ok, so i need my 30k service done.

i currently have an appointment with rosenthal mazda. they are charging me $450.

darcars mazda: $930
castle mazda: $870

(see! i search first! :D)

darcars and castle are pretty close to each other, and close to my house. however... why are they sooooo high. when rosenthal is only $450? i mentioned rosenthal's price and the service guy at castle said they probably dont do everything castle does, they dont clean the intakes or something. he said it pretty quickly. however, i find this hard to be true. also, castle said it was a 5 hour service, and rosenthal said it was 3. so.. maybe its just that rosenthal peeps work faster? i cant imagine there would be such a big difference in services.

help a noob out. gimme the 411.

 

no one? come on guys..

 

Look at the maintenance chart in your owner's manual. Change engine oil & filter, transmission & rear end oil, and brake fluid. Plus look at stuff that any decent place will look at whenever they're under the hood.

IMHO, Rosenthal is in the ballpark, considering dealer pricing. I hope the guys at the other two were wearing masks when they quoted their prices.

Is that one of the Northern Virginia Rosenthals?

Ken

 

yeah, its arlington rosenthal. the other 2 are in silver spring md.

 

thats a pretty good price, the mazda dealership i work at is $503

 

that is a good price from a dealership.. the other two are stealership prices... clean out the intake?? really? with what? a bottle of chevron fuel system cleaner? LOL...

if there is a good rotary shop, you probably could save even more money... probably can add in air filter, oil change, synthetic rear/transmission (if youwant synthetic) and other stuff for close or less than 450

 

or you could do it yourself for less than $100.

 

What do they even do at 30k miles? I'm looking at the maintenance schedule on mazda's website and it looks like an oil change, some inspections and the air filters (cabin and engine.) How does that cost $500?

 

It's a whole lot of checking and not a lot of fixing and then you get a fat bill
Read the list of items that the dealers actually perform when you bring in a car for 30k, 60k, etc service and you'll see. It's basically a glorified oil filter change. Big bucks for them.

You can do just about all of these things yourself and it's not very hard. The owners manual has it covered. If there is an issue, call around and compare the prices for fixing a specific problem if you can't do it yourself.

 

They are throwing in "dealer recommended" stuff as well, I'm, sure. My 30k is coming up and the dealer sent a mailing listing Wynn's fuel injection cleaning, fuel system treatment, radiator flush, brake service kit and engine flush along with the factory stuff. Get the list ahead of time so you can decide and get the cost of what you want done. Also, if you've done your own oil & filters ahead of time, make sure they don't redo that stuff for you (engine air filter, cabin air filter, oil & oil filter). If they won't cut it back, go to Rosenthal.

 

According to the chart in my '06 owner's manual, 30K includes changing the transmission and rear end oil and also the brake fluid. Cabin air filter is at 25K, so if that wasn't done then add it to the list.

In the DIY on changing transmission and rear end oil, I think there are accounts of places charging a couple of hundred dollars to do that. Seems steep, but I also remember when a candy bar cost a nickle. I remember paying Midas somewhere in the $50 to $100 range (probably closer to $100) to replace brake fluid in my Accord.

The items G-ReX's dealer is trying to push:

are pure rip-off. At 30K miles, unless you picked up a load of *very* bad gas, the fuel items are worthless. If your car has FL22 coolant, that's good for 120,000 miles. If oil is changed at regular intervals, an engine *never* needs to be flushed.

I wonder what the "brake service kit" is. Maybe something used for snipe hunting?

Ken

 

Very good advice. Their 30K service 'menu' may be different from what's in the Mazda owner's manual.. My dealer (Great Neck) did not do rear diff or xmission fluid change and claimed it was not needed. Basically they changed the oil, cleaned injectors and checked the brakes, etc. Make sure that you'll get more than a glorified oil change for your $500-900.

 

It's a flashlight so the mechanic can look at your pads and rotors without removing the wheels to tell you if you need a brake job.

 

but if i do it myself (with my friend's dad's help) would i still maintain my warrenty?

 

I'm staring 31k miles on the odo as we speak. After looking at the costs for the checkup and what is actually performed I think I'll be doing it myself.

 

Yes. Just make sure you keep the receipts for the fluids you're going to change. Keep track of the date and mileage you do the work.

Ken

 

+1 on that i had to do the same thing with the fluids didnt want them to say i caused something to break - Freeman Mazda was trying to hit me with a 695$ .. . ."F" that , time to get dirty with some do it your self

 

Most of those packages are a rip. Just do the big stuff (oil, trans/diff fluids, air filter) when necessary, separately. It will be much cheaper and Mazda's computer will have a record of you bringing in your car for needed service while under warranty.

Do you really need them to check the windshield washer fluid?

 

Diff and tranny fluids aren't due until 48 month/60k and radiator fluid is on the factory schedule for same plus a change every 24 months after. The engine oil, oil filter, engine air filter are all easy to to yourself & save some bucks (save the receipts, too). If you haven't done the cabin air filter, that's easy too. If you aren't sure if the cabin filter has been done, take a look. Mine was filthy at 24 months.

 

Let me break it down for you, lets assume that you will get what I think is the best for our car :

Oil Filter K&N HP-1008 : $10
Royal Purple Full Synthetic Oil 5w30 : $7 x 4
Royal Purple Full Synthetic Gear Oil 75w90 : $11 x 5
Stock Air Filter : $30
All stock spark plugs : $20 x 4
Cabin Filter : $45
Brake Fluid, completely Bleed and flush, DOT4 Fluid : $7-14 x 3
Engine Coolant, Flush, and refill : $8-11 x 4-5 + $1-2 x 4-5

Ok, now let me explain

- Reason why I choose K&N filter over other good ones like WiX, is because it has a 1" Bolt top, makes it really easy to remove.
- Everyone should know Im a big supporter of Full Synthetic Oil, I have no problems with it, so why not ?
- Same thing for Tranny and Rear Diff, I want it to last, I did my first tranny and Rear diff oil change when I was 5K miles. another one @ 15, another 1 @ around 27.5K. Reason why I said 5 quart was that, you will probably spill some in the process, the system takes about 4 (more like 3.8 , ahh wth)
- Stock air filter is probably the cheapest, but if you want to save, you can go for K&N reuseable filter for about 50 bux.
- at 30K you should really change your plugs, all of them, unless it has been changed before, notice if you're talking about the Engine No-Start TSB OR the Recall, they only change the leading plugs for you, not trailing. So you might want to remember that
- cabin filter, it starts to smell after a while, so just change it, a 5-10 minutes job.
- Brake Fluid, for this, if you want to go lazy you can buy 4 Speed bleeders for maybe 20 something bux ? if you're not lazy and your friend's dad is helping, you can bleed it yourself. its pretty easy
- Engine Coolant flush, this might take some time, First you can drain the coolant out, Add nothing but Distilled water, Fill it up, Go out there drive for maybe 15 minutes, come back, drain it, fill it again with distilled water, Go out drive again for 15 minutes, come back, drain it, then start filling 50/50 coolant, go out drive again, drain it, fill with 50/50 coolant again. you should be fine. oh, you dont have to buy 50/50, if you know your weather will never hit below 50s, you can go get 100% coolant, then mix it down to the ratio that you want with Distilled water.

The prices above are *assume* that you have all the tools that you need.

400 something is not that bad for Dealership. But you can probably save yourself 200+ bux if you do it yourself. plus you will learn something in the process, thats priceless. Oh yes remember keep your receipt so Mazda cant bullshit about you.

hope it helps

 

Funny thing about that. I bought Zoomy at Rosenthal, Tyson's Corner. Two years of free oil changes.

I've yet to add washer fluid. After the last oil change, I noticed that the washer fluid was up to the brim. It finally dawned on me that they've been refilling. No charge, nothing noted on the work order. Just a good sevice department taking care of a customer.

Ken

 

yeah, i went there and i have nothing but good things to say about them.

the little plastic "metal" cap on my shifter had broken. they gave me a new shift ****. something was funny with my rear view mirror. at times it was loose. they ordered the parts and told me they would tell me when they arrived. all no hassle and of course free of charge.

i will definitely be going back to them. they were really nice and completely hassle free.