TheKDog

Does anyone go get their car serviced (oil changes, etc.) outside of dealerships? I hate going to dealerships- they take too long, charge too much, and I feel they do a worse job.

I had an appointment for a free oil change tomorrow, so I call the dealer to make sure and of course they have no record of my appointment. So I want to go to an independent shop.

Are most shops pretty knowledgeable about the RX8?

expo1

No, same thing goes for most Dealerships. But doing an oil change on an RX-8 is not any different than doing it on another car. I would just make sure they know about not shutting down a cold engine. Also keep all receipts in case you need to prove to Mazda you have being getting the oil changed.

Mazurfer

Ditto........for sure keep all your reciepts. I do my own and keep all of them. There is a long thread on this forum concerning Stealerships not or may not be honoring warranties due to non-records of oil changes. Like I said, I also keep all my reciepts and because I'm sooooooo ****, I use the http://www.mazdausa.com/MusaWeb/disp...ersHome.action site that Mazda provides and I keep track of all maintainence items on there. They provide that site and allow you to use a pull down menu to select "oil change" as an option, so I put the mileage, cost of filters, oil, and anything else down each and everytime. I also include all the costs of my mods and everything I do, but that's just me. I defy them to not perform warranty on my car. So far so good, but I haven't done anything too radical.........yet.

rg200amp

i would be carefull, most places dont know about the oilcoolers, they will drain the oil, then add 5 qts, and then your in a pickel

TheKDog

Thanks for the help guys. I think I'll give the dealerships another chance. Maybe I can find a good Mazda one in Houston.

supergoat

I do mine myself. That way I know the oil coolers are drained. Plus I enjoy it. I save my receipts when I do them. Castrol GTX 5w-20 and K&N oil filter everytime.

j9fd3s

its fine to take it anywhere just save your receipts.

Mazurfer

+1 on all counts