Car makers ripping of Australians

[ian]

I watched the Chasers new show on ABC last night [Check out ],and they were showing how company's like MAZDA were ripping of Australian motorists,I don't know if you have noticed but Mazda's require a service every 6 months making it one of the most expensive cars to service,
But the same car in the UK and other countries only need to be serviced every 12.500 miles or 20,000km a lot different to what their customers are forced to pay here ?

[VWindahouse]

That's Mazda Australia's decision not Mazda Japan who I think are owned by Ford still.

I have worked for a Mazda dealership in the past and yes you're right it is just a money making scam. But at least Mazda is right up there when it comes to resale values and reliability which is a result of over servicing and a quality product to begin with

[brad]

i think there are plenty of other brands that also mandate 6-monthly service intervals.

VW are no better - OS they allow variable (up to 30,000km) service regime on 504.00/507.00 oils whereas in Australia they mandate 15,000km intervals using the same oil. Supposedly because Australia is a much harsher motoring environment. /rolls eyes

Unfortunately, the chaser crew are such a pack of fools that I can't take them seriously, even when they are trying to be serious.

[team_v]

Also interesting to note the fixed price servicing that is on offer for a lot of new cars requires a 6 monthly service so it actually ends up costing more to service the new corolla/lancer per year than my car.

[Umai Naa!!]

Mazda are doing well in the sales stakes.

As far as service pricing goes, I don't think they're that bad. Parts and oils for them are definately cheaper than VW equivilants.

Mind you, they're drawing comparisons based on the assumption that the owner will service the car on time, not distance.

[Diesel_vert]

The differences in service requirements can be related to operating conditions (climatic, atmospheric, even road quality - dust, i.e. silicon, is bad for engines), fuel standards and oil quality requirements (not an exhaustive list).

I would expect synthetic oil to be compulsory for their 20k services, together with sulphur-free (10 ppm) petrol and diesel (mandatory in Europe), their milder climate, operating and driving conditions, broadly speaking. Though I'm sure many motorists in Europe would hit the time interval before the distance interval.

Here, I suspect Mazda dealers are expected to use ordinary API SM or SN-rated mineral or semi-synthetic oil (except for diesel engines with DPF), which combined with our relatively high levels of sulphur (our diesel is capped at 10 ppm so it's fine, but regular unleaded is capped at 150 ppm and premium unleaded at 50 ppm) and our general operating and driving conditions, make extended service intervals unsuitable for ordinary motorists who mostly reside or travel within urban areas. Exceptions abound, of course.

On the flip side, some owners of European cars don't trust the manufacturers recommendations and reduce the recommended interval by half (15k down to every 7.5K) or even by a third (15k down to every 5k), though in many cases their rationale is never backed up by used oil analysis.

[stickshift3000]

I'm cynical.

I believe the 6-monthly service interval is simply to make up for tighter profit margins on the new price of their cars in Australia.

[ian]

I was reading another forum on this matter and there was a list of countries where there is a 12 month servicing , One is Saudi Arabia which is a lot hotter and a lot dusty

[Diesel_vert]

It also depends on the vehicle itself. Not all engine designs and configurations can support extended service intervals. European manufacturers have been developing and pushing for extended service intervals to a greater extent compared to Japanese manufacturers. A lot of R&D goes into these things.

Having said that, I don't see what is so remarkable about a Mazda that it would need to be serviced every 6 months (except maybe the rotary and MPS models). A 10k/1yr service interval with synthetic oil (no mineral or semi-syn) sounds more reasonable to me.

[Tobes_WIR35]

I was reading another forum on this matter and there was a list of countries where there is a 12 month servicing , One is Saudi Arabia which is a lot hotter and a lot dusty

I reckon the humidity would be more of a problem than heat.

Plus our roads are pieces of ****.

[Transporter]

It could also have something to do with how long the people keep the car for. Our roads are full of the cars that are very old, so some should be greatful that by servicing it every 6 months they stay safer for longer.

Oh and if you'd read the owners manual, they also mention when driving under the severe driving condition
the car should be serviced more often . But, by any means if you preffer to buy a new car every 3 years (that's what car manufacturers really want), then I'm sure the car would go that distance even without the servicing, of course you most likely will need to pay for the repairs if the car breakes down in that time.

For those who care, want to look after their cars best and keep them for a long time, I still recomment to change the engine oil and the oil filter as the part of 6 monts or 7,500-10,000km service (which ever comes first).

I hope that helps.

[brad]

AVerage age of the Australian light vehicle fleet is 10 years & has been on a gradual decline since it peaked in 1995 at 11 years. Interesting that 15 years before that it was only ~7 years. Maybe the avg fleet age in SA is a bit higher due to slightly lower economic factors?

How does 10 years compare to other developed countries?

[THE_EGG]

Citroen recently changed their servicing interval to a compulsory 12month instead of a compulsory 6month (compulsory to keep the warranty valid). I still choose to get mine serviced every 4-6months depending on how many times I go to the track. Citroen charge me about $250-$300 per service and that includes a free courtesy car for the day or however long they need my car for. Peugeot being the same policy.

[Tobes_WIR35]

I think time-based servicing is, for the most part, a crock. I mean sure, your fluids and filters are going to degrade a little bit over time, but over 6 or 12 months it's going to be negligible. It's running the engine and driving that causes the wear and tear. For me it's not really a problem because I do enough kilometres to beat the time based system, but my fiancee does hardly any kilometres, so for her to do time based servicing, she'd be getting it serviced every few thousand kilometres, which is ridiculous.

[tigger73]

I think time-based servicing is, for the most part, a crock. I mean sure, your fluids and filters are going to degrade a little bit over time, but over 6 or 12 months it's going to be negligible. It's running the engine and driving that causes the wear and tear. For me it's not really a problem because I do enough kilometres to beat the time based system, but my fiancee does hardly any kilometres, so for her to do time based servicing, she'd be getting it serviced every few thousand kilometres, which is ridiculous.

Actually the low km cars can be some of the worst. Our second car is a Mazda 3 which my wife uses for school runs mostly. The engine wouldn't even get up to temp by the time it is back in the driveway. She would be lucky to do 2,000-3,000km a year but it's some of the most wearing km as the engine/lubricants are never at good working temps.

I "borrow" it occasionally to do some country runs just to put some km's on it. Still get it serviced every 6 months to keep up the warranty.