After I had a single car accident (no body damage), they were the closest shop so, my car was towed there for repairs. I had no problems with their service department.

 

I am glad they helped you out, but I have seen/been to better dealerships that are more trust worthy. I am speaking more specifically about their sales.

 

Menlo Mazda Redwood City CA, NEGATIVE!! I bought my car from them, They didn't clean it, service it, CHANGE THE BALD TIRES! what pissed me off the most is i live 2 hours away from them and i had to come back to the dealer because they didn't give me the lug key. Then they lost the key and said it was my fault because it "was in the car" (which it totally wasn't >=0 ) then they had me on a wild goose chase sending me to 8 different stores wasting half a tank of gas. So they get an


F- - - !!!!!!

 

ALHAMBRA MAZDA, CALIFORNIA- worst service ever...it took them like 4 days to fix my moon roof squeak noise, my driver side sun visor, and to inspect brakes...when i got there, i brought some new wheel locks and they could not remove my old wheels locks so i had to go to America's Tire Co. to have them removed... they left my car dirty and customer service was terrible... SO DONT GO THERE!

 

by the way, my moon roof squeak is back and my brakes have a new problem?

 

Omicron, I don't think I can keep this short as it requires all the text to make my point. It's also posted in the SE forum and should probably be removed.

=======================

NEGATIVE -
Southerlin Mazda, Mall of Georgia, Buford, Ga

Just so you know the the people involved:

John is the Master Service Tech.
Susan works at the service counter.
The group I refer to is the Georgia RX-8 Club.

========================================

I stopped by Southerlin Mazda today to tell Mike in the parts department that I had repaired my clutch pedal assembly myself and wouldn't need the one I ordered. Mike is a great guy behind the parts counter. He has always helped me out getting parts with the utmost professionalism.

I saw John at the service desk as he was up front instead of in the back for a change. After cordial greetings, I said I would like to talk with him if he had a minute. He said he was really busy and wanted to know if it was involved. I said "no" it will only take a minute. I told him about my clutch assembly and I wanted to know if he had any others come in. I was not prepared for what followed and since I'm a non confrontational type person, I chose to not respond what I was truly thinking at that time and decided to swing back online, where it will hurt the most.

These are not quotes but are as close as I can remember as to what he said.

- John at this point proceeded to let me know that only people that track and drive hard have the problems we have. (Referring to the Ga RX-8 Club and many issues over time)

- He said that an 80 year old woman brought her fully loaded black automatic in for trade with over 100,000 miles. (I can't make this crap up guys!)

- He referenced members of our group bringing in white papers and requesting work because of them and said it doesn't mean he has to do the work just because there are white papers. Also, that there are white papers that ya'll don't know about! (Seems there are some issues we need to know about guys, let's get busy :D )

- He said that most of us come in only for warranty work and they can't make a living off of that. And followed up with something relating to the fact that they really don't need our business. (Guess an uneducated Mazda owner is a good customer, eh!)

- He had things to say about two members, one positively and one negatively, I don't care to mention names so you will have to guess.

- He was on a tear and didn't want to be interrupted when I tried to speak and Susan was nodding and John spoke to her for a confirmation and then she joined in with a left jab.

- He said that when we come to them for something and if they make a suggestion that we don't follow up with things like spark plugs and brake pads and that we go to (can't remember the degrading term he used) some other place to and get them. (I don't remember being obligated to Sutherlin!)

- He seemed to have plenty of time to unload on me so I guess he wasn't that busy, eh!

He said more but I honestly couldn't believe he was telling me all this. It wasn't like I came in to get my clutch assembly covered under warranty. I ordered the GD part with all intentions of purchasing it. I just decided to repair my on and was wanting to alert him that there was a potential issue with the clutch assembly. He told me, "There is no issue with the clutch assembly!" and suggested that there will not be. (We will see about that!)

Seems they don't want our business. I've said this for quite a while now. I suggest that if you need to use them for something, don't tell them you are a member of the GA RX-8 Club and for God sakes don't act like you know anything about the car. :|

Oh, and he also told me that he was over needing to do mods to his car and that's why he sold his RX-7. He said that gas cost too much. He rather drive a small car (can't remember the POS he mentioned). Fast cars just don't matter to him any more.

WTF did I do to deserve this crap! I didn't come in asking for a GD thing!

Hope John and Susan gather around the computer and read my post to the other employees of Sutherlin Mazda.

 

Good summary and congrats on keeping your kool with them - I'd have lost it....


S

 

OURISMAN MAZDA

The attendent tried to void my warranty as soon as I pulled up saying that it was "ALL MODIFIED UP".
-when getting the vin to check the history log popped the hood and saw that I had a cold air intake, stopped taking the vin and got the manager and told him that they shouldn't accept the car because it has aftermarket "STUFF" on it and she is sure that it voids my warranty.
- then they ignored me for like 20 minutes after I OVER HEARD this **** and told them that if they want me to pull mazdas stand on aftermarket accepted parts and what isn't then i could seeing I know where to go for that.
-If that wasn't enough they finally pull my car around and say they will take it into the shop while STILL arguing if it is voided or not<<<AND RAM my front bumper into the highest ramp into a service garage I have ever seen after I told them more than once how to bring it in and even told them I would do it myself>>>
- the master tech there was great but that was it.
WILL NEVER GO THERE AGAIN!!!!

 

So whats wrong with the clutch assembly? YOu are too vague.

There is nothing wrong with the clutch.

 

Markville Mazda Markham Ontario= BAD! (words can't describe)

Stephen Williams the service manager at this location is a jerk. Lied to me several times about the service history of my vehicle, would not disclose all work that had previously been done, unaware of mazda products THAT DO EXSIST, admitted to buying parts from local used parts supplier )actually recommended them to me) the list goes on. To top it all off he turned his back and walked away from me in the middle of a conversation in which I remained calm and civil throughout the duration. Even though I was getting dicked around. WTF

Markville Mazda Blows!

 

My clutch bracket snapped (spot weld broke and the bracket tore loose) when driving home from work on Friday. I was shifting from 1st to 2nd. I had to stop the car and crank it in 1st to limp home. On Saturday, I visited Sutherlin to order a new bracket. Yesterday I went back to Sutherlin to pick the bracket up and what I explained earlier was the result.

I'm not sure about your statement "There is nothing wrong with the clutch." Is that intended as a statement or a question? If you are asking a question then then answer is no, there is nothing wrong with the clutch, it is new and was installed when I had a replacement engine installed under warranty at another dealer about 2200 miles before the bracket failure.

For this issue, see WOOOO ! Clutch pedal SNAP off ~~~

I joined in at Post #249 on Page #10 and included images of the problem and the result of welding it back for additional strength.

 

Ok there is a clutch bracket issue. We think it is due to certain height people and how they sit in the 8 and the position they use is causing a leverage problem.
Only logical explaination. But there have not been alot of cases.

Still could be a design issue.

Its true mechanics work off commission. They don't make any money off warrenty work.

Their money is made raping the consumer replacing parts and collecting the full hourly rate for diagnosis and repair.

 

Putnam Mazda in Burlingame - JUST SAY NO

If you look like you might be an easy target who might not know anything about cars (e.g. female, because dealers tend to assume we haven't done any research on a $30K purchase ), they will lie to your face.

I was car shopping in the Bay Area late last year, and one of the first things the sales guy said to me, when I said I wanted manual transmission, was that MT was more expensive than AT.

How can you do business with such a blatant liar? I can't remember the sales guy's name, but consider yourselves warned.

The plus side, though, is that if/when you DO catch him lying to you, you can use his lie to negotiate the price down to an acceptable level, and then head over to another dealership with a nice quote.

 

Just to throw some sunshine in an otherwise downer thread:

Capitol Mazda in San Jose is great. Ask for Jared (he works the counter) and he'll take care of you. Service is always top notch, they never give me the run around on any work, I get 25% off coupons from them all the time, and they throw rental cars at me anytime the car needs to be in there for any length of time.

Reverse Mux, you should come out to our meets in UC. https://www.rx8club.com/west-rx-8-forum-34/bay-area-nor-cal-community-chat-thread-94583/

just go to the last page and say hi

 

I know, I heard so many good things about Wayne Mazda on here. I moved to NY in April and needed to take it in soon for some service. When I called the service department to make an appointment I mentioned my issues I wanted fixed. I had to take it in on Saturday because of my schedule, and when I get there they tell me they can only do an oil change, not fix the other two issues because they are on half staff. Why would they tell me I could come in on a Saturday knowing they wouldn't be able to fix the problems?

It got much worse, to shorten the story I had to take it in two more times over two weeks (I live in Queens, about 25 miles away). If you really want to hear the whole story, PM me. I know many have said they've had great experiences, but looking at those posts they were quite some time ago, things might be slipping. I'm not just trying to bash them, but honestly I was shocked because I'd heard so many good things about them. I'll stop whining, just go there at your own risk. I'll try the others closer to home, and I heard they're all terrible too.

 

I'm sure this has been talked about by alot of Arizonans...

Jim Click Mazda Sucks...

First time I ever used them they were GREAT. I had nothing but good things to say. 2nd time. I wanted to kill them. They were replacing my tranny and the gears and it took a month because "the parts they got were just as bad as what they took out" It took a month before they told me "mazda gave us the go ahead to replace your entire tranny" It took them a month just to do that?

I took it back for a 3rd time, this time with clutch issues. They wanted to charge me $2,000 + to fix my clutch. So Instead I went to a local friend who is fixing my car for $1,000. The parts are coming from Jim Click Mazda. just as they get ready to put the car back together low and behold JIM CLICK forgot to include the pressure plate...Supposably in the system it said it arrived, but it never did. So Now I have to wait god knows how many days for that to come in before I can have my car. my car has been at the shop since thursday.

I bought this car in august of 07 used. The previous owner wasn't that great to it, which upon looking at it you can tell from the broken plastic underneath (no under tray) to allready needing a re-man engine, tranny, etc. The clutch was both the previous owners fault and mine. There's no way in as little as I've had the car that I would damage it so bad that it almost grinded into the stock flywheel. (i'm a better driver than that).

So yeah anyways...Jim Click Sucks. I think Tucson Needs a 2nd Mazda Dealership who won't screw people over/lose their parts.

 

My Mazda RX8 died on me in the middle of the road. I had it towed to the nearest dealership, which was Classic Mazda in Denton, Tx. This was a Thursday, my car was in the shop until Saturday and at 4:00 an hour before closing I received a call from the service manager that they could not find anything at all wrong with my car. I expressed my concern of what would cause it to just die in the middle of driving. He had no answer but to say they checked it out thoroughly and found nothing. By this time it was close to 5p.m. which was time for the shop to close. I left and headed towards home which was 15 miles away. Half way there a red light came on, later discovered was due to the radiator being almost empty. We had to put a mixture of water and antifreeze at least 5 cups. I called Classic Mazda and spoke with the service manager first thing Monday morning. His response was, "hmm, I wonder if there could be a leak". I replied with if you checked out my car thoroughly for 2 days why couldn't you find the radiator fluid was almost empty and leaking? I then took my car to Freeman Mazda in Irving Texas, the immediately found that there was a crack in the expansion part of the radiator. I would never recommend anyone to take your vehicle to Classic Mazda in Denton, TX.

Thank you for this thread, it is nice to have heads up of bad and good service departments.

Lindasrx8

 

Paretti Mazda Motor Co., New Orleans/Metairie, LA. HORRIBLE! I'm honestly surprised they even know what a rotary engine is... seriously.

 

Guiffre Mazda in Brooklyn, NY


Service center improperly installed an O ring on the gas tank following a fuel guage repair covered under warranty. This resulted in a gas leak, which leaked fresh gasoline onto exhaust components below. Upon further follow up, dealer "fixed" the O ring after admitting that they installed it improperly and the O ring became pinched. The vehicle continued to have a strong smell of gas and upon further investigation, i had found that the rear seat cushion under which the tank access was located was reinstalled following the repair SOAKED WITH GASOLINE!!!!

Even after removing the cushion for the weekened, the vehicle continued to have the same gas odor. It was unbearable. How a dealer can return a car such as an RX8 back to the owner in such condition is incomprehensible.

This caused me and my passengers to suffer headaches all weekend long being in a vehicle with a constant strong gasoline odor. In addition, the plastic trim piece near the area of repair was splattered with gasoline which caused various unsightly markings as the gas tainted the plastic.

The vehicle is back at the dealer for the 3 rd time. I will be reqiesting a new vehicle if the inside does not smell the same as when i originally bought it. The vehicle is a 2005 RX8 with 23K miles and now smells like an auto shop/gas station inside, rather than the leather new car smell it had prior to repair services.

 

Last week I took my car to World Car Mazda in San Antonio for an oil change, and to have them check over my brake pads and rotors to make sure that everything looked good.


After two hours of waiting I got up to check the status of my car. 10 minutes later the lady at the service desk was able to find my Service Writer who was unable to give me an answer. I heard him call a service technician who came into the service department where I was waiting. I heard my Service Writer ask the technician if the oil change was done, and the technician said No. That got my irritated, but not pissed. What happened next got me pissed.

After I heard their conversation my Service Writer came up to me and told me that my car was "Being wrapped up and will be ready in a few minutes." I told him that I overheard his conversation with the Service Technician and told him that he lied to me. I demanded to talk with the main Manager. After my Service Writer told the manager I wanted to speak with him, I saw him drive my car into the service bay.

My Service Writer came back and joined me and the manager in his office. I asked him what they had done with my car in the past two hours, and his reply was "The car was getting an oil change." I told him that I just saw him drive my car into the service bay, pointing out that he had lied to me AGAIN. He tried to stumble for words but ended up not saying anything. I then asked him how my brakes were, and his reply was just "Good," that was it, nothing more. I then showed the manager who was standing right next to the Service Writer a previous service report from the last visit showing that my brake pads were low and would need to be replaced soon, so that was lie number 3. (It won't be the last lie) The manager told the Service Writer to leave after that.


The Manager then apologized, said he would pay for my oil change, and said that I would be assigned to another Service Writer will get everything cleared up and make sure that everythign on my car was in perfect condition. (I don't know how true that statement was)


The new Service Writer told me that my car needed the recall done to get the ECM flashed to fix syptoms of loss of power and rough idle. On my last visit, I complained of loss of power and a rough idle and the Service Writer that had lied to me, lied again and told me that nothing was wrong with my car and that they couldn't do anything about it. That is the fourth time he lied to me.

Wait, there is still more! When I got my car back, I saw that they had 10w30 written on my oil change sticker. OOPS! I showed the new Service Writer and he said that the car should be fine. I made him setup another appointment to get another oil change this week, and to do the recall. I hope that they actually do work to my car this time.

EDIT: About the above statement: After reading several threads, and getting a PM regarding the 10w30 oil being used, I have come to find out that 10w30 is ok to use and actually helps protect the engine better in hotter climates. Sorry for my ignorance, I just recently bought my RX8 and am still doing a lot of reading about them.

I still never found out the condition of my brakes.

World Car Mazda of San Antonio is going down as a Horrible excuse of a dealership for their service department in my book.

 

Bob Penkhus Mazda, Colorado Springs: The sales rep's were very professional but the owner was not. I bought my rx8 there last thursday and found out the starter is going bad, just yesterday. THEN after looking in my owner's manual and finding marijuana (left from the previous owner) I called them and was told "did you smoke it? I mean, was it a lot?" Currently going to another dealer to have starter replaced.

 

Just to add a little more information to my rant just two posts above.


I just drove home with a new engine thanks to IPAC Mazda, and NO THANKS to World Car Mazda.

When I took my car to World Car complaining about low power, they told me that it passed the compression test and that the car drove fine when they drove it and had no power loss.

4 weeks later I took it to IPAC and was told my engine failed the compression test and they had ordered a new engine.



World Car Mazda of San Antonio couldn't give two ***** about their customers.

 

I'm sure its posted in here but i'll just reiterate to keep your asses away from Manfredi Mazda in Staten Island. Its one of those service departments that has Mazda, Subaru, Toyota, and every other car maker in the service department. They don't care about your car and are not knowledgeable at all in my opinion. I HAD to bring my 8 in there and the techs were peeling out in the service area. I brought it to the service writer's attention and he tells me they just polished the floor haha. I then almost proceeded to get into an argument with the same writer after I asked for a wheel alignment.

Convo: Me - I need a wheel alignment(along with a list of other stuff)
Writer - Why?
Me - Because I want one
Writer - But why?
Me - Because I installed coilovers
Writer - Oh so you screwed up the suspension?
Me - No after coilovers are installed a wheel alignment must be performed
Writer - No you are wrong I have been doing this all of my life and I know what I am talking about
Me - Just please do it.

Then I left. After I got the car back I had a nice dent in my door and the trunk was all scratched up. Moral of the story is that they have no clue what they are doing so your best bet is to stay away from them and drive another half hour up north to Wayne Mazda. End rant

 

tsk tsk tsk

 

My story is exactly opposite. I really love them.

my car is at Wayne right now, been 2 days already(tomorrow is 3rd), reason? some problem I will explain later, but came out to be more serious than I and they first thought, now Kevin (rx8 tech there, he is a member here as well), is working on it to try to figure something out. Very good dealership imo. when I buy another car, I will definitely put them on #1 list.


I've never been to Guiffre Mazda's service department, but I've heard about horrible stories from the sales department.

when the sales department suck, you cant really expect their service department to be any better. (not to mention, numerous reports about their service department ripping off customers/install wrong stuff)

How hard it is to install the fuel pump anyway? I did it myself just a couple weeks ago, 1st time, no leak whatsoever. jeeeze these people.

Wayne Mazda +1