30k maintenance Q's

[tillyspeed81]

(boom03)Hi, just curious, what should I do for my 30k service? The dealer wants $299.00 for a 30k service, and just wondering if its worth it. Just curious what they would be doing at 30k? I've recently changed my oil, transmission and radiator fluid(I usually do transmission once a year, and oil every 3k). Gonna be changing my spark plugs and filters too. Is that all the dealer will be changing if I take her in for a 30k?

 

[opus]

My dealer wanted $489.00!!! After going over the list with him, and saying I change my own oil and had just gotten new tires he finally said "Welllll, you really only need the transmission and radiator fluid changed for $129.00 Soooo... if you have already changed those fluids, and keep on top of your tire maintainence, then you are already done and don't need anything from the dealer.

 

[Heat]

Look in the owner's manual and write down what it says to do for the 30,000 maintenance, then call the dealer and ask what they would do for the $299. They may be adding things that aren't really necessary.

As an example, my local Honda dealer had a really high price on scheduled maintenance but they had added the job of valve adjustment (which isn't needed until 105,000 miles unless there's a problem on the 6th gen Accord).

Personally, for a radiator flush, I would have my normal (non-dealer) mechanic do it. For the transmission flush I would look at doing it myself (I did flush the automatic transmissions on my old cars with automatics) but for my 5, it's a manual so no flush.

 

[tillyspeed81]

haha...called the dealer today, and asked them what was included in the 299.00 tune up....they said it was a promotion they had last week, and "just happened to expire yesterday! LOL....(doughpoke)
So now the price is 399.00 and it includes and oil/filter change, also replaces the air filter (I have a CAI, but was gonna remove it for the service) and cabin filter...they "Check" the remaining fluids, radiator, brake, transmission... said they can do the transmission and radiator flush if I want to pay more $$ as always! They do a "40" point inspection on everything else...oh and a tire rotation ( just bought new ones two months ago!)

so....I guess I won't be taking my 5 to the dealer, I guess I get to spend my cash wisely on something else...(thinkbeer)

 

[mazdadude]

If you have a owners manual, there is a service schedule for normal and severe duty usage. However, judging by the way you maintained your 5 so far...(thumb)(yippy)

...you are ahead of schedule!

It sounds like the only thing left to do is to:

Replace Cabin Filter


Since you are doing the maintainance yourself, as well as being proactive, I would...

Flush brake fluid ***(See Footnote)
Flush power steering fluid
Replace spark plugs

***(or wait until your first brake service, but judging by the way my brake pads look at 50k miles, I should see well beyond 100k on the original pads!)

These are all things that could wait until a 60k service, but if you have a car that you enjoy and want to take care of, it is a labor of love.

And if you do change the plugs, please get some pics of the old ones for us. I wanted to change mine at 30k, but decided to wait a little longer since they are designed to go 75k+miles.

 

[tillyspeed81]

I checked the manual...but I think I'm a little manualiterate....haha..... I didn't think about checkin the manual until Heat mentioned it....completely forgot I had a manual!!! LOL
I actually changed my brakes at about 20k miles, don't know what happened but had a warped rotor or something, so I changed them all out and flushed them back then! I'll get a pic of the spark plugs tomorrow if I can cuz I'll be changing them out tomorrow morning along with the cabin filters...at least thats the plan...hahaha(drive2) I guess all that's left to do is the Power steering flush....

 

[mazdadude]

I checked the manual...but I think I'm a little manualiterate....haha..... I didn't think about checkin the manual until Heat mentioned it....completely forgot I had a manual!!! LOL
I actually changed my brakes at about 20k miles, don't know what happened but had a warped rotor or something, so I changed them all out and flushed them back then! I'll get a pic of the spark plugs tomorrow if I can cuz I'll be changing them out tomorrow morning along with the cabin filters...at least thats the plan...hahaha(drive2) I guess all that's left to do is the Power steering flush....

With all of the things you have done so far, I hope that you are keeping a log, or journal of all of the service done. I know that when buying a car, I always give special attention $$$ to vehicles that have been well maintained, and have the proof to back it up.

 

[tillyspeed81]

I just kept the receipts for the parts, I guess I should write the mileage on them and put them in my file with the mazda stuff.....I'm pretty bad at record keeping tho....but I gotta do it huh!

 

[doctorz]

My old dealer in Maryland wanted $200 for the 30K service. This was significantly cheaper than other 30K services I've done with prior cars which genuinely needed new spark plugs and half a dozen other things at 30K. Although it was still likely overkill, I was glad when this dealer said they charge accordingly when less is required. Obviously your dealer doesn't subscribe to the same level of service.

 

[tillyspeed81]

which is why I chose to do the work myself....

 

[Heat]

... the price is 399.00 and it includes...

Oil / filter change = $18 ($30 if you use Mobil 1)
Air filter = $18, (no more than $20)
Cabin filter = $30 (?)
Check fluids & 40 point inspection = say, 30 minutes of labor at a local mechanic, $35 or $40 (not a dealer mechanic - and you do want to do this by a certified mechanic just to make sure you can say that you did all maintenance in case warranty work comes up)

And yeah, you were much better off doing it yourself.