Hello all,
My name is Alex and I am a new member to this forum, though i've been a member on some other Mazda forums when I owned a 2008 Mazdaspeed 3 in my younger days. I am trying to elicit some feedback on an issue Im having regarding my Mazda dealer and my newly purchased 2017 CX5 and the MMS remote start app system.
Here's the quick summary:
I purchased a new 2017 Mazda CX5 GT from Bob Penkhus Mazda in Colorado Springs. Now they're the only Mazda dealer in this city but my uncle purchased a Speed6 from them years ago and recommended them. I decided to add the Mazda MMS remote start system rather than go aftermarket as I'd had issues with a Viper system in the past. The salesman simply said that the MMS would cost $650 installed and I accepted and went on my merry way. I dropped the car off a week later and the system was installed. My issue arose when I got home that night and tried to activate the system. It was at the moment (on the Mazda activation site) that I first heard about the $65/year subscription fee. It was never mentioned by my salesman or any other dealer employee and I never received any paperwork/documents notifying me of this. Had I know this vitally pertinent information I would have surely went with a regular key fob or aftermarket system. I generally will always be starting my vehicle to warm up in the morning from my house, so the "line-of-sight" regular key fob would work just fine. I just figured since the MMS system was essentially the same cost as the regular key-fob that I'd take advantage of the phone app starter capabilities.
Now I plan on keeping this vehicle for a long time (10-15 years MINIMUM), so the idea of paying $65/year for that long ($650-$975) is a big consideration that I was never given the opportunity to ponder. Furthermore, who knows if Mazda can raise the rates down the road, or even stop the service if it isn't selling in high volume (and I saw on this forum that there are generally poor reviews of MMS and that Mazda has never updated it in its 2 years since inception, but that is beside the point).
So I called my salesman at Bob Penkhus and after a run-around the final answer I received was the following. The first offer is to pay for 2 years ($130, and the 1st year is already free). The other option (the one I prefer) is removal of the system. At first they wanted me to pay labor for them to remove the system which is crazy, but they then said they would remove it for free but that I WOULDN'T BE RETURNED THE $650 for the original MMS system!!! This is totally asinine to me, and to compound the problem they say that since the VIN has been used once for this system that they can't even install the traditional OEM key-fob starter ever (maybe I can do an aftermarket unit still, but I'd need to research this).
So I am asking for other member's opinions on this issue. If you did purchase the MMS system, was that fee clearly stated ahead of your purchase? Were you ever given any marketing literature or pamphlet that explained this subscription fee? Any info on similar experiences or advise is appreciated.
On a quick final note, I have owned a small business for many years and have had many instances where I had to bite the bullet b/c of an error on my part or my employees. However, this dealer does not seem to want to accept their fault in this matter. As far as i'm concerned this situation parallels "false-advertising" or at least a gross lack of communication. I am hoping other member's feedback will act as a sanity check and verify that I am not in the wrong on this.
Cheers,
My name is Alex and I am a new member to this forum, though i've been a member on some other Mazda forums when I owned a 2008 Mazdaspeed 3 in my younger days. I am trying to elicit some feedback on an issue Im having regarding my Mazda dealer and my newly purchased 2017 CX5 and the MMS remote start app system.
Here's the quick summary:
I purchased a new 2017 Mazda CX5 GT from Bob Penkhus Mazda in Colorado Springs. Now they're the only Mazda dealer in this city but my uncle purchased a Speed6 from them years ago and recommended them. I decided to add the Mazda MMS remote start system rather than go aftermarket as I'd had issues with a Viper system in the past. The salesman simply said that the MMS would cost $650 installed and I accepted and went on my merry way. I dropped the car off a week later and the system was installed. My issue arose when I got home that night and tried to activate the system. It was at the moment (on the Mazda activation site) that I first heard about the $65/year subscription fee. It was never mentioned by my salesman or any other dealer employee and I never received any paperwork/documents notifying me of this. Had I know this vitally pertinent information I would have surely went with a regular key fob or aftermarket system. I generally will always be starting my vehicle to warm up in the morning from my house, so the "line-of-sight" regular key fob would work just fine. I just figured since the MMS system was essentially the same cost as the regular key-fob that I'd take advantage of the phone app starter capabilities.
Now I plan on keeping this vehicle for a long time (10-15 years MINIMUM), so the idea of paying $65/year for that long ($650-$975) is a big consideration that I was never given the opportunity to ponder. Furthermore, who knows if Mazda can raise the rates down the road, or even stop the service if it isn't selling in high volume (and I saw on this forum that there are generally poor reviews of MMS and that Mazda has never updated it in its 2 years since inception, but that is beside the point).
So I called my salesman at Bob Penkhus and after a run-around the final answer I received was the following. The first offer is to pay for 2 years ($130, and the 1st year is already free). The other option (the one I prefer) is removal of the system. At first they wanted me to pay labor for them to remove the system which is crazy, but they then said they would remove it for free but that I WOULDN'T BE RETURNED THE $650 for the original MMS system!!! This is totally asinine to me, and to compound the problem they say that since the VIN has been used once for this system that they can't even install the traditional OEM key-fob starter ever (maybe I can do an aftermarket unit still, but I'd need to research this).
So I am asking for other member's opinions on this issue. If you did purchase the MMS system, was that fee clearly stated ahead of your purchase? Were you ever given any marketing literature or pamphlet that explained this subscription fee? Any info on similar experiences or advise is appreciated.
On a quick final note, I have owned a small business for many years and have had many instances where I had to bite the bullet b/c of an error on my part or my employees. However, this dealer does not seem to want to accept their fault in this matter. As far as i'm concerned this situation parallels "false-advertising" or at least a gross lack of communication. I am hoping other member's feedback will act as a sanity check and verify that I am not in the wrong on this.
Cheers,
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