$40 for a jug of coolant

[jadmt]

So I get a gift card once a month from Mazda that says same as cash on the card....I have gotten one every month for the last year or so. I buy oil, air and cabin filters with them...I have enough filters to last until I sell the car lol..so today I figured I would get a jug of FL-22 coolant instead as my coolant level has been on the minimum line when hot since it was new and figured what the heck may as well put it at the max line for a change....(took about a whole cup lol) filled it when it was fully warmed up ie long drive in 85 degree temps...

Anyway back to the story...as soon as they saw the gift card they said that will cover it as it is $40.......I know that was not right as it lists for about $22 but hey it was free so no big deal...it will last a long time.....

 

[SparkYellow]

That's a great deal! Can you get two quarts of ATF-FZ each month?

 

[sm1ke]

Man that's a pretty nice promo to keep you coming back. $40 every month?! I'd be stocking up on maintenance parts and fluids, then selling off the excess.

 

[jadmt]

That's a great deal! Can you get two quarts of ATF-FZ each month?

probably...my neighbor gets the same mailer card (bought his cx50 turbo a couple months after I bought my cx5 turbo) and he bought one spark plug a month...on the receipts they never used to indicate anything other than cash for payment the last two times they have indicated "we miss you mailer" as payment so I wonder if eventually I will get nixed from the system...I just looked on the receipt and the listed the price as $51.69..

 

[jadmt]

Man that's a pretty nice promo to keep you coming back. $40 every month?! I'd be stocking up on maintenance parts and fluids, then selling off the excess.

My guess is it is designed for people who do not do their own services. I wish my jeep dealer would do the same.....I have like 9 oil filters, 2 air filters and cabin filters etc...that is one mailing list I don't mind being on...they had some cool hats that next time I am going to use it on. actually had a nice pullover hoodie that I will get after that.

 

[RedBaron]

wish my jeep dealer would do the same...

I wish my Mazda dealer would do the same!

 

[shooter357]

I don't know if this applies in your experience but I had a coupon for full synthetic oil change for 30 bucks. Turned out to be 38 but still not bad. However they inspected the car and found and found 5k worth of work to be done.I was a mechanic in an American Motors garage and dealerships always always tell the service manager to find "things wrong" . They gave me a list of what needs to be done to my 2019 CX-5 with 75 k miles. The list had a plug change and the price on that was 43 bucks apiece. Plugs at a dealership are no better than store bought and trust me there's nothing to installation. Any local garage can do it a lot cheaper. Dealerships have a abundance of overhead and that's why I stay from them.

 

[ruthrj]

I don't know if this applies in your experience but I had a coupon for full synthetic oil change for 30 bucks. Turned out to be 38 but still not bad. However they inspected the car and found and found 5k worth of work to be done.I was a mechanic in an American Motors garage and dealerships always always tell the service manager to find "things wrong" . They gave me a list of what needs to be done to my 2019 CX-5 with 75 k miles. The list had a plug change and the price on that was 43 bucks apiece. Plugs at a dealership are no better than store bought and trust me there's nothing to installation. Any local garage can do it a lot cheaper. Dealerships have an abundance of overhead and that's why I stay from them.

Not too different than those $50-75 HVAC “tune-ups”. Hard to find a reputable company that isn’t going to come out and try to sell you a whole new HVAC system or unneeded repairs. Really nice coupon OP received, I’d love to get one just to use on cheaper maintenance items for DIY

 

[TheMAN]

probably...my neighbor gets the same mailer card (bought his cx50 turbo a couple months after I bought my cx5 turbo) and he bought one spark plug a month...on the receipts they never used to indicate anything other than cash for payment the last two times they have indicated "we miss you mailer" as payment so I wonder if eventually I will get nixed from the system...I just looked on the receipt and the listed the price as $51.69..
View attachment 343679

If you go google that part number, MSRP is really $27.36... you can make the computer system fool anyone however you want... I know because I did it for people and shops who pissed me off... you on the 3 major dealer management systems out there, you can setup price calculation matrixes... then for each customer you add into the system, you setup the customer to base it off of one of those price calculation matrixes

so, for a retail customer, you set it up as MSRP + whatever percentage markup, and it will show under the "LIST" price column... of course, net is whatever you're billing to the customer

and then, you can setup a different customer that bases off of true MSRP and it'll show just that... you'll want to use that pricing matrix for warranty charges on a repair order, or the dealer will get chargeback from mazda corporate

and for the ones who piss you off, you set it up to discount off of your retail markup prices to become the "wholesale" price

yup, car business is a dirty business... I'm glad I got out of it and never looked back

EDIT: I didn't do this at a mazda dealer, so no mazda reputation were hurt in the making of this story

 

[SparkYellow]

probably...my neighbor gets the same mailer card (bought his cx50 turbo a couple months after I bought my cx5 turbo) and he bought one spark plug a month...on the receipts they never used to indicate anything other than cash for payment the last two times they have indicated "we miss you mailer" as payment so I wonder if eventually I will get nixed from the system...I just looked on the receipt and the listed the price as $51.69..
View attachment 343679

They must really like you! I have only been offered a discount on services which I never use. No way I will go in for any service just to save $20.

 

[SparkYellow]

I don't know if this applies in your experience but I had a coupon for full synthetic oil change for 30 bucks. Turned out to be 38 but still not bad. However they inspected the car and found and found 5k worth of work to be done.I was a mechanic in an American Motors garage and dealerships always always tell the service manager to find "things wrong" . They gave me a list of what needs to be done to my 2019 CX-5 with 75 k miles. The list had a plug change and the price on that was 43 bucks apiece. Plugs at a dealership are no better than store bought and trust me there's nothing to installation. Any local garage can do it a lot cheaper. Dealerships have a abundance of overhead and that's why I stay from them.

I can't figure out how a proper oil/filter change can be done for $30 or $40? If oil/filter at bulk is half price, labor is for the tech to handle 5 in an hour? If they are losing money on this for a chance to sell me other services, can I trust them to do a good job? Do they wait for the dirty oil to stop dripping like I do...

I avoid dealership so much that I don't even go in for the recall.

 

[jadmt]

They must really like you! I have only been offered a discount on services which I never use. No way I will go in for any service just to save $20.

both my neighbor and I have been getting the mailers....he bought his CX50 shortly after I bought my CX5...He does all his own service too so it is not just me...I am guessing pretty much anyone who is in Young Mazda's system who does not have Young Mazda do their services probably gets one to get them coming in...they probably think maybe people are going to a quick lube place or something....I keep records of all my services in case I need drivetrain warranty but that is unlikely....Literally my total out of pocket cost to maintain my CX5 turbo with 40,000 miles to date is $118 for sparkplugs and I buy my oil PUP 5W30 via amazon for 3 gallon jugs for $71 or so have done maybe 10 oil changes off the top of my head so like $236 for oil. I ordered the plugs thru mazda swag...because I wanted OEM even tho I know there is no difference between the properNGK plugs. I could have bought a spark plug every month but I wanted just to get them and Mazda swag had them for $27.05 apeice and $10 shipping. I guess even if I were paying for filters it would not be terrible....

 

[jadmt]

If you go google that part number, MSRP is really $27.36... you can make the computer system fool anyone however you want... I know because I did it for people and shops who pissed me off... you on the 3 major dealer management systems out there, you can setup price calculation matrixes... then for each customer you add into the system, you setup the customer to base it off of one of those price calculation matrixes

so, for a retail customer, you set it up as MSRP + whatever percentage markup, and it will show under the "LIST" price column... of course, net is whatever you're billing to the customer

and then, you can setup a different customer that bases off of true MSRP and it'll show just that... you'll want to use that pricing matrix for warranty charges on a repair order, or the dealer will get chargeback from mazda corporate

and for the ones who piss you off, you set it up to discount off of your retail markup prices to become the "wholesale" price

yup, car business is a dirty business... I'm glad I got out of it and never looked back

EDIT: I didn't do this at a mazda dealer, so no mazda reputation were hurt in the making of this story

Mazda swag who is a brick and mortar Mazda dealer has it for $22. not sure what they would ding for shipping but I ordered my plugs thru them at $27.05 apiece and $10 shipping...There have been 4 different parts people at my dealership since Feb of 23 when I bought my car..funny thing is one of them bounces between service writer and parts and he told me he likes parts better because people are friendlier to him........I kept my mouth shut lol

 

[SparkYellow]

If you go google that part number, MSRP is really $27.36... you can make the computer system fool anyone however you want... I know because I did it for people and shops who pissed me off... you on the 3 major dealer management systems out there, you can setup price calculation matrixes... then for each customer you add into the system, you setup the customer to base it off of one of those price calculation matrixes

so, for a retail customer, you set it up as MSRP + whatever percentage markup, and it will show under the "LIST" price column... of course, net is whatever you're billing to the customer

and then, you can setup a different customer that bases off of true MSRP and it'll show just that... you'll want to use that pricing matrix for warranty charges on a repair order, or the dealer will get chargeback from mazda corporate

and for the ones who piss you off, you set it up to discount off of your retail markup prices to become the "wholesale" price

yup, car business is a dirty business... I'm glad I got out of it and never looked back

EDIT: I didn't do this at a mazda dealer, so no mazda reputation were hurt in the making of this story

You said for customers that piss you off, you set the price up as wholesale?

I worked briefly as a sales consultant at a local Mazda and saw how the sales manager and GM "read" my customers and our interaction from their desks. The best deals are with the highest gross and no penny is left on the table unless absolutely necessary. The same approach has to apply to service and parts too. Without an insider connection, I can't take any chances.

 

[SparkYellow]

both my neighbor and I have been getting the mailers....he bought his CX50 shortly after I bought my CX5...He does all his own service too so it is not just me...I am guessing pretty much anyone who is in Young Mazda's system who does not have Young Mazda do their services probably gets one to get them coming in...they probably think maybe people are going to a quick lube place or something....I keep records of all my services in case I need drivetrain warranty but that is unlikely....Literally my total out of pocket cost to maintain my CX5 turbo with 40,000 miles to date is $118 for sparkplugs and I buy my oil PUP 5W30 via amazon for 3 gallon jugs for $71 or so have done maybe 10 oil changes off the top of my head so like $236 for oil. I ordered the plugs thru mazda swag...because I wanted OEM even tho I know there is no difference between the properNGK plugs. I could have bought a spark plug every month but I wanted just to get them and Mazda swag had them for $27.05 apeice and $10 shipping. I guess even if I were paying for filters it would not be terrible....

I see, they are investing in customer relations. The hope is that when you do need help beyond DIY, you'd go to them. But will you?

I never got free parts/supplies. The parts person was kind and applied the employee discount for a year or two after I left. The dealership eventually shut down before the pandemic and I never found out why.

 

[jadmt]

They are investing customer relations. The hope is that when you do need help beyond DIY, you'd go to them. But will you?

I never got free parts/supplies. The parts person was kind and applied the employee discount for a year or two after I left. The dealership eventually shut down before the pandemic and I never found out why.

I actually would buy another new car from them...if they treated me like the previous dealership owners...I bought mine in Feb of 2023 and Young auto group bought the dealership a few months later...the previous owner was a local guy who started the dealership in 1980 or so. I was bummed to see him sell but he was old and even his son was retirement age.....so I suppose it was time to take the money.

 

[TheMAN]

You said for customers that piss you off, you set the price up as wholesale?

I worked briefly as a sales consultant at a local Mazda and saw how the sales manager and GM "read" my customers and our interaction from their desks. The best deals are with the highest gross and no penny is left on the table unless absolutely necessary. The same approach has to apply to service and parts too. Without an insider connection, I can't take any chances.

you're kidding right?

 

[SparkYellow]

you're kidding right?

No, I didn't understand what you wrote. But you don't have to elaborate. I can live with not understanding.

Not joking about working as a sales person either.