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Old 03-25-2009 | 07:22 PM
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How long would it take a garage to...

Change the engine, transmission, differential oils and bleed & change the brake fluid?

I've got all the necessary oils and washers, but I'm just curious on what do you guys estimate the time needed for it so that I know where I stand when I visit my local garages.


Thanks a bunch.
Old 03-25-2009 | 07:23 PM
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Depends on how good the shop is.
Having a lift makes the engine, transmission, and differential really easy. Say 35-45 minutes for that. (taking their time)
Brake lines take a bit more.

I would expect them to charge 2 hours of labor. (or so)
Old 03-25-2009 | 07:37 PM
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Did it about 2-3 weeks ago. Took about 3 hours.

I did everything by myself, including brake bleed. and I did it on Jackstand.
Old 03-25-2009 | 09:31 PM
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Thanks guys!
Old 03-26-2009 | 12:10 AM
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they're going to want to just do a brake flush, which is probably around $90, my shop's cash rate for changing trans and diff oils would probably be 2 hoursish, depending on the tech (we make our own times, but have a limit and they watch so we dont overcharge), oil change would be 29.95 or 24.95 or something.

so probably like 300-ish depending on fluid price reduction since you have your own.

also i wouldnt expect it to take anymore then 2 hours for a tech who doesnt take a break in the middle.

kevin.
Old 03-26-2009 | 12:16 AM
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^300ish? Haha, no wonder I do all my own servicing. I can do all that in 2hrs and minus the cost of fluids I'd still have almost 200 bucks to play with.
Old 03-26-2009 | 12:58 AM
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Well, labor always cost a lot.

If I need someone to do it, at least Im sure Kevin/Wayne Mazda wouldn't overfilling my oil ...

3 hours ... did it myself ... I was taking my time ... had lunch and snack in between ...
Old 03-26-2009 | 01:22 PM
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Originally Posted by I8U
^300ish? Haha, no wonder I do all my own servicing. I can do all that in 2hrs and minus the cost of fluids I'd still have almost 200 bucks to play with.
looked at your doctor's bills lately? you could do most of that yourself too....

kevin.
Old 03-27-2009 | 03:02 PM
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^I'm in the military, believe me I'd do that all the medical stuff myself too with kind of retards we have running around here. I know you're a service tech and all but some of these prices you all come up with are unbelievable half of the time.
Old 03-28-2009 | 12:42 AM
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Originally Posted by I8U
^I'm in the military, believe me I'd do that all the medical stuff myself too with kind of retards we have running around here. I know you're a service tech and all but some of these prices you all come up with are unbelievable half of the time.
meh i get paid pennies on your dollar, believe me. Most of your money is absorbed to keep the building running, everything you see at a dealership is on a monthly bill to the dealer. My dealer makes over $1M in service a month (largest mazda) and a HUGE chunk is taken out simply by bills. Every car on the lot, every day longer it sits there it costs us money, its a confusing system but everything is basically a high-priced rental.

It's unfortunate that the prices are so high but a service that is in such constant need requires a price to make possible. Out of that $100/hr charge how much do you think the average mazda tech makes? hint: we're not out buying lambos. The honest techs are simply listing everything out of spec, as we're *required* to do. anything found to not be to the standard has to be listed. We don't magically make up a labor charge, it is instructed to us. If only you knew how BRUTAL labor times are, and how the flat-rate system works. Do you realize how they make labor times up for techs? Mazda gets one of their engineers in a shop, car on lift, every tool he will need (no excess, each tool will be needed at least once) to do the job perfectly, plus the problem does not include diagnostic time. The chances of that being the situation in a shop? Like 1:1 trillion.

Here's an easy example:
rx-8 comes in, complaining of grinding gears.
tech receives it generally after all the "waiting" customers are cleared for the day...which never happens everyone always wants to wait. So he gets it at the end of his day or whenever hes not being forced to do some repetitive bs.
Manual trans concerns, maximum get 1 hour to diagnose.
The tech now must go over your cars info, get your keys, test drive (generally the problem noted is somehow impossible to recreate and takes some awkward driving to reproduce(soccer moms)), bring to lift, lift and most likely pull your trans to inspect internals, disassemble trans, determine what parts are needed, precisely no excess, go to parts, get full price/parts list, call tech line (experience longest on hold calls of your life), describe situation, get authorization or get sent back to do additional tests, get auth. #, use # to order parts, prefer overnight, will arrive 9:30am next day if lucky, punch your disgraceful 1.0hr flag after spending hours doing all this.
Then if you're lucky you got authorization for a full trans, since rebuilding is a PITA but is required when financially positive, aka just the synchros are worn.
You only get 2.0hrs to swap the trans, so now you have to push the car in (cant have your bay dead for 2 hrs waiting for overnight deliveries so you already pushed it out), that step takes forever no one wants to push. Then you lift install trans, test drive every imaginable scenario, drop it off, punch your 2 hr flag.

for all that i achieved a whopping 3 hrs labor. So much "politics" in the business paperwork, redundancies, paper trails every single little bolt and nut is inventoried, lots of people watching lots of other people basically.

It's loosing money that way that makes the cash jobs higher priced, it has to balance out, techs cant lose time on every job, no one would bother working. But honest techs are again simply letting you things that are out of spec, unfortunately there are dishonest or simply unknowledgable ones out there, it's a big business with tons of employees, in my dealer you get fired for inflating prices or selling things not actually needed, wish it was like that everywhere tired of the stereotype.

sorry for the length of the post, just venting out loud, apologies if anything is rude.

kevin.
Old 03-28-2009 | 12:52 AM
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Originally Posted by Tangur
Change the engine, transmission, differential oils and bleed & change the brake fluid?

I've got all the necessary oils and washers, but I'm just curious on what do you guys estimate the time needed for it so that I know where I stand when I visit my local garages.


Thanks a bunch.
Depends on the shop schedule. If they have the time and man power to devote to your car. Ask them if they can set up a dead line.
Old 03-28-2009 | 01:07 AM
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Originally Posted by teknics
meh i get paid pennies on your dollar, believe me. Most of your money is absorbed to keep the building running, everything you see at a dealership is on a monthly bill to the dealer. My dealer makes over $1M in service a month (largest mazda) and a HUGE chunk is taken out simply by bills. Every car on the lot, every day longer it sits there it costs us money, its a confusing system but everything is basically a high-priced rental.

It's unfortunate that the prices are so high but a service that is in such constant need requires a price to make possible. Out of that $100/hr charge how much do you think the average mazda tech makes? hint: we're not out buying lambos. The honest techs are simply listing everything out of spec, as we're *required* to do. anything found to not be to the standard has to be listed. We don't magically make up a labor charge, it is instructed to us. If only you knew how BRUTAL labor times are, and how the flat-rate system works. Do you realize how they make labor times up for techs? Mazda gets one of their engineers in a shop, car on lift, every tool he will need (no excess, each tool will be needed at least once) to do the job perfectly, plus the problem does not include diagnostic time. The chances of that being the situation in a shop? Like 1:1 trillion.

Here's an easy example:
rx-8 comes in, complaining of grinding gears.
tech receives it generally after all the "waiting" customers are cleared for the day...which never happens everyone always wants to wait. So he gets it at the end of his day or whenever hes not being forced to do some repetitive bs.
Manual trans concerns, maximum get 1 hour to diagnose.
The tech now must go over your cars info, get your keys, test drive (generally the problem noted is somehow impossible to recreate and takes some awkward driving to reproduce(soccer moms)), bring to lift, lift and most likely pull your trans to inspect internals, disassemble trans, determine what parts are needed, precisely no excess, go to parts, get full price/parts list, call tech line (experience longest on hold calls of your life), describe situation, get authorization or get sent back to do additional tests, get auth. #, use # to order parts, prefer overnight, will arrive 9:30am next day if lucky, punch your disgraceful 1.0hr flag after spending hours doing all this.
Then if you're lucky you got authorization for a full trans, since rebuilding is a PITA but is required when financially positive, aka just the synchros are worn.
You only get 2.0hrs to swap the trans, so now you have to push the car in (cant have your bay dead for 2 hrs waiting for overnight deliveries so you already pushed it out), that step takes forever no one wants to push. Then you lift install trans, test drive every imaginable scenario, drop it off, punch your 2 hr flag.

for all that i achieved a whopping 3 hrs labor. So much "politics" in the business paperwork, redundancies, paper trails every single little bolt and nut is inventoried, lots of people watching lots of other people basically.

It's loosing money that way that makes the cash jobs higher priced, it has to balance out, techs cant lose time on every job, no one would bother working. But honest techs are again simply letting you things that are out of spec, unfortunately there are dishonest or simply unknowledgable ones out there, it's a big business with tons of employees, in my dealer you get fired for inflating prices or selling things not actually needed, wish it was like that everywhere tired of the stereotype.

sorry for the length of the post, just venting out loud, apologies if anything is rude.

kevin.
Its just sad that lots of dealerships (*cough especially the ones in NYC cough*) wanna rip customers off by telling them this and that is not covered and you should get brake pads for your cooling needs.(rofl) one time at Manhattan Mazda he said my oil filter was leaking(and I know it wasnt, it was the oil press gauge line not secured, I was about to fix it later that day but I took it into service first to replace one of the fish tank tail light), and forced me to pay 30 bux for their "wonderful" oil change ... and they overfilled it ... I didnt even bother to bitch at them. I just drain n Fill the next day(and obviously gotta clean my intake cuz its all oil)

I like your dealership. You, Mike, Antony all took cared of me. As a reward I recommend all my friend to buy a car at your dealership even tho they said Im nutz to go 60 miles for a car. and Im looking at the new Mazda 3 right now, your dealership dont have the color that I want (Gunmetal blue), I will wait till you guys have it.

haha still remembered that time I got stucked at Mobil right after I left your dealership lol

Speaking of Tranny issue, oh yes my tranny is having problems. and you will probably see my car real soon. Its not that bad right now, but when It was around 20-30 degrees. Its impossible to put it in reverse, and its almost impossible to put it in 1st. I got stuck one time in the middle of the road when I was trying to do a broken U-Turn, but got stuck cuz cant snap the gear into R. Couple weeks ago, I changed all fluids including tranny and rear diff. Its better ... but if the car is cold (sit for couple of hours), I can't just put it in reverse, I have to put it in 1st, drive it for 5 mins or so before reverse would "Work" ... aye ...

Anywayz, Thx for all the help to all of us.

Last edited by nycgps; 03-28-2009 at 01:14 AM.
Old 03-28-2009 | 03:11 AM
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teknics, I hear what your saying and understand where you are coming from. My wife has been in the car industry for nearly 10yrs now, from F&I to Service Manager, I know the ins and outs of a dealership...that's why I stay away unless absolutely necessary.
Old 03-28-2009 | 03:53 AM
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dealership garages are like any garage.. if you find a good one, use it and support them
Old 03-28-2009 | 04:43 PM
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laythor: that is definitely the best advice. Personally i despise bad techs/shops gives us all a bad name and makes it a lot more difficult to get a good reputation. I will say word of a good rep spreads like wildfire tho. I personally cant comprehend why so many dealers are so restrictive with their warranties, but maybe I'm spoiled because mazda gives our shop a long leash so to say.

nycgps: we have a 4 door 2010 mazda 3 in stock, its on the front line of our big lot. not sure which specific setup youre looking for.

if possible wait for the new speed3, its a beast believe me, unless youre not looking for "that kind" of car.

As for your trans problem, seen that before, mazda's been **** lately with replacing the trans as a whole, and since I tend to not do trans rebuilds (would require too much downtime for my bay, since i deal with the majority of rx8's i need a high daily turnover to keep customers satisfied, i generally do the pre-diag and parts ordering for rx8 trans stuff then i turn it over to one of 3 guys who do most of the trans rebuilds, damn its handy having 15 techs in one shop)

kevin.
Old 03-28-2009 | 05:14 PM
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Originally Posted by teknics
laythor: that is definitely the best advice. Personally i despise bad techs/shops gives us all a bad name and makes it a lot more difficult to get a good reputation. I will say word of a good rep spreads like wildfire tho. I personally cant comprehend why so many dealers are so restrictive with their warranties, but maybe I'm spoiled because mazda gives our shop a long leash so to say.
yeah ...

nycgps: we have a 4 door 2010 mazda 3 in stock, its on the front line of our big lot. not sure which specific setup youre looking for.
looking for a Mazda3 5 dr hatch GT in Gun Metal Blue mica with auto tranny, Both tech and Sound package (I dont want Bose at all, but its required to get tech package ... damn Mazda)

This has everything I want (Link Here) EXCEPT its in red and its the only one @ the whole dealership

Haven't contact Wayne Mazda's sales department yet. I will just wait a bit more. (see below for the reason why)

if possible wait for the new speed3, its a beast believe me, unless youre not looking for "that kind" of car.
I would love to get a new speed3, but Im not the only driver (pathetic gf refuse to drive a manual ...) so

As for your trans problem, seen that before, mazda's been **** lately with replacing the trans as a whole, and since I tend to not do trans rebuilds (would require too much downtime for my bay, since i deal with the majority of rx8's i need a high daily turnover to keep customers satisfied, i generally do the pre-diag and parts ordering for rx8 trans stuff then i turn it over to one of 3 guys who do most of the trans rebuilds, damn its handy having 15 techs in one shop)

kevin.
hmm, no good.

If Mazda wont cover it (I do all my maintenance with receipt and I dont abuse it ~~~) I dont see a point of getting another Mazda vehicle. Nothing against you or your dealership, I know how Mazda tech line works, last time when my clutch pedal broke, they wanna blame me saying that I have aftermarket clutch ... my ***, I had stock Clutch in there (quite new too), almost wanna void my warranty, then they said its a "one time courtesy ... I was like wtf ? Thank you so much for that.

*shrugs*

Last edited by nycgps; 03-28-2009 at 05:26 PM.
Old 03-28-2009 | 07:03 PM
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Originally Posted by nycgps
hmm, no good.

If Mazda wont cover it (I do all my maintenance with receipt and I dont abuse it ~~~) I dont see a point of getting another Mazda vehicle. Nothing against you or your dealership, I know how Mazda tech line works, last time when my clutch pedal broke, they wanna blame me saying that I have aftermarket clutch ... my ***, I had stock Clutch in there (quite new too), almost wanna void my warranty, then they said its a "one time courtesy ... I was like wtf ? Thank you so much for that.

*shrugs*
I'm not saying mazda wont cover it, i meant they're being **** with the techs, it used to be a lot easier to get an entirely new unit then it is now (because they put a new trans in the '09s). They'll still cover it, generally receipts of maintenance on a trans isn't necessary.

What i was trying to get across was that they'll have us rebuild it, which means (at MY dealership, dunno about the rest) we will replace everything with the slightest sign of wear. You may believe we only replace obviously broken pieces but that's not true, we don't want to have to re-teardown a trans we barely make time on it the first time .

Mazda will take care of your trans if you're in warranty.

As for the new 3, we actually only just got our first shipment of 5 doors, we got 2 shipments of 4 doors first (they FLY off the lot, first day available we sold the first shipment)

Look again after we get our shipments this week, we'll probably be stocking up on 5 doors now.

Too bad about the no-no on the speed3, i've driven the new one, the old one was fun and all but the new one just has a little something extra. Really tho i probably would say hold out till the 2nd year of the new speed3 anyway as mazda already has changes planned which ive also driven

As for the 2010 3's, don't get worried about buying a first year car in this situation, a lot of the technical things powertrain/management wise have been kept similar to the old 3 so there's a limited amount of possible bugs, most will be manufacturing wise (really early production cars have a tendency to have random codes caused by small things that occur during assembly, so far so good for the new 6 and new 3 tho from what ive seen, the new 6 has so many nitpicky "recalls" it's ******* annoying (the glovebox recall is hilarious and a waste of time as well as unnecessary))

kevin.
Old 03-29-2009 | 12:18 AM
  #18  
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Originally Posted by teknics
I'm not saying mazda wont cover it, i meant they're being **** with the techs, it used to be a lot easier to get an entirely new unit then it is now (because they put a new trans in the '09s). They'll still cover it, generally receipts of maintenance on a trans isn't necessary.

What i was trying to get across was that they'll have us rebuild it, which means (at MY dealership, dunno about the rest) we will replace everything with the slightest sign of wear. You may believe we only replace obviously broken pieces but that's not true, we don't want to have to re-teardown a trans we barely make time on it the first time
When Manhattan Mazda first told me Mazda Tech line replaced my Clutch Pedal as a "one time courtesy"(its on the invoice too) + his face was full of "yeah you better thank me cuz we did u a BIG FREAKKING FAVOR", I was about to go take that broken pedal back and stick it up his *** ... grrrr ....

I mean really, the pedal wasn't even an expensive part (1 tail light cost more than the pedal, and I got both left & right replaced 3 times already from diff dealerships) and its not even hard to install ... maybe they got pissed cuz when the pedal broke I can't get it into any gear anymore and I tow the car from queens all the way to Manhattan Mazda(if I knew your dealership is that great I have them tow it to Jersey, jeeze)

doesnt matter. I will never go back there for another freaking car or service, ever.

Mazda will take care of your trans if you're in warranty.
Lets hope so, the tranny issue is not that "reproducible" right now cuz the weather is a lot warmer ... grr ... *shurgs*

As for the new 3, we actually only just got our first shipment of 5 doors, we got 2 shipments of 4 doors first (they FLY off the lot, first day available we sold the first shipment)

Look again after we get our shipments this week, we'll probably be stocking up on 5 doors now.
Yeah, Gun Metal Blue, 5d, GT, Tech and Bose (again, I hate bose, but no choice )

Too bad about the no-no on the speed3, i've driven the new one, the old one was fun and all but the new one just has a little something extra. Really tho i probably would say hold out till the 2nd year of the new speed3 anyway as mazda already has changes planned which ive also driven

As for the 2010 3's, don't get worried about buying a first year car in this situation, a lot of the technical things powertrain/management wise have been kept similar to the old 3 so there's a limited amount of possible bugs, most will be manufacturing wise (really early production cars have a tendency to have random codes caused by small things that occur during assembly, so far so good for the new 6 and new 3 tho from what ive seen, the new 6 has so many nitpicky "recalls" it's ******* annoying (the glovebox recall is hilarious and a waste of time as well as unnecessary))

kevin.
I can't afford 3 cars under my name Insurance alone will probably rape me.

I know new speed3 gonna be sweet ... but ...

MEGAMILLIONS HERE I COME ! Im gonna put 50 bux quickpick tomorrow, WISH ME LUCK LOL !

Yea I read about the 6's "list of recalls" ... when I first saw it I was lmao.
Old 03-29-2009 | 12:51 AM
  #19  
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Originally Posted by nycgps

Yea I read about the 6's "list of recalls" ... when I first saw it I was lmao.
each new one gets more retarded. And the cx-9 has a couple new annoying recalls, but everyone keeps cx9 stuff quiet lol.

as for your dealer experiences, that sucks. I make no guarantee my dealer is the best one out there, things slip up, people get aggravated, people are broke, etc. But whenever i go to or have to deal with other dealerships in person they normally **** me off. I went to wayne mazda as a customer and eventually decided i'd become a mazda tech after my trip.

kevin.
Old 03-29-2009 | 01:13 AM
  #20  
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Originally Posted by teknics
each new one gets more retarded. And the cx-9 has a couple new annoying recalls, but everyone keeps cx9 stuff quiet lol.

as for your dealer experiences, that sucks. I make no guarantee my dealer is the best one out there, things slip up, people get aggravated, people are broke, etc. But whenever i go to or have to deal with other dealerships in person they normally **** me off. I went to wayne mazda as a customer and eventually decided i'd become a mazda tech after my trip.

kevin.
I only heard of one Cx-9 recall, it was about something like the wire under the seat has some problem and might short circuit , then the seat will move "forward" on its own which might be a dangerous thing.

Anywayz, I will probably stop by your dealership next week (last week was full of fail ... I mean **** loads of stuff to do), Just reach 49K miles today, need to get those fish tank rear lights and hand brake replace before Bumper to bumper warranty is up. lol
Old 03-29-2009 | 03:05 PM
  #21  
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Originally Posted by nycgps
I only heard of one Cx-9 recall, it was about something like the wire under the seat has some problem and might short circuit , then the seat will move "forward" on its own which might be a dangerous thing.
yea that one is all because they bent the wiring harness the wrong way, and it runs right into a nearly razor sharp edge

there's another one due to static electricity in the cloth seats blowing the airbag module, cig lighters blowing the airbag module all kinds of stupid things that are more manufacturing level problems then something "going" bad.

kevin.
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