Service intervals- Mazda vs dealer's "Owner Loyalty Program"...
 

Just got my '15 Touring AWD CX-5. Love it so far. Only gripe is the delay in Pandora and the fact that it loads my contacts from my phone each time. My solution: listen to the radio for two minutes. Also, hope for an update in the future :D

Anyhow, not the reason for the post...

When I took delivery they sat me down and told me about their "Owner Loyalty Program". This is my 21st car... and so I met it with skepticism.

In a nutshell... oil changes every 3750 miles (crazy for synthetic) + Inspect this and that, some tire rotations, air filter, etc. "Free" for every other visit. (but twice as many visits). In 15K miles FOUR dealer visits and $260 total in service.

Mazda's Schedule 1 = TWO visits in 15K miles and about $200 max I am estimating. being inconvenienced with twice as many visits and a few bucks more.

My wife and I looked over the first 30K miles and all of the same stuff gets done it seems under both programs... just twice as many visits and seemingly more money over time.

My inclination is to follow Mazda's schedule and not the dealer. Not sure how I will handle that- tell them "thanks but no thanks"?

Any other thoughts...? Experience with dealer service costs? Other ideas? Not go to the dealer? :eek: (i.e. document the oil changes and tire rotations and change my own air filter, etc.)

Any input is appreciated.

3750 is nuts. that is the dealer trying to sell you service, because that would be customer pay. do yourself a favor, call mazda of north america, and ask them, i did. they will tell you it is not needed, like they told me. when we got our 2013 mazda 3(which i hate) i was told to change oil/filter/service every 3k or 3 months. checking the owners manual, yah, it does say if the car is driven in extreme conditions, then service at 3k/3mo intervals. otherwise, 5k/6mo. which is extreme even in our case. the first year, we put like 7500 miles on the car. mostly because i think it sucks, so i drive one of our 15 year old millenias, which can run rings around the 3. when i worked for the bmw dealer, service was at 15k intervals. but we had a lot of customers come in for an early oil service, at about halfway. which was always FREE. i guess mazda dont build them like bmw, since they need service almost 5 times to a bmw 1. also, mazda of na told me it is perfectly ok to do my own service, just keep record of when, and keep all receipts for parts purchased

kennin- that's what I thought. I looked at the dealer's program closer and they reference things like changing plug wires and fuel filters... Even mentioned the PCV valve.

another thing to consider. like all car manufacturers, mazda of north america has a 'SUGGESTED' list price. a dealer is like a franchise, they are tied to mazda of na by contract, but are not required to go along with certain things, suggested list price being one of them. every dealer gets parts from mazda of na for the same cost, but what they sell the parts at is up to each individual dealer. so each dealer has their own price matrix. to see this, simply go online, and look at several dealers selling parts on the web. the list price will all be the same, it is mazda of na. but your cost price is different. however, every web price will be lower than the over the counter price at your local dealer, which is probably the same inflated price for the parts on your repair ticket. here is where i get my genuine mazda parts from:

Tasca Parts | Lowest Prices Anywhere for Genuine OEM Parts

they will have the best price online not only for the part, but also for shipping and handling, which can add considerably to the bottom line. one must always remember, a dealer is in business to make money. even tho you THINK you got a killer price on your car, the dealer made a profit. and every time you take your car to the dealer gives them another opportunity to make more money. i have always felt that by working on our cars myself, i learn a lot, besides saving money.

I believe in an earlier first oil change on a brand new vehicle. Generally, Engines are put together with special assembly lube on top of the oil. You also never know on dust, dirt from assembly process as well. Get your first oil change done earlier, then you cab stretch it out, especially with synthetic.
PCV valve was a weakness in Mazda past service history (they never changed it basically, or looked at it), you did not say how interval is with your new car. I would change PCV valve after 3-4 years for first change, then every 2-3 years after that.
I believe someone also mentioned pcv valves on some cars are becoming obsolete and replaced with small hole that needs to be cleaned. If your car has a PCV valve changed it as per my suggestion. Ask your dealer.
Please put in a good fuel system cleaner once in awhile, like:
http://www.redlineoil.com/content/im...roducts/80.png