Just wanted to drop a line to all the 8's in the area and say hello. Also, just wondering what dealership you guys recommend for this area. Besides that aspect, I am curious if many people up here autocross or take their cars to the track. Kent or Bremerton?

 

I use University Mazda for all work and they have been great to deal with thus far. I've also had good luck with the Kirkland Mazda service department - however I've heard less than favorable things about their sales staff.

 

University Mazda seems to get favorable kudos from just about everyone who goes there. I usually go to Lee Johnson Chevy/Mazda in Kirkland and have been pretty happy with their service so far (been there twice).

 

I go to Lee Johnson. The guys at the main service desk are quite good. I've had little to poor customer service from the lube rack guys though. Good luck! BTW: the Lee Johnson facilities are pretty new. You can play GT3 at there showroom floor when you wait!

 

I go to Jerry's Little Car Shop (Mazda's Only) http://mazdasonly.com/ really knows his **** (look at what he's done on his site) about rotaries. Great guy to sit and bullshit with for 10 minutes or so as well.

 

any of you had any of the marbles in a can sound and had that fixed?

 

anyone went to Doug's mazda?which one is better?university or doug's?

 

My limited experience with Lee Johnson has been good so far (knock wood).

 

I've only ever had her in for recall stuff, and they've never had to actually do any maintenance. However, Lee Johnson did spend two days rewiring the engine bay of my rx7 and only charged me for 4 hours. Apparently, the service tech just kept replacing wires until she started, and no one bothered to get approval. They called me up and said: "Well, we got her running again, and since we didn't call, we're only going to charge you for the 4 hours you authorized." Very honest and they seem to have a couple fairly knowledgeable rotary techs.

 

Mercifully I have yet to experience any of the problems that everyone else reports (knock on wood)... All my work has been recall related and just basic maintenance (like oil changes). I trust Mazda to do an oil change on my car - I don't trust Flippyboy Sunshine at the Jiffy Lube.

University Mazda also didn't balk/think twice about my car when I brought it in with the AEM air intake or the Agency underdrive pulley. (Shaun, you can make fun of me.... now!) Their shop manager knows rotary engines and every time I'm in there he's practically encouraging me to do more modifications to it.

 

There are a handful of people here who do track days, and a few others who autocross. I plan to get a couple of track days in this year and some autocrosses as well. I've put together a list of track days that are happening in the area and I'll post it soon so we can try to organize a day when a group of us can make it. Welcome to the area!

 

www.wwscc.org has information about autocrossing. i haven't autocrossed the 8 but have autocrossed my previous cars at Everett Boeing multiple time.

 

I have the marbles/sand sound, but haven't dealt with it yet. Doesn't seem to cause any problems though. If anyone locally has dealt with it, I'd love to hear too.

I started taking my 8 to University after all the rave reviews - they ARE good. I've also been to Lee Johnson, which is where I bought it. Mostly good experience, but I find that it's a little harder to deal with their service desk than University.

 

I had a horrendous experience at Doug's. In my opinion University is the way to go.

Goodbye!
Edgardo

 

Yeah..thx Edgardo..
I took my 8 to Doug's couple weeks ago for service..and I told them that I have a problem with my sunroof. When I tilt my sunroof and drive in rough road, it produces an annoying sound. I told them my complain, and I told them to check it out. May be it just need to be lubricated. But they refused fix it, they told me that it took long time to check it. After they finished service my car, they just told me that the sunroof is just fine, but that annoying sound still comes up.
I thought university is not that good, since their dealer quite small, but I see many people have a good time with this dealer..
Definitely I will go to university mazda for next service..

 

RX-8 Putih,

Check out this link and give this info to Univeristy as a suggestion:
http://www.finishlineperformance.com...29-06-1651.pdf

Your sunroof noise is a known TSB, and had Doug's service been adequate they could have obliged and performed the procedure in the link above, under warranty.

Have you been to University recently? They had a remodel not too long ago, Paul over there is extremely helpful, tell him Edgardo sent you, heh! Nonetheless your experience at Doug's reminds me of the lies they spoke to my family and I, during our last experience there.

Good luck!
Edgardo

 

I've only ever taken my car to University Mazda or Lee Johnson (in Kirkland) and have had good and bad experiences in both places.

Someone mentioned that the Kirkland dealership is better for service than sales and I couldnt agree more with it. I lived in Kirkland and me and 2 of my friends (from Kirkland) bought a Mazda within the past 12 months and no-one bought their Mazda from Lee Johnson. I remember when I was scouting cars and prices, I once ended up at the Kirkland dealership and there was this old guy who wanted me to buy a car then and there (even after I repeatedly told him I wasnt going to buy it that day) and when I finally left after an hour of arguing he screamed out "we've got a runner" for the whole dealership floor to hear. Of course when I bought an Rx-8 a couple of weeks later I never thought of buying it from Kirkland.

Service on the other hand is a different story. Scott Trail, the Mazda service manager knows his **** and from what I can tell like's his rotary's (he's got a Le Mans winning rx-7 model on his table). They did screw me once though (when they charged me $150 for the 15000 mile service which was basically just an oil change and tire rotation, but that was more my fault for not knowing that 15,000 mile service checks are crap). More often than not I get good and fast service there.


As for University Mazda, they have 3-4 service managers and you'll probably never meet the same guy twice in a row. From my experiences I can tell you both places are about the same and neither suck (at least not their service dept.)

 

Yes..that is the problem with my sunroof...
Hhmm...I been there once..when I had a problem with tracktion control and ABS, because I changed my tail light with after market LED light and it makes all the ABS and tracktion control system in my car error..they fixed it for free even though it is my fault. I remember the guy who were taking care of my car was Paul also. But at that time I thought university mazda is not that good..because the dealer is quite small..But now I know where I should go.. thx..Edgardo..

Hansen

 

I've been taking mine to Pinnacle Mazda in Renton for recall's and other maintenance stuff. They have been doing a good job so far and haven't given me any grief on the amount of mods I've done on my car.

 

i use herzog meier in beaverton or. so far so good on the service dept. but i havent used the sales service. but i DONT suggest going to royal moore in beaverton, or for sales or service.

 

On a related subject, I've been toying around with an idea to create a website where reviews on dealership sales and service can be compiled and viewed by web surfers in a nice searchable format. I've had experience before programming web applications in the past so it wouldn't be too tough for me to throw together.

Do you guys think something like this would be useful?

 

Well, its official, I have moved up here! I must thank you all for the input on the dealerships. I am worried about my service because I have taken my car in for the "Marbles sound" twice. It still is not fixed even though I had a MNA tech come the second time to the TUSTIN mazda in CALI. I wonder what the dealerships up here will say about it.

As for the Autocross post... Skinless, can't wait to hear about some of those dates.