Oil change pricing

[b e z]

Well i made an appointment for mazda to change it wednesday for $40.50. Im not sure what kind of synthetic they use, i believe they told me some sort of subaru stuff. The place i was going to take it to was going to charge me $22 with me bringing my own oil and filter. And the reason im not going to change it myself is because im worried mazda wants to have a ticket to show proof the oil was changed incase something goes bad with the turbo.

 

[oaklandopen]

^^^mazda and their warranty woes. I gotone of my output shaft bearings replaced under warranty at around 44k and I have not once been to any credited shop to do an oil change

@spdjnke....I was just chopping you busts

 

[b e z]

^You may also be dealing with a better dealership, ive yet to have any problems and see how the dealership is going to treat me and after hearing the horror stories some have had i dont know if i want to work around the dealership.

 

[spdjnke]

eh, it's always good to have service records at the dealer so if the time come to sell, you have records to show your possible buyer. so all in all a win win.

 

[b e z]

Il tell my story of the oil change at the dealership not too long ago today. I show up at 12 and the guy takes my keys and tells me it will be an hour, i looked shocked and he says its because they wash the car as well. So i walk down the road to burger king and eat and waste time. I come back at exacly an hour and the service guy chases me down and tells me he needs all my info so he can update the system. Once he takes my info he tells me i am like 500 miles away from the 30,000 mile service requirement, he says its to change the spark plugs and other things and is very important, its $600.00 and you cant forget about it. That shocked me as well, so i now have to comtemplate if i want to go back to blow this 600 for them to change the plugs and look over my car. In the mean time i am still waiting, finally i go walking around and see my car parked out front. So i head to the service station and the guy is writing the tickets up, 1 hour and 45 minutes later. I pay the $40.79, and get back in my car to a funky smell and cookies in a bag. I call back in as i drive down the road and ask if they used a full synthetic or a conventional oil and the guy tells me they use a semi-synthetic, again another thing im not too happy about. So overall the experience sucked.

 

[oaklandopen]

That's some upselling happy horse s*** right there. Plugs aren't due till 60k, that should be in your owners manual

And $600 to do it? Mucho bullshitto. I don't even think it costs that much to do plugs on a fwd V6, and those are some of the WORST engines to change plugs in

You can literally buy plugs, and buy the set of tools you need to do the job yourself (ratchet, extension, spark plug socket), for less than $50. And you don't even have to lift the car up to do it

And the rest of the "30k service" is fluff anyway. Everything on that list starts with the word "check"

 

[andygnow]

Il tell my story of the oil change at the dealership not too long ago today. I show up at 12 and the guy takes my keys and tells me it will be an hour, i looked shocked and he says its because they wash the car as well. So i walk down the road to burger king and eat and waste time. I come back at exacly an hour and the service guy chases me down and tells me he needs all my info so he can update the system. Once he takes my info he tells me i am like 500 miles away from the 30,000 mile service requirement, he says its to change the spark plugs and other things and is very important, its $600.00 and you cant forget about it. That shocked me as well, so i now have to comtemplate if i want to go back to blow this 600 for them to change the plugs and look over my car. In the mean time i am still waiting, finally i go walking around and see my car parked out front. So i head to the service station and the guy is writing the tickets up, 1 hour and 45 minutes later. I pay the $40.79, and get back in my car to a funky smell and cookies in a bag. I call back in as i drive down the road and ask if they used a full synthetic or a conventional oil and the guy tells me they use a semi-synthetic, again another thing im not too happy about. So overall the experience sucked.

"I pay the $40.79, and get back in my car to a funky smell and cookies in a bag." i LOL-ed in class. The thought of someone eating cookies in your car is funny.

 

[b e z]

^ Oh no the cookies were left for me and a note saying i was a valued customer. The funky smell was from them "cleaning" the interior of the car and an attempt to make it smell "good". I would have not been happy to see cookies laying on my seat as if someone had just finished eating some lol. @oakland, i was talking to a buddy of mine telling him that i can easily do the crap they say needs done at 30k and its a huge rip off but i guess Mazda is just trying to screw the customer.

 

[oaklandopen]

Screwing the consumer? They are and they aren't.

Going to a dealer for service is like going to a movie theater when you're hungry. You're only there for one reason, but end up getting bombarded with things you don't need but look appetizing enough to spend the money on

The idea is if they keep throwing things at you, you will eventually give in and buy things or services

 

[DocBeech]

As a former mechanic I can attest to not screwing you. My tool box I have now alone is worth 100K. Your paying for labor which the contract I had at GMC was I get 50% of the hourly rate. So I got 50%, the service writer got 20% the shop got a cut and so on. Plus all the vehicles we worked on were insured through the shop. Not all auto shops have insurance, even sometimes illegally they are uninsured. Keep that part in mind. Also you paying a parts mark up. I got 10% of what you paid for the part, the parts guy got 15% and whatever was left over profit wise went to the dealership. So off the top the dealer lost 25% of the cost of the part.

There are a lot of moving parts in an auto shop. GMC paid to train us and retest us for our certs. They paid my tuition for my college. We had to buy our own tools. Some of them were specialty tools used for only one thing ever. My Tech 2 cost 2K just to diagnose the car. Yes I had to buy my own, no the dealer does not provide them. We also had to buy our own shop rags. Those red rags you see laying around, no the dealer never paid for those. We would go through a good amount everyday too. Just keep in mind a lot of moving parts are involved at the dealer.

 

[b e z]

I decided to change the spark plugs and do the other things myself and keep any receipts. I was wondering though i always read people changing spark plugs to the one step colder plugs but should I with such little mods, (cobb sri, bov)? Also i never see anyone say they changed the plug wires along with the plugs so i dont know if that is necessary as well.

 

[oaklandopen]

They are coil-over plugs so its not really "wires" you'd be changing. It would be whole units. And if you're really that concerned take a multimeter to them and test their resistance before you go buying new ones

 

[b e z]

Im not concerned with anything it is part of the replacement at 30k so i didnt know if it was pointless to get the one step colder plugs or stick with a oem plug.

 

[oaklandopen]

I'm still not understanding how any of that is part of the 30k maintenance interval. I feel the only thing it says in the manual is "inspect" not "replace"

 

[ohioan]

Or you could do it yourself for the price of the oil and filter. Depending on what oil you're using and if you happen to find a deal (for instance Advance Auto frequently does "oil change specials" with a filter and 4-5qts of synthetic oil for $25) you could pay way less than the dealer charges.

$43 bucks for five quarts of royal purple and k&n filter! Pretty good deal Imo...

 

[ohioan]

I cant understand why they aren't testing the oil and sometimes even the filter.

Care to elaborate? I'm a noob. Never heard of testing either...
Don't feel like searching.

 

[DocBeech]

http://www.blackstone-labs.com/

 

[Hapa88]

I posted this somewhere else:

If you follow "Maintanance Schedule 2"
Mazda recommends that you change cabin filter at 25k miles.
At 30k miles you are to Inspect the following:
Cooling System & level
Fuel lines & hoses
Brake lines, hoses & connections
Brake & Cluth fluid level
Disc Brakes
Tire inflation & wear
Steering operation & linkages
Power steering fluid level
Front & rear suspension, ball joints, bearings
Driveshaft boots
Washer fluid level
Function of all lights

Also do the following:
Tighten bolts & nuts on chassis & body
Lubricate All locks & hinges
Replace Oil & filter
Tire rotation


Browning Mazda here in SoCal offers a 30k service for ~$269.95 on special (normally $300)
http://www.browningmazda.com/specials/service.htm

Includes (I'm including prices I typically see)
Oil and filter service (~$25)
tire rotation (free to $25)
brake inspection (free)
new air filter ($20-$40)
fresh trans. fluid (?? - Mazda manual doesn't have a replacement schedule for this)
drain and replace brake fluid (?? - brake fluid is listed as "inspection" past 60k miles)
drain and replace coolant (?? -coolant replace at 60K OR 120K depending on coolant type)
clean the battery post (free)
multipoint inspection (free - because they can make more money finding problems)

Soo, from my estimates you're paying about $200 for the Trans flush, coolant flush, brake flush, and labor and these services aren't recommended by Mazda until at least the 60K mark.

For a $600 service I could think of is the spark plugs, and therefore, you'd be getting RIPPED a big one. Those are about $10-$12 each and are pretty easy to do yourself ($50 & about <1 hour labor).