7500 mile maintenance service really necessary?
 

I've been fairly pleased with the dealership I use.

That said, I called to schedule an oil change since I don't have a level driveway or a lot of spare time. Regardless, I reluctantly called since the dealership charges about $30 to do it.

Well, I'm told I reached the 7500 mile marker and now I need a full checkup complete with lube job, oil conditioner, oil change service, tire rotation, etc.

They want $120.

Is this REALLY necessary? I can change the oil myself if I really have to by taking it to a friend's place or on the street. I can rotate my own tires. $120 seems silly.

Is there anything else in the 7500 mile checkup that makes this worthwhile?

check your owner's manual, there should be a maintenance schedule that tells exactly what NEEDS to be done at 7500miles.

i bet 70% of that $120 is unnecessary maintenance tasks, take a look

@ work right now....don't have it in front of me.

Can anyone access this info and post it?

I've got the digital version of the manual here- looks like the only actions required at 7500 are to replace the oil and filter, and lubricate locks and hinges. Whatever else they're pushing on you sounds like dealer fluff and is not necessary. Rotate your tires yourself and get your oil changed, and you'll be good to go.

So, lubing locks and hinges is the action that stands out.

They just said this:

Oil and filter
Rotate tires
Lube locks and hinges
<insert number here> point inspection
Oil conditioner

$120

Yeah- I think you can handle the lubing part yourself. I want to know WTF "Oil Conditioner" is? Is that on the shelf between headlight fluid and muffler bearings?? :D

DITTO!^^

I'm going to call tomorrow to ask.


Never done the hinge/lock lube before...I guess it's pretty simple?

A grease gun and your fingers usually works the best - top and bottom of the hinges and the locking points, takes about 2 minutes total. Go light on the grease or it will get all over the place. Floor jack and a torque wrench to change tires, takes about an hour - depends on how valuable your time is (I actually enjoy doing the routine stuff on my 8 - sort of therapeutic in a Zen sort of way...)

Don't worry, the stealership won't do the "lubricate locks and hinges" part either - they will just charge you for it.
All what they'd do for that $120 is the oil change, tire rotation and take a quick peek under the hood if something absolutely obvious needs attention. The rest is eyewash...

Each service has cost me about $30, and I have had the 7500 and 15000mi ones :D

There are a lot of things dealership will tell you, you need, like changing oil every 3000 miles. So funny that there are people that actually do it and think they really take care of their cars. 3 years ago I got a check enging light on my acura. Dealership told me a new catalytic converter is necessary immediately for around $950. I told them no thank you. After about 150 miles the light went off and never came back. Had inspection done twice since then and catalytic converter is still doing its job perfectly. Now the story I couldn't believe. Another acura dealership told me once my brakes are metal to metal (I let them change my brakes around 40 thousand miles earlier so according to their records I should have needed new pads) and I need to have them immediately replaced. I asked service advisor "Did you really check them?" - he said "yes sir, my mechanic is reporting a metal to metal situation on your front brakes. Should I give green light to have them replaced?" - I was about to tell him to give himself a green light for a check on his stupid head but only I said - "well I have them replaced about 2 weeks ago sir". I can go on and on and on with stories like that. That pretty much goes to show you how necessary services offered by the dealership are. BTW since I bought my rx8, every single time I had oil changed at a dealership it was heavily overfilled. And you can count on them on that one. You tell them please dont overfill this time ok?... then you check your dipstick... at least a quarter too much.

Same here. When changing my oil, I usually relax underneath looking up at my RX-8 waiting for the oil to finish draining... it's a nice way to bond :).

I drive in an urban environment with lots...and LOTS...of stop and go and hard acceleration and hard stopping.

This doesn't affect oil life? Wouldn't it be better on the engine to swap out oil at 3k miles like a normal car?

My 8 seems to burn oil about 1 quart every 3000 miles. That's not even close to full capacity turnover, so why shouldn't I change my oil that often?

Oh, and for the record, yes my dealership strongly recommends to 8 owners to change every 3k miles.

I change mine every 2500 miles... I think the 7500 mile span is way too long, even for light duty driving habits.

Yes, I think it's too long as well.

You do replace it as you go to some extent, unlike in other cars, and don't forget it's "only" an NA and therefore the oil doesn't work quite as hard as in a turbo, but even so...

Me, I'm going for 5000 or just before a track day, which ever comes first.

I'm doing my changes at either 8000km (5000miles roughly) or when the engine blows up. So far I've had my oil changed once and my engine changed once. Torrow I go in for my first "simple" oil change.

This is an interesting discussion. Have any of you used GM's Oil Life Monitor or the similar system used by BMW? By monitoring your engine's temperature, RPM, load, and other factors, it can pretty accurately predict the actual state of the oil. This is because oil degrades in a predictable way given certain conditions. One of the advantages cited is that it reduces unnecessary oil changes and allows you to keep using oil that is perfectly fine until is really does need changing. This reduces the amount of wasted oil polluting the environment and saves money. The downside is that when it says to change the oil, you'd better change it NOW because it really is worn out.

I was suspicous of this system in my Chevy truck, so I changed oil at 4000 and 9000 miles while watching for the oil life monitor to speak up on when it was time to really change. It finally spoke up at about 10K miles, which seems reasonable to me considering the usage (very light duty driving on the highway plus an occasional long distance tow). It's also on par with typical passenger car oil change intervals such as the Honda Civic at 10K miles. So now I think I trust it a bit more. The engine is a 6 liter V8, which is not a high-revving rotary, so this change interval has nothing to do with the RX-8, but it shows that oil is able to go quite a while.

I think some people underestimate the durability of engine oil and often change too soon, while other people just neglect their cars and don't change the oil frequently enough. The manufacturer's recommendation is probably conservative and is more than enough for most people's driving, unless it is on the racetrack.

It definitely does not do any good to your car but if it makes feel you better then go ahead I am with you on that one :p

Well, GM stands strongly by their OLM system (it's just software, no harware except the indicator light) - and honestly, it does really work. It also has a built-in protection margin, so it will alert when you reached 80% of your oil life. Now the only caveat I know off is making sure the right oil is used in the car. Cheap or non-API certified oils will do a lot of harm as the system does not monitor the condition of the oil at all - hence it assumes it is of the required quality. Also, as the car ages and fuel dilution becomes an issue, the system might not protect the engine as well. Modern oils are so much more robust and certified than old ones... definately more reliable. But who tested those under conditions specific for rotaries? That is my concern and we all can only trust Mazda, hence be stuck with dealership oil changes.... All other oils are risky - most might be OK but the API certification does not really apply anymore (except for low temperature performance, maybe).

Engine oil monitors are useful...but also flawed. There have been some UOA's in vehicles with oil analysis monitors which indicated the oil needed to be changed...when the monitor said otherwise.

I forget the exact reasons now, but the oil monitors leave out one or two variables in the oil wear equation...which if you fall under those, means you can't quite use the oil change monitor, or at least you should be checking your oil changes with a UOA to make sure your not running the oil past its additive levels (low TBN).

As for wear on the oil...the absolute worst type of engine/oil wear is "short trips". Aka starting your car, driving down the street 5 minutes about a mile or two, then turning it off. Excessive fuel dilution, combustion byproducts, and an extremely dirty engine quickly result from such behavior. Its best to get a bicycle if your only a mile or two from work =/.

Second would be stop and go driving, with excessive idling.

The best overall type is extended highway crusing in an overdrive gear.

Basically when people say "this car was owned by an old lady who only drove it to the store" and the car's got 10k miles on it, and is 5 years old....that thing is hella crappy.

The better buy would be the car thats 1 yr old, with 50,000 miles :).

WOW...I can definately relate to that story.
a couple of weeks back i got the check engine light on my 98 Honda. I get a call from the Stealership: "sir, we need to replace the catalytic converter inevitably". No way i thought. A couple of phone calls later I found a reputable autoshop and I am told that there is no way something wrong with cat. converter with that kind of mileage...worst case scenario it shouldn't cost more than $300-400 WITH labor :rolleyes: .
The light went off itself after a couple of days.

Had the oil change on my 8 today. Left SPECIFIC instructions not to overfill. I got home and check oil after one hour. SURPRISE! --> overfilled....i think its even more than 1/2 inch. Dumb@#$%@#$ dealerships.:mad:

7500 miles is definitely too long for an oil change if you're using regular dino oil like I am. I am very easy on my car. An indication of that is I have most of my tire tread after 30,000 miles. They look almost new. Usually, I've gotten oil changes at 3000 miles but twice I got it at over 6000 miles and both times my mileage started going down 1 to 1.5 MPG. That's what prompted me to take the car in for an oil change. I estimate mileage started going down around 4500 to 5000 miles. So from now on, i'm doing oil changes between 3000 and 4500 miles, if I'm using dino oil.

Most dealerships will do the oil change at $21.95 with a coupon. Many dealerships send customers these coupons, but if you don't get them, don't fret. All you have to do is search Mazda dealerships on mazdausa.com because many dealerships have ONLINE coupons that you print out. I have not seen a dealership for my RX8 or my other-brand car that refused another dealership's coupon.

Tire rotation should be done every 7500 miles. If having the dealership do it, you shouldn't pay more than $15.99. If you rotate yourself, make sure you torque the lug nuts the correct amount. Your owner's manual says it's 65-87 lb-ft BUT a recent Mazda TSB adjusted that to 108 lb-ft because of problems with slippage. So make sure it's 108 lb-ft.

Oil conditioning? It's when they turn the engien on and off repeatidly just to exercise the oil so it's in better condition.. what else could it be? :D :D :D

I think Oil Conditioning is where, they sell your used oil to a company that re-conditions it, so they can use it on the next poor schmuck.

I have a question.. Why couldn't I take my RX8 down to the local Express Oil Change? Are you saying I have to either change it myself or have the dealership change it?

The reason I ask is I have a Honda Civic with 190k miles and it pures like a kitten, sounds like the day I drove it away from its previous owner. (If Only the Interior and Exterior were as nice as the engine) All I have ever done for it related to maintenance is take it to Express Oil Change, every 4500-5000 miles, and I change the plugs myself every 70k miles. I also had the Timing belt changed at 140k miles.

The more negatives you guys bring up the more I'm talking myself into the Mazda6.