Is dealership servicing necessary?

Newly_retired

I have a five year old Mazda and so far I have had it fully serviced by the dealership. Now that it is out of warranty and owned outright, do I need to keep on paying dealership prices for servicing?
I take it elsewhere for tyres and minor bits and bobs , and Mazdas are incredibly reliable so I have had no major problems.
Nowadays I use it very little, and plan to keep it for several years more.
I do intend to get it serviced annually, by a reliable company, but do I lose out if I don't take it to a dealership now?

BeenThroughItAll

Newly_retired wrote: »

I have a five year old Mazda and so far I have had it fully serviced by the dealership. Now that it is out of warranty and owned outright, do I need to keep on paying dealership prices for servicing?
I take it elsewhere for tyres and minor bits and bobs , and Mazdas are incredibly reliable so I have had no major problems.
Nowadays I use it very little, and plan to keep it for several years more.
I do intend to get it serviced annually, by a reliable company, but do I lose out if I don't take it to a dealership now?

No. You gain cash, and quite probably better service.

scotsbob

Newly_retired wrote: »

do I lose out if I don't take it to a dealership now?

If you go elsewhere, and it's a VAT registered garage, then you can send Mazda the work record, with receipts, and they will add the info onto their digital service record for you.

AdrianC

You might lose out on any future goodwill claim from Mazda UK. But it's unlikely that that'd be particularly relevant.

Goodwill aside, you didn't need to have it dealer-serviced within warranty, either.

gilbert_and_sullivan

The maker involved hasn't exactly covered itself in glory re goodwill, so pay them not another penny, and get a good proper mechanic to service it and do things like the full brake strip clean and lube up it won't ever have had during its billy whizz sessions racing through the service bay with tech's on bonus.

Johnmcl7

scotsbob wrote: »

If you go elsewhere, and it's a VAT registered garage, then you can send Mazda the work record, with receipts, and they will add the info onto their digital service record for you.

Do you have a link or similar with more details on this process? Is it possible to request the service log as well?

My local Mazda garage is clueless so it's not going back there but I've managed to misplace the service log sheet from them that showed the one service they did do. I was planning on just keeping the receipts for the services I had done with my own garage but it would be a bonus to get it done officially.

John

mr_accountant

looking at the Mazda web the warranty is 3 years or 60000 miles, so its long past its warranty, goodwill is virtually zero now, start independent would be my advise

imo whilst a car (any manufacturer) is still under warranty best to get the stamp at the main stealers for piece of mind so they cant wriggle out of warranty, but out of warranty go elsewhere, unless the dealer price is competitive

a good compromise may be the (minor) oil and filter service get done at the Mazda dealer, and the full service (sparks, pollen, air, brake fluid etc) get done at an independent, that way you still have some dealer history but also show its well maintained, without to much extra outlay

[Deleted User]

Most of the time a service is no more than an oil and filter change and some mechanic ticking off a load of check boxes.My last fleet car service the cheating !!!!! never even changed the oil . It was black on taking it in and same colour collecting it. They thought being a fleet car no one was bothered about checking it..They did wash it tho.
OP get the few tools needed and do your own oil and filter changes, its a doddle.So is the air filter and plugs and fluid checks and top ups.This is a money saving forum so the advice is do it yourself.

scotsbob

Johnmcl7 wrote: »

Do you have a link or similar with more details on this process? Is it possible to request the service log as well?

My local Mazda garage is clueless so it's not going back there but I've managed to misplace the service log sheet from them that showed the one service they did do. I was planning on just keeping the receipts for the services I had done with my own garage but it would be a bonus to get it done officially.

John

I learned about this through the MX5 club of which I am a member. I just go into the dealership and the lassie on the counter just updates the digital record on the spot.


There is a phone app "My Mazda" which lets you access your service record https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mazda.mymazdaapp&hl=en_GB

WellKnownSid

sacsquacco wrote: »

My last fleet car service the cheating !!!!! never even changed the oil . It was black on taking it in and same colour collecting it.

Was your car a diesel?

What did they say when you caught them cheating?

daveyjp

Check what else is included at dealers. Some dealer services include 12 months rescue service, home start etc. This can make dealer services worthwhile as can the reductions they sometimes offer on older vehicles.