Dealer said I should..

tuOdekcalB

Member
:
09 Mazdaspeed 3
Got my oil changed today at 16800 and they called me saying that they recommend I get a coolant flush for 149.99 and that I should replace my cabin air filter every 15k miles. Didn't even want to pay the 24 bucks for the oil change so I told them I will do it sometime in the future.

Are both of those things needed right now or is the dealer just trying to make money off me?
 
No way a coolant flush is needed yet. Cabin filter maybe, but I'd let it go. Your O/M has the maintenance schedule.
 
Ohh ok thank you, I will check the manual out, guessing it tells the truth unlike the dealer. Yea I don't trust dealers, like i thought I had a leak in one of my tires so I told them to see if I was right, they said there was a nail in my tire and they can plug it. I said yes of course but was thinking if they just said that because I said I thought there was a leak. Should be like can you take pictures of it so I know for sure there was a nail =D, but they ended up not charging me for it anyways.
 
Dealerships job is to make money, unless your o/m says it's time... it's not a must-do yet.
 
Manuals generally recommend the minimum required maintenance to help keep total cost of ownership low. That's why many dealers/mechanics may recommend sooner intervals. Some make sense (i.e. oil change every 3.5K) but the above example illustrates a desparate attempt to make a buck.

Cabin filter is recommended at 24K and looked OK when I changed mine out. Coolant? FL22 can go up to 10 yrs/120K before its first change. Anything before 60K would be unnecessary IMO.
 
Last edited:
Got my oil changed today at 16800 and they called me saying that they recommend I get a coolant flush for 149.99 and that I should replace my cabin air filter every 15k miles. Didn't even want to pay the 24 bucks for the oil change so I told them I will do it sometime in the future.

Are both of those things needed right now or is the dealer just trying to make money off me?
this dealer is trying to show you that they can't be trusted early in the relationship, thus saving you thousands of dollars.

I like them already.

Thank her for a lovely evening, and don't call her back
 
lol yea checked the manual and saw the coolant thing being like 120k or w/e and I was like wow they really trying to make me do it at 17k. Only thing they are gonna do is change my oil(with my supplied oil because telling them I want mobile 1, I still am 50/50 on them actually using mobile 1) and when I see the manual telling me to do something then I will call them and tell them to do it. Aint doing anything that they recommend.
 
Are you not able to change the oil yourself? You def don't have to take it the dealer for that. If you are buying your own oil, you are halfway there!
 
Yea I wanted to but I thought I read on hear it is a PITA, plus would only save like around 15 bucks doing it myself. The dealer charge is usually around 22 bucks for labor and filter.
 
Got my oil changed today at 16800 and they called me saying that they recommend I get a coolant flush for 149.99 and that I should replace my cabin air filter every 15k miles. Didn't even want to pay the 24 bucks for the oil change so I told them I will do it sometime in the future.

Are both of those things needed right now or is the dealer just trying to make money off me?
I bet you go to Smithhaven Mazda! I was there yesterday for service, oil change/lube/oil filter and I decided to have the cabin filters done. The filters were dirty and had some leave on them. The tech who worked on my car, also found a mystery live wire(carrying 12V) and wanted me to be aware of it.
 
I bet you go to Smithhaven Mazda! I was there yesterday for service, oil change/lube/oil filter and I decided to have the cabin filters done. The filters were dirty and had some leave on them. The tech who worked on my car, also found a mystery live wire(carrying 12V) and wanted me to be aware of it.

I do lol, bought my car there.
 
Yea I wanted to but I thought I read on hear it is a PITA, plus would only save like around 15 bucks doing it myself. The dealer charge is usually around 22 bucks for labor and filter.
Changing the oil is easy. The stock filter is a PITA due to the cartridge and o-rings. The dealerships are apparently very good at using the wrong oil. I would do my own, but then there is no proof it was done, so if you have an oil-related problem they can deny the coverage.
 
Yea I buy the 5 quarts jugs from walmart and tell them to give me the left over oil, so makes it harder for them not to use the right oil. But you could say they pour mine into other jugs and keep it for themselves but that is just going into massive paranoid area.
 
I stand right in front of mine while they're changing the oil and filter. I suspect the dealer won't let me do that.
 
Changing the oil is easy. The stock filter is a PITA due to the cartridge and o-rings. The dealerships are apparently very good at using the wrong oil. I would do my own, but then there is no proof it was done, so if you have an oil-related problem they can deny the coverage.

You have a dated sales receipt. Just write the milage on it and save it for your maintenance records.
 
You have a dated sales receipt. Just write the milage on it and save it for your maintenance records.
Just 'cause you have a receipt doesn't mean the job was done. The receipt won't show what car got the oil change.
 
Just 'cause you have a receipt doesn't mean the job was done. The receipt won't show what car got the oil change.

I agree with this, from all the stories I hear on here about how easy the dealership bones you, I can easily see them somehow voiding s*** because of this ^^^. They can be like "Umm how do we know you did't just take a receipt from your friend or something."
 
i have no issues going to a dealer to get my oil change you should just get to know your service manager and they will treat you well... My wife and i havent bought an oil change in a year. lol i am friends with the service manager.
 
Agreed. ^^

Dealer oil changes are cheap insurance and an easy way to minimize risk. Just be sure to ask what type of oil they use and check the level before leaving the lot. My dealer charges $24 a pop which includes a courtesy inspection. So now I can hold the dealer twice as accountable in case something goes wrong lol.

I've never head of a claim being denied because someone didn't have all of their receipts. It's really only in cases where you can't prove you purchased the oil/filter (i.e. missing receipts).
 
Back