Follow up. I made a trip to Colorado last month. After traveling West through Kansas, I was down a quart. This was after a full day of driving through strong headwinds and near 100 degree temperatures. I checked at each fill up for the remainder of the trip and did not use any oil on my trip back to Ohio. I figure the one day was a fluke, a result of the heat, wind and a full day at high speed. I will monitor as usual. I'm at 16,000 miles now.

 

Not sure what you mean when you say you"got the valve stem recall taken care of at the first service." It's not a recall yet just a TSB. Are you saying they replaced the valve stem seals?

 

Wonder the same. I have heard there is a "special tool" dealers are receiving which may be to replace valve stem seals without removing the head but this has not been confirmed. No official word they even have a fix for this issue. My question is has it always been a problem since the 2.5T motor was released, or is it just a bad batch like the 2.5NA cracked head issue?

 

Actually I bought the turbo but only because the normally aspirated 2.5 has cylinder de activation which I wanted nothing to do with and wish Mazda would have never used it. What I will be curious to find out is when they refer to a "valve stem seal MODIFICATION what does that really mean? Does it mean that all the turbo 2.5's made before 2021 (including the CX-9 back to 2016) have a different stem seal design and do the 2022's and everything made after Sept. 14, 2021 have a newer different stem seal? This drives me nuts because I took over 1 year to decide on a new car purchase and I keep my cars 10-15 years. So if this car turns out to be an oil consumer then it really pisses me off because it probably won't make 10 years. Also if Mazda does decide they are going to replace all the valve stem seals in all 2021 2.5 turbos do I feel comfortable having somebody tear into my cylinder head and have the car be the same as new? No. If you are a person that leases and gets a new car every 3 years it's not such a big worry but I want nothing to do with lifetime car payments.

 

Odd, done correctly your engine would clearly be better than new. And if your engine does develop an oil consumption issue, as long as you keep it filled why would it not last for 10 years? Not all 2.5T engines develop high oil consumption - mine has not - so you may never have the issue. It may be better for your mental health if you didn’t worry so much about something which may never happen. Regardless of a vehicle’s make or engine, it is the owner’s responsibility to maintain the oil, which means changing it regularly and periodically checking the oil level. Car ownership 101…

 

Your car has not and mine may not but at higher mileage it might. And yes I do worry about something that may not occur but I also had to remove 33,000 greenbacks from my bank account assuming it would get me a new(and first) Mazda that I wouldn't have to think twice about as far as reliability in the first few years and hopefully beyond. I had the oil done at 2500 miles and didn't even learn about the TSB until later on. Not to get into the raging oil debate but would you know what the dealer put into your car as far as oil goes? (assuming you went to the dealer.)

 

I’ve been 100% synthetic for over 20 years, and when I don’t change oil myself I watch what goes in. I did take advantage of the dealer’s offer of one free oil change, where they put in 5W-30 dino oil. I replaced it with 5W-30 synthetic 2500 winter miles later, all subsequent changes have been the same synthetic.

 

I know in my case as it is listed on the paperwork for each service visit. 5W30 full synthetic is what they have used for my 2 oil changes so far. I understand the frustration but in the end the car is under warranty for quite a while and if there is an oil consumption issue Mazda will have to deal with it one way or the other. No use worrying about it as you can't go back in time and undo your purchase. Just monitor oil use and document things so it gets taken care of. If it really bothers you, sell the car while the market is still hot and move on to another car.

 

Already considered selling but really can't come up with a better alternative vehicle. All the competition has aspects of their vehicles I don't like. Concerning my dealer who offers the first two oil changes and rotation at no charge....when I asked them what they used for oil they insisted it was full synthetic Mazda oil. When I saw the invoice which they itemize and bill out even if a service is complimentary it shows Mazda 5W-30 full synthetic 6 quarts @$4.03 per quart which turns out to be $24.18. You and I cannot buy Walmart's cheapest store brand for that price so that tells me that what they used was probably regular conventional oil maybe even Mazda super premium oil which is not synthetic. Without witnessing the oil change I don't know for sure. Honestly it doesn't matter to me if they use synth or not but I just wish Mazda would be more specific about using synthetic or not for future oil changes possibly at another place other than the dealer. No oil debates here but for the final complimentary oil change I will see if service dept will allow me to see what they put in as I got pretty friendly with their shop foreman mechanic on that first visit. We'll see which direction Mazda goes on this issue.

 

Just for giggles, visit the parts department and buy a quart of that great Mazda super premium oil at $4.03.
Then you have the label to read and will know for sure what they dumped in your engine.
If only conventional oil, I wouldn't worry as your break in might be better that those of use that put synthetic in
at the first change.

My 2¢