70,000 Mile Question (amended)

Wondering if any Mazda 3 owners out there have 100,000 or more miles on their vehicle?  Any big repairs needed along the way?  Any key maintenance steps you would recommend?

Since my faith in Mazda dealers is low (they have a vested interest in recommending too much maintenance), I would like to hear from those owners who have driven to 6 figures.
 
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Okay, how about 70,000 miles?  Can anyone who has driven that far offer comments about maintenance, big repairs needed, etc.

Well, I certainly don't but SuperJudge in New Jersey does. He has an '04 3S sedan and has complained about the wear the car has taken. Carpeting, seats, etc.  I don't know what he does for a living, but that's a lot of miles in a fairly short time.  He might be harder on cars than most of us would be?
He's on the Mazda3/Axela forums under the New Jersey chat thread a lot.  You might ask him directly (PM him)?  I've been talking to him for over 2 years now and he's a nice guy, though a bit perverted.        (He's come up with some of the sexiest animated .gif's to use as his avatar that one can get away with on these forums.)  I'm sure he'll answer any questions you may have.
Here's a link to his profile, if you wish:
http://www.mazda3forums.com/index.php?action=profile;u=4295
 
 

in just under 2 yrs(next week actually) I've racked up 55,000 miles
no major repairs
I did have to replace a broken tie rod at about 10,000 miles which was covered by the warranty and an oxygen sensor at about 15,000 miles, also covered by the warranty.
But, other than an accelerated maintenance schedule because of the mileage(400/week) its been smooth sailing

I was going to suggest Superjudge as well....I hit 53K in 2 years and only had a motor mount go at 49K (covered by dealer under warranty....even with tons of Mazdaspeed stuff installed)

What model/year/trim/transmission are you driving, bruklinboy?  I assume it to be an '07, but please confirm.
 
 

well i myself went in for my 1st oil change :D. i find i did good considering i went in when my car hit 4900 KM. however they are telling me that i need to come in every 8000KM but im gonna stick with the every 5000KM and be done with it haha. cost me $45 plus i had to get the rear window seal fixed.. covered by warranty :D

No need to spend all your hard earned $$$ @ the dealer, Son.  Document the mileage and keep your receipts.  That's all you need to keep up the warranty. 
When you hit 10K miles (17000km) consider converting to synthetic and save even more.  Run the syth to another 17K km w/a filter only change half way between.  Some would say you can even safely run it to 24K km (3 filters.)
 

oh god im afraid to do all this hahaha. no not really its just i want my car to run the best it can. and 45 dollars is not gonna break me. soo i dunno but see if i switch to synthetic then it will cost me a hell of a lot more. and right now its 5w20. sooo yea. anyway people im off to school. have yourselfs a good day be on laterrr

quote:

ORIGINAL: virgin1


What model/year/trim/transmission are you driving, bruklinboy?  I assume it to be an '07, but please confirm.

 
3i 
'06 (got it Nov '05)
 4speedAT
 
 
actually starting to get wary of dealer service lately
wasnt til 48,000 mi, this past spring/summer, that they recommended throttle body service and fuel system flush. So I did it.
2x (again today)since then, less than 10,000 mi later they are recommending it again
Makes me think they didnt do it first time they charged me for it, or it doesnt really need it, but its something they think they can get away with doing everytime I'm in there.

I'm not going to get into yet another oil debate, but I will say, 1) I think Jaimie's every 5000 km plan makes sense to me, and, 2) I agree with V1, at least here in the USA, Mazda dealers tend to charge $10-$15 more than oil change places. 
 
I wonder about maintenance at 30K miles ... some Mazda dealers I have heard push changing the auto transmission fluid.  Comments about if that is a good thing to do?

quote:

ORIGINAL: UrbanmanUSA
I wonder about maintenance at 30K miles ... some Mazda dealers I have heard push changing the auto transmission fluid.  Comments about if that is a good thing to do?

Only if you have an auto trans. 
 
It probably wouldn't hurt, especially if you tend to drive the car hard, or tow many ppl or other loads around with it.  i.e. a newspaper route.
 
 

I usually change my tranny fluid (Auto or Manual) around 50K miles.  Transmission is an expensive part to fix, so a little insurance every couple of years makes sense to me.
 
I go to a local oil change place I've been going to for years.  Strike up a conversation with the guy working on your car and get to know them.  You can pretty much tell if they know what they're doing by how they handle themselves under the car and their general car knowledge.  It costs me $25 and about 10 minutes of my time to get the oil changed using Valvoline (my personal choice)...By the time you buy the oil/filter you're probably $20 in already, so it's worth it to me to spend the extra $5 to have them do the work. (Especially in winter)
 
I don't go to the dealer for any service other than warranty work.  It just takes too long.  I don't need my oil change to take my entire hour lunch.

I've put 190k plus on a 323F and now Im at 106k miles on my mazda 3 I had engine mounts need ing replaced on the 323F at 50k miles and I gave up on the car at 196k miles when the fuel pump failed and the pump was worth more than the car.
The Mazda 3 has 106k miles on it now and over the last 5k miles has developed a stalling fault when being driven.  

Well, I just took my 3 in for it's 3rd oil change.  10,000 kms.  Sounds odd I know.  but I changed it out at 3500 kms, 8000 kms, and now I am trying for a 5000 multple.  ie: 10, 15, 20.
(Besides, I honestly think the quick lube place just put the old oil filter on cause they said they did not have one, then they said they did, and now my oil is dirty after 2000 kms of highway driving.)  Better safe then sorry.
 
As for Urbans question.  I really don't think you have anything to worry about.  I am sure you take your maintenence serious.  There are only so many fluids in the car.  Coolant (Sometimes neglected)  Oil.  (seen on tv, so most follow)  Trans. (Soccer moms would not think of changing)  Power Steer.  (Only after a problem occures)  Hydraulic Fluid (for brakes and assited clutchs, almost never, till problem)  Did I miss anything.  At a 100,000 or 3 years I plan to change all of these things cause they do get dirty.
 
Besides, if your car was to break down, you could take the other mass trans options to you.  Afterall, you live Urban..............
 
But, now that I think of it.  That was not what you were really asking.  So, I typed this out, so I will post it.  But, since I am no where near where you are in mileage, I should have just stayed out of this one.  Postwhoring I guess.