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Carfax misses a lot. The previous owner may have changed his own plugs, as many of us do. That won’t show up on Carfax.
I’ve never needed penetrant over 40 years of changing plugs on dozens of cars either. If you’re lucky, someone used anti-seize lubricant on them when they were placed. Make sure to get yourself some anti-seize lubricant to put on the new plug threads when you put them in. Just a little goes a long way, you only need a bit spread out on the threads. It makes them easier to remove. And be careful about overtightening the plugs – the threads can easily be stripped. A torque wrench is nice to have but not necessary, just get them snug.
And use the compressed air to blow out debris around the old plugs before you remove them as nightflyr suggested.
I drive a Honda, not a Mazda. There are multiple sources online for genuine Honda parts. Many of them are actually Honda dealers. Most of them offer a significant discount off list from what my local dealer charges.Also, different local dealers can charge differently, so call all the Mazda dealers in your area.
There may be similar outlets for Mazda. Just do a search on “genuine Mazda Parts.” If you don’t mind generic, there are some companies that make knockoff body parts. I don’t know about their quality control, though.
If you bought this car new, the exact Mazda color should be somewhere in your paperwork from when you bought the car. If not, it should be available from the dealer or online. Each car company has specific color mixes – one company’s blue will be different from another’s. So you need the exact name, and sometimes there is a number to go with it.
You can probably find a local body shop to paint the bumper for less than the dealer charges. You may also be able to find a body shop who will order the bumper for you and save a few bucks.
Thanks, nightflyr. I’m still researching . . .
I thought I would pass along what I was told by a service adviser at my local Honda dealer and by a guy at a transmission shop recommended by that same service advisor. The service advisor said that they haven’t put in a replacement transmission in several years as Honda’s price is so high ($5,000), so they send customers to an outside shop for a remanufactured transmission. He suggested that I do another fluid change and try driving it, that the metal chips may not cause a big problem.
The guy at the transmission shop that the Honda dealer recommended essentially said the same thing – to go ahead and drive it after the fluid change and see what happens, along with replacing the external filter.
I was surprised to hear this from both of these guys as they would have a vested interest in telling me to bring my car into the shop ASAP. I’m still somewhat skeptical of this approach, but I am considering it. The main reason that I would consider it is if I determine that the cost of having someone disassemble, clean, examine and diagnose would cost near what a full repair or a remanufactured transmission would cost. If that is the case, I wouldn’t have too much to lose. Does that make sense?