Complaint Review: Mazda

I have a 2007 Mazda MX5 with 31k miles. I LOVE my car!!! Recently, I experienced a ticking noise when accelerating. I took it to the dealer and they have concluded that the rod rotators are damaged. Mazda has determined that the engine needs to be replaced at a cost of $8k and will not cover under my 36k warranty! They claim that since I was late on my oil change, that is what caused the damage. I use synthetic oil for my oil changes which requires changing every 6k miles, I had a space of 9k miles between oil changes. Yes, I was over, but that should not cause my engine to fail! Mazda has advised that this happens to their engines if overdue for an oil change. Which makes me think that anyone looking into getting a Mazda should beware, considering how fragile the engine must be if being overdue for the oil change causes this sort of damage! Do you know ANY other car that would be this fragile???? There is clearly a defect in the engine that Mazda is not taking responsibility for. Again, I LOVE my car, but of course cannot justify $8k to fix it and I am appalled that Mazda will not stand behind their product. Any insight or similar experience??

Cms67
San Diego, California
U.S.A.