Mazda
reviews and complaints

On Dec 4, 2008 i used My CC to buy a part from MRM racing under the owner Chung Lee. through e-bay.
I was told everything was good, that i won the bid, and that pay pal would charge my card. I still have not either received a cancellation on the charge, or the part. So If you please, cancel the charge, cause i laready paid my end of the deal, but i dont want them thinking, they got away scott free. This is what turns me off about buying on line. I will definietly block alot of business from now on !
thank you for your help george alicea

Here is the story: I walked into this Mazda/Subaru Dealership because I wanted a new car. But like everyone else, I had specific budget to meet and certain requirement for my trade in. I was looking for a brand new car and a lease. The salesperson was a former professor of mine in University and said he would get me a great deal. Showed me a deal but I wasn't really too sold on it. I called the next closest and largest city for a couple quotes. I got some really good offers and decided I would do my business elsewhere. The salesperson called me and I told I wasn't interested anymore and there were better deals than his. Then he told me he would match the similar offers just to keep my business in lethbridge. He always told me that it would be ideal for me to buy a car from a local dealership because it would be easier to service. I agreed that I would give him time to hear out his offer. I arrive at the dealership at 4:30 and went over the details of the other offers. He told me that he didn't have any base models but He told me can give me a higher model at $380. I told that is fine and I need some money for my trade so that way, it can guarantee at least 6-8 months of payment without worrrying about it. He said he understood and he would try to work out. The dealership went to test drive my car and it went back and forth on the price. Then he told me the price was $395 because he didn't factored in the Taxes, etc. The only solution they provided was that i sign and they would sell my car for me. Even the owner of the dealership said, "what can we do to close this deal?" I told him exactly what i told the salesperson and he came back and said no. I shooked his hand and walked away with ill feelings toward this dealership and my former professor. If you can't make a deal, don't waste everyone's time.

Things that were signs of bad customer service
1) he did utter a couple swears word (due to frustration, I understand but there is a line between business/personal)
2) he didn't really listen to what my requirements were. I told him if he was able to meet, i would sign the dotted line
3)I told him that if this deal were to cause him any types of difficulties, grief or personal lost, it was best for both parties to walk away.
4) They give another excuse to close the sale rather than help their customer. Instead of buying my car, they would consign it (without taking anymoney from commision!) and I would have a new car while it was being sold. hmm, locks me into a contract without and any guarantee that mine could be sold.

What I made me really mad was that they didn't tell me the truth. If the deal couldn't be done, it couldn't be done! A little honesty would have come a long way. If they had simply said, "Richard, I am sorry, we can't do it." That was all that needed to be said. Nothing more. How hard is "no?"

Mazda American Credit charges $3.67/day if you are late. In addition they charge late fees. They are taking customers cars if they are 15 days late. I have found out through people in this field that they are doing this to make money. If this is the only way they can make money then I guess business isn't too good. They did this before - took the car for a total of two payments. This time I didn't even owe two full payments but cleverly neglected to tell me that they added $60 in fees! Say no to Mazda!

Took our Mazda5 back in, as they didn't repair properly the 2 things under warranty that we requested last visit. The front wheels shake when stopping or driving on the freeway. This is an ongoing issue with many Mazda's, when the brake rotors warp due to bad manufacturer or over tightened wheel lugs. The service dept claimed they turned the rotors, but it still shakes when driving or stopping. The wheels and tire balance are perfect. Also the doors fail to lock and unlock with the remote, and I asked them to fix that. They didn't!

When I took it back in last week, and requested the items be done right this time, the service guy called me several hours later and stated they could not find any problems with the locks! He also said that the front rotors had to be replaced at our cost! I told him I would not pay for their screw up. Our own independant mechanic determined that the rotors were not resurfaced properly last time by Mazda of Orange, and that they had removed too much material. The door locks are still malfunctioning. The service guy did not even call us to tell me that my car was still sitting up on the rack with the wheels the next day. I had to go down to the dealer to find out my car was not even ready. The service manager was a buffoon as well, couldn't find the paperwork on my car, and didn't even know that there was an official Mazda Technical Service Bulletin on both of these reoccuring problems. What a complete waste of my time. Avoid this place at all costs!

P.S. on our way out they were quoting a kid who wanted new tires for his truck $2500.00! Yikes! Costco and American Tire would do it for $1200.00 Beware!

My son bought a car from Faraz auto sales and traded in his Mazda. the dealership put on new plates without asking him if he wanted new plates. The dealership did not take off the old plates of his trade in car and sold it to Landmark leasing without taking off the plates. We discovered this because we received a 407 bill yesterday for 81 dollars. I am sure there will be more on it for July.The leasing company is using the car with my son's old license plates and my son would be responsible for anything that happened . I reported this to the police yesterday. What else can I do?
Sincerely
Betty Martin-Barnes

I purchased my 2007 CX-9 Grand Touring edition in March 2007 from Scanlon Mazda (Fort Myers, FL) and had previously purchased a 2003 Mazda 6 from them. The service was top notch, probably in part due to their sister Lexus dealership and the spill over effect to their service advisors.

I recently had my CX-9 into Sam Galloway Ford for warranty work and here is a recount of my first impression (NOT GOOD);

I arrived at 7:30am (Service Department supposedly opens at 7:00am) and nobody was around and I mean nobody. I went looking for somebody and found an employee who said he would find an advisor.

At about 8am, I finally met someone and described the problem (did I mention that the advisor seem to had a late night). He said that it should be an easy fix and somebody would call me when its ready.

No calls by 2pm (Service Department closed at 4PM)

so I called the dealership and was switched around three times before being told that the car was ready but since the tech was on break that he needed to confirm the vehicle was indeed ready.

Fast forward to 3pm, so I called back and was again switched around before finally speaking with Victor (I won't get into who Victor is but if you search around this site enough, Victor has quit the following, but not the good kind). Yes, the vehicle was ready.

Here is the good part, when I went into pick up the vehicle, the cashier was all smiles and friendly when she asked for $29.13. I, with a smile and firm voice asked $29.13 for what. "Oh, we changed your oil for you" I replied, "thats nice, glad you did it for FREE", of course she didn't get the humor in my joke. So between a few words describing my first impression of the dealership, I asked to speak with my service advisor, who subsequently had gone home sick (remeber the late night mentioned earlier). So Victor pops up and says to not charge me for the oil change (but I got the feeling that it was in part due to the 25 customers standing behind me waiting to pick up their cars.

The moral of the story is if you don't like Sam Galloway's operation, at least on the Mazda side, then call Mazda North America at [protected] and tell them about your experience. Be sure to mention that Galloway Ford recently purchased the Mazda dealership from Scanlon. All dealerships must maintain a certain level of service or jeopardize their status with the automaker.

Remember its a business that needs customers, so try Naples Mazda or Palm Mazda in Punta Gorda.

The car over all is ok(my wife wanted the car?). I don't drive it much but one day in July 2007, I noticed something wrong with the performance and for what ever reason I looed in the rear view mirror and all I saw was WHITE SMOKE covering the whole entire hyway. I pulled over turned off the car and checked everything. We proceded down the hiway and it did it again. We took it to the dealership. Of coarse they said they couldn't find anything wrong. I thought maybe it was the gas we put in the car from that no-name gas station. About a month later, with the god gas, it happained again. In total we have seen it 4 times, and dealership has know idea what is causing the problem. I have noticed that when it is blowing white smoke the car doesn't perform as well. the more you give it gas, the more it smokes, and oh boy does it ever f**king smoke.

This dealership ruined my paperwork! They incorrectly submitted/neglected to submit paperwork to dmv related to my trade in and new vehicle. As a result, I have been spending the last 6 months trying to rectify issues with my new car title and the trade-in. The dmv is getting ready to garnish my taxes because they believe the vehicle still belongs to me. I call and call and no one returns my phone calls. If anyone answers, they say the person I need is "at a meeting" even if its 430 on a friday night. As soon as I got the car, they were done with me and are refusing to accept responsibility for their screwup. No one there seems to care that a customer is suffering because of their screwup. I am now going over their heads to the credit oompany, dmv, and mazda because if you buy a car from them, apparently they dont want to deal with you afterward. Forget it!

Our 2003 Mazda Tribute has been through 3 alternators in 130,000 kilometers. After doing some research it seems a fair number of other Tributes had destroyed one or two alternators. This was brought to the attention of Mazda when dealing with this issue. They have tried to blame other things such as added on electrical devices which we do not have. The bottom line is that the alternator is under the engine and right beside the exhaust. It gets soaked in rain, then fried dry. Like soaking your hair dryer and then baking it dry in the oven. Mazda has avoided taking any responsibility for this problem despite being shown evidence that one exists. It cost over $500. X 3 Canadian per fix for these because of the 4 hour labor charge. They have to take the front end on the passengers side out to get at the thing.

ZOOM--ZOOM away from another Mazda!

I have a 1992 Mazda 929 Serenia which I routinely have serviced at Steele Mazda located at 660 Portland Street, Dartmouth NS. Recently I had an engine replaced by a private repair shop and subsequently I had to take the vehicle to Steele Mazda as the codes identified sensors problems. However, the private repair shop did inform me that while the codes identified sensor problems – that in fact was not the problem as it was inconsistent with the engine’s performance. Steele Mazda informed me that the vehicle would require three sensors – two knock sensors and one crank sensor. I consented to their acquisition and installation. I was then informed that the alternator was not charging and a new one would be necessary – again I consented and a new one was installed. However, much to my chagrin when I informed the private repair shop of the above repairs they were alarmed. The senior mechanic informed me that my old alternator was charging at 14 amps and indeed it did not requiring replacing. I informed them that the total cost for these alleged repairs was a whooping $1819.00. More disturbingly, however, once I left Steele Mazda with the alleged repairs completed within two minutes it was clear that the vehicle was not running any better than it had prior to these alleged repairs. I informed the service person and he instructed me to return with the vehicle and this time I would not be charged for them to investigate the problem. I had my wife attempt to return the vehicle only to have it break down on the highway and had to have it towed there. Some two days later the service manager informed me that the catalytic converters were plugged (all three of them) and they could install new one for around $1500 plus tax or Major discount Muffler could do if for around $750.00. I indicated that Major would be my choice as I wanted to ascertain if in fact this was the chief concern and thus; this would mean that the knock sensors were never required as the car performed no different after the installation of them. Indeed, this was absolutely the case, subsequent to the installation of the new converters the vehicle ran 85percent better than it had after the costly repairs I had occasioned. Accordingly, I scheduled a meeting with the service manager and the general manager. It was during the course of this meeting that I learned that a “Master Mechanic” did all of the alleged work on my car. Equally as disturbing, however, the service manager informed me that the master mechanic never road tested the vehicle after the $1819.00 repairs were allegedly carried out. I was dumbfounded and disappointed by this obvious lack of professionalism and lack of customer service. I asked the general manager if he would be satisfied if he had shelled out $1819.00 on alleged repairs only to learn that the car have never been properly tested to ascertain if in fact, it was running as per the alleged repairs. His response was, “indeed I would not be satisfied”. I then inquired about the alleged alternator repair and in fact, the service manager called to secure the old alternator to have it verified as to whether or not it was still serviceable. Later that evening I received a call from the general manager indicating that he had received two conflicting stories regarding the alternator; and if in fact the master mechanic lied about the serviceability of the old alternator he would be fired. A week later the general manager called me to inform me that (surprisingly now) the old alternator had been misplaced and could not be found. One has to consider that the previous week the service manager called and was able to isolate the old alternator instructed the party he was talking with to hold that part and send it to an independent source for testing. I was again bemused by this obvious change in circumstances with no reasonable explanation. Additionally, I required a Motor Vehicle Inspection (MVI) and this same Master mechanic indicated that I would need two new ball joints at a whooping $645.00 each plus tax, and some other minor work. This time I sought two second opinions and much to my chagrin in both instances the qualified mechanics indicated that they could not budge the right ball joint even with the aid of a pry bar and the left one had minimum play in it. I purchased a refurbished one for approx $100.00 and had it install by a private repair shop. I also went to another repair shop and had the vehicle pass inspection without any further delay. Since then I have solicited the CEO of Steele group Mr. Fred MacNeil and regrettably he would not respond to all of my concerns and hitherto has merely attempted to ignore both me and my concerns. Accordingly, I will be submitting my concerns to W-five with the view toward exposing this fraudulent organization.

On sept 21, 2006 i drove my 1995 mazda millenia "the car" into duval mazda of gainesville for service. The car was running fine. The service was preventive maintenance & to check the cause of a "check engine light". The 1995 mazda has a proprietary computer system that can not be checked by any one besides the dealer. Again the car was running fine. The car and was not smoking after the initial 10 seconds at startup. I was advised that the valve covers and engine seals were leaking oil onto the top of the engine & they should be replaced. I indicated to mazda my concern that this job was done 3 years ago & that the engine smoked on start up for about 10 seconds ever since that work was done. They told me that it was not a result of the work that they had done. I authorized mazda to do about $1500 in repairs. On about wed sept 27 i paid the service fee & the car was released to me. Driving it home it was running very rough & but not smoking on driving. I took it back the next day sept 28. Mazda took the engine apart again "no charge". Mazda called me on oct 2 and told me that the engine was worn-out and needed $4000 in additional repairs. The car is now not drivable due to extreme smoking i mean extreme smoking of the engine. I had not planned on needing a new car at this time. I love the quality of the mazda cars the service i have experienced at the dealer is very poor.

What would satisfy your complaint?: return $1500 repair cost plus $1500 for car that is ruined. Or $3000 credit toward a late 1997+ model foreign 4 door car in excellent mechanical condition that cost $[protected]. Or repair my car to good mechanical condition not smoking.