Just how far can a Mazda 3 go without a service, 73,000km

[trento]

jeebus!!! And i thought I had a big power cable to my amps!!! Probably had them install to cover the engine!

[naddis01]

I don't know where people are getting $500 for a Mazda 3 service from? When we had ours, from memory, the dearest dealer service was $350.

Now we have a Mazda 6 diesel and the dealer log book services average to $370 over 100,000km.

[munkky]

loooool same thing when i was at work truck driving a girl from the office came up to me and said her gets is making a tik tik tik noise so i check the dip stick and no oil so i looked at the history and it was 45,000k's since the last service.

[blk6t]

Unfortunatly most people these days just can't afford it, after today everything again has gone up again...electricity, rates, telephone bills etc...its getting harder for families to get by each week.

Then come time to service the car and they get quoted $500 + any additional work that may be required and people just can't afford it. What makes it worse, dealerships convince people that they must get their car serviced with them or the world will end!!!

I always tell people at work that its sooo easy to change oil yourself as most of them get scared when it comes to engines...and these are men not women!

[mik]

Originally Posted by Sezzy

My best mate some years back bought an old Ford Laser - showed up at my place one morning, saying the car 'wasn't running right' she'd only had it three months. My dad was out the front, told her to lift the bonnet...

1. No oil
2. Radiator BONE dry

The same thing happened in her Hyundai...go figure...

probably never rotated the spark plugs either

[outback_ute]

I read a profile story years ago on Brabus that mentioned they were commissioned by a German banker to build an S-class that he could drive for 300,000km over 3 years without needing to get it serviced. He came back 3yr later without any problems and they were slightly disappointed he had only done 297,000km!

[PHANTMXR6]

Originally Posted by outback_ute

I read a profile story years ago on Brabus that mentioned they were commissioned by a German banker to build an S-class that he could drive for 300,000km over 3 years without needing to get it serviced. He came back 3yr later without any problems and they were slightly disappointed he had only done 297,000km!

I wonder what type of oil and centrifugal filtration system they used.

[gtxb67]

lucky it is not a ford. the owner would have come on here, complained about ford servicing and complained about how crap the product is - and heaps here would have agreed with them

[ohzone]

Originally Posted by gtxb67

lucky it is not a ford. the owner would have come on here, complained about ford servicing and complained about how crap the product is - and heaps here would have agreed with them

Funny enough if you have a look at the engines on late model Mazda's you will see FoMoCo cast on them

[jaydee]

Reminds me of the lady I saw in a VW beetle about 20 years ago, oil and smoke pouring out the back. I pulled next to her at the lights and told her. She pulled over and I stopped to help.
Lifted the boot lid and it was dripping oil everywhere. She went on to say she'd just put oil in it. I asked how much did she put in, and she said "To the top".
Aaaaauuuggghhhh!!!!

[SEZ213]

Originally Posted by mik

probably never rotated the spark plugs either

There was very limited spark in that woman, even between her ears...

[Olbucko]

I bought an old Honda 125 trail bike 24 years ago for getting around my farm and I have never changed the oil, I just keep topping it up with used Mobil 1 from my cars, no amount of neglect seems to kill them.

[J.C.]

[QUOTE=RPI]I bought an old Honda 125 trail bike 24 years ago for getting around my farm and I have never changed the oil, I just keep topping it up with used Mobil 1 from my cars, no amount of neglect seems to kill them.[/QUOTE]

Well, keep up the hard work and you strive to achieve that goal of yours.

[Ford17]

Just goes to show, run with what you believe is right.

Last month, the local friendly Ford service manager looked at me sideways when I insisted my oil change be done between services; at 7,500 Instead of the recommended 15,000 interval.

Then he realised how much I cared for my car just by looking at it; then it was done.

In the '90's, I ran a GTI Swift. Did 150,000 kms from new, with Mobil 1 every 5,000 kms. Subsequently, I found a mechanic bought it, stripped down the engine, and reported, with amazement, that it looked "brand new" inside.

Regular oil & filter changes = less (or no) trouble.

[mik]

a friend of mine (old bloke) bought a new proton years ago , he never had it serviced, but every couple of years he screws a new oil filter on and tops up the oil after and when needed,
he drives like he`s on a total economy run and the only time the car gets attention is if something falls off or desperately needs attention, at 160000k`s last time i saw it was getting a little smokey, but it cost him bugger all so he`s happy.

[Ford17]

Originally Posted by mik

a friend of mine (old bloke) bought a new proton years ago , he never had it serviced, but every couple of years he screws a new oil filter on and tops up the oil after and when needed,
he drives like he`s on a total economy run and the only time the car gets attention is if something falls off or desperately needs attention, at 160000k`s last time i saw it was getting a little smokey, but it cost him bugger all so he`s happy.

Sounds like the silly old bugger got it about 1/2 right.
Perhaps a few more years of wisdom might have got him over the line, eh?

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Originally Posted by blk6t

Unfortunatly most people these days just can't afford it, after today everything again has gone up again...electricity, rates, telephone bills etc...its getting harder for families to get by each week.

Then come time to service the car and they get quoted $500 + any additional work that may be required and people just can't afford it. What makes it worse, dealerships convince people that they must get their car serviced with them or the world will end!!!

Things are expensive for everyone, but if you can not afford to service the car you can not afford the car, same with rego.

My old man told me when I was getting my licence that the car needs to be registered and fully insured, as well as serviced and maintained, and if I could not afford to do it I should be catching the bus.

The problem is most people (often young people) over extend them selves by driving cars they can not really afford, when I was 19 or 20 I was driving a $900 Datsun 180B, not a new car like most kids do now. That Datsun 180B taught me how to change oil, filters and carry out services, also how to rebuild brakes and suspension, have been doing my own services ever since for the last 20 years or so, bought my first new Falcon when I was 40, and now getting it serviced at my Ford dealer for about $250 a service.

All my others cars are still serviced and maintained by myself and are running great.

[NC1183]

A girl from here in Moree, bought a brand new Nissian Mirca, back in '08 and it went over 30 000km's before it got its first service.

I don't get how "oh its just a company car" line seems to work as an excuse for not getting vehicles serviced either, the car has to get you home either that day or another, my work ute, Ford Ranger, has lived in the Ford workshop here more in the last 2 months then not, and the boss is cool with it, because he'd rather it be working properly so he doesn't have to come out and get me in the middle of the night

[WILDB]

This motor went 45000km without a service. One of the rockers had snapped clean off and the rings were shot.




I had another vehicle in a couple of weeks later which went 90000km without a service, then had a good service history after that. It kept on going till it had just turned over 200000km then the bottom end failed.

[Pinkbits]

Originally Posted by 4.0i_SiX

My mates company diesel Hilux went 50,000k's without a service because his boss needed it on the road at all times

No excuse.
If i have to i'll take a day off to have my company car serviced, i treat it as my own.

[Dave3911]

Originally Posted by Pinkbits

No excuse.
If i have to i'll take a day off to have my company car serviced, i treat it as my own.

In fairness, for a company, yes it certainly can be an excuse. If by not having the car out earning the company money is going to cost more then the cost would be of a rebuilt/new engine - then if I was in charge, I'd skip a few services too. A car for a company (especially a large one) can easily be treated as something that is easier (and more cost efficient) to run into the ground, rather than pay to maintain.

[ozpacman]

Originally Posted by Forda

Just goes to show, run with what you believe is right.

Last month, the local friendly Ford service manager looked at me sideways when I insisted my oil change be done between services; at 7,500 Instead of the recommended 15,000 interval.

Then he realised how much I cared for my car just by looking at it; then it was done.

In the '90's, I ran a GTI Swift. Did 150,000 kms from new, with Mobil 1 every 5,000 kms. Subsequently, I found a mechanic bought it, stripped down the engine, and reported, with amazement, that it looked "brand new" inside.

Regular oil & filter changes = less (or no) trouble.

a

I bought wifey a little Hyundai i30 diesel nearly three years ago. The recommended service intervals are 15,000kms. No way would I leave oil in an engine for that length of service. I do an oil change at the 7500km mark between each service. It runs Shell Ultra Helix synthetic but I still figure that 7500 kilometres is far enough for any motor oil.

It's only a Hyundai I know - but all jokes aside it's probably the best car we've ever owned. Bloody fantastic fuel enonomy and not one issue of concern in 54,000 kms to date.

Aussie, American, Asian, European or whatever - give em a bit of love and they'll pay you back in spades!

Cheers,

Russ

[smoo]

Originally Posted by 4.0i_SiX

My mates company diesel Hilux went 50,000k's without a service because his boss needed it on the road at all times

One of our customers has a Hiace with the same engine, intervals are suppose to be 15,000km, we had it in at around 120k a couple of years ago for its third (!) oil change, the turbo was buggered, off the top of my head Toyota priced a new turbo at 12 grand. Would have been better of to trade it in for something decent (Euro).

[FGII-XR6]

manifactures specified service intervals should be regarded as an absolute maximum. anyone going over like the examples listed here is a moron,
anyone doing extra oil changes is wise.
Remember oil is cheap, engines and downtime are expensive

[roberts]

Originally Posted by WILDB

This motor went 45000km without a service. One of the rockers had snapped clean off and the rings were shot.




I had another vehicle in a couple of weeks later which went 90000km without a service, then had a good service history after that. It kept on going till it had just turned over 200000km then the bottom end failed.

whats it out of?

[WILDB]

It's a 3.5 V6 Mitsubishi motor.

[ebxr8240]

Surely brake pads etc need to be serviced on light trucks before 15.000 ??
It may pass the first 15k but the brakes on a Triton won't last to 30k ..
100% city driving, auto trans...
Mine went at 18k ...7k before next service..
So it's not just oil changes..
Duty of care / safety has to be considered also..
If you had an accident and was found to be past its service intervals..
The driver or your work could be in trouble..
No different to driving a defective vehicle..

[Ringo]

I used to be on the tools and then worked in fleet management.

Without a service from new here is a few that I was involed in:

Rodeo V6 got to 70,000kms - around $7k
Camry 4 cyl got to 43,000kms - around $9k
Camry V6 got to 57,000kms - around $14k
300C V6 (3 services in 60,000kms instead of 6) and did big end bearings.
BMW 3 Series - around 50,000kms


One car we go in was sludged up to buggery. We filled it with kero and ran the engine for a bit (with no load on it, just idling and hlding 2,000rpm kind of thing) and then drained it all out. What went in as clean kero came out as black and stinky but seemed to save the engine - we had nothing to loose so did what we could and gave it to customer and we will see how it goes. All good aparently!

What people also don't seem to understand is that a service interval is not just a guide, its a schedule. Its not flexible because it an inconvienance. Skipping a service or having them done late constantly will eventually kill the motor. Todays engines go forever but need clean oil as they are built to far tigheter tolances that the engines of the 70's and 80's

Fleet companies are red hot on servicing on time and provide 'due for service' reports to their clients. Lack of service on time is a black and white OH+S issue.

A work vehicle is an extention of the office and the duty of care is the same. If a vehicle has not been maintained as per the service schedule and an accident occurs that is attributable to the lack of maintenance then the business is liable - simple as that.

[pcman]

a boss i used to work for told me the trucks only needed servicing every 50000km
was a little hino fc driven around melbourne never switched off cause it was refridgerated so 8-12 hours running daily

it got to 35000 before i finally convinced him it HAD to be serviced

scariest part in his previous job he looked after the maintnence of light planes

[vibe_xr6]

Its a bit of topic, but this makes me wonder how evinrude's etec last's 3 years before scheduled servicing and maintenance. ( No scheduled maintenance apart from once every 3 year service )