Prepaid maintenance plan

W

weepee

Is $1500 for 36-month prepaid maintenance plan reasonable? I am worried I might have been taken advantage of..
I was told by the dealership that
1)Performing recommended service in first three years outside mazda dealership services (any in the area) could be risky for the warranty
2)Prices for service could be between $200 to $500 in the first three years. Filters for eg could cost $60. However I find now that online prices for cabin air filter are ~$30, engine air filter <$20 even if it has to be replaced six times in first three years, comes to $300 tops.
3)There is no cancellation window for this plan, and even if cancelled right after purchase, will be refunded with a $300 deduction. However mazda website states it is cancellable within 30 days for full refund. The dealer hasn't given me any legit paperwork stating terms for this plan so I am afraid if they sold me something other than the mazda approved service plan with a different set of terms and conditions

Any recommendations on what to do? Is the price reasonable or rip off?
 
As Conrad 16.5 above said, that's pretty expensive. Look up what Mazda recommends for service in the owners manual.
 
Only maintenance in the first 36 mnths is oil/filter, tire rotations, cabin air and engine air filters.
If you have a dealer do the oil/filter/rotations that would cost about $500.00 and that's at the high end with no coupons. You can get the engine filter for ~$30.00 and the cabin filter for ~20 and replace them yourself in a couple minutes.

Pure dealer profit. And YES - you were taken advantage of.
 
Hard pass. The dealer is flat out lying if they say the warranty could be voided by doing service outs the dealership. you’ll spend less than $500 for oil changes and filter replacements Over 3 years, what a joke $1500
 
RL911 said:
Hard pass. The dealer is flat out lying if they say the warranty could be voided by doing service outs the dealership. you’ll spend less than $500 for oil changes and filter replacements Over 3 years, what a joke $1500
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So technically "could be risky for the warranty", may be right in some far-fetched scenario - if your local Iffy Lube neglects to remove the old filter gasket and all the oil leaks out and you blow your engine. But that's akin to saying my warranty 'could' be voided if I drive at highway speeds - IF I try to drive in 2nd gear at 65 mpg for 1n hour. But notice he never said 'will' void the warranty.

So, if you want to be a wise guy, ask him in what situations non-dealer service would void the warranty?
 
I would push hard for a cancellation with no penalty. I have not heard of one that couldn't be cancelled in the first 30 days with no cost to you. Have you contacted your salesperson?
 
All these banks and loan companies with their pre-approved car loans have created a consumer nightmare for you, me & everyone

For future car purchases...

The best time to ask questions is before signing.

Never sign on the spot.

Always walk away. Always!!!

If it's really what you want, check consumer reports, ask questions of family/friends, have a $$ figure in mind of want you'll pay and what add-ons you want(these should be NONE or very few), go back and negotiate.
Only sign if you got what you want.

Price is not easily negotiable in this environment.

However, having a good credit union will help you. While you might not get the low-ball price you want, they won't let you purchase a car that is overpriced for the market.

Never buy extended warranties/service plans.

Read you paperwork. Cancel the plan if you can and do it quickly

If they haven't provided any paperwork, get it today. Don't wait though.

Write a letter/email and mail/email them that you need the paperwork ASAP within 2 days so you can see the cancellation policy before the cancellation period ends as you may like to cancel the plan for a full refund.

Otherwise you will be hiring an attorney and contacting Mazda corporate... put this in your letter/email too.

Email preferable but also send USPS next day certified mail.

Don't make any accusations right now. That can come later if you need to file a lawsuit.

Nuff said.
 
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I would get my money back. Even $1200 back is better than sticking with it.

Maybe 4 oil changes, 1 air filter and 1 or 2 cabin filters is about $200 in parts. I did those things myself and spent 2 or 3 hours total (which is significantly less time than it would take to get it done at the dealer).

The first oil change was free from the dealer.
 
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In my case, what do I need for the 1st 3 yrs/36k miles (actually, I don't drive that much, but let us assume)?

Oil change/tireRotation every 5k @$90x7(bayArea price) = $630
CarbinFilters every 10k @$20x3 = $60
BrakeFluid every 3 yrs (according to dealer) = $200 (not sure if this is included in your pre-paid plan).
Even under these louse conditions, you only spend $890.

Why pay $1500 upfront? You lose on interest also.

When I buy cars, the moment I walk into the finance manager's office, I will tell him/her that I will not buy anything he/she wants to sell. Let us sign papers.
In-n-out in 10 minutes if you pay cash.
 
ceric said:
When I buy cars, the moment I walk into the finance manager's office, I will tell him/her that I will not buy anything he/she wants to sell. Let us sign papers.
In-n-out in 10 minutes if you pay cash.
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I'll go one better....

After striking the deal I want with the salesman/manager, often you're coming back in a day with your bank check or to give them the day to get the car ready for delivery. But even if you're picking up the car now, I say to the salesman, nicely but firmly, exactly this.... "tell the finance guy I don't want anything that we haven't already discussed (we should already know about the DOC fee) If I'm not out of his office in 30 minutes I'm leaving without a car." That being said, the finance guy will tell me he has to go through his routine, in which case he quickly rattles off the items and I say no and he goes down the list
 
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I have bought at least 10 new vehicles with my strategy, and only once the finance manager of a Honda dealer tried to scare me about how expensive the MID was to replace.

I told him that, in that case, I need to reconsider my purchase.... he backed off. And, the rest went quickly.
 
Conrad 16.5 said:
Sounds WAY too expensive for what you get!



#1 is a flat out lie. If you have the service done by someone else. including DIY, as long as you keep records of said service, your warranty can't be deigned. See below.
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I would suggest taking what they are offering and compare places like Firestone which can offer the same services and see what their estimate is. Remember at the dealership you will likely be getting OEM parts.

Conrad you are like me and get fired up with dealership misguided information but my friend they stated could be risky. And while I myself often use the Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act to help support some of my responses there are some services that can render your warranty void if not at least authorized by MAZDA Corp do be done outside a MAZDA dealership service or paint and body department. The easiest to suggest not covered by the MOSS Act is safety recall service work. There are also dozens of other service and preventive services that are not covered either.


For a few other members not acquainted with the Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act you may want to read it completely.


I must say there have been a few members that must have been burned by a dealership at one time from what they posted on this thread? Contrary to what some always think dealerships are a business and keeping good customers relationships brings return customers and promotes business to grow. I realize on forums like reviews there is always more people that have negative thing they feel compelled to spread the word versus people that are happy with their service and products that don't post.

I think it is just human nature to complain more than praise. 🤣
 
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Tribe&TrueRacin said:
I would suggest taking what they are offering and compare places like Firestone which can offer the same services and see what their estimate is. Remember at the dealership you will likely be getting OEM parts.

Conrad you are like me and get fired up with dealership misguided information but my friend they stated could be risky. And while I myself often use the Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act to help support some of my responses there are some services that can render your warranty void if not at least authorized by MAZDA Corp do be done outside a MAZDA dealership service or paint and body department. The easiest to suggest not covered by the MOSS Act is safety recall service work. There are also dozens of other service and preventive services that are not covered either.


For a few other members not acquainted with the Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act you may want to read it completely.


I must say there have been a few members that must have been burned by a dealership at one time from what they posted on this thread? Contrary to what some always think dealerships are a business and keeping good customers relationships brings return customers and promotes business to grow. I realize on forums like reviews there is always more people that have negative thing they feel compelled to spread the word versus people that are happy with their service and products that don't post.

I think it is just human nature to complain more than praise. 🤣
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Do you work for a dealership? Just wondering....
 
I did my salesman gig for a year. It was a side job. I hired a few to run mu own businesses during a slight decline in the overall market I was in. At that dealership my brother was sales manager, his good friend was the General manager, and my friend was the fleet manager and service manager. The owner was a well-known boat racer before he was killed racing. I was privy to seeing the actual book and how a dealership operates. This dealer ship was Cadillac, Oldsmobile ,GMC and Nissan. The basic business structure was the same as any other business. The car were floored by investment companies and the rest was from the owner and venture capitol investors. The Dealership was run like any other business. The often times BS I see on every forum grouping dealerships as shifty is just inaccurate to be nice! I might add that statistically speaking the higher percentage of buyers were not unhappy with their deal and only influenced by people that felt they got a bad deal and also those seem to be the ones that post guessing how a dealership runs. I guess some of you have not bought a house recently (like the last 4 decades) it not that much different but I don't read bitc*ing about real estates companies the way some of you do about dealerships.
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I purchased my MAZDA new but it was for the third dealership I visited. The first did not like that I knew the flooring invested (friend at the bank) on the exact MAZDA I was looking at and that dealership would deal with me. The second sold the MAZDA I was looking at to another couple that same day I was there. The sales-manager wanted to order another(dealer trade) I declined. I knew which dealership that MAZDA was coming from so went there. I made the offered they haggled back and forth a few times, also ran me through all the add-on they wanted to include which I declined and the deal was made. Even at the very end during all the signing they still tried to get that one more add on charge.... to which for the last time declined. I even had to initial several pages of declining some item. LOL I understood that the deal I got made them very, very low GP and I was an exception to the rule as a buyer. ITS A BUISNESS they are there to make money. Why is that so hard for some of you to understand? If you don't want to buy the product offered by one business go somewhere else or don't buy the product. But please don't group together the complete industry with ignorance of exactly how that particular business is run and operated! You DON”T know all the cost of running that business i.e. overhead! The cost of doing a business!​
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You can run an honest business, and you can run a shady business.

If someone comes in and is stupid enough not to have money to buy what they are looking at, and they decide to take a loan out for the item, there is no excuse whatsoever to take advantage of that. If the bank says they will loan money at 5%, but then you tell the customer it's 8% so you can reap the extra profits, that makes you a liar. And you KNOW damned well that stealerships do this each and every single day.
 
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