Regular Maintenance at Dealer or Independent?

[MikeM.]

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.

Actually, it's not that uncommon that the dealer service techs have less expertise than a good independent. And my local Mazda dealership has proven this to me which us one reason I do my own regular maintenance. I had a Ford dealership over-fill my 2010 F-150 by over a quart of oil. This happened 25 minutes after I told the service writer to tell the service tech that my truck had the 4.6L V8 and took one less quart than the more popular 5.4L engine. The service writer looked at me and said something like "yeah, yeah, they know how much oil the different engines take". I said, "No, really, just mention it to him because I'm in the middle of a cross country trip and I don't want to deal with something like that." He said, "yeah, ok, whatever." On the drive to my hotel room I thought the engine sounded kind of "gurgly" or something. When I arrived at my hotel I checked the oil and, without even giving it time to drain, it was way, way past the top mark. But the dealership was closed for the day. The following morning I took an extra 2 hours out of my day to return to the Ford dealership and show them what they had done. Yeah, they were pretty embarrassed. Two lessons here:

1) Yes, even dealerships screw up (even when you warn them of the specific thing you do not want them to screw up).
2) Even routine maintenance is difficult for some serve techs, dealership or not.

That's why I qualified my original answer. It totally depends upon the quality of the dealership/independents in your area. BTW, not all dealerships are more expensive than all independents. The oil change at the above Ford dealership w/ 5 quarts semi-synthetic and filter was only $29.99.

 

[Unobtanium]

Is that 370 remote turbo'd?

No. It was stock plus catback and air intake smooth tubes.

 

[CX-5um]

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.

Don't get me wrong I've used Independent Shops before and will do so in the future depending on the situation. I research to locate only highly reviewed ones. That said with regards to just "regular" maintenance this is what sucks about them from personal experience. Lets talk oil changes.

Living in a a large city good Independent shops are busy and rightfully so. My personal experience is that my oil changes at the dealership get me in and out faster. Here's what I noticed at an Independent shop. You're in for just an oil change and lets say 3-4 people are ahead of you. They need major work like an engine rebuilt, a brake job, a clutch replaced. ect. Then there's always an emergency customer coming through the door after you with an overheated car or AC not working. Its not uncommon for the Independent shop tech to be pulled from one project to see another and another and maybe another while also working on your car. Your talking various makes and models. I'm not saying that this multitasking will lead to mistakes although that could happen what it does it increase time. At the dealership, at least the one I go to, they work off a more structured schedule. The tech tasked with my oil change/tire rotation starts and ends the job with more focus on my car. He knows stuff like torque specs and fluid amounts by heart. OEM Mazda parts and fluids are in the parts department within walking distance whereas the Independent shop drives out to obtain parts from various sources. The Mazda tech's name and specs such as tire pressure and fluid level are documented on my receipt which includes a free battery test and brake measurement diagnostics report. I tiny bit a value may be returned by these Mazda serviced documents when selling the car in about 7 years from now. Having any set of service documents usually helped me to sell my used cars fairly quickly at my price point. Unless you come across someone who don't care about service records that much.

 

[Chris_Top_Her]

The plus side of doing your own work is that you learn how to work on your own car. I think I'm going to be a CX-5 guy even if I move onto something with a stronger motor and higher value. Kind of like the guys who have been driving Miatas since 89.

 

[sylva143]

Then there are the independent shops that specialize in one or two makes only. I take my Volvo to the dealer, since maintenance is free during the initial warranty, but I take my VW to an independent that works exclusively on Volvo, Audi and VW. I feel like I am getting a better value there after the warranty expires.

 

[CX5T Lover]

Finding A Good Dealer...!

"RareBit" said in one of their posts... "Find A Good Dealer!"

I guarantee you ask any sales and/or service department at any dealership and they'll ALL tell you that they're the best. The problem, as I see it, is in finding that good dealer. So the question still remains... how does one really go about finding a "good dealership"..!..?, considering the fact that most, if not all, will always try to increase unnecessary add on's, parts or service profits by up-selling things we don't really need... or want, let alone if the dealership is really honest in what they do.

Many years ago things were somewhat different. One could always wander into the service bay and watch the mechanic do their thing, sometimes even lending a hand here and there. Now days the "service ticket write up person" sends you to the "customer lounge", which is far away from where the actual servicing of your vehicle is preformed... thus you can't see what's really being done. Try wandering around to the back side of the building, or at the entrance of the service bays where your Mazda was pulled in to and you're quickly approached by a employee who politely informs you saying "as a non-employee in a employee only area you need to return to the safety of the 'customer lounge'..."

So tell me, where (and more importantly how), does one go about finding this one-in-a-million "Good Dealer"? The cards are stacked against you for all the above reasons. Talking to the "Service" or "General" manager of the dealership gets you nowhere... as I've "been there... done that"!

The question presented to us, ie: "Finding A Good Dealer", is (in my mind), still hard to answer. Let's face it... the good old days of hands on "craftsmanship" and "pride of doing a good job" is L O N G gone. It's too bad we have to put up with the incompetency, ship shoddy work and the attitude of "let's get it done any way we can so we can move on" is too prevalent in today's world.

So much for "Finding A Good Dealer"!!

Cx5T Lover

 

[Rarebit]

Find a good dealer the way you find a good doctors: ask around, read reviews, figure out which people know what they're talking about, and try the dealer yourself. You know for sure that some people you talk to will be fooled by "bedside manner" and won't have a clue what's good and what isn't. But there are business people around who aren't looking to cash in short term, but to build a long term business based on customer loyalty. Of the dealers I've taken my cars to in the past 25 years, 3 were good, 2 were mediocre, and 1 was terrible.

"Good" to me means 1) they honour appointments. 2) they have the car ready on time unless there's an unexpected development. 3) they inform me of unexpected developments before fixing anything and get my approval. 4) they keep parts they've replaced for inspection and show my what was wrong with them. 5) they do everything they said they'd do, and get it right the first time. 6) they provide shuttle service. 7) if they make a mistake, they make good on it for no charge.

I had my 2010 Mazda 3 serviced by a dealer who met the first 6 criteria. They didn't make any mistakes so I don't know about 7).

 

[YVRer]

Find a good dealer the way you find a good doctors: ask around, read reviews, figure out which people know what they're talking about, and try the dealer yourself. You know for sure that some people you talk to will be fooled by "bedside manner" and won't have a clue what's good and what isn't. But there are business people around who aren't looking to cash in short term, but to build a long term business based on customer loyalty. Of the dealers I've taken my cars to in the past 25 years, 3 were good, 2 were mediocre, and 1 was terrible.

"Good" to me means 1) they honour appointments. 2) they have the car ready on time unless there's an unexpected development. 3) they inform me of unexpected developments before fixing anything and get my approval. 4) they keep parts they've replaced for inspection and show my what was wrong with them. 5) they do everything they said they'd do, and get it right the first time. 6) they provide shuttle service. 7) if they make a mistake, they make good on it for no charge.

I had my 2010 Mazda 3 serviced by a dealer who met the first 6 criteria. They didn't make any mistakes so I don't know about 7).

So Rarebit, can you recommend a good dealer in Metro Vancouver? Thanks.

 

[Rarebit]

I've had good service from Morrey Mazda in North Vancouver. But I have to quality it by saying it's hard to credit or fault a dealer's service department when your car runs flawlessly for 5 years, which is my experience with my Mazda 2010 GT.

 

[YVRer]

Thanks Rarebit. I usually average 7500 km annually. For my previous car, an original Mazda3 GT 2.3L sedan, the dealer (in Richmond) would try to get me to do all the time-defined services (not just the oil changes) even though I was sometimes thousands of km below the threshold. I'm wondering if all of these service items are necessary, although I must admit, the car was mostly worry-free for 10+ years.

Anyway, I purchased my 2016 CX5 from a different dealer and now I'm trying to decide whether to go back to the first one (the devil I know) or try another (the devil I dont know). Lol.

 

[thiguys65]

---

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.

The dealer and most independent shops use the same software to work on cars and pull info from 1. Mosty Alldata, NASTF, mitchels

 

[Rarebit]

Thanks Rarebit. I usually average 7500 km annually. For my previous car, an original Mazda3 GT 2.3L sedan, the dealer (in Richmond) would try to get me to do all the time-defined services (not just the oil changes) even though I was sometimes thousands of km below the threshold. I'm wondering if all of these service items are necessary, although I must admit, the car was mostly worry-free for 10+ years.

Anyway, I purchased my 2016 CX5 from a different dealer and now I'm trying to decide whether to go back to the first one (the devil I know) or try another (the devil I dont know). Lol.

We put 11,000 km annually on our 2010 Mazda 3 GT from new. I took it in for service twice a year, so every 5,500 Km. That meant fewer kms between oil changes, but I stuck with the mileage guidelines for most services. Brake fluid changes were time based, not mileage, and there were a few others that I did on the basis of time, not distance driven. The dealer always prompted me to come in for service based on time, but I stuck to my 2x per year, and they ended up helping me decide which services to do on time vs. mileage. I was happy with that arrangement.

Check around for ratings of the dealers. There's a Mazda 3 forum for BC. Join and go to this page for dealer reviews. Take them with a grain of salt - they do contain some useful information.

http://www.bcmazda3.com/forum/index.php/board,24.0.html

 

[YVRer]

Thanks @Rarebit

 

[Triton46]

In general, I use the dealer through warranty but it depends on (as mentioned) finding a good dealer. My Mazda dealer is not so great. I had condensation in my headlight about a month or so after ownership. Dealer threw their hands up/gave up when the area rep would not do anything or meet with me. It took a small campaign on this site to get it fixed. The dealer never did send a "How are we doing" form from the sale, initial service or this experience. Another point, this dealer's sales team let me know about the "free loaner program as long as you service here" when I bought the car. When I was getting the headlight done, I found out exactly what this program was. One car...first come first served. That's it! No reservation on the service car...come in, if it's here you can take it. Wow!

Since then, I've taken the CX5 to a great independent that does all Japanese vehicles for things I do not do myself (all fluid changes and small parts). My Ford dealer, on the other hand, is very competitive on pricing...is open late for pickup/dropoff and has done small stuff (clip on a brake line) for free. I take the Ford there all the time. A few times I have price shopped (HVAC replace condensor) and they were within $10s of dollars of the independent shop.