Pricey Oil Changes!

I looked at both local dealers today to see their prices for an oil change. One charges $74.95 for a synthetic oil change, the other charges $62.95 but that is after a $20 mail-in rebate (regularly $82.95). Both dealers use Castrol. I like doing oil changes myself anyways, but if I needed any further convincing, those prices were enough.

I've read really good things about the Mazda oil with Moly, so this morning I stopped at the one dealership to buy some as well as a filter. I got there and they told me they don't stock the oil and they won't special order it for me. That was a bit of a let down. They did have the filters, so I bought two of those while I was there so I wouldn't walk out empty handed. The filters were around $11.50 each. I thought that was high, but then looked up the comparable Mobil 1, Wix XP, and K&N at O'Reilly's and they are all $15 or more, so maybe it's not all that bad. The part that kinda pissed me off was the guy at the counter asked if I wanted the crush washers as well. I said sure, I'll take two. He didn't tell me he was gonna charge me over $4 for two tiny little washers! Geez, the Subaru dealer that I get filters for my Outback from just gives them to me when I buy the filters. The BMW dealer where I got all my BMW parts when I still had my 3 series only charged 15 cents a piece for them.

So after buying the two filters and two very expensive crush washers, I decided to call the other dealer and ask if he had the oil in stock before I took the trip there. He said he had one case of it, so I took a ride over and bought 6 quarts (5 to fill, one extra, just in case). The oil was $8.55 a quart which is pricey, but I want to try out this oil and see what it's like, just for curiosity's sake.

So doing the oil change myself, it costs me $42.75 for the oil ($8.55 x 5 quarts), $11.50 for the filter, and $2.xx for a crush washer, totaling $56.25 before tax. That is cheaper than either of the dealer prices, but not by much.

I'm sure if I shop online and buy in bulk I can find the oil, filter and washers a lot cheaper which will bring the cost down, and obviously I can use a cheaper aftermarket filter and a cheaper brand of oil, and you don't have to change the crush washer every oil change. Still, I thought some of you may find this interesting. If you are doing oil changes yourself to save money, you might not be saving all that much. I do it for a number of reasons, saving money is just a perk.

Try getting your next filters/washers from a different dealership. I lucked out a bit with mine. I went in to buy some filters, ended up with 4 for about $10 each. Then I asked about the crush washers, and the service guy said he usually just throws the washers in the box with the filter. There are some decent dealerships out there, but they are few and far between.

I can tell the first Mazda dealer you went charged much higher price on parts than the second. You should get all the parts for oil change at the second Mazda dealer, they may even through in a couple of free drain plug washers like my Mazda dealer would do.

$11.50 per OEM oil filter is really expensive, especially if you got Value Line one. Id get standard OEM Thai oil filter made by Denso which definitely has much better quality. Alternately you can also get the same Mazda Thai oil filter from Toyota dealer for Yaris iA.

Any Mazda dealer can order Mazda moly oil for you if they dont stock it. If the parts guy is not willing, talk to his manager.

yrwei52 said:

There're now 3 OEM Mazda SkyActiv oil filters:

OEM Mazda SkyActiv Oil Filters
PE01-14-302A	Made in Japan with the best quality. Comes with greased O-ring type gasket、 shrink wrapped seal on top preventing dust、 and packaged in a sealed paper box.
1WPE-14-302	Made in Thailand. Smaller in outside diameter than PE01-14-302A. Comes with greased O-ring type gasket、 shrink wrapped seal on top preventing dust、 and packaged in a non-sealed paper box.
PE01-14-302A-MV	Made in Mexico. Comes with non-greased flat gasket、 shrink wrapped seal on entire filter、 and no paper box.

Based on picture provided by madar, Mazda OEM value-line PE01-14-302A-MV oil filter does look different from Wix 57002. But I'd still get PE01-14-302A-MV OEM "value" filter if there's no other OEM choices!

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I'll have to let you know when Mobil and Pennzoil start doing their mail-in rebates again this year. I usually do the $30 5 quarts plus filter special from Advance Auto Parts. The Mobil deal is usually $17 back in mail-in rebate = $13 for oil and filter after rebate. Mobil usually lets you do 2 deals per household so I stock up big time. I have 6 1/2 5 quart bottles waiting to be used at home.

I source my crush washers from Amazon. Got a bulk pack of 20 for like $6 (I service my CX-5, my Honda Odyssey, and my mother in laws CX-5 and they all take the same crush washer! ).

yrwei52 said:

I can tell the first Mazda dealer you went charged much higher price on parts than the second. You should get all the parts for oil change at the second Mazda dealer, they may even through in a couple of free drain plug washers like my Mazda dealer would do.

$11.50 per OEM oil filter is really expensive, especially if you got Value Line one. Id get standard OEM Thai oil filter made by Denso which definitely has much better quality. Alternately you can also get the same Mazda Thai oil filter from Toyota dealer for Yaris iA.

Any Mazda dealer can order Mazda moly oil for you if they dont stock it. If the parts guy is not willing, talk to his manager.

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Yeah they did give me the made in Mexico filter which I didn't even realize until I was out the door. Pisses me off. Honestly I'm contemplating returning them and going to the other dealer for the filters. I know the Mexican made filters aren't bad, but they aren't as good as the Thai or Japanese ones. The $2.xx per washer really irritates me. And he flat out said they won't order the oil, I asked if they could get it for me.

The second dealer was a lot friendlier and it was a nicer dealership overall. I'll go buy the filters from them.

Moly is usually around 8.XX a QT. It will be smoother and you should see an uptick in economy.

Source them online if you can. I was usually able to get Mazda Thailand made filters for around $7-$9 each. If not, I can usually find a Wix 57002 for $9.

Closest dealer charged $1 per crush washer. Could be better, could be worse. Like your dealer though, they were exorbitant on the filters. They charged something like $13 for one and it wasn't even the Thailand filter, it was the Mexican made Mazda Value Line filter which I definitely wouldn't pay $13 for.

And the Castrol is usually $24-$28 for a 5 quart jug at Walmart. Though I am considering trying either the Mazda Moly or Idemistu 0w20.

ruthrj said:

I'll have to let you know when Mobil and Pennzoil start doing their mail-in rebates again this year. I usually do the $30 5 quarts plus filter special from Advance Auto Parts. The Mobil deal is usually $17 back in mail-in rebate = $13 for oil and filter after rebate. Mobil usually lets you do 2 deals per household so I stock up big time. I have 6 1/2 5 quart bottles waiting to be used at home.

I source my crush washers from Amazon. Got a bulk pack of 20 for like $6 (I service my CX-5, my Honda Odyssey, and my mother in laws CX-5 and they all take the same crush washer! ).

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I actually rescind my Pennzoil recommendation, lol. I just realized I hadnt received my last rebate. Called and after 20 min on hold, they told me the invoice didnt upload correctly and that I needed to send them an email with my invoice. BS. 8 weeks later? Good thing I save that crap. Gimme my money, Brian!

I bought a filter from my dealership and he said they only carry the Thailand filters. He gave me a crush washer for free. I paid $8.25. People on this board said that is what most dealers charge. The Mexico filters are probably fine, maybe they are called economy because they don't come in a cardboard box. Also, personally I would never reuse a crush washer. As for the special Mazda oil being better than Castrol, I am starting to think that is a myth.

MyFirstMazda said:

I bought a filter from my dealership and he said they only carry the Thailand filters. He gave me a crush washer for free. I paid $8.25. People on this board said that is what most dealers charge. The Mexico filters are probably fine, maybe they are called economy because they don't come in a cardboard box. Also, personally I would never reuse a crush washer. As for the special Mazda oil being better than Castrol, I am starting to think that is a myth.

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The Mexico filters are fine, but they seem to be less precise in manufacturing. Lots of reports of people not being able to use their oil filter removal tools because of minute size differences from Mexico filter to Mexico filter.

Castrol 0w20 is good oil but its not the European Castrol. Still ok.
Mazda Moly is in a higher range of its own with Toyota oil. Usually better in very cold climates based on virgin oil analysis.
With that said it shows on various forums that its up to personal preferences and price one is willing to pay. All the other alternslatives are ok too. Online price for mazda moly can be found in the 7$ per quart price range but shipping cost adds to it.

ColoradoDriver said:

The Mexico filters are fine, but they seem to be less precise in manufacturing. Lots of reports of people not being able to use their oil filter removal tools because of minute size differences from Mexico filter to Mexico filter.

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For this reason alone I wouldn't use OEM "Value Line" Mexican oil filter. How is it possible the outside diameter of the oil filter would be different from one batch to another? This speaks to the quality of the OEM Mexican oil filter!

JRM1022 said:

Yeah they did give me the made in Mexico filter which I didn't even realize until I was out the door. Pisses me off. Honestly I'm contemplating returning them and going to the other dealer for the filters. I know the Mexican made filters aren't bad, but they aren't as good as the Thai or Japanese ones. The $2.xx per washer really irritates me. And he flat out said they won't order the oil, I asked if they could get it for me.

The second dealer was a lot friendlier and it was a nicer dealership overall. I'll go buy the filters from them.

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I'd return these filters and washers and go to the second Mazda dealer getting those.

If the second Mazda dealer has Mazda moly oil in stock, I got the feeling that they also stock Thai oil filter like my Mazda dealer does.

based on my experience, the outside diameter is a bit smaller than the japan made one filter (which is no longer sold in usa).
When the filter is installed on the car you could clearly see the 'engine side' small part of the metal exposed as the filter does not extend fully to cover it.
The same applies to the taiwan one unfortunately.
Its not that each item produced is different then the next batch its just the non-japan ones are a bit smaller and that is the reason traditional "by size" oil filter wrenches do not always fit and one need s a clamp type.

cz5gt said:

based on my experience, the outside diameter is a bit smaller than the japan made one filter (which is no longer sold in usa).
When the filter is installed on the car you could clearly see the 'engine side' small part of the metal exposed as the filter does not extend fully to cover it.
The same applies to the taiwan one unfortunately.
Its not that each item produced is different then the next batch its just the non-japan ones are a bit smaller and that is the reason traditional "by size" oil filter wrenches do not always fit and one need s a clamp type.

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OEM Thai oil filter made by Denso is indeed a little smaller on outside diameter than Japanese Tokyo Roki oil filter, but the size is consistent. On the other hand OEM Mexican oil filter does have big variation on outside diameter from different batches. Ask Madar he knows.

yrwei52 said:

OEM Thai oil filter made by Denso is indeed a little smaller on outside diameter than Japanese Tokyo Roki oil filter, but the size is consistent. On the other hand OEM Mexican oil filter does have big variation on outside diameter from different batches. Ask Madar he knows.

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Now that is strange, I did not know that the Mexican filters varied from each other. You are right, I would not use them for that reason. Thy must be rebranding different filters as Mazda and using the cheapest ones they get bids on, something like that.

I agree, JRM should get a refund. He can say that he got the wrong ones by mistake as the excuse, don't say because they are Mexican lol. There probably isn't any harm using one if you installed one already.

MyFirstMazda said:

Now that is strange, I did not know that the Mexican filters varied from each other. You are right, I would not use them for that reason. Thy must be rebranding different filters as Mazda and using the cheapest ones they get bids on, something like that.

I agree, JRM should get a refund. He can say that he got the wrong ones by mistake as the excuse, don't say because they are Mexican lol. There probably isn't any harm using one if you installed one already.

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Yeah I think I am gonna return them. I have some extra time this week so it's no big deal. I'm not gonna say it's because they are Mexican, I'm gonna say it's because they are way over priced. I'll stop at the other dealer and see what they have. Even if they only have the Mexican ones, I'd rather buy from them anyways.

Does anyone know who is actually making the Mexican filters for Mazda? Denso, Tokyo Roki, Wix?

Do most dealerships use Moly oil for their synthetic oil changes? Or, do you have to specifically ask for it?

Thanks!

JRM1022 said:

Yeah I think I am gonna return them. I have some extra time this week so it's no big deal. I'm not gonna say it's because they are Mexican, I'm gonna say it's because they are way over priced. I'll stop at the other dealer and see what they have. Even if they only have the Mexican ones, I'd rather buy from them anyways.

Does anyone know who is actually making the Mexican filters for Mazda? Denso, Tokyo Roki, Wix?

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Usually Mazda dealer can order any parts and make them available the next day. Call the second dealer first, and have them order Thai oil filter if they don't have it in stock.

Japanese oil filter is made by Tokyo Roki; Thai oil filter is made by Denso; but nobody knows who makes the Mexican oil filter. Some suspect Wix because Wix 57002 specially designed for SkyActiv-G is from Mexico. But they physically look different and it can't be Wix.

Jman136 said:

Do most dealerships use Moly oil for their synthetic oil changes? Or, do you have to specifically ask for it?

Thanks!

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NO. Dealers use the cheapest bulk oil they can find. Mazda dealers won't use Mazda moly oil by default. You have to ask for it, and are willing to pay extra for it. Also be aware some Mazda dealers don't even offer Mazda moly oil as an option.