Must I pay for repairs to my Mazda 5 made under warranty?

I have had a torrid time with Mazda. My wife's Mazda 5 Sport diesel, bought new in May '08, was serviced last year and taken again this year to Mazda Coventry (Coventry Motor Company) on 7th May for its second service at only 16,000 miles. I received a call later in the day to let me know that the car had a failed rear shock, that the part needed ordering and would be a warranty replacement and that I could have a hire car until they had the part. Communication was poor after that, and I had simply asked that I be 'kept in the loop' whilst the wife tooled about in the lumpen Insignia she's been given. Last week and approaching four weeks without the car we'd bought and after at least five calls asking for at least some sort of reasonable recompense for the delay, I received a letter from a Case Manager offering 50 per cent off our next service. I rejected this as firstly committing me to use them again and secondly being entirely a case of ‘jam tomorrow’. I had suggested that new tyres might be a suitable gesture; two are on the edge, certainly in my mind because of the defective shock. In fact the letter I have acknowledges that '... while the shock absorber issue may have contributed towards [the tyre wear] it would only do if it was left for some time, therefore I am not in a position to pay for replacement tyres.' I received a call on Saturday to say that the car is now ready for collection on payment of the invoice for£263.93 and fully four weeks since being left for a routine service. I have yet to collect, remaining, as I am, dissatisfied with what I see a derisory offer of recompense which binds me in to using the same dealership again. Behind these scant details lie further unreturned calls to the Case Manager in question and one to her manager. I did get through this morning and as I type this I’m waiting, in vain I suspect, for an offer of 50 per cent of the current invoice which is the minimum I’d expect. Any thoughts?
Massively overcomplicated e-mail. Extremely difficult to read and make sense of. But I can't understand why you are being asked to pay for a part that has failed while the car is under warranty. Or is the £263.93 for the service? In which case you have to pay it. You were kept on the road in an equivalent car while you waited for the part to be sourced. Anything in addition is asking too much.
Answered by Honest John on

Ask Honest John