Dealer Rip Off?
 

So my fiance took her 3s to a local mazda dealer to get her oil changed and they sold her a new "oil filter housing" saying that hers had "some gashes and knicks" in it. They said that if it failed oil could leak into her engine and it wouldn't be covered under warranty. It was only $15, but I feel like they just sold her that to make some money. Does this sound legitimate or should I be avoiding that dealership in the future? If a factory part on the car fails isn't that covered under warranty?

just go and ask them what they replace, or sometime you can even ask to see the original thing that was replaced, though unless you've changed the oil yourself, it's probably their fault?

she should have immediately asked to see the part . since the car is already returned to her and she has paid and signed the receipts she has consented to the work. but someone should have a talk with the head of service to find out why this item wouldnt have been covered under warranty in the first place.

if there are gashes on the housing its not a factory defect its either road damage or who ever does regular oil changes to it in the past is responsible..i see it all the time at my work

I believe you mean a mazda 3 correct? If so I am pretty sure that has a canister filter, and if im not mistaken that has a nice fat skid plate protecting it from road damage. If that is the case then it was damaged by whoever has been servicing it.

I dont trust dealers period. They tend to do unnecessary work. :(

Yep, it's a mazda3. We bought it used (with 9k miles, less than a year old) so who knows what was going on with it before we bought it. I guess it's not out of the scope of reason to think that someone screwed it up, just sounded like a fishy story to sell her. Thanks for the input.

hey its only fifteen dollars, give the dealer the benefit of the doubt, as I have said before, go into the service customers waiting room and get the opinion of any of the other customers. It could be a case of the dealer not wanting to take a chance with the unit failing and that ruining the engine. If that carad come in for service,and they did not change the part in question, then driving down the road the engine fails due to leaking oil. would anyone care to guess what the service customer would then say. yes right.I do most of my own service.I always reccomend everyone but a service repair manual, even if you are not going to work on the car yourself the manual can help you understand the car and its parts.If a service writer is aware that you know a lot about the car, they will be more careful takeing care of your car.

yeah I agree, I would give them the benifit of the doubt over 15 bucks.