Personalization Options-how to educate the dealer on getting them to work.
 

tl:dr, Dealership said you can't get personalization options on your car that are listed in the manual?... Here's how to get them.

First off, yes, you have to take it to the dealership to change these options.

I wanted to make this thread to inform the masses about what to tell their dealership when getting the "personalized options" on their car, as listed in the back of the manual. I have read a bunch of threads today on different forums about dealerships telling people that certain options aren't available on their cars when they actually are, and people bouncing around between dealerships to find one that can figure it out. We all know how uninformed techs can be...

So I went in with a friend today to get the smart turn signal (tap the signal and it blinks 3 times automatically for lane changes) enabled. They initially hooked up to my friend's car and said that the options weren't available. I told them they were wrong but they wouldn't hear it. I talked them into trying on my car because I didn't have a tech package and it might be different. A different tech hooked it up and lo and behold, it worked just fine.

My buddy made this tech hook back up to his car and it worked that time. What we realized is that initially, the computer system they use said that it auto-detected the type of car when hooked up and listed the options incorrectly. The tech bypassed the auto-detect and manually entered the data into the computer (vin, DSC, tech package options, etc) to come up with all of the correct options that could be changed.

So, long story short, tell them to manually enter the car info instead of the auto-detect, and you won't have a problem.

Nice info to know. So if they give me crap I can tell them to try this.

I really need to get down to the dealership and have this done.

I'm going to have:

Smart Turn - ON
Interior Light after shutdown - OFF
Auto lock after leaving vehicle - ON
Press button once on drivers door to unlock all doors - ON

Good to know. I'll have to take a trip to my dealer soon.

thanks for the info, going to take it in and have some of those done when i go complain about the muffler to get the "updated" one

I wish Cobb would just add this stuff to the AP. It really can't be all that complicated as it's just flipping a bit for each value.

@kabobulate, I just sent $700,000 msf bucks for this thread. Very well done!

that would be AMAZING

thanks for the info, going to take it in and have some of those done when i go complain about the muffler to get the "updated" one

whats wrong with ur muffler???

Another "fix" - to have A/C turn on manually via the button, not when the HVAC is set to window and/or feet.

Another NOOB in Nashville - only 2K on my MS3 so far. I plan on keeping stock for now.

Dafuck?...

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/...jpg?1307463786

BTW, when I went in for my oil change and tire rotation the other night, I asked about getting the lane change feature turned on. Yeah that didn't go very far. It was later in the day so all of the actual techs had gone home and it was just the quicklane guy and the parts and service managers. First the service manager checking me in had no idea what I was talking about ( or how to spell "featcher" <sic> correctly for that matter), but when the lube guy saw the note he did a parts look-up for it... I, the customer had to explain to like three people that it was not a relay or anything that did it, they just need to change a setting in the computer. :smh: They said they'd ask one of the techs the next day to see if they knew what was needed...

Needless to say, I don't know if I care enough about it to deal with them again, and I may think twice about going back. It wasn't that they had bad customer service, everyone was nice, but they just didn't seem like they knew what was going on at all.

All features that will fail...

Just like the "my car wont start" or "keyless entry stopped working" threads. Good luck though.

So I went over to the dealer to get the smart turn signals turned on but they want to charge me $120 just to plug the tool in. Wtf. Did you guys pay for it?

What? That's fucking ridiculous. I would call the service manager if I were you

$0.00

I just got back from the dealer. They told me these options are not available on the "turbocharged" mazda 3. I told them how they were wrong but they wouldn't believe me. Then I talked to the service manager and he said maybe because it's a 2012.

He said he was able to get into the computer but some sections were missing, such as "auto door lock" section and the part with Smart Signal. He showed me the instructions he printed out and said it simply wasn't there. I told him to manually enter the information instead of having it auto-detect but no luck. He either didn't understand me or didn't know how to do it.

He said he is going to call mazda tech or something and ask about it since it made him curious as well. He will be calling me back on Monday with his findings. This is a hassle because the only time I can take it in is on saturdays.

What a pain in the ass. How can these people not know their shit?

Because they work at the dealer...

Just heard back from the stealership on this. They called Mazda techline and for the 2012's the option is there in the computer, but they said it's a "hook it up and see if it takes" situation where the PCM may or may not take the setting. I would have to bring it in and let them try it to know one way or the other. Oh and it would cost me like $35-$40 to get it done. Apparently Mazda's not picking up the tab on this, even on a car that was just bought 4 months ago. Love that she tried to tell me it's "supposed to cost like $98 to use the computer on the car but we're cutting people a deal that want these features turned on just to cover the technician's time and software." F that, I can live without a blinker that blinks three times, since I have a non-tech that's the only feature I was worried about.

That's really stupid. They should def pay for that... they didn't even know how to fucking do it when I went. I am expecting a call as well today, maybe my dealer will cover it...:shrug:

Ok. So last night I wrote this monologue on what kind of an outrageous price they were charging for this and said that per Mazda, the first one should be free. I told them that it was insane to charge me $120 for a non-diagnostic situation and that I could contact Mazda if they needed me to. Got a call this morning and it'll be free. "oh, we looked into it etc etc bs bs"

Called the dealer just now since they didn't call me back today. He told me mazda tech explained to him how to do it so now I have to bring it back in. He wanted me to bring it in during the week, but I have work until 6pm every day so I have to wait until saturday:wtf1:

when i bought my 2010 i got that little "mazda pays for the first one" card and i never ended up using it (1/2 lazy, 1/2 didn't want them touching my car at all let alone fucking with my computer).

bought a 2012 ms3 and the salesman told me that they aren't into picking up the tab for that anymore. i then asked if it was even an option to have those things changed. swear to god i got a shit eatin grin and a look around and then we were on to the next discussion. i knew going further with him was not worth a headache.

i want these options too (some of them sound sweet) but i don't trust those assholes to wipe their own asses right let alone fiddle with a computer in a car that they don't own.

all of this doesn't surprise me, though. as i had to have a bumper replaced on my sedan back in the day and the dealership (diff one in AZ) wanted to swap it with a hatch bumper. when i explained to them that sedans and hatch don't mingle parts, they insisted i take it back to the tech area so they could 'have a look'. 10 minutes later the guy affirmed i was correct. incredible that they do not know ANYTHING about their cars.

Wish I would have done this before modding my car. They will definitely notice that it sounds a tad louder...

why will they care? they should not be giving you any grief about any mods you have unless you are trying to take your car in for warranty work for an area with an aftermarket part that may void the warranty. have an SRI on your car when you go in for an oil change (or in this case, computer work) isn't going to get you locked up in mazda prison. they will not deny you the service. they want your money.

I had the same problem. I went in there to get my MS3 '11 to auto lock when the smart key was 20 feet away and apparently they can't do this either. I complained until I got my $103 back, although it is supposed to be a one time free personalization on a new car. I am still waiting, 3 weeks later, on an answer from his phone call to Mazda as to why I can't get this option. Smart signal worked, but that was about the only one. SUpposedly it is now programmed to unlock all doors upon shut off, but it doesn't do that either.:damnit1:

Get on his ass to call Mazda tech. Call them every other day and try to get the mechanics name. Mazda tech will tell him how to do it.

Auto lock is nice most of the time but sometimes it's annoying :doh:

Just wanted to say thanks again for this thread! Went to the dealer today they weren't sure on how to.....so I pulled up this info and walked them thru it. No cost!

At the dealer right now. They acted like it was no big deal to do this so we shall see if they have any issues. Quoted me $50 since I'm not the original owner which sucks but oh well...


tapatalked

Good luck. And $50 isn't worst case. My own dealer whom I bought the car from tried to quote me >$100 to do it less than 3 months after I bought the car. Told them they can suck it and haven't asked again since.

Well all went well. They were able to do it without any issues.

$54.92 after tax. All so I can tap my blinkers instead of clicking them down...haha.

I also have it so the car locks as soon as I step away from it and so when I press the button once on the door it unlocks all doors and not just the drivers. Oh and so when I shut the car off the dome lights don't come on instantly...

So it boils down to $13.73 per option. Not too bad I guess...

Just had my dealer change the three common ones last weekend. You could tell they didn't really want to deal with it, but it got done after me waiting for 2 hrs and when done they asked me to check that they work and said we are done here. No money needed

Do you have the tech package? Which are the 3 most common?

My dealer said there should be a piece of card stock that came with my car purchase for the personalization options. He said this piece allows them to do the personalization options for me and mazda will pay them back for the service. However, I cannot find this card anywhere beause I am 99% I did not get one. Does this piece of card stock sound familiar to anyone?

Nope, didn't get anything of the sort.

No that sounds like bullshit... My dealership didn't even know about the personalization options I had to go grab my manual out of the car so they could scan the pages.

I'm considering picking up a '12 Speed 3 tomorrow and will have them do the tap turn and a few others before even leaving the lot. Thanks for this thread!! :)

Picked up my '12 MS3 today! Didn't have a chance to get any of the personalized options done because of the shooting here in Aurora last night. But I did get to pick up the car.

Got the smart turn, dome light off, auto lock, and driver's side unlock features done this afternoon. Luckily I didn't have to give the tech any much direction, he took me back to the service bay to go through all the personalization options I specified to make sure they were correct.

edit: The personalization options were done for free through the dealer which was nice.

Sorry I didn't get back to you. I see you already got it done. But I didn't need any type of card. I got the auto lock, smart turn, and unlock all doors with one press of the door buttons.