My first scheduled maintenance is coming up at 4 months or 8000km which ever comes first. This is the first car I've owned so I'm not familiar with these scheduled maintenances.

Are they mandatory to be done at any Mazda dealer in order for the warranty to be valid? Because the first service for example is an oil change/filter change. I know the dealer will rape me for like $60. I can do myself or know a friend that can do it for me for $20.

What's the deal with scheduled maintenance work, and how does it affect the warranty of my car?

 

8k service? That's just an oil change. It's only $45 after tax and they wash your car.

For most things you can have anyone do it as long as you have a receipt.

Also, I hope you're topping up that oil as you go if you're waiting the full 8k. I already had 2 oil changes by the time I hit that.

 

what do you mean you already had 2 oil changes before your first service? I haven't changed any of my oil yet, I've added oil to it all this time though just like everyone else (check every 2 fill ups).

Also, I appreciate your reply, but you didn't really answer my question.

 

If you care about your engine, replace oil every 5,000km or 3,000miles.

 

I just had the first schedules maintenance awhile ago with oil change and a quick once over. I think I had my RB screens installed at the same time. Each time I bring my 8 in, the mechanics are getting more familiar with it, seeing it change with new mods (installing some). I know we pay more for doing some maintenance there but there is something to be said for building a relationship with the mechanics/dealer, i think.

 

engine oil gets burned up anyhow, and there's frequent addition of fresh oil. Why is it necessary to go beyond the recommended 4 mo / 8000km oil change?

 

8000km is quite a distance for dyno oil. It's not like it consumes oil so fast that the oil in the pan is always fresh. It's just different levels of car care. If you want to wait the 8000km, go for it.

I thought I did answer your question. I said you can usually have any place do it as long as you have a receipt. That's not the answer you're looking for? Call the dealership or Mazda and ask. I also added that you won't get "raped" for $60. It costs $44 or something.

 

My last oil and filter change was 26 dollars with taxes in.......was cheaper to go to the dealer then to do it myslef.........and I change my oil every 6000km. And yeah, they wash your car.......they can't really " rape" you with just an oil and filter change.

 

my 4 months is coming up soon, my odometer reads 5500km, so I guess it'll be about 6000km when the actual 4 mo' is up. The thing is.. like I said, since I've gotten the car, I've added 3 bottles of Castrol GTX already; so which means all that old oil has been consumed already. When I pull the dipstick out to look now, the fluids look pretty clear. I add about 1 bottle per month.

So if that's the case, what's the use of a 5000km oil change when you're constantly burning and re-adding fresh oil?

 

As others have said, just because you top up your oil frequently doesn't mean you have fresh oil thruout your system. And seeing 'clean' oil on your dipstick may just mean that your oil filter is still able to remove the bulk of the visible contaminants.

Changing the oil filter at oil changes is just as/more important than changing the oil itself.

Oil is the life blood of your engine and changing it at regular intervals is a relatively inexpensive investment in reliability. Most of us go with the "severe use" service interval since we tend to run our 8's harder than we would non-sports types.

I do all of the prescribed dealer service intervals thruout warranty, so there's absolutely no argument that it was properly maintained if an issue should arise. I do add'l interval oil changes myself.

 

Before I continue on, I am not defending my point or trying to start an argument... I just want clear understanding.

If the engine is burning oil, and I am physically adding new bottles of oil, then it must be the old oil that has burned away and NEW FRESH OIL in the system!

If the dipstick shows "low"... which is like 25% remaining for example. Then there is 25% of old oil left, to which I top up, and there will be 75% fresh NEW oil mixed into the old oil.

The way I see it, an oil change is really just to remove that 25% of the old oil frequently as that's where all the sediments and particles are?

 

You are right, but ultimately, wrong.

You have added 3 jugs of fresh oil, but the shavings and crap from the first drive are still inside the engine - don't you want to know they are flushed out and gone?

Your 3 jugs have not even replaced HALF the oil, you don't realise that the system holds about 7 quarts. So don't try to outguess the engineers who designed the car - you just ain't that clever.

If you want to do it yourself, buy oil and filter, and keep dated receipts, "just in case."

S

 

What StealthTL said, but it's really about the oil filter. Oil doesn't get less slippery over time or "lose viscosity'" as the marketeers would have you believe. However, the filter does get contaminated with metal shavings, etc. in the course of the oil's travels from pan throughout its flow. That's its job - to sacrifice itself for the good of the engine. If you go too long your filter is just not capable of screening out further contaminants. So, changing my oil, And filter, every 3k miles ensures that 1. most (not all) of my oil is fresh and 2. I have a new clean filter online ready to sacrifice for the good of my '8.

edit: too many typo's

 

Ok, speaking from a decade of rotary ownership, it's best to change the oil every 3000km's for a turbocharged engine.
It's a bit different for RX-8's since it's only N/A. So I would probably go at the most 5000km on an oil change.
If you don't plan to keep the car longer than your lease, then follow the standard maintenance.
8000km's is a very long time on oil. Especially for rotary engines.

Now, the dip stick only reads for 1-1.5 ltrs of oil. It doesn't mean all your oil is registered on the dipstick.
Hence, even though you're putting new oil into the system, it doesn't mean you should be prolonging the oil change.
These suckers consume oil and need to be changed very frequently.

You guys are lucky now that Mazda has extended their maintenance intervals

I have to change oil every 3000km's. And with that change I usually have to do spark plugs as well. So consider yourselves lucky.

 

Ah, then I better go change the oil now, I'm at 5500km. Thanks for all the detailed explanations. It is exactly what I was looking for.

On a related topic. Is it necessary to flush and fill my tranny and diff fluid right about now? Just to get rid of the initial break-in metal shavings and such? Or just wait for the scheduled one at 40,000k? Or do one somewhere in between?

 

As far as I know, that's not necessary until the specified interval. You've only got 8K on the clock. The tranny and diff fluid can wait.
Get cracking on the oil though! lol

 

I do them every 6,000km per the heavy usage maintenance schedule. I do everything at the dealership during the warranty period so that if anythign does need repair they have all the records on hadn and can't hassle me there.

AS a note I have 103,000km and the car still runs strong.

 

WOW!...103k on an 05!!

 

Diff and trans is okay, they got magnets in there.

5.5k is a little too long for the first oil change.
________
Wellbutrin settlement info

 

Back from the dealer, I just did my first oil change. So when should I do the next one from now on? every 3000km?

 

I change mine every 3000 miles or 5000 k's.........it is the cheapest thing you can do to support engine longevity. My everyday car (2004 Toyota) has 176,000 on it and still runs like new and I have not spent a dime on it other than regular maintenance and, you guessed it, frequent oil changes. Topping up the oil is not the same thing as changing it, all that dirt and crud that the oil is there to protect your engine from is still there because you can't burn the contamination, just the oil. Gotta drain it to get rid of it. Oh, and all of my work I do I get done at the dealer because I found them to be most cost effective ('cheaper') and I would sooner have a manufacturer-trained tech work on my rotary than some pimply-faced 17 year old with pierced lips.
Happy motoring.........