Are There Any Quality Dealers Anymore?

Yamaha72

Member
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Mazdaspeed 3
Recently my MS3 just crossed over the 30,000 mile mark.. So, i'm sure, as most of you know this requires the "30,000" mile service obviously.. Well to be honest i've had nothing but bad luck and bulls*** service reps that seemingly know less of every issue associated with this vehicle than I personally due just by searching and gathering information on this forum. Due to this fact, I try to neglect dealerships other than for the important services and warranty work. I have already had bad experiences at two dealerships here in South Florida, so I figured, why not drive the extra 15 miles to the next dealer in Miami; Lehman Mazda to be exact. My service "needs" were to change the VVT actuator valve (again) as the car is making an audible, strange sound at startup, and also to complete the "30,000 mile service". Well initially when my vehicle started making this "noise" I brought it to Gunther Mazda and they apparently completed the job; what do you know, two weeks later the noise is clearly present again so when I spoke with the service manager at Lehman Mazda he said sure...etc, not a problem everything will be taken care of... Dropped the car off friday morning at 8:00am and told them to take their time, i'd be back around 12-1 the next day to retrieve the vehicle.. #1 phone-call from service advisor: Your tires are on the low side of percentage wear, I can replace with some (POS) Pirelli's for $137 a piece, I replied with a polite, "no thank you just rotate them and i'll keep an eye on them and get new tires at the end of the month." This merely was a courtesy call, which is fine, and of course I appreciated it. #2 phone-call from service advisor: "Uh yeaa, your battery is failing the battery load test", I replied with "thats funny, I have never had any issue with my battery, so if I do, I will replace it". Again a courtesy call, but this one somewhat annoyed me because I knew right then a there he was trying to stiff me. (By the way when I received all the paperwork, the tech wrote satisfactory condition under the "battery condition" check box!) Also he says "we can't get the car to make the noise you were complaining about so we'll try again in the morning". I said "fine, but more than likely its because of your technicians multiple and continuous attempts while the engine is already warm that the vehicle wont make the noise" just as a heads up to the advisor to hand along to the tech. So saturday morning comes... I call my prescribed service advisor, no answer. Call again ten minutes later, he answers and says "I'm really busy i'll call you back in ten minutes" of course I said ok, not a problem. Nearly an hour goes by, no call back. So at this time I decide just to head down there and if the car wasn't complete to wait until it was. Roughly another hour later I arrive at the dealer and see my car sitting there, see a tech walk up to it, start it (I HEAR THE NOISE), and take it for its final test run. So I proceed to go inside and find the service manager and ask him if my paperwork is complete, he said "I have some things to tell you about your car". I started by asking if they had completed the VVT service, he said "no, we couldn't get it to make the noise" which was bulls*** because I just heard it! We went outside and tried again for it to make the noise and it wouldn't happen!? Anyhow I said fine, whatever man give me the bill and the car. He then proceeded to explain to me that when the ******* moronic tech was reversing out of the bay this morning he didn't realize there was another vehicle behind him, my MS3 got shafted right in the arse! He says, "it's already being taken care of" I said "F yes it better be taken care of", so I see the damage, its not horrible and the paint that was scratched off has been fixed but my $45 mazdaspeed license plate cover is f'ed and the black plastic bumper trim has some gouges in it. At this point I was livid. I just told him to get my paperwork and let me pay for this s*** service and get out of here before I injure one of your staff members. Bill says $450, I was quoted $370 for this service.... Another attempt to shaft me! I went right back to the service manager and explained that my quote was $370 so it was taken care of, better have been or I was about to grab my keys and leave without a care.

Drive impressions - Sporadic idle, i mean i'll put the clutch in and it'll hang at 1,500-2,000 for a while and pulsate. Someone didn't do something right, so when I got home I reset the ECU and it was fine after that. Now three days later my fu^&%ng radiator hose pops off as i'm driving! I really want to walk into that service department with some nunchucks and whoop some ass at this point.

My point i'm trying to get across is are there ANY stealerships that are honest in the south Florida area!?!? Can anyone point me in the right direction!?!? Sorry for the super long post guys, but this is unacceptable.
 
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Wow man that sucks, sorry to hear all that.

Didn't really get if they fixed the bumper situation? Or if you had to pay the 370 for the service? He should have taken the bill off your hands just for the trouble of backing your car into someone.
 
I had to pay the $370, and the paint which was scuffed off the bumper has been fixed. It's just the license plate frame and the black plastic area surrounding the license plate.. Its not all that bad but still WTF.
 
You're not going to make them fix the black plastic or replace your license plate frame? Why not? Tired of dealing with them at this point?
 
Wow man that sucks, sorry to hear all that.

Didn't really get if they fixed the bumper situation? Or if you had to pay the 370 for the service? He should have taken the bill off your hands just for the trouble of backing your car into someone.

^^this.
They should have wiped the charges AND offered to fix the bumper or replace it. Unfortunate story.
 
He should have taken the bill off your hands just for the trouble of backing your car into someone.

(iagree) What he said & what I would have done. You ding my car while you're servicing it? Repair bill is automatically expunged. This is some karrrazyyyy s***.

While I don't normally advocate the use of numchucks and/or violence, I'd sure as hell call Mazda NA + follow it up w/ a paper letter, sent to the CEO or one of the highest echelon ppl you can find. You'd be surprised how much more effective an old-fashioned, well-written paper letter is compared to a phone call or email. Always worked for me in the past.

Hope you find an honest dealer, but these days it's starting to sound more & more like an oxymoron, ie cruel kindness or minor crisis.
 
You're not going to make them fix the black plastic or replace your license plate frame? Why not? Tired of dealing with them at this point?

The license plate frame has been ordered. As for the black plastic surround, it really isn't super noticeable and you can't even tell from a couple of feet away. Oh and tired of dealing with these fools would be an understatement, they are buffoon's and ignorant ones at that. I am going to look into writing a letter to Mazda N.A. and see what they have to say about the matter at hand.
 
Chalk it up to every dealer is different (where a good one is the exception, not the rule). When I first brought in my car for an alignment (free since it was considered an adjustment under 12K miles), they somehow broke my JDM air freshner that was secured to one of the AC vents. I get the car back and the air freshner is in multiple pieces on the floorboard. Granted, it's not the end of the world, but I couldn't purchase one locally.

So I brought it to their attention and they offered me a free oil change (which costs more than the air freshner). I figured this was a decent replacement offer since I could get another air freshner for about $15, but I didn't really want to bring in my car for an oil change (I did, however) - and my instinct was right because they damaged one of the washer/nut clips to the undertray where the screw wouldn't screw in properly any more, and they used the regular Mazda3 oil capacity as the measure. I had to go back so they could get the oil level to above MIN. I gave an honest assessment when Mazda NA sent their survery in the mail. Wouldn't you know it, the service manager calls me and apologizes and wants me to trust their work and that they would always make things right because, apparently, my honest assessment could hurt their chances of receiving their much-coveted Mazda Gold Cup award. So instead of telling Mazda NA about it, they want me to go to them to resolve any issues. Ever since then, they have gone over and beyond to make sure I'm happy with their service. But it's been close to a year since I've been back for any services. We'll see when I go in for something else...
 
Not in South Florida man. They're all a bunch of cocaine smuggling crooks down there. I was born and raised in Miami, I know whats up.

Remember Gus Machado Ford? Yea, he was a major Cocaine runner... that's how he got the money to open up his dealership; which actually began with the motive of laundering his dirty ass money.

I know this doesn't help your situation, but I thought it just proves that those dealerships all started shady.
 
Lehman Mazda, hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I bought my car there, went in for the free oil change and never gone back. They replaced the cartridge but forgot to put on the washer and while driving on the highway my filter flew off. Luckily no damage to the engine.

You could try Lou Bachrodt. I haven't had experience with them however, they're hosting the first ever South Florida Epic Mazda Meet so I'd assume they're pretty decent. If you're willing to drive futher south, let me know.
 
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Haha, Lou Bachrodt.. That's where I purchased my car from! They're alright. Sounds like you had a crap experience with Lehman too, and quite frankly, it doesn't surprise me. What is this Epic Mazda meet?
 
Here you go:
sofla_nov8_flyer.jpg
 
maybe find a mechanic in the area which you trust, who also specializes in aftermarket installation, and just have him do all the oil changes / warranty work / etc.
 
maybe find a mechanic in the area which you trust, who also specializes in aftermarket installation, and just have him do all the oil changes / warranty work / etc.

That would be so relieving.. But unfortunately with the vehicle still being under warranty I am virtually forced to go to the dealer for a problem like the VVT actuator going out.. I wouldn't have expected all these problems to come just from performing the 30,000 mile service, hence my initial decision to take it to the dealer. Thanks for the suggestion though!
 
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