DavisRx8

Need to rant a bit ...ok… I need to rant quite a bit... (warning, this is a long post)

After putting it off for almost a year, I finally made some time to take my car in for some overdue servicing.

1. Replacing a cracked front windshield defroster button
2. Replacing a cracked rear windshield defroster button
3. Replacing a missing seat belt-bolt cover
4. Replacing a loose center console lid
5. Replacing a loose ashtray cover lid
6. Replacing a clogged windshield wiper nozzle
7. Addressing squeaky front brakes
8. Getting the monthly oil-change done

Mazda did an incredible job engineering the car, but they obviously didn't pay enough attention to the quality of their interior plastics! That list of fragile plastic pieces needing replacement within a year's time makes it seem as if I'm driving around in a POS pinto, and not a $30k sports car ...

All of the above mentioned issues - with the exception of the oil change of course - are covered under warranty, and I went into the service with the assumption and expectation that there would be no problems - administrative, warranty, or parts availability-wise. Was I wrong...

The nearest Mazda service center is almost 30 minutes away from Davis on the east side of Sacramento; as such, I had to wake up at 6:30 in the morning and go through the hassle of having a friend drive up with me in a separate car so I could drop off my Rx-8 for the day, while still having a ride back down to Davis. So the morning itself started out on a negative note, considering I had less than 3 hours of sleep the night before and was forced to inconvenience a friend at the same time. However, I understood at the time, the dealership's reasoning for wanting the car for the whole day to address the long list of repairs needed.

After an anxious day of waiting, I finally got a call at 4pm stating my car was finished and ready to go. The lady who called me pleasantly stated - and I quote - "Hello, Mr. Kim, I'd like to inform you that your Rx-8 is COMPLETELY repaired and is ready for you to pick it up; everything went smoothly." Although logic told me to leave my car at the dealership overnight and avoid the certain rush-hour traffic along hwy 80 and along hwy 99, I couldn't stand the thought of leaving my baby out in the dealerships parking lot overnight, and went ahead to pick her up. I asked another friend to take me to the dealership, and lo-and-behold, the trip itself took an hour – twice that of the normal 30 minutes.

After almost 10 nervous hours of waiting and two-inconvenienced-and-certainly-annoyed friends later, I staggered into the dealerships service center expecting to find my baby COMPLETELY repaired, with fresh engine oil, washed, and vacuumed (as per Mazda’s “Full-Circle Service” commitment.

This is where it gets interesting…

The service advisor tells me that they checked out my brakes, and found no problems with them! She told me that the squeaky noise was due to the accumulation of brake dust and particles of dirt being trapped under the brake pads! I was incredulous, considering that there was a service bulletin (TSB) openly available to the public – and therefore certainly available to Mazda’s own technicians and to the service advisor – which states that certain Rx-8’s under a production timeframe (cars with VIN numbers between a certain range) had uncharacteristically squeaky brake pads not dependent on wear and tear and was therefore authorized for exchange under warranty. This service advisor stated firmly that no such TSB service bulletin existed and therefore was not covered under warranty – she insisted on charging me for the “Brake Inspection!”

I decided to reign in my incredulousness and wait for her to finish accounting the list of repairs before returning to the topic of the brake pads.

Thankfully, the missing seat belt bolt cover, the loose center console lid, and the clogged windshield wiper nozzle were all replaced correctly; however, the service advisor then told me that they had ordered the wrong front and rear defroster buttons and failed to order a replacement ashtray cover lid! I again reigned in my frustration, remained calm, and scheduled yet another appointment with the service center for when the missing parts came in.

At this point I could feel a headache coming along, and I had a 5pm meeting to attend in less than 30 minutes, so I decided to just let the matter slide for the time being. It was my intention to return several days later when the subsequent replacement parts came in (AGAIN), and to bring in a printed copy of the brake squeal TSB as well to prove my point to the service advisor, and to get my money reimbursed for the cost of the brake inspection.

I got in my un-vacuumed and unwashed car which they pulled up (full-circle service my ***) to take a cautionary look around, and … I saw that my center console (the area around the piano-black CD Audio and Temperature deck) was all scratched up and dented, as if someone had taken a screwdriver and tried to force the section out! I couldn’t believe my god-damned eyes! This was the section that had to be removed to replace the front and rear defroster buttons! They didn’t even have the @#$^%! Parts to replace at that time! So why did they even attempt to remove that section?!!! And even if they did, why in the hell was it all messed up?!!!

Needless to say, this was the final straw; I exploded and demanded that they bring out the manager.

To summarize what happened next:

As it turns out, by this point, the incompetent service advisor and the tech who had worked on my car were both conveniently gone for the day! Subsequently, after my ranting and raving, the manager stated that he knew of the TSB service bulletin regarding the squeaky brakes, which I knew existed months prior to even coming in! ARGGHH!!!!

The manager profusely apologized for any inconvenience (yeah no bloody kidding) that I went through and promised to personally oversee the ordering, handling, and replacement of ALL the parts that were supposed to be replaced that day, as well as the replacement of the parts that were damaged in the process of their absolutely shitty repair.

The manager “humbly” offered to reimburse me for the cost of the “brake inspection” (expected of course), offered to replace the brake pads free of charge (which the idiots were supposed to do in the first place), give me a free rental car for as long as it took to service my Rx-8 when the ordered parts came in (the least they can do…bastards), and offered me a free oil change as well to make up for my inconvenience.

It was my New Year’s Resolution to learn to control my anger , and therefore I decided to try and meagerly live up to that commitment by accepting the manager’s offers - which essentially means that I merely got a free oil change as true compensation out of the whole experience. With my now splitting headache, I decided to just accept his offer for “reimbursement” for the time being and head home to try and make it to my meeting on time. With the manager’s expression of “trust” and “keeping his word” ringing in my ears, I drove back to Davis only to run once again into rush hour traffic and be late for my meeting.

It was only after the day was over and I had parked my car, that I remembered I had an oil change done as well………………………….

…………………………..

They over-filled the oil.

After I go back to the dealership in the next week or so to get everything repaired and replaced, I will NEVER go back to Senator Mazda in Sacramento again.

Fanman

Sorry to hear about this. It seems Mazda service is pretty hit & miss. The only experience I have had with mine seemed pretty good. Now my sales experience, that was crappy.

Go48

I can REALLY relate to that man. On the rare occasion when I take my cars into a dealership for service, I try to keep it simple with one or two items to be done. I hope all is resolved at your next appointment.

IcemanVKO

If they called you at 4pm, and it took you an hour to get there, how could you possibly expect to try and make a 5pm appointment?

And if they probably pulled your panel trying to get the incorrect buttons on. I'd report them to Mazda, although what you have done here is probably much worse than that lol :D

czr

iTrader: (3)

That wasn't so bad. Could be worse my friend; a couple owners had their cars hit while they were being serviced.

Rotary Nut

Bro your experience reminds me of my experiences with Casey Mazda (Casey Imports) here in Newport news, Virginia.

These guys are a bunch of circus clowns dressed up in uniforms acting like they know what they are doing. Every time i take my car in for repairs (Pre RX-8) it would take them at least 5-7 trips to get it fixed.

Reading your post had a familiar ring to it. My first experience with that dealership was similar in that the day after I took delivery of my brand new Mazda 626ES I was having my indash CD player as per my purchase agreement with teh dealer.

Here is what happened

Now this is the first experience I had with this dealership. The crap never ended as I put up with **** like this for almost nine years until their ineptitude resulted in me forcing VW to repurchase my 2002 Passat W8 because it was in the shop 14 times with 32 job orders and out of service 60 days in the 13 months I owned it. most of those jobs were due to me having to take it in numerous times for the same problem and the dealerships failure to fix it right the first time....

But this was by far the funniest because it cost the dealership over a thousand dollars to fix it, read on....

In my post above I had problems from the get go three days after I bought a '95 Mazda 626ES from Casey Imports. I had as a condition of purchase, an in-dash CD player installed. Now here is how this farce plays out......

I bring the car in to have them install the player.

Five hours later...

Player is installed, but hey wait a minute! It looked like the "tech" used a dull screwdriver to "pry" out the pocket under the HU inorder to install the CD player. I mean this thing had gnarly gouges and chunks ripped out around the entire periphery of the CD player (sound familiar?). This thing is screwed in from behind the trim panel. Now on the '95 626 this trim panel is essentialy the whole dash, it runs from the door, over the steering wheel then runs down to the center tunnel. All switches, stereo, vents and HVAC switches are mounted to this one trim piece. $900 dollars to replace + labor!

I get the service writer and drag him outside to look at it. Dave tells me to have a seat in the waiting area. I then see Dave and then what looks to be an 18 year old punk of a tech, baggy pants, pimply face and hat on backwards are going out to the car to take a look. Dave is chewing this guy out royaly. They then retun to the garage.

Five minutes later.......

The general manager and Dave with the tech in tow go out to look at the car. The manager is chewing out both Dave and the tech. Now this is getting interesting! They said they will handle it and will replace the trim and to bring the car back tomorrow as they will have one overnighted.

No wait this isn't over yet.

Day two...

I bring in the car and they change the trim piece. I check out the car and WTF the trim is floating about 1/4inch off the face of the dash. Again I show Dave.

Two hours later...

They reinstall the trim and now the radio works and the CD player does not...

Another 30 minutes later...

They check and find out the CD player was not hooked up. They hook up the player and now the HU is now displaying "SAFE"

Another 30 minutes later the job is now complete, everything is now working properly,

End of this charade!

Things that make you go Hmmmmmmmmmmmm!

rx8wannahave

I'm sorry to hear that, all you wanted was to be treated right and you have people like that making Mazda look bad. From all the stories I hear...it's true, good service dealerships are hit or miss.

It's a shame but I hope everything get's better soon. About anger, I understand that especially with how we get treated sometimes...good resolution and GOD bless you to help you with it. BUT again, I would have been HIGHLY upset to say the least if that happend to me.

It's simple, order a part...confirm you have it, THEN call the person so the service can be done...SIMPLE, yet so many companies just dont' care about their customers enough nor respect them enough to do that very simple thing.

Note: I just got my car and the roof rail/water gutter plastic thing was scoffed up. I took it in and they said that the part that was orderd came back damaged so they buffed out the scoff instead. Classic Mazda in Central FL so far has been great about service and I hope it stays that way.

Maybe we should demand picture evidence when they say they got the part in...LOL, but again...sorry for the frustration...tomorrow is another day...

Aratinga

Welcome to the world of Mazda "service" -- we've all been there. Expect incompetency, dishonesty, and cluelessness (either feigned or genuine) every time you schedule service for your 8. I've personally been to four dealerships in Southern California and have only found one whose level of competence is barely acceptable (West Covina Mazda). The other three (Claremont Mazda, Anaheim Mazda, and Tustin/Heritage Mazda) are never touching my car.

I just got my car back after five and half months of being in the body shop at Tustin Mazda, and one of my foglights is not working. I'm literally scared to take the car back to Tustin to have it repaired, even though I'm sure the foglight failure is due to their incompetence in attempting to repair another electrical issue related to the accident. If I can't diagnose and repair the problem myself, I'll take it back to West Covina... I really don't want the neanderthal at Tustin anywhere near my car again.

As for the piano-black interior finish -- while my car was at the bodyshop for five months, it was left open and uncovered in a service bay exposed to all the grit and dust blowing around. The crap had settled in a thick layer all over my interior, and the corrosive grit destroyed the piano-black finish on all the door handles and center controls. No one there even gave a s**t when I repeatedly asked them to keep the car clean and covered.

Gambit

Is it really so hard to find a car dealer that's honest? It seems like such a simple concept, that if one single place managed just to do their job correctly and for a fair price, everyone would take their business there. Now I feel like I have to photograph my car inside and out because they might damage it and tell me it was like that when I brought it in.

One time I broke the little plastic switch on my gf's celica, a seemingly insignificant part, probably a dollar or two right. NOPE!! All toyota would do is replace the entire assembly with all of the electrical equipment(which was not broken). They told me they had to order the part ($150-absurd) and it would be in Wednesday. (I took care of this because I broke it) They called me on wed. and told me I could bring the car in to have it fixed, so we took it over and they said it would be done by the end of the day. Around lunchtime they told her that they didn't have that part in stock and they would have to order it and it would take a few days. At a cost of two hundred and fifty dollars.

Wait a minute--

F'ing Cherry Hill Toyota decided to rip her off just because she's a girl!!!! Man did she scream at them, because she knew they already ordered it for me for 150. Needless to say that is the last time they got her business.

czr

iTrader: (3)

This is clearly a bodyshop issue. And have you taken it up with the body shop manager? I love those little piano black accents so much I'd asked that they be replaced. Unacceptable.

spork

Ugh, is Tustin Mazda that bad? I got my 8 from there. Don't scare me... I'm probably going to get my oil changed this weekend or next. Sigh, all this talk of Mazda dealerships worries me. Seems like 90% of them are utterly incompetant, 9% are acceptable, and 1% are great.

jaedcem

As far as overfilling the oil, has anybody ever checked their oil before accepting their car from the service department? That way, you would be able to PROVE to the manager that they made a mistake, and REQUIRE that it be fixed before you leave.

DavisRx8

Normally, I check my oil level after having a 3rd party do an oil change for me; but the oil change was the last thing on my mind after the whole fiasco ...

Hard 8

Man, that sounds so frustrating. I feel your pain.

And ... just in the interests of presenting a good story to offset the bad ones, I will say here for the record that my local Mazda dealer has been generally excellent to me in terms of performing warranty work, changing the oil, washing the car (at least the outside) and providing me with a rental car.

Just FWIW. Not all the Mazda dealers suck.

Equis

You described it exactally how the Mazda service is, you know what pisses me off even more is that I have had Honda service, incredible!, Ford Service, even more damn awesome! and then there is Mazda service that wants me to come back with an AK-47 and shoot everyone in a frustrating fit of rage because they say they fix things or tell you that everything is fine even though there is a TSB about it, or when they talk to you about technical things like a little kid.

Ok now I am starting to get even more pissed off thinking it about it, FORD has better service than Mazda... Geezzz... I know they are owned by Ford Motors but how can one have dropped the ball about service so badly.. I had my Expedition in for repairs and the service advisor called me like every day to tell me an update about my SUV. Walked around with me to look at my truckt os ee if everything was fine and fixed and if I had anymore questions and asked if I was satisified with the repairs. Mazda on the other hand is like a smoke and mirror game, they tell you to come in for repairs give you they keys and tell you "Hey dude I had the techs dirve the car and everything is fine and we installed your parts." When in fact they did not install any parts in my case, defroster buttons and various interior lids, and a janky *** Navigation that still reroutes randomly.

Just by the experiences alone in the Mazda service department, I can definetly say this will be my last Mazda anything that I will ever buy. I love my RX-8 but it is not backed up by the dealerships suffeciently for me to even think about buying an other Mazda. I will though get an other Honda which will be my 3rd, or an other Ford, I know they break down often but damn the serive blew me away at their detail of customer service.

Lex

Both times I've taken my rx8 in for service, I get it back with scratches in the steering wheel leather. I mean, WTF? The most recent time was just for a f'king oil change!

I'm now gonna buy a steering wheel cover, and put it on every time I take the car in for service.

crossbow

I don't think its that Mazda service departments in general suck...just in some areas they do. I've heard equal horror stories from nissan, honda, mitshu, dodge, chevy, even saturn service departments.

Heck my friend just got charged 500 USD to replace his front brake pads when he took it in for his 30k mile service at the saturn dealership. Why? His rotors were "rusting" and required replacement. Thats the reasoning the dealership gave him. Sigh.

Its not the brand name you should be yelling at, but the people who are working on your car.

Heck there is a volvo dealer in MD who can't fix a vehicle without scratching, denting, or defacing the exterior of the vehicle you bring them. Is it the techs fault? You'd think so...till you take a look at the bays, and see they're only a few inches apart. Any slipup whatsoever during the day and someones car gets injured.

Always talk to fellow members in your area before taking a car in. Inspect the service bay, ensure that it has adequate room...see if anyone is yelling, or angry at the service counter...

I can't even visit a service department in my state! But the ones off glebe road (arlington) in VA are pretty good .

Rotary Nut

Equis I hear ya and have to agree with ya!

I had been a VW/Audi for almost 10 years but based on my service experiences I will never buy another one, unless that is they open up another VW/Audi (only) dealerahip on the peninsula or fire everyone of those clowns at Casey Imports. I really like the Passat it was a solid car and very tight with great performance. But VW has to see that the quality of their service is really dragging the company down...real quick!

Granted I am refering to VW and Audi but Casey imports sells Mazda, Suburu and Jeep also, and my Mazda service was just as bad. I bought my 8 at another dealership because there was another option unlike VW/Audi.

When will they wake up and smell the coffee?

On an aside did any of you buy your RX-8 at a Mazda only dealership? I ask this because I here that service departments that service only one type of car tend to provide better service and tend to garner higher customer satisfaction. VW and Audi have done this down in VA beach but alas nothing up here.

rX8rEdLiNe

Allow me to repost from my earlier thread:

I had an unbelievably horrific customer service episode earlier this week at Magnussen's Fremont Ford Mazda Service. The experience ruin my mood during the entire work week, still angers me today, and so I wish to vent. Thanks in advance for everyone's patience as this will be a very long post.

I had previously had the airbag recall done on the car a while back, but did not realize that my glovebox damper was broken until recently when I read about it on this forum. It turns out, Magnussen Mazda service had broken it during the airbag recall, so I took my car back about a month ago to have the glove box fixed. I was told that the part had to be ordered, it would be available soon, and they would call me ASAP for an appointment to have it fixed. I never received a phone call, so I called back 2 week later to check on status, and they tell me the part was never ordered in the first place! So they finally place an order for the part, and says again that they will call when the part is in. Two weeks later, after no phone calls again, I check back and was told that the part is in today, and should not take more then 30 minutes to install it. I made an appointment with Service Advisor Gary Byrne for Wednesday morning this week.

Wednesday morning at 10am, I dropped the car off at the dealership and Service Advisor Gary Byrne confirmed that the installation would take no longer than 45 minutes. I waited around in the sales room for over an hour, and checked back with the service advisor an hour later. At 11am, I was told that the technician is currently installing the part for the glove box and to check back again in half a hour. At 1130am, I come back and you will not believe what Mr. Gary Byrne told me. He told me that in order to install the damper for the glovebox, the technician will need to take apart the entire dashboard assembly, that it would take approximately another 6-8 hours of labor, and that I had to leave the car overnight since all the technicians were getting ready to go to lunch? I know from reading about this on the forum that its a relatively easy fix, should not require 6-8 hours as the service advisor is saying, so I smelled some bull **** here. At this point, I was not comfortable leaving the car there at the dealership with these guys. He asked if I would like to speak with a technician regarding the glovebox, to which I replied yes, so I could have him clarify the long 6-8 hour required labor as quoted by Gary Byrne. So at this point, Gary Byrne took off, and I thought he would come back with a service technician. What transpired next revealed the unbelievably unprofessional, inept, and incompetent staff at Magnussen's Fremont.

15 minutes later, to my horror, I see Gary Byrne speeding back in my RX8 without any service tags on the car, or any technicians. Now I was agitated and bewilder at what was going on. The service advisor gets out of my car in an irate manner, scolds at me that the keys are in the car, to leave the dealership and never come back ever again. Then he goes back into the service office, screaming and ranting at me. In disbelief, I checked inside my car, there were no service tags, and the glove box was still broken as if nothing was done at all while I waited for 2 hours.

I was extremely pissed, and had had enough of this travesty of customer service so I demanded to speak with the manager. Low and behold, Gary Byrne refused my request, while threatening me to leave the compounds or else. He then proceeded to slander me by calling security, lying, and accusing me of harassing and threatening him. I left the office, looking for a manager to do something about this mockery of customer service, while this guy Gary Byrne was following behind me, shouting and raving. Finally when I got ahold of Operations Manager Clayton King, and told him about the sham of events that had just transpired. He said he would handle and get everything straighten out.

As I was finishing complaining to Clayton King, Gary Byrne runs towards my RX-8, puts the car in nuetral, and attempts to push it out of the dealership himself! In a quick frenzy, I run towards my car, shouting "Don't Touch My Car Bitch!!!" which causes him to back away from my car. I swear if this guy did not get out of my car, I would have probably gone postal on him out of defense of my beloved RX-8. At this point I was sick and tired, had had enough of all this nonsense, and the Operations Manager Clayton King was incompetent, unhelpful, and had done nothing to resolve the matter.

I finally got in my car and took off, feeling disgusted, wasting 2.5 hours of my day in the worst customer service experience of my entire life or anyone elses for that matter. Nobody from Magnussen has yet to call and formally apologized for the absurdness of events. Clearly, the staff at Magnussen's Fremont are unbelievably unprofessional, inept, and incompetent. I love my RX-8, but this experience has caused me to think twice about purchasing another vehicle from a Mazda Dealership. The Mazda service experience at Magnussen Fremont can be best described as putrid. I am considering filing formal complaints to the BBB, and to Mazda Headquarters.

What other recourse can be done, and thanks for allowing me to vent?

V_for_velocity

I'm sure it isn't that bad. People with bad experiences tend to rant (who can blame them?) while those with average or better service aren't as likely to gush.

Paul_in_DC

Arlington Mazda is good? *scribblescribblescribble*

I bought my 8 from Brown's Mazda in Alexandria. The sales guys there were great. I've been to Rosenthal a couple times for parts, and had a fairly good impression. But I haven't had any "real" Mazda service done yet, since my 8 is new.

SO LET'S HEAR IT FOLKS - what about the GOOD service places, the ones that just did stuff right? I know we all like to scream bloody murder when stuff's bad, but let's hear where some of the good ones are too.

crossbow

Ya. I had a fan controller issue with my 6 in 03 at around 6,000 miles or so. (Might have been 8000). Had heard some good things about arlington mazda (off of glebe road). [Later this would become a recall].

I took in the car, requested a PCM/TCM update, a 4 wheel alignment (car was also pulling to the right), and for the fuel recall to be done.

Dropped off the car in the morning, they gave me a loaner, I got a call about 3 hours later with the car done. Everyone was kind and professional. Total cost was $0 as it was under the 12,000 mile adjustment period.

This is vs the other dealerships nearby in (MD) which not only didn't replace the fan controllers (oh its supposed to make that really loud annoying sound all the time!), but refused to update the pcm or tcm of the car, even though updates were available....

Rotator

Thought I'd put in my $0.02.
As dealers are independent - you really have to be careful.
So far my MAZDA experience has been really poor.
You would think that with the RX-8 being the current "FLAGSHIP" car - anyone that purchases one should be treated with a bit more respect.
My findings so far are a general lack of professionalism and a real feeling of not caring.

I almost shudder at the thought of having to drop my car off to these guys. In the DSM world - the dealer is also known as SATAN. I think this applies to MAZDA as well.

My recommendation - interview the service manager. Develop some kind of personal repport. You are reading this message which puts you in a group of rlatively few enthusiasts who probably know more about the RX-8 that most of the service people.

Think about it this way - how many hours have we all spent reading, and researching about problems.

Go in to the dealer - talk with the service manager and make him aware that you know a thing or two about the car, and other people's experiences. Try to get some assurances that everything will be looked after.

My experience at a Chrysler was awesome – 7 year 115K warranty allowed the dealer to service my talon to the tune of $10K at 114500km.
Acura has been quite good – some better than others.
My friend’s lowly infinity G20 – AKA “psuedo infinity” is given first class treatment and a loaner cars such as G35’s FX35’s etc if the repair is more than a couple hours.
With dealers making most of their income from service - I am shocked that they don't treat that as more of a profit centre.

Mazda?
My PDI checklist sits empty.
Financing was a comedy of errors.
Scratches that I’m sure weren’t there before after dropping off for firmware flash.
Firmware update requests – M version, N version whatever is like asking for a huge favour.
Generally the service areas are low rent – no drinks or phones – generally a miserable environment.
Anytime I’ve been to the service/parts counter to pick stuff up – I am appalled at the conversations going on between customers and the service reps. Customers are treated like dirt. Mazda would benefit a lot from lurking in these forums to gain some insight on the cost of poor dealer experiences have on future sales.

I guess that is the word that sums up my experience – I have to ask mazda’s service department for a favour to fix the car.

Personal testimonials carry a lot of influence.

I am very happy with the MAZDA product – very disappointed by the MAZDA service. Mazda should look to Lexus for some ideas on how to treat your customers to keep them coming back.

zoom44

the above is why mazda is going after dealerships to create new standalone top of the line dealership buildings and offereing to pay a huge sum of money to those who do so. they are TRYING to fix the dealership problems they know they have.

AvatarQAZ

I agree... to an extent, that this might help. But from what I have noticed from the posts concerning this issue, it is not the atmosphere or tools used. It is the people.

Again, from what I have read, they are unprofessional, unethical, and generally snakes in the grass. Some, are afraid to work on the rotary engine because they are unfamiliar. This may be a stretch to say, but if you want to learn you have to get your hands dirty.

Therefore, IMO, Mazda needs to focus more on professional development of its staff while concurrently working to satisfy the customer's 'feel' that he is taking his car to valhalla for the day. From talking to my service rep and some mechanics, they dont seem overly knowledgeable... but certainly they do not have their heads up their ***. And if they dont know, they call someone who does. I have personally experienced this.

Of course, the dealership I will ONLY take my car to is a mercedes/mazda dealer. So that may carry some weight...