So I've had some bad luck with Mazda dealers for service. Making rookie mistakes resulting in oil leaks and taking 3, even 4 times to fix stuff (all minor stuff, but in a way that's worse), giving me a hard time over stuff they should fix (rear window still rattles and has since 6 months after buying the car and now they're telling me $90/hr for something they shoulda fixed back then), etc. etc. I've tried both Mississauga dealers and the one in London, ON (which is where I'm living now) but they've all had their problems.

So my question is, once your car is out of warranty (3 year mark for me is in July), where do you guys take your cars? Or similar, if you have non-warranty work where do you go? The dealer SHOULD have rotary experience but they also have kids with little experience usually doing the small stuff (which is how a routine oil change resulted in a cracked oil filter/leakage for me).

Right now I'm about to have new tires put on my rims and an alignment and I have to wonder, is going to the dealer the right move? Those are the kinds of jobs they will give to the least experienced guys yet a bad alignment could impact tire life (I assume it's not too easy to screw up but then neither is an oil change)...

On the other hand, places like Mr. Lube or Canuck Tire or Speedy, etc. CAN'T be all that much better. And local mechanics are very hit or miss unless you get a reliable recommendation (speaking of which, anyone from London area have one?).

So I figured I'd see what you guys do. I think I've asked this before re: brakes, and most said go elsewhere but what about minor stuff like oil changes, alignments, swapping tires?

As always, thanks for your time!

p.s. I finally put up avatar/signature pics I took of my own car vs generic web RX8 icons. Any comments? My Photoshop skills are not great.

 

easy = DIY
complex = pro mechanic or dealer
warranty = dealer


Find out where the local autocrossers get alignments done and go there.

 

DIY for some stuff
I use RPM in Breslau ON for more difficult stuff.
The Mr. Lube in my area is fairly good
Woodbridge alignment seems to have done a good job on my car
I try to avoid the dealer due to all the stupid mistakes and bad attitude I've received from them.

 

No reason to go for dealer any time money is comming out of your pocket. EVER.

Unless its completely engine related and even then, there are rotary shop specialists in every major city.

 

As usual I am the odd man out here............I dealer everything, big and small. You can debate competency till the cows come home but one set of hands in the pot is lots plus i have complete history in one place. The caveat is that I have found a kickass dealer.........SESI Ford/Mazda in Ypsilanti Michigan. Too far for most to drive but I work in Detroit about 1x/month so for me it is perfect. Dealer is awsome, very competent, often fix little stuff free and treat me like a king every time I show up. After 3 decades and 3 dozen cars I figure I am spending less by just going to the dealer than by playing hack roulette with my investment.

 

AFAIK London doesn't have any local autocrossers or I would! Man I wish we did. Annoying finding dead end roads and empty parking lots to "play in" feeling like I'm about to get busted all the while... (side note: Anyone know what they can charge you with for doing drifts in an empty parking lot?) Not to mention it's not near as fun as a proper course setup.

Same deal with "pro mechanics". Hard to find one anyone swears by. I read somewhere McLeans or something that they figure over 50% of the Canadian auto service industry is corrupt in one way or another. They had a complete hidden camera rig going and did all these tests. Compared local shops to dealers to CAA recommended places. Had all kinds of stats breakdowns. I think they said dealers were the least likely to break something on purpose (some places they caught like cutting hoses and stuff and then saying you need it replaced) but dealer's had the most expensive prices and a high error rate even on simple tasks. They also warned about the dealer bait and switch tactic. Older mechanic talks to you, then work gets handed off to 19 year old.

At the end they called for legislature to help regulate the industry cuz it was so bad. After all, would you go to a bank if there was a greater than 50% chance they are going to lie to or cheat you? Wait a sec.... bad example. I'll see if I can track that article down online, it was a good read.

Back on topic, I think I agree with SpIcEz, no dealer except for warranty, no exceptions. Sleddog_racer, I think you are the exception to the rule. Lucky you found a good place. I don't blame you for sticking with them. If London's dealer was like that I would too.

There is a place near me where the OPP takes their cruisers to get serviced... maybe I'll give them a shot.

 

I'm lucky to have a good dealer. Everything fixed on time, as quoted or no charge. Treat me very well and there are only two guys who have worked on the car.
I'm happy and the car runs well.

Banks Mazda Charing Cross outside of Chatham
07 VR GT

 

See my response to your thread in Wheels & Tires (no - I'm not stalking you ) about hooking up with the autocrossing club in London ON.

The "pro mechanic" unreliability risk is why I would only go to a dealer or pro for something advanced. If I'm doing the tune up stuff (plugs, wires, filters, oil), and installing basic suspension pieces (it's surprising what can be done with a set of sockets, jackstands, torque wrench, and the internet) - then I'm not putting myself in the position for them to manufacture problems or mislead me.

 

At the dealer I go to they have 1 guy that comes in and works on the rotaries ...

Just because our engine is so special... so no kids touching my goods... My tires were done at the dealer and cost $15 to do the swap so that wasn't expensive at all.

 

Just an FYI, as a dealer about 5% of our work comes from "other" shops and we have to fix what they did. If you think that we will have about 500+ repair orders a month, not a good ratio. Most common is for electrical, then oil leaks if caught in time and we replace about 2 engines a month (NOT WARRANTY) from wrong oil filters, cracked cannisters etc.