Month: February 2011

Mazda Rust Warranty

Q – When is 5 years not 5 years?
A – When it’s your Mazda corrosion warranty.

Update 2/26: I added some pictures to my Flickr account, for those who want to see. The Driver’s rear door is the one getting fixed.
Today, 2/25/2011, marks the end of my 5 year Mazda corrosion warranty and today it goes in to have 1 of 3 rusty doors repaired. I’m grateful that I’m getting one fixed, but very frustrated with the process and wonder why the other two didn’t qualify.
The Mazda rust warranty, like most I think, only covers ‘perforation’. On the face of it, that would seem easy to identify, if there’s a hole or not. But in practice it’s not always that easy to see. The metal might be perforated but the paint still intact, but bubbled. The perforation might be hiding behind trim or overlapping panels might make it hard to see.
My car has rust mainly in 3 of the 4 doors on the bottom edges, inside where the outer skin and the door frame meet. There is also rust in the driver’s side rear quarter panel. As my warranty was coming to a close soon, I contacted the nearest Mazda dealer, Byers Mazda, last week to have it evaluated. That’s when the drama began.
As soon as it became clear the time frame involved, the service manager became quite agitated. Evidently, the regional Mazda rep has to make the evaluation and determination on rust issues and he was just there in the last week or two and wasn’t due back until April. Without his evaluation, there was nothing they could do and pictures aren’t generally acceptable. (That’s understandable, they don’t always tell the entire story.) Once the 5 years expire, there’s nothing that can be done, period.
So, because he had already been and gone, I may be out of luck. I told him that there was no way I could have known his schedule (nor that he was required to see the car), and that there was clearly rust and I was clearly still within the 5 years, so I had no reason to doubt my coverage, which now seemed to be in jeopardy. He said something like “Yes, but this didn’t just happen.” a phrase he’d repeat many times over the coming days. We agreed that I would bring the car in on Friday AM, he would take some pictures and send them to the rep and we’d go from there.
The rep reponded and agreed to cover one of the rear doors, but there was another catch: The car had to be at the body shop, and work started by Friday (today) or the coverage would expire. Again, there was no way I could have known that not only did the evaluation had to be done prior to the warranty end, by the regional rep who only comes every 6-8 weeks, the repair had to begin prior to the end of the warranty. I mentioned this to the manager and he responded, “Yes, but this didn’t just happen.”
When I asked why that one and not the others, all he could say was it was the only one that showed perforation. To me, they all show the same symptoms – obvious rust, cracking and separation/splitting. I asked for the rep’s contact number or to receive a call from him to talk about it, and he gave me the general customer service number for Mazda, but with an ominous, slightly threatening warning: He said that if I contacted Mazda (this was yesterday) and they open a case, then things may change. I asked if they would revoke the coverage already granted and he said maybe or they may insist that the rep see the car which would go beyond the warranty and the coverage would expire. Again he said, “If you had come to your dealer sooner …”
At this point, I’m pretty ticked off and I want to call the corporate office, but I don’t want to jeopardize the coverage I’ve already been granted. The dealer has been doing as little as possible and blaming the inability to resolve this on my procrastination. Frankly, I don’t think matters one bit, five years is five years, and to mention it is frankly insulting and condescending. So, do I call or not? All this time, I’ve been tweeting about details of this, including the @MazdaUSA twitter account when I did. I had gotten no response until yesterday afternoon, after pointing out how fast GM responded when they thought my issues were with the Chevy dealer (my Saturn had warranty work this week too), I got a message from Mazda asking form my contact info. I gave it and received a call from them yesterday evening. He expressed sympathy, but he too seemed to have an urgency to get resolution before today’s blasted, arbitrary deadline. I’m supposed to get a call from the rep today, but as of 1:15 PM, I haven’t.
All of this could have been avoided. The bottom line here is that your 5 year warranty isn’t really 5 years, in my opinion. Because the car has to be evaluated by a rep who only comes by every few weeks and the repairs have to begin prior to the end of the warranty, you really need to get the car in probably 2 months before the end if you want to be sure that he’s able to see your car. Simply communicating this in the warranty documentation would help, but really that only covers Mazda’s behind on what is, frankly, poor policy.
The real solution here is to honor claims brought into the dealer up until the final hour. There’s no reason this could not have been evaluated and repaired after the expiration of the warranty, as long as the original claim was made within the warranty period. As it is, the 5 years is an illusion, it’s effectively only 4 years and 10 months.

Joshua 6 – Fall of Jericho

Johsua 6:2-7 – Can you imagine what Joshua thought as God announced his plan:

God: “See, I have given Jericho into your hand …”
Joshua: “Awesome!”
God: “You shall march around the city … for six days.”
Joshua: “Yeah! – Uh, what?”
God: “On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times”
Joshua: “Srsly?!?!”

But … there’s no indication that Joshua actually questioned or doubted or even wondered about this plan (I would have!). Instead, he just did it.
Joshua 6:11 – So, imagine, all the “mighty men of valor” of Jericho, sitting on the wall, ready for Israel to come, ready to fight. But instead, they watch them parade around. I imagine by day 6, they might be thinking that they will go out and take them, but they didn’t.
Joshua 6:20 – “.. and the wall fell down flat.” Imagine. Imagine.
This is a foreshadowing of the gospel, right here. They did nothing to bring the walls down, nothing. They simply obeyed and executed what, by any rational analysis, was a ridiculous plan. They marched, likely within sight and striking distance of the city, every day for a week. Then, when their big moment came, there was no need for a sword, their weapons were trumpets and their own voices – and faith. Faith that God was going to do the work, that he would do what he promised.
In the same way, those who approach God must obey in faith. The obedience, while necessary, does none of the real work, no more than their marching and shouting moved a single molecule of those walls. But His promise to them hinged on their obedience, as does His to us. He’s told us that to be healed of the sin that seems so integral to our inmost being, that clings to us and has resisted our every attempt to wash it away, what is needed is a simple dunking in water. As Joshua knew that marching and shouting would not bring walls down,we know that a simple dunking cannot, in itself, remove sin. But, combine it with faith and a promise, just as Joshua had, and this dunking does what no other dunkings had done before, transforms us from sinful to righteous, from cursed to holy, from enemy to ambassador, from orphan to child.
Joshua 6:23 – Imagine – Rahab’s house was built into the wall, the wall that had just “fell down flat.” I bet there were some tense moments in the Rahab household, but then those men arrived and they were saved. I wonder, did she doubt? As the walls fell around her, did she wonder if they would in fact come? I’m sure she did, but not enough to flee. She stayed put, her hope in the only ones that could save her.
Joshua 6:26-27 – So, Jericho has been resettled, it’s there today (although I guess there has been more than one Jericho in the area), I wonder,was this curse carried out? According to 1 Kings 16:34, yes it was.

Joshua 5 – Circumcision, Passover

Joshua 5:1 – Not only was the crossing of the Jordan on dry ground a sign to the people of God being with Joshua and with them, it was a sign to the people of the land that this was no ordinary army coming, this was an army backed by the Lord.
Joshua 5:2 – Flint knives! I mean, this procedure sounds highly unpleasant with a nice sharp scalpel, but a flint knife made in the wilderness? Ouch.
Joshua 5:4-7 – A little insight as to why the generation before wandered and died out without going into the promised land. Their hearts were not committed to God and they saw no value in following Him, this is seen in that they failed to consecrate their sons by circumcising them.
Joshua 5:9 – Note that although God had led them out, it wasn’t until this point, when they were circumcised, that God removed the reproach from Egypt. God’s commitment to them was not dependent on their actions, but he responded to their obedience and commitment to Him.
Joshua 5:12 – The manna from God had continued for the 40 some years since they left Egypt and ceased once they were able to eat from the land they were promised. God provided, and continued to provide, throughout the time when the people had abandoned Him. He did not withhold His commitment nor leave them on their own, even though they had left Him in their hearts. What does this say about our God? We can trust Him to deliver, that His love and His commitment are not contingent on anything we can do. He is trustworthy, both implicitly and by example after example after example. As Romans 8 says, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”
Joshua 5:13-14 – Those under the command of God have no allegiance to any man, no sentimentality. They have only one alliance, that is to God. God help those who get in the way of an angel or commander of the Lord’s army as he goes about the business of God.

Joshua 3-4 – Crossing the Jordan

Joshua 3:4 – 2,000 cubits is over 1/2 of a mile. They had to follow at that distance. Seems like a long way if you want to make sure you’re not separated.
Joshua 3:5 – What would you be thinking if your leader came before you and said “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”? I wonder what they did to ‘consecrate’ themselves.
Joshua 3:7 – As in the days of Acts, God did miracles at the hands of the leaders (in this case Joshua) to show that He was with them.
Joshua 3:13 – I always wondered what that looked like, waters standing in a heap up stream at Adam (according to verse 16).
Joshua 4:1-7 – I wonder what became of these stones. It would seem that their importance faded, Israel lost their awe of God and what He had done to bring them their and these stones became just a pile of rocks out by the river. They may be there now, still testifying in anonymity as to what God once did for his people. Now, we can see what the rocks were meant to show us by reading the Bible, so their testimony is not lost.
Joshua 4:8-10 – Verse 8 says they carried the stones to where they had lodged, but verses 9 & 10 imply that they were set up in the Jordan where the priests had stood.
Joshua 4:20 – This says they were set up at Gilgal. I suspect they were not set up in the Jordan, but were on the shore somewhere. Perhaps they set them up in the Jordan while they were crossing and then moved them to the shore when they were done?

Joshua 2 – Rahab

Joshua 2:1-2 – “And they went and came into the house of a prostitute … and lodged there.” Uh, really? Seems inappropriate or unwise or something, but, as we’ll see, it was pretty fortuitous. I wonder what sort of logic it was that led them to stay with a prostitute? Verse 2 would imply that they weren’t too careful in their spying the land, the King learned of their presence pretty easily. Were they careless? Cocky? Whatever the situation, God will deliver them by the hands of a prostitute, perhaps a prostitute that they had visited with less than pure motives. That would be like God, right? Go searching for sin and find deliverance instead. I would guess that if that were the case, though, it would have been mentioned.
Joshua 2:8 – Sleeping on the roof!
Joshua 2:10-11 – Notice that Rahab isn’t afraid of the Israelites, she’s afraid of The Lord. She’s heard, not what Israel has done but what God has done. She even proclaims here “for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath” and that proclamation will save her.
Joshua 2:16 – Three days in the hills plus whatever time they were in Jericho (a day at least it would seem). I wonder, did Joshua think they were lost or captured?
Joshua 2:17-21 – It’s always a good idea to be clear about the terms of any agreement. 😀

The Gospel in a Pop Song

Bruno Mars is pretty hot these days, I guess. All I know of him is his new song Grenade, which I like a lot. It has a simple, pared down sound, under-processed if you will, a welcome change from the over produced music that assaults our ears from popular radio these days.

But the thing that strikes me most about it is the lyrics. The longer I’m a Christian the more I see God in everything and I see God singing this song.

In the first chorus, it’s God talking to humanity:

Gave you all I had and you tossed it in the trash
You tossed it in the trash, you did
To give me all your love is all I ever asked
‘Cause what you don’t understand is
I’d catch a grenade for ya
Throw my head on a blade for ya
I’d jump in front of a train for ya
You know I’d do anything for ya

Look around, we’ve got majestic mountains, vast oceans, a wealth of flowers, abundant wildlife, spectacular sunrises, pure white snow, stars in the sky and more beauties upon beauties, food choices from fruits and vegetables to meats and grains with herbs and spices that can be combined in an endless array of tasty recipes.

Gravity doesn’t fail us, the sun doesn’t take a day off and Earth has yet to stop providing us a hospitable place to live. All for our benefit, put under our dominion and given for our enjoyment. God has richly provided for us.

Yet, we’ve tossed it away. I’m not talking about environmental stewardship alone here, although that certainly applies. What I’m saying is that God created all this and us with one singular hope – That we would love him. And most don’t care. They toss his gift in the trash.

Even more, though, this could be a song sung from God to the church.

Early on there’s this:

Should’ve known you was trouble from the first kiss

Had your eyes wide open, why were they open?

Jesus said that any man who puts his had to the plow and looks back isn’t worthy of service in the kingdom (Luke 9:62). He called us to a complete surrender, nothing held back, sold out commitment to him (Luke 14:25-33). It’s all or nothing, yet so many claim Christianity yet have their eyes still open to the world.

They love the idea of heaven, the idea of a savior, the idea of forgiveness but they refuse to give up the pleasures of sin. Too many lay claim to the name Christian while still holding onto the world.

To them, Jesus might say this from the bridge:

You said you loved me, you’re a liar

‘Cause you never – ever – ever did, baby

But that emphatic statement is followed by the same chorus, the same statement of undying, sacrificial love:

But darling, I’d still catch a grenade for ya
Throw my hand on a blade for ya
I’d jump in front of a train for ya
You know I’d do anything for ya
I would go through all this pain
Take a bullet straight through my brain
Yes, I would die for you, baby

Thing is, Bruno doesn’t really mean it. It’s just a song. Even if the song was informed by his life experiences, by a love unreturned, thrown out and trashed and yet had a faithfulness that remains, he hasn’t nor likely would act out that chorus.

But Jesus already did. He died caught the grenade, took the bullet and died and went through the all the pain knowing that we wouldn’t do the same. It didn’t matter to him, he knew it ahead of time – our eyes were wide open – but His love does not depend on our faithfulness or our commitment to Him.

We serve not a God willing to die for us, but one who actually did.

Lyrics from metrolyrics.com

Joshua 1 – Promisses

Moving on from 2 Corinthians, I’ve decided to get back into the OT. Doug’s been preaching a lot from Joshua, so that seemed like a good place to go.
Joshua 1:1 “Moses my servant is dead.” says God. I love how matter of fact God is.
Joshua 1:3-5 – What a string of promises. I imagine that Joshua fell back on his memory of these promises over and over throughout his life. How much more should we cling to and remember the promise of the gospel in every situation of our lives. A long time friend shared recently how everything he could have possibly rely on has failed him. He’s bounced from job to job as employers reneged on promises, his marriage is failing, he’s moved out of the house they worked so hard for and had to file for bankruptcy and he recently wrecked his car. How does he carry on? He remembers the promises of Jesus and clings to the unfailing hope of the gospel, a hope that will not fade or fail him.
Joshua 1:6-9 – So, if God was going to be with him, why is then told 3 times to “be string and courageous”? Even though God is with us, that does not mean that the way will be easy. Obedience and faithfulness is hard work, and God, although he sticks with us, is certainly not opposed to letting us suffer.
Joshua 1:12-15 – These 2 1/2 tribes already had possession of their land, but the expectation was that they would stand by the other tribes and go fight with them to conquer the remainder. They were part of a larger nation, and they needed to all stick together until all were provided for.

On This Day

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Categories

Archives

Meta