Maintenance Schedule Confusing??

Does anyone else find the maintenance schedule within the manual confusing?

Our Mazda hit 7,000 miles this past weekend so I called to schedule the first oil change. I thought when I bought the car I read in the manual the interval was 7,500.

The service scheduler at the dealer told me I was late and I should have had it in at 5k. He said that the 7.5k is only for "perfect conditions" such as living in Florida or California. Not sure I agree with that as NJ has a pretty well-balanced season rotation.

I looked it up in the manual and it appears there are three different oil change recommendations??

Page 6-5 shows "flexible schedule" at 12 months / 10,000 miles

Page 6-7 shows "fixed schedule 1" at 6 months / 7,500 miles

Page 6-9 shows "fixed schedule 2" at 4 months / 5,000 miles.


To add more confusion, page 6-4 has a listing of exclusions to select which schedule, but it lists 9 exclusions to follow schedule 1 (7,500 change), but only 2 exclusions to follow the flexible (10,000) mile change - shouldn't it be the other way around? Why does a 10,000 mile change interval have less exclusions then the 7,500 change interval?


I would think 7,500 should be fine - no? My local subaru dealer follows the 7,500 interval and it's the same oil weight (0w-20) as the Mazda.

Nope. You are fine at 7500 miles. I live near Philly, so same condition as yours. Are they inferring that stop and go traffic in FL is somehow different than stop and go up north. The warranty is services by Mazda, not the dealer, if you are concerned about warranty.

adgjqetuo said:

Page 6-5 shows "flexible schedule" at 12 months / 10,000 miles

Click to expand...

When you use "Flexible Oil Change Schedule", you need to set it when the car is new or right after the oil change in "Maintenance" app. It'll show percentage of your oil life instead of months and miles under "Oil Change" tab. You change oil when "Oil Change Due!" is displayed in red and the wrench indicator is on when remaining oil life distance is less than 250 miles or 15 days. But you can never exceed 12 months / 10,000 miles to do the oil change. Mazda genuine 0W-20 moly oil or Castrol 0W-20 oil is required to do the "Flexible Oil Change Schedule".

Flexible OCI is very popular in the regions other than the US due to environmental and economical concerns. It extends useful oil life to its maximum to reduce the frequency of oil change hence less used oil and oil filter wastes.