60K Mile Services a Joke on the Unwitting or Not?

May 8, 2009 9:25 PM

60,000K Mile Car Servicing, good idea or not? I own a 2003 Mazda M6 and I'm 3K miles from 60K. I'm torn between just getting an annual checkup at my local Firestone or paying for a 60K mile checkup at a Mazda dealership. Should I just go with the dealership or seek some other way? Is it just me or do car salesmen, mechanics, and lawyers (of which I will be one soon) rank at the bottom of professional respect because of their perceived unscrupulous actions?
posted by roundrock to travel & transportation (11 comments total)

I had a Mazda3 and for the 30K service I took it to the dealer. They naturally tried to get me to buy all kinds of services I didn't really need. I was adamant that I only wanted done what was specified in the manual for 30K, and they relented. It ended up not costing too much.
posted by zsazsa at 9:30 PM on May 8

First read your manual and see exactly what the 60k service includes; if its basic stuff like lube/oil/filters, or includes replacing belts, pads, etc. Next, is this part of warranty service, or is the car already out of warranty? And have you done all the previous service as scheduled?

If its warranty service have the dealer do the work. If not, and its basic maintenance, its OK to go with a reputable independant shop, but have them do the complete 60k package.
posted by TDIpod at 9:32 PM on May 8

If your Firestone is anything like the one in my hometown, I wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole. The dealership might try to up-sell you, but at least they'll (probably) actually perform the services you pay for.
posted by equalpants at 9:33 PM on May 8 [2 favorites]

What's on the service list for 60K for that model? My (completely uneducated) first concern would be timing belt replacement interval if your car has one - it may have a timing chain.

If you're on a belt and it's due for renewal, I'd give serious thought to paying for a proper service, whether by a dealer or independent auto shop - belt failures on some cars of that kind of period can lead to your pistons and valves attempting to occupy the same volume of space at the same time. This is not a good thing.


My advice would be to visit Mazda owner communities/forums online and look for any common problems in that model year, and what the general feeling is on specific service intervals. From there you can make an educated decision on the risk/benefit of a full service.
posted by Nice Guy Mike at 9:43 PM on May 8 [1 favorite]

What equalpants said. Firestone has a horrible rep. I found my current awesome mechanics via word of mouth from friends. He does all the maintenance on our cars, doesn't try to oversell, and is much cheaper than the dealer. Ask your friends who they'd recommend locally.
posted by LuckySeven~ at 9:46 PM on May 8

If you hope to resell the car someday for a reasonable price having all of the service records for scheduled maintenance will help you close the deal.
posted by wfrgms at 9:47 PM on May 8

60k service, good; dealer service, expensive; Firestone service, unknown.

If it were me, I'd take it to the best independent Mazda garage in town. Dealer quality service, or better, without the upsell and markup.
posted by zippy at 10:06 PM on May 8

1. Dealer: most expensive, service done correctly, uses original Mazda parts.

2. Independant mechanic specializing in (Mazda) brand: less expensive than dealer, service done correctly, usually uses Mazda parts.

3. Firestone/Sears/local mechanic: less than dealer, unreliable service for the specifications of the brand, may use iffy/cheap parts.


I'd pick #2.

On preview, agreeing with zippy.
posted by artdrectr at 12:01 AM on May 9

It's worth having a go at Yelp and similar and/or asking around to find a good, trusted local mechanic. Even if the dealer is honest and competent, huge likelihood that an independent shop will be cheaper.

Failing that, as people have said, stick to the owner's manual, stick to the owner's manual, stick to the owner's manual. (When you get to the point where a timing belt is recommended, replace it--if you have to find cans and bottle for the recycling money.)

If you go to a dealer, seems real common these days that they will give you a list of other things the car "needs."

I had to have something done, my awesome mechanic didn't have the machine to do it so he told me to go to the dealer. He also said they would give me a list of other "needs," asked me to bring the list by because he and his colleagues got good laughs out of them and he would check to see if there was anything legit on the list.

Sho nuff, got a list, $1,200 of "needed" things. My mechanic said a couple things would be due in a year, maybe 18 months depending on how and how much I drove, but it needed zero, zilch and nil. Since then, a year ago, the car has been sauntering along without problems.
posted by ambient2 at 12:40 AM on May 9

First: it's no joke. You'll want to get it serviced - and thank your lucky stars you got a vehicle noted for its relatively inexpensive repair and servicing costs. You will likely be due for a transmission flush if you haven't had one lately. You really shouldn't have to much trouble with getting it serviced - your car is based on the Ford CD3 platform which is common in the states. If it has the V6 you've got a Ford Duratec 25 engine in it which is also a pretty common unit (engineered by porsche!). If you got the 4 banger its pretty good (top ten best engine of the year) and it is also a fairly common unit in Mazda land. The guys at Firestone will certainly know what to do with either one.

Firestone is a big organization and they require their lead mechanics to be certified & pay them decently so they aren't the bottom of the barrel - finding a good independent mechanic can really be hit or miss, and many independent shops don't specialize in "mazda" per se, but "Japanese" or "European" which is often a meaningless distinction. Consider your "Japanese" car was built in Michigan.

You will want a second opinion if real money is involved.
posted by zenon at 9:18 AM on May 9

For big milestones, I would recommend taking your car to the dealership. For regular maintenance, take it to an independent.

I've found that taking my car to the dealership for occasional checkups is very useful, since they are very experienced with each model and know which problems each model is prone to. I've never had a dealership push hard for any services, just a list of suggested maintenance actions which I accept or decline.
posted by Simon Barclay at 5:14 PM on May 9