Miata Mailing List: July 1994, Message #179
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   From: buck@claude.ma30.bull.com (Kenneth J. Buck)
Subject: re: warranty issue
   Date: Fri, 8 Jul 1994 12:49:36 -0400

>William M. Jackson writes:
> I am  writing  this  letter  in  response  to what I believe is unacceptable
> treatment regarding service for my 1991 Mazda Miata.
[tale of woe and/or intrigue deleted]

> It was  my  opinion  that  the cause of this damage was my driving on a tire
> that  was  not  fully  inflated,  and went flat several times before I could
> remove  the  tire.   However,  the  folks at Wellesley Mazda said that their
> assessment  was  that  I  had  hit  a  curb  and  damaged  the  tire.
> [...]
> Wellesley Mazda  called the regional representative, Dana Refuse, who denied
> my claim.  When I spoke to him, he said that Mazda does not cover tires, and
> that  I  should  speak  to the tire manufacturer.  I tried to explain that I
> felt  that  the  damage  to  the  tire  was  not  caused by any fault of the
> manufacturer, but by a fault in the Mazda automobile, thus Yokohama will not
> cover  the replacement.

either of these assesments seem possible, although only you can answer
for certain whether you may have hit a curb or large pothole at any point.
it would quite likely that driving on a underinflated tire could
cause sidewall damage.

HOWEVER...

while the blame for the broken wheel locks is almost certainly Mazda's
fault (or else, the fault of whoever put the locks on the last time,
if they were over-torqued), any subsquent damage caused by knowingly
driving on a more-or-less flat tire has to be shouldered at least
partly by you.

this isn't the same as when a critical engine component fails,
resulting in a catastrophic failure beyond your control.
here, circumstances were within your control, and you chose to accept
a decision with more risk although perhaps less inconvenience.
towing, while inconvenient, would not have entailed further risk
to the vehicle.

--                                             
Ken Buck                                          /|
Internet: k.buck@ma30.bull.com                \'o.O'    ACK!
Mail:     Bull, MA30-833A                     =(___)= THPTPHH!
          300 Concord Rd, Billerica, MA 01821    U