In my search for an RF, I have found one that catches my eye.
First reg Sept 18 (68)
21000k miles
Serviced by Mazda at 6k, 15k, 18k and 21k (last September). To my mind, there is a service missing - based on 12 monthly services. The seller tells me that these cars can have a variable service and be done on mileage as opposed to time. This seems to conflict with what I read on Mazda websites.
A) Am I right to think it should be serviced every 12 months regardless?
B) Given the low recorded mileage, how big an issue could a missed service be?
Most cars are serviced every 12 months or set amount of miles. Invariably not all cars get serviced on the dot especially when covering limited mileages. Not sure I buy the variable service statement however I know my own previous car was missing a service due to covid making things difficult and when it was sold didn’t cause any issues.
If the car is nice and well priced, the condition and mechanicals are all good then I personally wouldn’t fret over it too much. My car had no service history as it was inherited with none from a relative of the seller that had died, but there was clear evidence it had been with clean oil and filters so I bought it anyway as the price was right.
Yes, I think so. That’s how I service my ND1 and what I was looking for when I bought it.
I’m not sure. I think I’d be more concerned about whether the correct things have been completed, because different items are due at different time and mileage intervals (usually whichever comes first). I personally walk away from cars without complete service history unless the car in question is really rare.
Thank you for this. I’ve read this a few times but it’s a tad ambiguous:
Once the flexible maintenance is selected, the vehicle calculates the remaining oil life based on engine operating conditions and lets you know when an oil change is due by illuminating the wrench indicator light in the instrument cluster.
Replace the engine oil and filter when message/wrench indicator light is ON. And they must be changed at least once a year or within 20,000 km (12,500 miles) since last engine oil and filter change.
At least once a year or 12500 miles - I interpret that as annually is the maximum or 12500 miles if it comes sooner?
Owner seemed to do very low mileage (except between the first and second ones). I’m sure the car won’t fall apart if he/she spaced services out a little. Even under warranty you can go a month over. Who knows, maybe the owner loves the car so much he/she don’t drive it in the rain and bang on a year it was always raining at the time, so waited a bit until the weather had a few weeks of no rain, given you generally have to book a service a week or so in advance. Lot of viable reasons on a low mileage car. That upcoming 5th one though got the gearbox oil change.
My one is coming up to one year (950 miles, but no mickey mouse trip lengths) since its service, but it’s raining all the time and I don’t drive it in the rain, so I’m not risking booking a week in advance, so it might go a month over. But I’d be surprised if anyone looks after their car more than me- to the point of illness lol But other times I’ve had them early if the weather was better. No one seems to mention earlier ones though
At the end of the day there are plenty of cars around of all marques that have service history and can be aggravation waiting to happen, and there are your enthusiast owner maintained cars with a box full of receipts (but no official stamps) which could be a peach. This generally applies to older cars but no matter what the age condition is king for me.
Car dealers I’ve had dealings with in the past seemed happy with stamping up the book anyway so sometimes it can be completely meaningless. Sister in law missed a service on her kia sorrento (a 50k car new) through covid so when she traded it back to the kia main dealer they knocked the price down and said the warranty was void. Lo and behold it comes up for sale a week later on their forecourt with a full kia history and balance of the 7 year warranty… I also bought a corolla before when we had our son for practicality, which was a great car and never went wrong, but I noticed between the viewing and when we went to buy it the book was now fully stamped up.
The flexible option I would think is to cover situations where the driving of the car suggests an oil change before the standard twelve months/12500, not after.
With that sort of mileage, I wouldn’t be overly concerned about a missed service. Engine oil is probably the most important part of a service in my opinion. Fully synthetic is good for 20k miles, and yours has only done 3k.
In my view it has missed a service (they should be done annually) but with low mileage it wouldn’t bother me if other than that the car visibly has been cared for and is in good condition. You can tell if someone has used a car as a tool or genuinely cared for it and looked after it. When I was replacing our family car a Seat dealer told me I was expecting too much when I was complaining about the level of damage to a 2nd hand car, but I went elsewhere and found one near enough like new for the same money.
If I ever sold mine, a buyer is more than entitled to let mine pass, which don’t get driven in the rain (unless its totally unavoidable), salt; sees me out at 3am in storms to check the half cover is on fine; ‘tastes’ the roads to ensure no salt; gets washed with methods acquired from years of detailing forums; hood lowered/raised EVERY time from outside…based upon I let an annual dealer service go 3-4 weeks over due to the obsession of looking at the weather and not booking it bang on a year, as it was in a low pressure weather spell and raining all of the time and didn’t want to risk driving it in the rain lol.
They are more than welcome to get the PCP handback instead
I think the trouble is they don’t price accordingly sometimes. Cars are priced up like minters and it’s up to you to find out what’s wrong with them. If you don’t spot anything happy days for the dealer.
They had fitted budget tyres all around, there were numerous issues inside (scratched glovebox, scratches throughout the boot etc). The one I bought was near enough brand new inside with only very minor marks outside only visible on very close inspection.
I’ve just serviced my ND, engine, gearbox and differential oils changed (despite doing less than 1,600 miles last year).
