so, i decided, since i just purchased my FD, to take it into the Mazda dealer to have the recalls taken care of. i talked to the manager on the phone and he said they'd do their little look over on the car to see if there are any major problems with it that need to be taken care of, i told him not to touch it without first calling me. i have no intentions of letting them do anything other than the recalls (and change my air filter as its cold, snowy, i have no garage to do it in myself). i guess what i'm looking for here is, what kinda crap do they usually try to tell you needs done? anyone that can share a dealer "nickle-and-diming" story, i'd really appreciate it. i don't really have any way of knowing if they are full of it or not... and as this is my one and only car, my baby, i'd REALLY not like to let something go if they aren't lying to me.

 

Well, while it's there, you should have them do the basic maintenance items:

* change oil & filter
* flush coolant
* change fuel filter
* change spark plugs

They should be able to handle those without any problems at all.

 

1. even if it's cold & snowing, air filter should only take about 2 minutes to change, why pay the dealer $$$$ to do that? For what they'll charge ya for the filter and install you can at least put in a K&N and still probably save a few bucks.

2. Also, your fd should have all recalls already done to it by now! Just call Mazda and give them your VIN and they can confirm if all recalls are done.

3. Never take your FD to a Mazda dealer!

 

Take it from me - don't let them do ANYTHING that isn't basic. Well, my dealership even managed to mess up putting the plugs in (had leading and trailing mixed up). Just learn from my mistake - find a rotary shop near you and get REALLY acquainted with them

 

I'd have to agree with Sprockett here Mahjik. I wouldn't trust them to do anything on the FD that wouldn't be nearly identical to doing on any other mazda vehicle. Fuel filter, air filter, oil, thats all ok. But I'd bet money we can find quite a few Mazda dealerships who'd screw up changing the spark plugs.

 

Where are you in Maryland? I'm in the Laurel/Columbia area if you need some help with something, a second pair of hands or something..

 

The Mazda dealerships are only as good as the mechanics. Some have mechanics that know what they are doing when it comes to an FD. Most do not. I would not take my car to a dealership unless I knew for a fact that the guy working on my car knew what he was doing. There is a Mazda dealer in my town, but no qualified mechanic. They won't be touching my car.

 

Adam beat me to it. Not all dealerships/mechanics are created equal.

Before I had a work space, I had my local dealer do quite a bit of maintanence for me without any problems. However, there are other dealers in my area I would have never taken my car to..

 

Here in Dallas there's Don Marvel, who by day is a Town North Mazda tech, but by night runs Marvelspeed, a mainly rx-7 based performance shop.

You might ask the manager or the techs if any of them have worked on a lot, or owned 7's before.

You never know.

 

air filter is a pain to change for FD, definitely not a 5 min job. all the hoses are hard to put back on.

 

Did you take the box out?

 

Good advice. Most of the work on an FD can be done yourself, but there will be those jobs that you can't / don't want to do. It is nice to have somewhere to take it.

About your original question - I have heard that if the dealership does not know what is wrong, they will often just tell you that you need to replace the turbos, engine, or both! Do a search for "Mazda Dealer" and you'll see...

 

Agreed. Not everyone has a hot-air intake like the Apexi, 94rxrob, or an M2/rx7fashion/RE with the screw off lid. The stock box will require longer than 2 minutes to change the filter.....

Also agree with the other comments, not all Mazda dealers are inherently evil. There are dealers with knowledgable rx-7 mechs, they are just few and far between. Personally, unless I knew better, I would let the Mazda dealer change the oil and that's about it....

 

Hard is the word - unless you have a heated garage, taking off the pipes when it's cold out is an extra pain cause they get stiff.

 

Almost all FD owners have nightmare stories about poor dealer service. I used the local Mazda dealer when I got my FD cause I was too busy to do most of the work myself and I figured they could be no worse than any other place I could take it to, and *mainly* because they would have the financial support to cover the cost of a mistake if they made one. They made numerous mistakes requiring repeat visits to their shop. Their most flagrant screw-up was breaking the rear spoiler off the car while it was there for A/C service and claiming "it just fell off". I had to get my lawyer involved, they still complied only barely with the settlement agreement and generally did everything possible to weasel out of paying for their mistake. I have not been back there since, not even to buy parts. I now drive 1 1/2 hours to Rotorsports Racing for major service and buy all my parts online. As you get more emotionally attached to the car, you will begin to take dealer screw-ups personally. I would check the Washington area RX7 club and see if someone will recommend a reputable shop in your area. My $0.02
Ron A.

 

also check out the sticky at the top of the 3rd gen forum, you will find all of the relialibility mods that you should have done to the car. also i would recommend learning as much as you can about the car, so when its warmer outside, you will be able to work on it yourself. sometimes a good rotary shop is hard to find.

 

My buddy works for a dealership (not Mazda), they will often tell customers they need new brakes when the old pads would easily last another 10-20K miles.

I doubt they would tell you that you need a new motor if they knew that you didn't, because that's a big pain for them to replace. They would most likely do this if they didn't know how to fix your existing motor.

Brakes are easy, pretty quick job, cheap part that they have in stock, an easy $100.00+ profit for the dealership.

-s-

 

well, here's the deal, let me answer a few questions first....

1. i'm afriad that i won't be able to get the lower main intake hose hooked back up to the box, but i think i can trust them on that.
2. i live in Bel Air Maryland (north of Baltimore) and there are two other FD's in my apartment complex, one that i think i could trust to help me out.
3. i'm gonna do the plugs and the majority of the work myself.
4. the other FD in my complex has told me about a good guy to take my car to and i most definitely will.
5. this Mazda dealership has worked on a few FDs that i know about and has at least one person that is qualified to work on it (i think he might even own one).
6. i know for a fact (have called Mazda) that the fuel line and ECU recalls have not been done on my FD, I'm not dumb enough to not look into these things first.
7. i've read all of the little NEW TO FD things telling me what i need to do and as soon as the weather gets better (or my in-law's house is done and i can get to use the garage) i'm not gonna be doing anything outside on the slanted ground of my apartments parking lot.

fyi my car is completely stock so far... and i really appreciate all of the input everyone has given me. thanks guys, i think i might take what they say seriously, but still have someone else check things before i start paying out the wazzoo

 

Any mechanic could tell you everything is wrong... Just wait to see what they say.. If you don't like it, get a second opinion from another mechanic.

 

that's what i'm planning on mahjik... i guess as a newbie with the car i've dreamed about for years, i'm just a little OVERLY paranoid.