Regular Maintenance at Dealer or Independent?

R

Rarebit

Contributor
:
Mazda CX-5 2015 GT AWD
When I was a starving student I did all my own work on cars, but from the time I bought my first new car, I've have 90% of the maintenance and repairs done at dealers.

I think this has the following advantages when you find a good dealer:
  1. They work only on one brand of car, and have deep experience in that one brand, of which there are only a few models.
  2. They have all the specialized tools, up to date information from the manufacturer, and are warranty approved
  3. They have an incentive to keep you happy - you may be back to buy your next new vehicle from them
  4. They receive pressure from manufacturers to keep customers happy
Of course this doesn't always work out. The car I owned longest (95 Volvo 850T - 15 years) was serviced by 3 different dealers, and 2 of them were crooks who checked off the work as "done" on the work orders but didn't actually do it.

Dealers are also more expensive than most independents. (See "Phishing for Phools - The Economics of Manipulation and Deception")

But what's your experience, and would you recommend dealers for maintenance:
A. During the time the warranty is still in place?
B. After the warranty expires?

I would appreciate reading your experience and points of view.
 
I take mine to the dealer. They know the correct tq specs for all the nuts and bolts, any "quirky stuff" like how my Infiniti had the rear calipers screwed in on the brakes instead of compressed in (you screwed them in like big screws to change pads), and little things like that that an independent shop may/may not yet know.

Always price-check, though. With my Jeep, the dealer wanted $500 to replace the front control arms. Independent shop did it for $180 or something. But I had to go and hand-tighten the bolts afterwards because they didn't, and it made horrible noises. I bought non-OEM control arms and they performed great. Saved almost half a grand there, too, and was NOT disappointing. The bushings, ball joints, and arms themselves were equal or better to OEM, IMO. I went with Raybestos brand. Same brand I did the rotors in. It's the same as the "Gold" brand from NAPA. Just half-price from Rock Auto.
 
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Rarebit said:
I think this has the following advantages when you find a good dealer:.
Click to expand...

That part of your statement is the tricky part. I agree they should know the best thing for your car, but sometimes I wonder who works on them.
Our CX5 came with a couple free oil changes. The second change, they made such a mess, and now have jerked me around on a couple occasions. So now I'm reluctant to bring it back for anything. Actually did oil change #3 myself.
Good customer service is hard to find these days, so be happy if you find a good service dept.
 
At the dealer. Always. For the reasons mentioned earlier.
 
I think dealer is best, because mazda has the best parts for my car. But check around because not all dealerships charge the same price. I went to a dealer in Portland for new exhaust manifold studs and bolts for my 90 626. The dealer parts department told me $120 for all of them. I had one broken stud due to being rearended by a car that hit my exhaust and the chain reaction broke a stud. So at that price I said I would just leave it alone. Later I went to a different dealer and they quoted $20.
The only time I would go independent is when I know the shop does good work, which I know of one here in houston. But usually I get the parts from the dealer and have him do the work when I cannot.
As for regular maintenance, I would still go to dealer. I would hate to go to one of these quick oil change places and have them put in 10w-40 in my engine because they don't know any better.
 
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I have warranty work done by the dealer, everything else by an independent shop that I like. It's not rocket science and the same service procedures are all pulled up on the shop's system. The shop can get OEM parts if I want, or not. Some things, like a hatch strut, don't need to be OEM.

The dealer always manages to find a few hundred dollars of things to 'fix' too. As for oil changes, one of my preferreds is to buy the oil myself and have the shop do the labor and disposal. Quick, safe, inexpensive.
 
When I had my out of warranty BMW I found a Independent BMW mechanic while in San Diego and then in Phoenix. It's easy to find reputable ones in larger cities. They make a ton of money by simply undercutting BMW dealerships by about 40-50%. The two shops I used I found to be honest and were more focused on getting you in, fix the problem, and get you running again vs finding creative ways to rip you off.

Coming from that experience into owning 2 new Mazdas, the dealership cost for parts/repairs are about the same as a used BMW going to an independent shop. Plus there are no independent Mazda shops out there. Its usually a generalized import shop that specializes in "all" Japanese cars. I don't trust that their mechanics are familiar with newer Mazdas. So I'll stick with the dealer and look for servicing coupons if I don't DIY.
 
Warranty work at dealer and most other stuff I do myself. I always obtain FSM for any motorized product. I've probably saved enough over the years to have paid for an ATV, snowmobile or two..

We live in a great day to be a home mechanic as a video of procedure or detailed write-up is often available.

I work in IT and in many ways far easier today than it was 25 years ago. We didn't have search engines for solutions back then.

That being said... I realize not everyone has the time, facilities, skills and/or confidence to work on their own car. Nothing wrong with that.

IMO: Do what you can to ensure work being paid for is complete and competently done.
 
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The one time I had a dealer do out of warranty work was when my 2006 3 needed a new engine mount a few years ago. Mazda had redesigned the mount - twice. I wanted to be sure the newest version was installed and this was before I found my trusted shop. It cost about $450 to do it if I remember right.
 
If you have an honest dealer with well paid, competent service techs, by all means take it there, you have a good thing. My dealer has done a number of shady things (in as many visits) and can't retain service techs that I believe are competent (low wages). So I do my own minor services (oil and air filters, tire rotations, etc.). Fortunately my CX-5 has been so reliable I haven't needed a stitch of warranty work (save for the replacement of the rear camera due to water ingress/freezing).

If I need any service beyond my abilities I will take it to the excellent independently owned import shop about 5 blocks from my house. They are honest and skilled and I trust them. But, if there was a Mazda shop as honest and competent, I would go there even though it would cost 25% more.

The fact that so many auto shops are dis-honest and/or incompetent (of all makes including independents) is because too many people enable this kind of business. Consumers need to be informed and willing to go elsewhere when a shop is less than outstanding. Yes, it takes money to run a good shop so consumers should not switch just because the price seems a little high. But run away if they do work that is unnecessary or if you catch them billing for work not performed or they do the work improperly (fail to reassemble things correctly, air tires to different pressures, etc.). And talk to family and friends about competent shops vs. incompetent/dishonest shops. The word needs to get around. Good shops should make more profit than scam shops and shoddy shops but, sadly, that is not always the case. Don't enable this kind of behavior.
 
Dealer is hit and miss. The dealer I bought my original CX-5 from has had a couple of people come and go in the maintenance and sales dept. Whereas another dealer I frequent has had the same main employees for as long as I have been going there (that's where I go for major stuff). It's also run by Mazda race car driver. There are plenty of posts (not just mazda) about damage caused by improper dealer services, often simple things like an oil change. The tech working on your car isn't necessarily well trained or familiar with your brand inside and out. Your not going to have an ASE changing your oil at the dealership. That same guy could easily be working an other entry level position. IMO for preventative maintenance if you are able, have the time and know how/proper tools (including a proper reference) I'd do it myself.
 
Kedis82ZE8 said:
Warranty work at dealer and most other stuff I do myself. I always obtain FSM for any motorized product. I've probably saved enough over the years to have paid for an ATV, snowmobile or two..

We live in a great day to be a home mechanic as a video of procedure or detailed write-up is often available.

I work in IT and in many ways far easier today than it was 25 years ago. We didn't have search engines for solutions back then.

That being said... I realize not everyone has the time, facilities, skills and/or confidence to work on their own car. Nothing wrong with that.

IMO: Do what you can to ensure work being paid for is complete and competently done.
Click to expand...

Studying about IP addressing schemes, HTML, programming languages, ect is a lot easier these days as Youtube and various online sources help to supplement books. Even more so for car maintenance.
 
Independent every time. I think people are kidding themselves when they think that the guys at the Mazda dealer have some sort of secret knowledge of torque specs, have special magic tools, etc. They don't. Good, reputable independents have access to the same info as the dealer - that's how they stay in business. Car repair really doesn't vary so much from make to make for most repairs (especially the most common repairs) that a decent independent can't do very good work. Got a bizarre electrical issue, sure go see the dealer. But for routine maintenance you're paying too much. In any major city, there are WAY more independent shops than dealers. There's a reason for that...
 
robertmazda said:
I think people are kidding themselves when they think that the guys at the Mazda dealer have some sort of secret knowledge of torque specs, have special magic tools, etc.
Click to expand...

Different makes/models all have their own idiosyncrasies. A service tech who works on one make all the time learns these things over time and this advantage shouldn't be under estimated.

That said, I use an independent down the street for the Volvo (nearest Volvo dealer an hour away) and will be using him for the Mazda (local Mazda dealer has less experienced technicians). But if all else were equal, the dealership gets the nod. I'm lucky I have a skilled independent so close.
 
MikeM's point above about idiosyncrasies is a better point than you may imagine. I heard it expressed by the head of spinal surgery at a major hospital in this way.

If you were skiing in Colorado, he asked, and after a bad fall, you could not feel your legs, what is the one thing you should tell the ambulance attendants as they load you into the ambulance?

His answer was "I don't have health insurance". Why? Because they would take you to the county hospital, at which they treat 10 times as many similar cases as the expensive private hospital, and the most important determinant of successful treatment is deep experience with the type of injury being treated.

And this applies in a wide variety of fields - the more time you spend doing something, the better, faster, and more successful you become at doing that thing.
 
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Generally I lean towards the dealer while it's still under warranty, but I've also had a Nissan dealer put a smaller oil filter for a QG18 engine Sentra on my old QR25 engine SE-R (it was during a recall that included an oil change), so it can be a crap shoot either way.
 
Benior said:
Generally I lean towards the dealer while it's still under warranty, but I've also had a Nissan dealer put a smaller oil filter for a QG18 engine Sentra on my old QR25 engine SE-R (it was during a recall that included an oil change), so it can be a crap shoot either way.
Click to expand...

Nissan dealer messed up the brakes on my 370Z repeatedly, and it cost me $500 out of pocket, and became an issue that involved Nissan NA, and it was a royal pain in the dick all the way around.
 
If it is warranty related, I go to the dealer. If it is something that requires a specialized tool such as an alignment rack or tire machine, I'll take it to my friends shop. Anything else, I do it myself and have done everything myself ever since I started driving. I do not trust anyone else, I have had bad experiences with numerous shops and if you want it done right do it yourself.

I typically use OEM parts when it is something that is a pain in the ass to deal with in the first place or something gasket related. Ran into too many instances where aftermarket rubber parts either don't line up correctly or fail within a year.
 
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Unobtanium said:
Nissan dealer messed up the brakes on my 370Z repeatedly, and it cost me $500 out of pocket, and became an issue that involved Nissan NA, and it was a royal pain in the dick all the way around.
Click to expand...
Is that 370 remote turbo'd?
194752d1213566797-cin-motorsports-sts-rear-mount-turbo-533rwhp-521-torque-dscn2639.jpg
 
MikeM. said:
Different makes/models all have their own idiosyncrasies. A service tech who works on one make all the time learns these things over time and this advantage shouldn't be under estimated.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Note that the OP asked about regular maintenance. For special things or oddball issues I'd likely go to the dealer. But routine things like fluid changes, brakes, filters, etc. I think the dealer expertise is not worth what you're going to pay for it.
 
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