Do you work on your own car or do you take it to the stealership?

[KH06]

I do bring my spd3 to the dealership for oil changes and stuff. I dont really trust myself working on my car. Mostly everything that gets done to my car is done by someone else. I do my research by asking around about the competency of the person before I bring it to them though

 

[paylew]

I do mine myself and keep the receipts. I hadn't thought of putting the miles on the receipt but I'll start now!

 

[15min5k]

I think the buyer of a used car would much rather see receipts from the dealer over oneself doing the work. I know I would, unless I knew who you were. I still think doing your own maintenance is a risky proposition to take in regards to maintaining your warranty. The dealer would do everything in their power to discredit you when or if it comes time for warranty work. I'd rather not go though that headache. Know once the 5yr / 60k powertrain warranty expires I'd do my own oil changes, etc.

 

[prmspen]

I do bring my spd3 to the dealership for oil changes and stuff. I dont really trust myself working on my car. Mostly everything that gets done to my car is done by someone else. I do my research by asking around about the competency of the person before I bring it to them though

I like this approach. If I had the skill and experience, I'd do it myself. But I'm no mechanic. The regional forums are a good place to find someone who is.

 

[DaleNixon]

An oil change is stupid simple. And once you do it yourself you'll realize how being lazy or being in a hurry could have bad consequences.

If you have a good shop to go to though, there's nothing wrong with that.

 

[Kain]

Take it from someone who learned the hard way by having the dealership do an oil change, didn't tighten the drain plug, and I dumped 5 quarts of 5W-30 on the highway doing 80 mph while it sprayed the car behind me. Play Russian Roulette with your car if you want.

 

[SubieKiller3]

Take it from someone who learned the hard way by having the dealership do an oil change, didn't tighten the drain plug, and I dumped 5 quarts of 5W-30 on the highway doing 80 mph while it sprayed the car behind me. Play Russian Roulette with your car if you want.

thats when i take the car straight back to the dealership and say "here you go guys, get it right this time and wash the car real good when your done." then i say to the service manager, "and you can go ahead and write me up a voucher for a free oil change for the next time i come here." and i bet you they will do it cause if they dont ima get ugly on them.

 

[08cosmic3]

thats when i take the car straight back to the dealership and say "here you go guys, get it right this time and wash the car real good when your done." then i say to the service manager, "and you can go ahead and write me up a voucher for a free oil change for the next time i come here." and i bet you they will do it cause if they dont ima get ugly on them.

And all of that is unneccessary, Just change the oil yourself. Pissing the people off that work on your car or prepare your food is not wise.

 

[mr_mazda329]

<--- does his own work on cars. Always has, always will. I can't trust people to do anything right. I can always trust people to be idiots and that will never change.

 

[15min5k]

And all of that is unneccessary, Just change the oil yourself. Pissing the people off that work on your car or prepare your food is not wise.

The same thing can be said about not taking your car into them for service. If you meet with the service techs, etc on at least on a semi consistent basis and develop a friendly relationship it'll work out in your favor come time for warranty work. If they never see you they def aren't going to give a s*** about your car and or if your warranty gets voided. In human nature, think about it.

 

[08cosmic3]

The same thing can be said about not taking your car into them for service. If you meet with the service techs, etc on at least on a semi consistent basis and develop a friendly relationship it'll work out in your favor come time for warranty work. If they never see you they def aren't going to give a s*** about your car and or if your warranty gets voided. In human nature, think about it.

That is the point, they should give a s*** even if you did not buy the car from them or have never been there. If they want my future business they will not try to get out of warranty work. They are paid by Mazda for this work, not as much as if they can get me to pay for it, which I believe is the whole reason for trying to deny the warranty work in the first place, they can't shaft Mazda.

If I pay them $70 for every oil change just so they don't try and shaft me, then I'm paying for the warranty work anyway, just on a payment schedule up front.

 

[Frisco speed3]

Dealer for service, they let me mod my car pretty much all I want and dont dick with my warranty. The service manager is my age (26) and has a modded wrx so far he has been great to deal with. They have earned my business, and I dont have any where to work on my car.

 

[GoFast]

If I pay them $70 for every oil change just so they don't try and shaft me, then I'm paying for the warranty work anyway, just on a payment schedule up front.

70 dollars for an oil change??? what dealer has been sticking it in your ass without even spitting on it first?? (nailbyt)

 

[DaleNixon]

thats when i take the car straight back to the dealership and say "here you go guys, get it right this time and wash the car real good when your done." then i say to the service manager, "and you can go ahead and write me up a voucher for a free oil change for the next time i come here." and i bet you they will do it cause if they dont ima get ugly on them.

They'll wash it real good with a sponge that's been dropped on the ground repeatedly.

And you'll get your oil change voucher. Might wanna check that filter afterwards though!

 

[Circle9]

I's the only one that works on my car! Yea, check your oil filter after they change the oil, check your drain bolt as well.

 

[Moultese]

I'd also like to add that my dealer has a very good service crew.

Next time you are at your dealer, look at what kind of cars the service techs drive. That'll give you an idea of how they treat cars. The techs at my dealer all have nice modified cars. 1 guy has a really like green FD. Thing looks immaculate. The other guy drives a black Mazda3 sedan that is lowered and looks clean. It's obvious to tell from their cars that they are "car guys." So I think they take a little more pride in their work. Plus I always chat with them for a second when they bring my car around. They always compliment me on my purchase.

 

[SubieKiller3]

The same thing can be said about not taking your car into them for service. If you meet with the service techs, etc on at least on a semi consistent basis and develop a friendly relationship it'll work out in your favor come time for warranty work. If they never see you they def aren't going to give a s*** about your car and or if your warranty gets voided. In human nature, think about it.

yea and its also human nature for someone you think is your friend to not want to lose his job over doing warranty work for someone who shouldnt be getting it done for whatever reason. kissing ass is not gonna benefit you in any way in this situation.

 

[Abilor]

I do it myself until I am absolutely outmatched. And I am constantly learning. When I need a tool, I go and get it. When I don't know, I ask here. When I need help, I bother DaleNixon. I have service manuals for my car and my wife's. I really like the freedom of knowing I can fix this stuff myself, and while I know there are good mechanics, I don't regard them as witch doctors anymore. At this point, I would rather pay a good independent than get warranty work done.

 

[15min5k]

yea and its also human nature for someone you think is your friend to not want to lose his job over doing warranty work for someone who shouldnt be getting it done for whatever reason. kissing ass is not gonna benefit you in any way in this situation.

I said nothing about "kissing ass". Believe what you want. Taking my car in for service and being "friendly" with the techs has only resulted in fair treatment and I've never had a warranty claim denied despite otherwise questionable circumstances. A lot of unfortunately might be how you come across and yeah it wont help everyone and they’ll still be asses about the situation regardless. There’s no “guarantee” either way but I feel that taking the car in for service “keeping them in business” helps a great deal as I explained.

P.S. I'm all about about "doing it yourelf" once the 5yr/60k powertrain warranty expires.

 

[waggss]

i'll take mine in for work. even oil changes since i got them for free for the life of the car when i bought it. just double check the work. plus when they work on my car here, the entire bay is behind a huge glass wall so i can watch the entire time...