I went to Mazda in Garden City a few days ago for service appointments for oil change tire rotation 24 point inspection. I told the intake person that I was driving to Buffalo, NY 8 hr drive. I was told that I needed fuel injection service for safety reasons that if I don’t have it done, my car could have problems with acceleration and being on these highways I could get hit from behind and in an accident. He told me the alignment because my car could pull to one side and in an accident. I pressed him for is it really needed and he showed me in red words “ needs immediate attention” further in installing fear that I could get into a car accident. I lease my 2023 CX5 and have 16 K miles. What is your opinion? Is this a safety concern? Is this a scam to just make money for me? To I really need to get fuel injection service and alignment done for safety. I haven’t felt any pulling in my car.

 

Those are the most blatant, fear mongering lies I have read in a long time. I would be complaining to the GM and SM at the dealership. Out of curiosity, are you by chance female? I believe service departments pray on female customers much more than males. At 16k on a 23, no need at all for those services unless your car is pulling or there is uneven tire wear suggestive of an alignment issue. You could add a bottle of techron on your own if desired, but the "issues" they suggested will happen are just not realistic.

 

Sapphirebow Welcome to the forum

 

Yep, not only am I a female I told the intake guy that I’m a single mom driving my son to Buffalo for college and safety was very important to me. And also that I only want to pay for what’s necessary because I’m on a tight budget.

 

@SapphireBow I agree that the rep was trying to scare you by giving a worst-case scenario. There's just no way you'd need fuel injector service at 16k miles. It would be different if your CX-5 was having drivability issues that you told him about, like poor acceleration or stumbling when starting out from a stop.

I have experienced alignment issues even though there was no pulling to the left or right but you can get the before and after alignment printouts so you can see the alignment work that was done.

While the alignment wouldn't be covered under the lease, I would think fuel injection service would be.

You might want to find a different dealer to take it to.

 

Welcome to the forum.

The dealer is likely playing you.
Injector service at 16K is unheard unless you have other major fuel system issues, in any case most drivers would notice and injector issue.
Any alignment issue severe enough cause a potential accident would be felt in the steering by most any driver.
At a minimum seek out another dealer's advice before you have anything but the oil change.

 

USA vehicle lease users only:

Relative and important question because I see that some do not fully understand lease agreements? Was the leased Mazda from that dealership? Did the dealership document that service advisory on your leased Mazda VIN info. If you are not sure did, they give you an official service document that has the Mazda lease VIN and other information on it?
The DIY and is accepted fuel injection service for most all leases unless specifically stated it is not. Buy a bottle of Chevron with Techron Fuel additive or STP and use it about every 5 k miles. Keep a record of using it.
The alignment service recommendation would have had to have been generated by a service mechanic seeing abnormal wear on any of the tires or an alignment check while in the alignment service rack. If either was documented and the inspection done, then you need to discuss your Lease agreement with the dealership that you leased the Mazda from or the lease company on that contract.


This is your Mazda dealership BBB info
Garden City Mazda | BBB Complaints | Better Business Bureau

I realize that many members at one time or another may have leased a vehicle but very few read all and understand all the information on them. So, you need to cover yourself when a service department has recommendations services and use DUE DILIGENCE to ask specific question regarding those service recommendation and if and how they would affect your lease at it lapse period when you return it or any problems that may happen that could be related to the recommended services from the Mazda dealership.
I end up in court at least 1-2 times a year to defend a customer that was billed for claimed misuse and service-related issues that were not covered by their insurance and claimed in breach of the lease agreement. Most were because just like you a service was recommended and not turned down. The positive side was that because our trusted customers came to use, we looked at the service recommendation and by way of documentation and qualified and certified service technician signing off on a service that was not needed.

If your dealership applied the service recommendation on the VIN history going to another dealership is not likely going to change anything because dealerships regarding lease agreement will not set a record of challenging another dealerships service recommendation.

I will also state for the record that if you in any way do not understand your lease contact the dealerships management talk with them first. If at that point you are not completely satisfied with their answer, then seek a service shop that is listed in your states BBB and or has a qualified Automotive Service mechanic that can look over the service recommendation and will document their findings. And lastly you can do nothing or seek advice from an attorney. It is about an hour basic attorney fee to read your lease contract and give a recommendation.

*You can also PM them to me if you would rather not make that public information.


If you did get a service recommendation invoice you can post it with your personal information redacted out. As you have already told us what the dealership name is. That way some of us owners that know details about leases and some that are in the Auto service industry (*myself and the moderator here which is also a Mazda factory trained and certified auto mechanic) can look at exactly what was suggest and how it was worded and why.

*You can also PM them to me if you would rather not make that public information.

 

I would like to find out if I have any recourse with the to unnecessary services that were pushed on me through fear for my driving safely. The alignment cost me $200 and the fuel injection was $250. In addition, I did the oil change 24 points, inspection, tire rotation, and cabin filter replacement which cost additional. After the service I was given a video, but it did not include anything about the alignment or the fuel injection in the video. If Mazda wants you would’ve covered any of this.

 

You do not have any recourse because it is with a dealership as a privately owned business to promote and offer service recommendations.
The term un-necessary is often defined by the person that gets them. Unfortunately, even independent service shops or chain shops like Firestone will recommend service that their customers may define as un-necessary.

As for what services you agreed to and signed the work order and were charged about the only thing legally (confirm this with your exact state laws) they would have to show you is the alignment specification before and after and the parts they replaced if you should choose to keep them as long as they were not a warrantied part.
That video and your agreed sign service order is their supportive evidence of performing the agreed services.

The new vehcle warrant is different from a leased agreement and the terms of responsibility. The new car warranty will cover defect and service-related problem, but a lease may have different coverage information. You don't own the lease vehcle the lender and dealership does which is different from buying a vehicle with an auto loan in which you share the ownership with the loan institution but the warranty responsibility is totally yours..

However, all this goes back to you need to read your lease agreement completely and if you have questions ask the dealership you got, the leased vehcle from for any questions you have. Or seek legal advice.