Beware! If you take your car for service at Mazda of Clear Lake, make sure they know what they're doing. I know Eradicator has had problems with them too. Here's my story...

I got 3 free oil changes w/ the purchase of the 8 at Mazda of Clear Lake. So on 3/15/04, I decide to do the 2 recalls and oil change at 2500 mi. I didnt even notice a difference w/ the recalls done (which is a good thing) but they put 10W-30 synthetic blend. Im ok w/ the 10W-30 bc we're in Houston and I'm iffy about the syn. blend but that's beside the point now. They put 5 qts of oil in it. The manual states 3.5 - 3.7 qts. After reading the threads, I'll try to burn off the oil w/ usage. Im still debating if I should bring it back tomorrow morning to get it drained and done the right way. Why can't they just do it right the first time? I know my 8 isnt the first one they've gotten either.

I will def. call MNAO to get them to document this. I already got them to document the fact that they put 10w-30 syn. blend.

I would def. not rec'd bringing any rx-8 to this dealership for service but if I had to, I'd check everything before leaving.

 

This is a typical issue with dealers, and has happened MANY times to a LOT of the forum members. I would just point out that it says in the owners manual that overfilling of the oil can cause engine damage. I would take them a copy of that page (or just show them yours while you're there) ans ask them why their mechanics don't bother to check the oil level when they are done???

I would absolutely NOT "try to burn off the oil w/ usage", as an extra quart can take a LONG time to burn off (remember the note in the manual) - mine will (just barely) burn a quart between oil changes (2500 miles), and that was BEFORE the "L" flash.

 

Last summer I brought my 8 in to Mazda of Clear Lake for work on the center console.

They gave it back to me with PRY MARKS near the ash tray!

 

HIX8 -

That absolutely sucks. What happened with your center console? Did they admit their doings and fix it for you??

 

hoo boy ... I just took it in this morning (didn't see your PM until today). My list is pretty long:

oil change
air bag recall
damper recall
center console button is loose
clear coat is peeling off on front "bumper" body section
dome lights aren't coming on when door is opened*

*you might recall a thread about this a while back

I knew they've been using 10w30, but was okay with that. I didn't think to ask how much they put in.

tpryor, what's an "L" flash?

 

They agreed to have their specialist come in and do some kind of magic to melt out the pry marks while matching the texture. My decision? There were dealership issues much bigger than these pry marks that led me to do the buyback so I could start all over from square one. I never took my RX-8 back to those service folks.

Somewhere out there there is a used 8 and someone will look at the center console and wonder who tried prying it off. It was a "Mazda Certified Technician".


On another note...

I am STILL waiting to get refunded for the extended warranty that they sold me. The buyback was done in early December. Here I am 16 weeks later after many follow ups with them, and I have no check.

Back in July when I was buying the car, they had a much different sense of urgency. In selling me the warranty, I said that I wanted to think about it overnight before signing. They refused.

Hmmm. Overnight was a problem for them in taking money from me. But getting money back to me takes well over 100 days?!


(I have several coworkers with Mazda of Clear Lake sagas of their own, but that can wait for another day.)

 

I bought my RX-8 at Clear lake as well (mainly cause I live here) and after just ten minutes of talking to the service reps I am scared to take my car there.

Does anyone else in Houston know of a better dealership?

 

I also live about 10 mins. to MoCL. The closest dealership that I know of is Champion Mazda in LaPorte. Every other dealership is at least 30-40 mins depending on traffic.

 

Has anyone experienced the service at Jay Marks Mazda on Highway 59? Going to buy a car there soon for $500 under invoice with an OTD price of $32000 after everything. 6-speed, GT, black with red/black interior, appearance package, rotary accent, 6-disc changer, spare tire kit, cargo net. Good deal? Only draw back was the APR was 5.75%. What kind of APR % are you guys getting in Houston? Back to the main point, Jay Marks Mazda service any good?

 

I don't know about the Mazda side, but us MR2 folks would consistently mail order parts from the Toyota side from around the country, because they were better than the local parts department for alot of us.

---jps

 

As far as dealerships in H-town goes... I have no experience with MoCL, but I've only heard bad things. I only had contact with Jay Marks when I was looking to buy and those guys at the time were trying to charge 5K OVER MSRP!!! So I'm not really down with that (although my friend just bought a tribute from them and had a good experience). Now I do all my service with Jeff Haas over at the belt and I-10 - the service guys are all pretty good and they've been pretty helpful for most issues.

As for financing, I got 4.5%, and now the rate through my credit union is 4.25%, and I think Cap One has 3.5%... I'd shop around, I can't imagine it'd be hard to find something in the 4% range.

 

my credit union gave us 4%. we found a better rate at MoCL through banco popular at ~3.7%. This was in mid-january w/ a 2 yr loan.

 

I Bought mine at Jeff Haas Mazda, as far as the buying experience they came off $3900 and my car is pretty much loaded. GT rotary accent, door sills exhaust finishers, aluminum vent rings even. The service well as far as oil changes they didn't over fill it, in fact it was right on the top fill line. I was impressed. I am trying to get the L flash done next Wednesday along with some other stuff. We shall see if I still feel the same after Wednesday.

 

Every auto manufacturer I've ever dealt with gives you the period of the original Manf. "bumper-to-bumper" warranty to purchase an extended warranty. You don't have to buy it on day one. When you do buy it, it is "retroactive" to the in-service date...i.e if you buy a 7 year extended warranty in the 3rd year of the bumper-to-bumper warranty,, you have 4 years left.

AT

 

Take it back and make them do it right!

I am about to take my 8 in to Joe Meyers for my first oil change. I spoke at length (2 hours) with the service manager when I bought the car. I specificaly asked him about breakin, suspension, tires and wheels and oil and he said the following about oil (yes I took notes);

1. Absolutely never use synthetic oil. It doesn't burn properly and can cause a build up on the rotors that will reduce power at higher RPMs and foul the plugs. Same notation for 10w30 non-synthetic.

2. They use the Mazda branded 5w-20 oil specifically recommended by Mazda for rotary engines. It is made for Mazda by Castrol. He suggested using Castrol 5w-20 non-synthetic when adding oil between changes and the same if I take it to a non-Mazda location for an oil change.

3. If I take it to a non-Mazda location for an oil change and even some Mazda dealers, strongle mention that it does not take 5 quarts, Only 4 and that is with the filter and over filling will damage the engine. Also find out if they have the oil drain plug gasket as it should be replaced at every oil change.

4. Low oil levels (no lower than 1 quart) do less harm than over filling which can create over pressure on some gaskets causing your engine to need to be disassembled and rebuilt (on your nickel no less).

5. He said the 8 should burn about a half quart every 1000 miles. As such the recommended interval for lots of highway driving (like I do) was 4 months or 5000 highway miles since at that point you will have replaced more than half the total volume of oil (4 quarts with filter change) due to it being burned in the normal operation of the motor. This actually keeps the oil fresher than in a non-rotary. At that point it needs to all be replaced and the oil filter replaced for maximum engine life.

This man was very knowledgable and not just on the topics I mentioned here.

Of course, I don't know about 5000 miles. I'll stick to 3000.

 

That's the way I've gone with my "replacement" RX-8. That deal, I'm happy to report, worked out just fine.


I finally got checks from MoCL, by the way. The warranty refund was $131.44 less than what I was charged. And the gap refund was $52.26 less. MoCL gave me no accounting for these differences.

I find the $131.44 particularly curious, since the extd warranty added nothing (that I'm aware of) during those four months that I owned the car!

 

i am going to laporte champion mazda to get my oil drained and filled tomorrow finally. i'll let y'all know how it goes...

 

I took my 8 to La Porte Champion Mazda today to get the oil change and filter with the RIGHT stuff (courtesy of MNAO). They're nice, but not very knowledgable. I got Mazda branded 5W-20. It was in indivdual bottles, not the bulk stuff. I checked the dipstick afterwards and yet again, it was over filled. I asked how much did they put in and they said whatever the manual says. So I asked the service technician and he put 4.5 qts. I had to get him to drain it and I checked it myself before it left the shop. Can any of these guys put in the right amount of oil??

All in all these guys were ok...the place looks like it's still in the 80's but at least they put in the right kind of oil. Im pretty sure if you warn them ahead of time to put in 4qts (more specifically 3.7) they'll do it right the first time. IMO its definately worth the drive to get the right stuff compared to going to MoCL.

 

Hmm...I took my car to Joe Meyers recently, and they didn't say anything when I asked them to put in the 5W20 Royal Purple full synthetic I had brought along.

Now I know the salemen there (and probably elsewhere) are trained to give a scripted speech, about how you shouldn't use synthetic, etc...but it's not in the manual. ( Probably the service guys are trained to bite their tongues and recommend dino oil. Show me a job where you're working with the general public, and I'll show you a job where the truth is stretched on a frequent basis )

Anyway, check it for yourselves. Furthermore, 5W30 full synthetic is the recommended oil overseas. I think they're trying to get people into Mazda dealerships for oil changes or something. Or it could simply be that they're afraid people are going to see "12,000 miles" on a bottle of synthetic, and go the full 12,000 without checking their oil level, then they want new engines because they didn't add a little oil here and there. You might get away with that on a 6-quart V8, but it's not gonna fly with a 3.7 quart rotary.

 

Did you speak to the service manager? He and others I know not employed by the dealership told me that the synthetic did not burn fully. One friend with several rotary engine cars told me that the resulting unburned synthetic will eventually clog the cat.

I do not disagree that synthetic oil is good for metal to metal lubrication and I have used it for a decade in piston engines, but it is designed to maintain it's viscosity under higher temps than organic oils. This means that it is very possible for the injected synthetic to incompletely burn and find it's way to the exhaust where it could cause the cat to fail prematurely.

So at least for me, I will use Castrol or the Mazda branded oil which is also made by Castrol and I will change it every 3000 miles or about once a month.

If someone can give me a written guarantee that use of their synthetic will not harm my 8's engine or exhaust or emissions systems, I'll jump on the bandwagon for the superior metal to metal lubrication alone.

You also mentioned that 5w30 full synthetic is recommended overseas. Is this the same overseas that doesn't have a cat and/or does have different mappings in the ECM because they don't have to meet the same standards as thyey do in the USA? I am no expert here, but it sound like you are talking apples to oranges and not apples to apples.

If you have additional information one way or the other, I would be interested in seeing it. I have been away from rotary engines for 30 years and am reading my fool head off to learn about all the advances, that have taken place.

BTW you never mentioned if you had thye correct oil level in your 8 after taking it to Joe Meyers.

 

Then move to another part of the country!!!!

 

What a great idea I can sell my house, get the kids out of school , and change jobs to find a good mechanic.

 

On your first point, I asked them about it when I was there today for my first oil change. They remembered a customer bring in 5w20 Royal Purple synthetic and requesting that it be used. I asked them if they were ok with it to which they replied that they tried to warn you about potential seal leakage and problems with the cat because it would not burn completely during combustion.

I did some checking on point 2 above and the Oil cap on the engine is the same there as well as here and it says 5w20 right on the cap. As to synthetic being recommended, I could find no information on that overseas other than it being possible without the cat where that is allowed.

From everything I have read, been told directly and found out via other avenues, your Royal Purple full synthetic is probably the very best product to lubricate everything but the rotors and their seals and a perfect solution would be for you to have a separate supply of non-synthetic for the oil injection. But without the separate non-synthetic supply, you are potentially harming your cat and robbing your car of power due to the additional back pressure.

I can agree to disagree on such a point, but if I must, let's at least stay in touch for a long term evaluation.

 

I almost forgot.

Joe Meyers Mazda did not over fill my 8 with oil. They put in the proper amount of Castrol 5W20 and did so with no mess and no greasy fingerprints anywhere and I mean anywhere, none on the hood, none under the hood, none on the engine cover and none on any parts on top of the motor.

When I got home, I checked around the base of the oil filter with a 500 watt halogen lamp and I could tell where they went to the trouble of cleaning up there as well. If not done carefully, that would be the place where all the mess would accumilate.

In fact they went to the trouble of cleaning some drips off the bottom from the filter change with a spray can of cleaner.

The whole process along with checking all the other fluid levels took about 30 minutes.

 

Looks like I will call up Joe Meyers for anything I need! Thanks for the recomendation.