Folks…this afternoon, we discovered not one, not two, but three major oil leaks under the hood of our 2018 CX-5.

Oil Pan

Timing Cover

and … the Head Gasket

Yes indeed, oil coming from all three. This is bad. I’m going back to the dealer to see if we can talk Mazda into helping out, as we’re 11 months out of the power train warranty with less than 50K on the car. But I’d like your thoughts on where to go.

After all, technically at least, this is NOT the leak where oil comes through a crack in the Head itself. The ballpark repair costs at a good independent shop (since you DO have to do all three of course) is anywhere from $4K-$5K or so. What if we dump this money into this otherwise wonderful car, but a year later have a leak through the head itself? Wow. Talk about good money after bad. I have to say that I’m tempted to just trade the damned thing in on the first RAV-4 a Toyota dealer puts in front of me.

This is painful. It’s like a knife in the gut, as my first Mazda was a brand new RX-2 purchased in 1973 that yes, I had to put an engine in at 48K miles and when I got rid of it at 77K it needed another. But I loved that car. A Mazda MPV saved the lives of my wife and sister in law when they were rear ended by an idiot in east Texas one Sunday afternoon a few years back. And two, yes two Miatas, both NCs, gave me more pleasure than I can imagine on sunny Texas afternoons.

Please. Please give me your thoughts. Where do I go from here?

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