is day 21, I've put 510 miles on my Mariner and it's already been back for a warranty repair? Yes, you read that correctly, the Mariner had to go back to the dealership today. The good, the bad and the not so ugly facts are these. On Saturday I was setting off to visit friends, we pull out of the driveway and get 1,000 feet when I hear a knocking noise from the suspension. I went less than a mile when said knocking noise caused me to turn around and park the Mariner. Luckily we have more than one vehicle, so we transferred our weekend bags to the Honda and set off. This morning the Mariner went the less than 5 miles back to the dealership.

And the problem was? Driver's side stabilizer bar link had come loose. I have to give credit to the dealership. They found the problem quickly and 2 hours later we were on our way home, without any knocking noise.

But only 19 days into this "extended test drive" (lease) a stabilizer link fails?
My Ranger had a a stabilizer link fail, but after 10.5 years and 57,000 miles.

I'll put this off to a fluke this time, but I'll be documenting any further problems very carefully.

3 comments:

Igor said...

this seems common on Ford/Mazda stabilizer bars. My Mazda3 (2004, s, sedan) had loose stabilizer bar endlinks for most of the time I owned it.

I have also heard these knocks for other japanese IRS setups - Camry, Accord, Civic.

Anonymous said...

best wishes that it's smooth sailing for your Mariner from here on
:)
2b2

Shawn said...

Sorry to hear about your troubles. My friend, who is a pharm sales rep, have a Mariner company car. It is still holding up fantastically after the first 30K without a single problem. That's pretty amazing for the way she drives. I hope this is just a fluk on you part.