After reading a negative report about the service center I have (tentatively) chosen for my new 8 (Autobarn, Evanston), I thought I should ask for some other recommendations.

Anybody in Chicago found a good one?

Thanks,
saxon

 

What part of Chicago are you from? I purchased my RX-8 from the Autobarn. The service was ok, but I did get a great deal (25,000 on a 6spd GT). I dealt with their service department once and was not impressed at all. Everything is very rushed in their and they always seem to need to have the car left with them, even for minor things. I have started taking mine to Naperville Mazda. They have a super nice facility and are very nice and helpful. Plus, it never seems to be overcrowded or rushed. I took mine in on a Saturday morning for a bug in the tire pressure monitoring system and they were able to run a diagnostics on the system, figure out which sensor was bad, order the part and have me out of their in a little over an hour. Heck, they even offered a loaner vehicle when I first got there. I personally would not recommend the Autobarn. I'm not sure what the closest one to you might be, but sometimes spending some extra travel time might be worth it when the job gets done right and the service is good. Best of luck with finding a place to take your 8. Semper Fi

 

Hello all,
I bought my car from Wilkins Mazda/Buick in Villa Park. I have used them for all my service, except one time, and have been happy with them. Others have had a good experience with Naperville Mazda. Last June, I took my car to Autobarn of Countryside for transmission service. I did this after talking to the service manager at the RX8Groups meet there. I'm not going into details, but I can not recommend them.

Hope to see you all at the meet on Tuesday 3/21. Ask RedSheDevil for a 10% discount card from Naperville Mazda. (She will probably miss this post and not bring enough. )

This should have been created in the Midwest Forum.

 

I bought my car from Auto Barn Evanston, which was a pleasant experience. I then had to bring it in for service...grownnnn.

First they didn't offer me a loaner, I had to ask and the women seemed surprised I needed one. Put me off a bit. I sent across the street to pick up a loaner from Enterprise and was given a POS. I hate that Mazda is not giving out loaner Mazdas, Enterprise is a hassle and they gave me a Caviler. Had to call them to see the status of my car and learned they did not resolve either issue. Feed me a line on both that there was nothing wrong. Maybe they are right, I had the car in for poor mpg (11.5) and an AC light, which kept coming on for no reason. I still believe the mpg is poor and something is wrong and just learned from the board that other are having the same AC problems. They said I could talk to the mechanic and that he would call me before he left for the day which was would be 4:30pm it was around 3:00pm at the time. At 4:15pm still no call so I called back, got the mechanic and was feed a bunch of bull about the roads and weather in Chicago. Shop Manager never talked to me but told the rep I was speaking with that they would do nothing more and I had to take it up with Mazda corp. Very poor customer care in my book.

I walked away with the feeling that they couldn't care less about my issues and just wanted me out of their hair. I would rate this single experience as very poor. If I can find a close enough dealer I plan to switch.

 

I've had great experiences with Anderson Mazda in Crystal Lake... they're also a BMW dealer so they treat their customers like royalty. They still make you go through enterprise for loaners, but enterprise brings the car to the dealership and you drop it off at the dealer, so it's no big deal. They also have a good relationship with that dealer and I've always been given a high-end rental.

 

I've only had my RX-8 for 4 weeks. Got it at Naperville Mazda. Had in in earlier this week to get the splash guards installed. Was very impressed with their service department and parts department. Very nice and good service. The service manager on duty didn't have a record of me requesting a loaner, but he found one for me anyway even though I brought it in around lunchtime. Would definitely recommend them so far.