I figure some of the people on this board have dealt with some of the Mazda dealers at some time or another. I was curious to know if any of you have had good or bad experiences with particular dealerships. Please note the name & location of the dealer when responding. Hopefully, some of you will have some dealer info for the tri-state area :p

 

I have had VERY VERY good experience with John Finger Mazda in Greenville, SC. The staff is friendly, helpful, and knowagable. I only go there for parts personally, but I have been with my friend who was looking at new cars. They have bought 4 cars thru them now, and will be buying an RX-8 when it comes out. I have also talked to several other people, and they also have nothing but praise. Also, a BIG plus, 75%+ of the staff knows how a rotary engine works, 50% drives RX-7's, and John Finger races/ownes several.

I don't remember the name of the dealership in Spartanburg, SC. but they are HORRIBLE. NOTHING buy horror stories there. I have 3 RX-7 friends who make a 1 hour commute to Greenville to get their car worked on. 1 story- TII, running fine, parked for 2 months, will not start. Sound familure anyone? Well, their solution was to replace the engine, at which time they neglected to put ANY fluids in the car(thats right, no oil, no coolant). That engine was dead in 5 minutes. They would not give my friend his money back because he drove it off the lot, assuming they adjusted/topped off everything. They said they took it for a test drive and everything was okay. BOOM. He ended up getting his money back(after dealing with a lawyer) and his old engine. He brought the car to John Finger Mazda, but as great as they are, they still are not experts, so it was sent across town to Greg Burns, who not only got the engine running(without a rebuild...only 43k on the car) , but he fixed all of the problems the other dealer made(cut/broken hoses EVERYWHERE), but he also cleaned up the engine.

That brings me to my next point. Any RX-7 owners in the Greenville area who want a PROFESSIONAL to work on their car, Greg Burns is THE MAN. (877-2015).

Michael

 

Trussville Mazda in Birmingham is well known by nearly all Miata enthusiasts as the best Mazda dealer in the country. I visited a friend who recently moved to Birmingham, and there were Mazdas EVERYWHERE, and just about every single one was purchased from Trussville. There is another dealership in town, but I don't think anyone goes there.

Post Falls Mazda in Post Falls Idaho is pretty respectable. They have always been very friendly, and given pretty fair prices. However, there are only maybe 1-2 guys in service I'd trust, the rest seem like big dummies who don't know very well what's going on.

Do NOT, I repeat, DO NOT go to any of the dealerships in the SF Bay Area. They are all horrible. Menlo Mazda, Oak Tree Mazda, and Almaden Mazda, Sunnyvale Mazda are all sketchy. I have never purchased a car from them, but I have heard stories where they slip in extra fees and such just before you sign the papers. People have been caught off guard and signed off on it. I have visited, and their sales people are generally rude, pushy, and I don't even want to talk to them. Stay away from those dealers. Too bad, 8 million people live here, and not even ONE Mazda dealer is decent.

 

When buying my now sold '93 MX-5 I narrowed it down to 2 dealers. One happened to be near me, Assael Mazda in Monrovia, and one a little further away, Browning Mazada in Cerritos. I ended up buying the car at Browning. Their sales people seemed more knowledgable and familiar with what they were selling and although a larger dealership they're sales and service departments seemed a little more tied together. Once when I was there I spoke with soemone who was having their MX-5 serviced that they had purchased at Browning. They told me that everytime they brought the car in, service would notify the salesman on record that one of his/her clients had their car in and he/she would always say Hi and ask if evrything was OK. Not a big deal but I thought it was nice to know that they didn't forget about you after the sale. And it turned out to be true. Before moving I would return my car to 'home' for it's major servicing and my salesman would come out to chat. I still drive past Assael on my way to work and I noticed the other day that they've done away with their Mazda sales and now sell BMW and MINI. To the best of my knowledge Browning still sells Mazdas.