Hey i have a 2003 Mazda 6i and i bout it used just a month ago and i just got it in for the 60,000 mile check and it of course costed right north of a grand and half of it was labor. but they replace the batter, changed some sort of tention belt and all the other usuual stuff, oh yea and some new rear brake pads, flushed all the fluids and rotaited tire. anfter it all and $1000.00 later it drives even better than befor much smoother and quieter so great.

 

Man....$1000 buys a ton of tools.

Battery - $80
belt - $40 (guessing)
plugs don't get changed until 100K (by the manual)
Rear pads (not rotors as well? Did they even turn the rotors?) - $60
Fluid flush (tranny, coolant, oil) $100
Tire rotation

I'm seeing maybe $300 in parts (if that)...for $700, you can get yourself a killer set of tools, a nice toolbox and a factory service manual.

I guess that's why I do all of my own service. Glad your car feels better though..

 

See, I agree to an extent, to me it just isnot worth the trouble. If I had a life like mechanics Id do it, with power tools and all that...But without that lift, to me it is not worth it...

 

the parts cost was $650ish the rest was labor but i agrree and i'm only 16 and really don't know that much and i'd rather have it done right

 

That's fine....but look at it this way. Invest in some tools & a repair manualand learn how to do this stuff yourself. Auto repair isn't very difficult, especially things like changing fluids, belts, spark plugs, etc. You'll end up with a better finished product for less money, and you learn something every time you work on it. Afterall, is there anyonemore pickyabout your things than you are? If you learn when you are young, that skill will pay off 10x as you get older. One of these days your car will freak out on the side of the road and if you learn now, you just may have the skills to get yourself home. (I can't tell you how many times I've helped people or gotten myself home with a small repair kit that I keep in my car.)

$650 on materials is what the dealership charges. I tend to get the generic parts available in the aftermarket for repair work (brakes, plugs, belts, etc.) They are much less expensive and work just as well.

 

I can see both sides of the issue but there are sometimes additiuonal benefits to dealer servicing. Most dealers will bend over backwards for you if you let them take care of your car. They can go to bat for you on major repairs and get it goodwilled. I have seen Mazda goodwill transmissions and engines on cars well over 100k miles simply because they have the maintenance records to backup the car,and the dealer called in a favor. At the same time you do need to learn as much about your car as possible. Maybe start with oil changes etc and slowly you will get more confident.