ASH8

Mazda Australia would make you believe their MRO is exclusively theirs...and "imported from Mazda Japan"...all BS, always has been.

I reported this some time ago and some did not believe me.

There was also the CASTROL logo embedded in the white oil container on the first batches of MRO, the Castrol logo has since disappeared.
(there was a pic of this here somewhere)

Today I came across this PDF from Castrol Australia's website...

What do you think is it Castrol or not?

http://www.msds.castrol.com.au/msds....no=462055-AU07

erx8s

Mazda Australia needs to be held accountable for this deliverate misleading info on the oil to all its rotary owners ,also motor journalists and magazines should be made aware of this .

What a shonky deliberate lie , Ash thanks for confirming what some of us suspected .

All RX8 rotary owners should be asking for a refund on the amount they have been mislead buy .

Mazda Australia needs to be held accountable .


Michael

enforcer

Hmm...if Mazda said it was imported from Japan it would be misleading...but when and where have they ever said that?

Kusanagi

Thanks for confirming this, I did believe what you said before, always do So it's Castrol Magnatec? As GTX3 only comes in one weight, ie. 15w40

K

erx8s

Trevor

As one of the earliest adoptees to the RX8 JULY 03 , we were told to use ANOTHER OIL ( synthethic oil ) as the oil for the RX8 WAS COMING FROM JAPAN BUT UNFORTUNATELY HAD NOT ARRIVED WITH OUR CARS AS YET

TOOK A FURTHER 6 MONTHS FOR THE SO CALLED ....BS ....JAPANESE special blend mineral ROTARY OIL TO ARRIVE .

I know because i rang Mazda head office enquiring about the oils arrival many a time

Mazda once again lied to all the most faithfull of buyers the early ones .

Being naive i accepted their word , did not realise that the very mineral oil that they were to use was already here right under our nose .

Cheers
Michael

ASH8

So yes, I spent some considerable time trying to work out what Castrol (BP, same thing) it is...and I can't come to a conclusion what it is GTX 3, Magnatec or a blend of each, partly due to the lack of information on their oils in the "Physical and Chemical Properties Section".

BP actually blends many oils for car manufacturers which are not "bottled" or retailed.

Having said that it is very possible (more than likely) a blended oil is done exclusively for Mazda Australia by BP-Castrol.

Mazda Australia should say that MRO is a 'Special Blend of Oils' made by Castrol...if that is what it is?

timbo

Oh gosh...look what I stumbled on! As ASH points out, we've known MRO has been a Castrol mineral oil for a long time -- late 2003, I believe, when the 1L MRO packs from Mazda dealers were embossed with Castrol.

If anyone cares, I'd suggest searching the forum for "oil" and "Castrol" -- I can't recall if we found out exactly what the Castrol oil is -- certainly, it wasn't one then off the shelf in the car part stores.

Also, Mazda released a TSB in 2006 mandating mineral oil for the Renesis

takahashi

The first bottle of MRO oil has Castrol printed on it. This has been long time association.

ASH8

I like this one about MA IMPORTING THE MRO...Importing from Melbourne!!

takahashi

Looks like the images and details from Gomez.... only he has spare times doing this LOL.

enforcer

Theres the admission..."This is why MA will be importing mineral based 5W30engine oil."

So we've been charged $70 a bottle all these years. I have half a mind to bring all of my service receipts back to the ****** and demand a refund.

I guess thats what stealerships do.....and their good at it.

ASH8

Yep, I found them courtesy of Gomez!!

Revolver

We've known about Castrol being the oil supplier for years now. Nobody could reasonably believe that Mazda would operate its own oil refinery just to produce oil for its rotary engines - it would have to source it from somewhere.

I wonder whether the initial intention was to source it from Japan and then a deal was done with a local supplier. I can't imagine there would be much benefit to the dealerships or head office in having to deal with queries and delays if they intended to source it locally from the start. I can't imagine there being much marketing benefit in telling owners their oil has to be imported.

As for price, I don't think we're paying an import price. Probably more to do with the fact that it has a smaller market, so the economies of scale involved for mass market engine oils aren't available.

I raise these things not to be an apologist for MA but just pondering whether there are some sensible explanations for the big oil conspiracy theory.

timbo

...and buying oil is not exactly the most expensive part of owning an 8, anyway

ASH8

Yes, most of us knew the MRO was a Castrol product, however some did not believe this to be true, up until recently even my dealers Part Manager (who I trained) said to me it was not a Castrol product.

I also knew of the Castrol logo white container, but until I *searched* the forums to find it I had no proof, for *newer* members.

I emailed my Parts Manager yesterday with the image and Castrol's own spec sheets, so it will be interesting to see his response.

I do not doubt that the MRO is a *Special* blend done by BP, they even do one for the Mazda 6 engine oil 5W30 and a Mazda Premium Engine Oil, which maybe supplied in bulk to dealers for their workshops.

http://www.msds.castrol.com.au/default.aspx

We know that Mazda Dealers Parts prices are at *Stealership* levels, however, it is not the dealers who set LIST Prices, it is Mazda Australia.

Depending "how" a dealer buys his parts Via a Daily Order or Stock Order determines their profit, not mark ups.

Actual Gross Profit at a dealer level is less than what Woolworth's or Cole's makes, much less.

MA are the big Gross Profit culprits.

Edit:
You can also see they make "Mazda Brake Fluid" and 'Mazda Coolants', interesting to note they make 'Mazda FL-22' coolants (dated Dec 2005) which according to their spec sheet is a 30-60% ratio of Ethylene Glycol, I though FL-22 is supposed to be a 50-50 ratio?

Revolver

Fair enough Ash and your efforts at educating the newbies are probably appreciated by them.

However, I don't think it's news to any car owner that every manufacturer and its dealer network will charge as much for parts and servicing as it thinks it can get away with...usually something just shy of inducing a mob with pitch forks and torches to storm head office.

For me the difference in oil price between MRO and other stuff on the market isn't going to break the bank, so rather than use synthetics, etc I just stick with that. In saying so, I'm not doubting the choice of people like Andrew who use synthetics, I just haven't been bothered to change.

Oil in these forums is a bit like fuel economy. It's been done to death and most can be revealed by some diligent searching (as you've discovered). I suppose when it gets quiet it's something to talk about...

Gomez

Yeah, I actually rang Sydney and spoke to Castol Australia's Tech Dept engineers about this stuff.

It isn't repackaged Magnatec...it's a custom blend made especially for Mazda Australia.

ASH8

Actual Retail for Mazda Parts should be, should be, List (Mazda Australia's list price) plus GST, that is the industry norm.

A dealer then buys at List less their MA discount depending on the *type* of order...that is then basically the Dealers Gross Profit margin.

So I suggest if anyone thinks they are getting ripped off by their Mazda Parts Dealer, shop around, to show you are not a *Bunny* ask what the LIST Price is, they should Not charge you for freight, if they do or they say they are permitted to do so shop elsewhere as Mazda Australia pays for ALL freight to Dealers store....apart from anything obviously requested by the Buyer, like a Taxi delivery from MA's warehouse to dealer, or a VOR order...Vehicle Off the Road.

Cromax

I'd presume that list price is just under $50 since that's what a few of us are paying for it (those with honest dealers)

ASH8

There are certain *parts* that MA sells to Dealers that really do not have a "list" price, I was meaning normal "genuine" made in Japan parts.

Accessory and other Items like Oils, Brake Fluid, Clothing are a nett price to dealers.
RRP can vary..it is Recomended...

But yeah the $48 -$50 is a good price for their MRO....enough, that is.