My warranty is about to expire in a few months and I was thinking of going to the dealership to get all the "important" TSBs out of the way.
I've only been to the dealership once since I bought the car in '05 to get one of the major reflash done and I do my own general maintenance. I only drive the car once or twice a month, so I don't have any problems with how the car runs and quite frankly, I'm a believer of "if it ain't broken, don't fix it". That being said, is there any big ticket items that I really need to get done? (Sorry, I prefer this quick and dirty way over a search. It will save me hours of sifting through hundreds of threads and TSBs...) Thanks everyone.

 

For the TSB's they'll only fix the problem if you have the problem (which they need to be able to replicate to confirm). So are you gonna purposely put water in the tail lights, break the sun visor and make your engine lose power?

 

weather stripping?

 

Are not some TSB items for preventative maintenance? Things such as newer battery and updated flash to avoid flooding... I'm sure I could make up an excuse to get these addressed. There also seems to be a milky white oil disptick TSB, which doesn't all 8s have this issue (in Canada)?

 

If you don't have the updated starter, then yes, just make up some story about flooding the car and how you managed to unflood it using the gas-pedal-to-the-floor technique. That would be enough for them to perform the hard-to-start TSB for you. Even the worst Mazda dealership will do this TSB for you without putting up a fight.

The important thing is you MUST get the latest ECU flash for increased MOP oil metering. Unlike all the other TSBs, this one is for real and might mean the difference between a 250,000 km engine and a blown one.

The other big ones are the rusting rear wheel fender lips and the rust spot on the door sill beneath the driver's side suicide door. Get those taken care of if you have the problem.

 

Are you tail lights free of moisture?

 

Edit: I found the latest flash number...

No tail light condensation but I have a tiny bug in one of the tail lights..

 

Yeah me too stupid spider crawled in there and died it is in my brake light in the middle

 

explain to me how you got your dealer to take care of the rust so I can explain it to mine. THey wouldn;t even talk about the rust on the fender well lips.

 

me too! i think they are aphids or some sort. i suppose dead bugs are better than an artifical fish tank.

 

I do not believe this is necessarily true.

In the case of TSBs describing faulty part design like the above, I would argue that if the customer has the "concern" that it may happen, it should be the responsibility of the dealership to perform the TSB on a vehicle that qualifies (proper VIN range) and has a valid warranty.

For the tail light condensation the sealant on the gasket is said to be something that wears over time. The flowchart on the TSB even has a condition for no observed condensation to just replace the gasket:

http://www.finishlineperformance.com...14-07-1795.pdf

The sun visor TSB has the same verbage regarding client concern:

http://www.finishlineperformance.com...02-07-1734.pdf

The fine print seems to mildly contradict said verbage in that a customer's "concern" does not necessarily mean the issue described has to have actually occurred:

"Customers should not assume this bulletin applies to their vehicle or that their vehicle will develop the described concern. To determine if the information applies, customers should contact their nearest authorized Mazda dealership."

The grammar **** in me thinks there is a perversion of the word "concern" happening here.

The suggestion to intentionally sabotage relevant parts mentioned in the TSB just seems silly but could be a sad necessity in order to get decent customer service. My car is at the dealership right now for the condensation in tail light issue, yet my tail lights do not show any evidence of it... (they did over this rainy weekend, though). I wonder what they're going to do...

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extended edit: BTW, my car is outside the VIN range for the E-brake plastic tab snapping off, yet I can see mine is already half-way cracked... I addressed that with my dealership when I brought my car in. They said they'd see what they can do... here's to hoping!

 

are there any better dealers around GTA that will honor tsbs, my dealership wants me to flood and get towed in for my starter to be updated.

 

so flood it
I've only had the brake squeal TSB done...

 

ya i asked if i flood it, do i have to pay for towing it, they said yes, so WHY DONT I JUST BUY THE STARTER, lol

 

For sure get the milky substance fix. It works and can be quite expensive to do later.

Can anyone provide details of the latest flash? Is it free if the car is out of warranty?