Service Interval versus Warranty

K

Koert

Member
:
2016 CX-9 GT AWD
A friend of mine has a 2016.5 CX-9 and even though he intended to do oil changes every 3,000 miles, he had some family health issues and now has 7,400 miles on his car and still hasn't changed the oil himself or done his first service at the dealership.

If he takes it into the dealership for a free oil change, is he going to be in trouble (from a warranty standpoint) for waiting so long? I don't know if it varies from area to area. This is in California.

Thanks for any advice.

Signed,

A Friend
 
I have a '12, and the owner's manual recommends oil changes every 7500 miles. Does the 2.5T engine require 3K? I'd be surprised.

Unless he lives in the California desert, he would just follow the normal owners manual schedule. What the dealer "recommends" is meaningless.
 
Owner's manual on 2016+ is every 7,500 miles under normal driving conditions.

One question I have is what if one were to switch to synthetic? Owner's manual doesn't make any distinction, although manufacturers need to. If it's 7500 miles with conventional, then it's a good amount more with synthetic, but how much? And most importantly, how does this work with your warranty if you choose synthetic?
 
The normal use interval is 12 months/7500 miles.

Mazda suggests conventional 5w-30 oil.

For the duration of the warranty, I'd follow that change interval at a minimum, even if I was using synthetic.
 
Finally had a chance to look in the owner's manual tonight and the maximum interval is 7500 miles, so we should be able to just squeek in.

But I'm still wondering what would happen if someone were to wait until for example 9,000 miles before an oil change. Do they lose their whole warranty?
 
Koert said:
Finally had a chance to look in the owner's manual tonight and the maximum interval is 7500 miles, so we should be able to just squeek in.

But I'm still wondering what would happen if someone were to wait until for example 9,000 miles before an oil change. Do they lose their whole warranty?
Click to expand...

No.
 
Koert said:
But I'm still wondering what would happen if someone were to wait until for example 9,000 miles before an oil change. Do they lose their whole warranty?
Click to expand...

That's not how warranties work. If you come in with an engine issue and they can point to your failure to change the oil as the cause, then they can deny warranty coverage. You don't lose the whole warranty though, so if you have something that's completely unrelated like a problem with a parking sensor, you'll be fine.
 
Thanks for the good information. I had assumed that the Maintenance warning would be set at the recommended interval but now I realize that it's highly variable.

I really had wanted to buy my CX-9 from our local Mazda dealer but there were so many miscommunications that I ended up going somewhere else. However, the local dealer's sales manager gave me a coupon for three free oil changes so I was pleased with that. But when I called them this morning, more miscommunications over there. The service manager said he absolutely couldn't honor the coupons unless I had purchased the car there. But, he'd still give me a deal and do the oil change for $89.95 (probably plus more for synthetic). So, I'm heading over to the local shop that specializes in Asian imports for a $24.95 oil change right now.
 
Koert said:
Thanks for the good information. I had assumed that the Maintenance warning would be set at the recommended interval but now I realize that it's highly variable.

I really had wanted to buy my CX-9 from our local Mazda dealer but there were so many miscommunications that I ended up going somewhere else. However, the local dealer's sales manager gave me a coupon for three free oil changes so I was pleased with that. But when I called them this morning, more miscommunications over there. The service manager said he absolutely couldn't honor the coupons unless I had purchased the car there. But, he'd still give me a deal and do the oil change for $89.95 (probably plus more for synthetic). So, I'm heading over to the local shop that specializes in Asian imports for a $24.95 oil change right now.
Click to expand...

I haven't done an oil change at a dealer in years. $89.95 is a deal?? I guess dealers don't want to do oil changes? What's Mazda's regular oil change price? Any local shop will do it for $25 like you said, same work. Ridiculous that they would need to quadruple the price.
 
he intended to do oil changes every 3,000 miles
Click to expand...
3000 miles was good enough for his grandpappy, so it's good enough for him.

5W-30 oil changed at 7500 miles satisfies the warranty. They won't squawk if the car is a few hundred miles over, but try to hit the correct mileage. Synthetic oils vary in quality. The cheapest synthetics are little better, if any, than any top brand conventional oil. The best synthetics are very good, indeed. If one feels that they are unlikely to own the car much beyond the warranty period, there's no good reason to use synthetics. If you plan on keeping your car for a few hundred thousand miles, good synthetic lubes are a smart way to go. Synthetic oil is clearly superior when very cold or very hot. It oxidizes more slowly, so it has a longer service life. The best oils have better quality additive packages in them (anti-wear agents, anti-oxidants, etc.), and these contribute to longer oil life. Contamination from fuel, moisture, or dust ruins all oils equally quickly.
 
Wow, my local Mazda dealer charges $35 or less... One thing they did mention is that they use a synthetic blend on the CX-9, so make sure whomever does the oil change to pay attention to the type of oil.
 
My local Mazda dealer charges $50 CAD for oil changes but since I provide my own oil (full synthetic Castrol Edge) then they deduct the cost of conventional oil from the price which is the way it should be and find the price reasonable.
 
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