Dealer won't use synthetic oil - 2022 CX-5 Turbo

[CrookedNail]

I have a '22 CX-5 Turbo, and bought the dealer service contract. They change the oil every 6 months, but say it only needs conventional oil. I wrote to Mazda Customer Experience about this. They agreed that synthetic oil is superior, and said I should contact the dealer. My feeling is if the dealer really cared about doing what's best for their customer's car, they would use synthetic oil. Instead they do what is cheaper for them. I am going to cancel the remainder of the contract and demand partial refund. Anyone else have to put up with poor dealer service?

 

[paris1]

So far I've been kind of amazed at my dealer's behavior with regard to oil changes. I have the NA engine in my '23 CX-5 and when it came time for the first (free) service they agreed to use Mazda hi-moly synthetic oil, which I have always used in all my Mazdas with SkyActiv engines (3 to date). I told them to put the empties in the boot to verify they had complied, which they did. A couple of weeks ago the same dealer's service department called with an $99 service offer, which the car is just about in need of. I asked if that included the hi-moly oil and she said that their records showed that they had used it for the first service, so they would continue that at the promo price. She even stated that, in writing, in a confirming email. Considering I pay $87 from an online vendor for 5 qts of this oil and a Mazda filter for my Mazda 3 (which I service myself), I figured that was a pretty sweet deal!

 

[wlong01]

My dealer doesn't use synthetic for turbo oil changes either. Said Mazda does not recommend it.
My feeling on this is conventional dino oil is fine if you change you oil at the 5,000 mile intervals.
I have apprx. 52,000 on the odo and zero problems. I change oil every 5,000 miles or a little sooner.

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

So far I've been kind of amazed at my dealer's behavior with regard to oil changes. I have the NA engine in my '23 CX-5 and when it came time for the first (free) service they agreed to use Mazda hi-moly synthetic oil, which I have always used in all my Mazdas with SkyActiv engines (3 to date). I told them to put the empties in the boot to verify they had complied, which they did. A couple of weeks ago the same dealer's service department called with an $99 service offer, which the car is just about in need of. I asked if that included the hi-moly oil and she said that their records showed that they had used it for the first service, so they would continue that at the promo price. She even stated that, in writing, in a confirming email. Considering I pay $87 from an online vendor for 5 qts of this oil and a Mazda filter for my Mazda 3 (which I service myself), I figured that was a pretty sweet deal!

Are you able to share that dealer? I see similar pricing at Med Center and Mazda Swag but you have to get over $100 for free shipping

Med Center charged me $135 last month

••• Oops.. forgot I got two oil change kits

 

[Moonlighter]

My Mazda dealer has been OK with me supplying my preferred full syn oil, and giving the small amount remaining back to me in the container.

 

[paris1]

Are you able to share that dealer? I see similar pricing at Med Center and Mazda Swag but you have to get over $100 for free shipping

Med Center charged me $135 last month

••• Oops.. forgot I got two oil change kits

Mazda Skyactiv oil change kit | eBay

Genuine Mazda oil filter, drain plug crush washer, and oil for your NON TURBO SkyActiv Mazda! Keep you Mazda running great for the long-haul by using Genuine Mazda oil and filter to perform your routine oil changes.

www.ebay.com

 

[paris1]

My Mazda dealer has been OK with me supplying my preferred full syn oil, and giving the small amount remaining back to me in the container.

If your 2.5 ltr is like every other SkyActiv on the planet, he should be putting the entire 5 qts in as 4.5 qts just doesn't get it.

 

[N7turbo]

Last night I dumped the whole 4.5...liters in. (plus a little bit more)

 

[Moonlighter]

If your 2.5 ltr is like every other SkyActiv on the planet, he should be putting the entire 5 qts in as 4.5 qts just doesn't get it.

My oil is in metric volume the same as my engine displacement, so I buy in litres.

A 5L container is more than the 4.5L required

See how nicely the metric system works!

 

[RedBaron]

There have been many threads on this across the Mazda forums. Mazda does not, in fact, recommend synthetic in the turbo engines, only for the NA's. Does not make sense and no-one knows why, or can get any explanation from Mazda as to why. And most of the first level customer service reps don't even know this (witness the OP's post).

 

[CrookedNail]

Everyone knows synthetic oil is superior, especially under high heat situations. Turbo engines especially should benefit from this. Maybe I will supply my own oil next time.

 

[200955]

I would ask why they prefer conventional or synthetic blend and I would think it has to do with the prescence of a turbo. Could be that, in their experience, they have less turbo issues by not using synthetic oil. You need to keep in mind that turbos can easily hit 13,000 rpms and perhaps at that speed the shear value of synthetic oil just doesn't cut it. I would be interested in knowing their logic on the type of oil they prefer and if this practice is wide spread throughout the industry.

 

[paris1]

My oil is in metric volume the same as my engine displacement, so I buy in litres.

A 5L container is more than the 4.5L required

See how nicely the metric system works!

Not sure how metric vs US standard enters into this (5 qt is more than the 4.8 qt required), but I do know that putting the entire 5 qts into the sump will not quite bring it to full on the dip stick.

 

[200955]

1 liter = 1.056 US quart
5 US quarts = 4.73 liters

 

[Moonlighter]

Or put it another way….

5 litres = 5.283 quarts (US) or 4.399 quarts (imp).

Using the full 5L would be overfilled.

 

[paris1]

Or put it another way….

5 litres = 5.283 quarts (US) or 4.399 quarts (imp).

Using the full 5L would be overfilled.

By .283 qt maybe.

 

[N7turbo]

Our jugs are 5 qt so annoyingly, you keep having to dip into the next one.

 

[Moonlighter]

Our jugs are 5 qt so annoyingly, you keep having to dip into the next one.

That would be a PITA for sure.

The circa 300ml left in the jug of the 5L is an assurance to me that they’ve actually used the oil I supplied as much as anything else. I have rarely needed to top up.

I usually save it up and use it to do the annual oil changes in my 4 stroke lawn mower

 

[jadmt]

mazda branded 5w30 in the USA is not synthetic....crazy s*** for sure. This has been hashed over before. I found an interesting video on oil...

 

[ruthrj]

mazda branded 5w30 in the USA is not synthetic....crazy s*** for sure. This has been hashed over before. I found an interesting video on oil...

Not sure what’s more impressive: the synthetic engine looking that much cleaner than the conventional, or that two Ford engines ran 500k miles with only a couple failures

I’d buy cheap synthetic 5w-30 and ask the service department of your choice to use that. Castrol Edge was like $25 at Walmart today for 5 quarts. Pick up that plus a 1 quart bottle to satisfy the turbos slightly higher capacity and you’re golden (I use that one quart bottle across two oil changes). The latest synthetic certification had turbos in mind due to their increasing popularity for fuel efficiency gains when coupled with smaller displacement engines.