Advice re car warranties

[RobertInOntario]

My wife and I bought a slightly used Mazda3 almost exactly one year ago. It was a 2012 and had low mileage (26,000 km). We have an extended 7-year warranty on it. The car runs well and we really like it.

My question is -- should I get all of its servicing done at our Mazda dealer? If we got it done elsewhere (i.e. at my local garage which charges lower fees), would it invalidate our warranty? As far as I can tell, it wouldn't, but I thought I'd ask what other Big Blue members do in these situations, as I've received good car advice in the past!

I took our Mazda3 in today for its 48,000 km servicing -- check/lubricate brakes, rotate & align tires, etc. -- and I'm quite sure that I'm paying much more to have the work done there as opposed our small garage. I'm seriously considering the latter.

Thanks in advance,
Rob

[ngauger]

The wife & I bought a brand new 2001 Mustang - it only had 34 miles on it... The standard Ford warranty did not specify that the warranty would be invalidated if the work was done elsewhere, so we actually had all the mileage services done at our local garage.

It cost a LOT less and as long as we kept our receipts, we were still under he warranty.

So.... look Very Carefully for anything in your warranty that specifies that the work must be done at the dealer. If you can't find anything that alludes to that, then you can have the service done anywhere - but i stress again - KEEP those receipts

[RobertInOntario]

Thanks, Mike. I think you're right. I'll carefully read the fine print and legalese in the warranty and see if I can find anything. I just spent a whack of money at the dealer.

One thing that I didn't get done was change the transmission fluid. I was going to put this off for a month or so. The dealer said this cost $190. I phoned my local garage and they quoted me $75!!

We keep our cars for a long time, I.e. Usually 13 to 15 years, so it's been years since I've last used a warranty.

[MasonJar]

Hi Rob,

When you're reading the warranty make note of what is covered and what is not. For example, you can probably have routine maintenance done by your garage, but if the extended warranty covers transmission, for example, then anything transmission related should probably be seen at the dealer. You don't want them to blame any issues on someone else's work, instead of on a defect in the car itself.

Andrew

[RobertInOntario]

Hi Rob,
When you're reading the warranty make note of what is covered and what is not. For example, you can probably have routine maintenance done by your garage, but if the extended warranty covers transmission, for example, then anything transmission related should probably be seen at the dealer. You don't want them to blame any issues on someone else's work, instead of on a defect in the car itself.
Andrew

Thanks, Andrew. Good point.