Hi all. I'm looking for advice. I recently brought my 2009 mazda 6 3.7 (97k miles) in for an oil change, check engine light and a rattling noise. My mechanic said the codes were something that needed to be diagnosed by the dealership, but that the oil (synthetic) had not been changed in 10 to 12k miles and that there was only 2 quarts left in it!
So the dealership looked at it and say the rattling is the because the internal water pump failed and the timing chain was loose. $2500 to repair. They do not see any leaking and are not sure if the lack of oil caused any further damage.
So I don't know whether this repair is a good investment. Even IF there is no engine damage, how many miles are these models good for.
Any info is appreciated.

 

atleast 150k to 200k

 

Water pumps fail for many reason so nothing unusual there?
Timing belts wear. There is merit to suggestion to change it as a preventative maintenance before you reach 100K miles on different platforms?
What were the DTC that the original mechanic accessed and what were the ones that the Dealership Service Department confirmed and checked?
Not sure how anyone determined that the oil was not changed unless they were reading a record/documents, only having the only way to know the condition of the oil is to have it analyzed?