2013~2016 Dealer suggested services - advice needed

[MazdaDriverNJ]

Hi there everyone,
I have 2013 Mazda CX-5 purchased in 2012 new. The car has almost 120K miles on it. Now that my daughter turned 17 and got her license, this will be her car. I took it to the dealer today for an oil change (and another issue, below), and here is the list of suggested services they gave me, from most serious to least:

1. Throttle body service
2. Fuel induction service
3. Engine air filter (I do this myself so I'm not paying $50 for dealer to do it for me)
4. Brake flush
5. Coolant flush
6. Shock absorber - replace rear: leaking
7. Alignment

Your thoughts and opinions appreciated. I know you can do throttle body service yourself (someone posted a video, very helpful) but as someone living in a condo without a garage, it's not ideal. So I think I may need to pay for that one.

Here is another issue I mentioned: The car also had 'check engine' light come on for a couple of days and then went away. Then it would shut off when I try to switch the gear from Park to anything else. After diagnostics, this turned out to be 'oxygen sensor' that was going bad... $529+tax. Ugghh, but I need the car to be running well for the 17-year old to drive.

Thanks in advance!

 

[dunhillmc]

The only one that would be a definite no for me is #2.

Like you said, throttle body cleaning isn't too hard and at 120K miles, it wouldn't hurt. Brake fluid change, defintely do if it's been more than 2 years. Coolant is due. Shock absorbers should be changed in pairs, so don't just do the leaking one.

 

[GAXIBM]

I have heard of dealers putting oil on shocks to prove they are bad. Wipe them clean and see if oil reappears. If your tires wear more on the inside or outside then alignment is justified. Your - wont shut off - is likely the switch that is on the shift leaver to tell the computer it is in park and does wear out, check other threads on this and resource/utube guides on how to change yourself. The fluid changes are good if you plan to keep it for a while.

 

[yrwei52]

Hi there everyone,
I have 2013 Mazda CX-5 purchased in 2012 new. The car has almost 120K miles on it. Now that my daughter turned 17 and got her license, this will be her car. I took it to the dealer today for an oil change (and another issue, below), and here is the list of suggested services they gave me, from most serious to least:

1. Throttle body service
2. Fuel induction service
3. Engine air filter (I do this myself so I'm not paying $50 for dealer to do it for me)
4. Brake flush
5. Coolant flush
6. Shock absorber - replace rear: leaking
7. Alignment

Your thoughts and opinions appreciated. I know you can do throttle body service yourself (someone posted a video, very helpful) but as someone living in a condo without a garage, it's not ideal. So I think I may need to pay for that one.

Here is another issue I mentioned: The car also had 'check engine' light come on for a couple of day and then went away. Then it would shut off when I try to switch the gear from Park to anything else. After diagnostics, this turned out to be 'oxygen sensor' that was going bad... $529+tax. Ugghh, but I need the car to be running well for the 17-year old to drive.

Thanks in advance!

I agree with dunhillmc, only the #2 is not needed unless it’s somehow related to your CEL problem. If the engine runs fine, you may skip #1, but there’s a TSB for the problem on early CX-5’s, so eventually you’ll need to clean up the throttle body at certain point. Leaky rear shock absorbers is a common problem for early CX-5 too, and there’s a TSB for it. And yes, make sure to replace a pair. If you feel your tire wear is even, you may skip alignment job, or find a tire / brake shop (Brake Plus) to do it to save some money.

Not much you can do on CEL problem. You can go to AutoZone and such to read the CEL code for you, and see if the error code is truly related to that expensive oxygen sensors, and there’re 2 or 4. Honestly failed oxygen sensor is very rare.

 

[ceric]

Same here. No on #2. Watch the leakage on #6 if you still have time.
Ever did ATF drain-n-refill? Spark plugs?
You could spend close to $1k. But, it would be a good investment for your daughter.

Not long ago, I just spend $500 on my daughter's '14 Mazda3. Coolant, ATF, alignment. In our case, 40K miles only.
Things that a dad would do for his daughter...

 

[Buzzman12]

$500 on a 2014 seems reasonable for what you did.

 

[MazdaDriverNJ]

Things that a dad would do for his daughter...

Thank you so much for all the advice... and it's a mom in this case Mom who is not a total idiot when it comes to cars but prefers to let professionals do the big jobs.. Cabin and engine air filters are so basic, anyone can do it.
Thank you again!

 

[ceric]

and it's a mom in this case

Apologize. I assumed.