Because my local Mazda dealer has gone bust (Mack Mazda) I found myself having to try another one today for my annual service and MoT. The cost of the 5 year service and MoT seemed fair enough but I was staggered by the cost of a gearbox oil change recommended by the dealer and appearing on my Health Check report - Ā£364.92 Now, I am a bit old to be doing my own oil change these days and have never changed gearbox oil anyway and maybe I am being naive but this seems a gross overcharge to me. When I asked why the charge was so high I was told there was a lot of work involved ādropping the gearboxā. Surely, this can be done in situ? My beloved Sport Black may be 5 years old but it has only done 13500 miles so does it really need a gearbox oil change? Does the oil deteriorate that much with age irrespective of the mileage?Ā
Iād welcome thoughts from owners of the MK3 on the charge and when I should expect to have to change the gearbox oil since I certainly donāt trust this dealership which had a suspiciously long list of recommended (but expensive and/or pointless extras). If I did have it done somewhere I was thinking about specifyingĀ Castrol Syntrans. Would that be a reasonable choice?
Am I reading this correctly, is that Ā£364 for just the gearbox oil change?
āDropping the gearboxā or dropping the gearbox oil?
I can do my own gear oil change (62 yrs old) although itās not the best thing to do at my age on the driveway, I have still done it, twice!
Castrol Syntrans is the stuff to get, put it in all of my 5ās a job a decent garage can complete easily in 1 hour. Longer if you do it at home of course like me
Iāve seen some gear oil come out of an 11k miles Mk3.5, it looked as dark and stinky as my 50k miles Mk3 oil. Worth changing if you have a notchy change.
BTW on the Mk3 thereās just one plate to remove to gain access to the gearbox filler/drain plugs. Purchase cost of 3 x 1ltr bottles of said oil, that should cost no more than Ā£45. So whereās the rest of that above charge after the labour costs added?Ā
It seems like crossed wires to me, are you sure that quote is not for a service that includes a gearbox oil change for example. Was it a Mazda dealer you were at? Iād expect to pay about half an hour labour plus the cost of the oil and drain plug washers.
That is unrealistic BlueBird if you use a Mazda Dealer.
At a dealer you will probably pay say about Ā£45 for the gearbox oil maybe more if they use the Castrol mentioned above as it is not available to the trade in anything other than 1 litre bottles.
As Robbie said half an hour for labour as you have to take a cover off and replace. A dealer charges around Ā£80 per hour therefore we are talking Ā£40 for labour.
Therefore
Oil Ā£45
Disposal Ā£ 3
Washer Ā£ 1
Labour Ā£40
Sub Total Ā£89
VAT Ā£18
You pay Ā£107
If you lived up here in Aberdeenshire like the rest of the MX5 owners around here, you could do it for around Ā£30 on my 2 post lift, then have an oil flavoured cheese roll and a cup of tea made by my fair hand afterwards.
Now with regards to the state of the oil it will have very high levels of wear metal from new and should be changed as it will also lose some of its viscosity, why not internet search for MX5 used oil analysis for gearbox or transmission.
Yeah, that sounds a logical answer to me too and I originally thought that (when it would have put the cost down to Ā£111.67) but, when I queried it at the time they merely attempted to justify the original charge. What concerns me is that I knew enough to be suspicious of the charge but others may well have paid it. Oh and yes it was a Mazda dealer. Either way, it is helpful to get an idea from owners here of the likely labour time/oil cost etc. From what Drumtochty has very helpfully posted it would indeed suggest incorrect calculation of the charge by the dealer compounded by blind justification of the error. Just goes to show the benefits of being able to share things with other owners on here.
The dealer was Essex Mazda (Essex Auto Group) in Benfleet. The 5 year service and MoT was Ā£253.25 all in which I actually think was reasonable. Also, the āmeet and greetā bit was good. Everyone was polite and friendly etc. I like to be fair about things. I know dealers like to make money out of the āextrasā these days but this dealer seemed to have it off to fine art. If I had had a mental aberration and gone for all the service āadvisoriesā and ārecommendationsā marked on the health report I would have paid a staggering Ā£770.89 on top of the service
My wife will tell you that I am blonde with a trace of grey (well, whatās left is anyway). As to being ādippyā, she reckons the jury is still out, even after 40+ years of marriage
For crying out loud. I had my 2009 Mk3 2.0 Sport fully serviced including new rear brake discs, pads, engine oil, gearbox oil and differential oil changes for about Ā£300 if I remember correctly. I did supply the Mobil fully synthetic lubricants and brake discs from MX5 Parts). They must have misquoted you. They definitely do not have to drop the gearbox. I find it difficult to believe a Mazda dealer would quote you this. I did not have my car serviced at a Mazda dealer but at the independent dealers I bought my car from. They either used genuine Mazda parts (filters etc) or the parts I supplied them. Ah, the joys of living uup north!
Drop the gear box indeed ??? You could pour in old chip pan fat and the gearbox would run fine on it as they are so well put together and reliable. Not recommended of course,
Most cars donāt have or need the GB oil changed for the life of the car. The oil is not subject to having to absorb Hydrocarbons as in the internal combustion engine so it lasts a very good long while, same as the diff. However the MX5 is a car to be lovingly looked after by owners so itās nice to know all is well in the spinney bits with regular oil changes.
My mk1 box of cogs has a leak on the front seal, the oil runs low over several months and it all gets a bit noisy and hotish at that point. I top it up and the box is back to wonderful. When i have a new clutch fitted the seal will get changed then but for now the oil seepage is just acting as rust preventative.
I was breaking up a mk1 and just for a laugh dropped the gear box oil out and drove it around close to my house so when it broke i would not have far to tow it back. Over three or four weeks i covered more than 60 miles and that box never broke. Yep,no oil at all,ran just great,but wouldnāt use it as a spare now. You can buy used ones for next to nothing as they just very rarely go wrong due to their robustness.
Iām not saying you donāt need to change the oil, just that itās not such a big deal as some would have you believe. The engine oil on the other hand,well you can never have too many oil changes there.
In August had my Mk3.5 PRHT Sport serviced & the gearbox oil changed at my request as the change wasnāt great. Total bill was Ā£175 with the gb oil change at Ā£40 + VAT. Although I bought my MX5 from a main dealer the whole experience meant I would never darken their door again, let alone trust them with anything mechanical.
Hence using Freelance Mazda in Chatham. They also service my wifeās Mk1 Eunos.
As for BG comment about running a gearbox without oil, youāll get away with short journeys but a bash down a motorway will see it die. Also some gearboxes are less tolerant of low or no oil than others, Fords type 9 & the Rover LT77 being two. The first as with low oil fith gear gets no lube & the Rover as it has an oil pump.
Ring two or three other Mazda dealers and get a full price for the 5 yr service (exactly as yours was done) They should all be the same, or there abouts. If you have been charged a lot more, then query it with the main dealer top brass. You could also complain to MazdaUK. They all seem to make a big deal about customer service, make them prove it! Donāt recall my MK 3 Sport big service being that much or having to drop the gearbox? Good luck
I donāt know if its as tight as the ND but I did need a giant syringe to refill mine.Ā Properly equippedĀ garages would have a pump of some sort but it is a tight squeeze to get the tube into the filler hole. Also pretty messy if youāre lying on your back but much easier on a lift I would have thought.