Good Service North of Boston
 

Hey
Which Mazda dealers are good for service north of boston? 128 Mazda is the closest, but I'll never go there again! Second closest is Ira Mazda in Danvers. There are a few others also. Which are recommended?

Why never go to 128 again? I've had good experiences there, except the last one where they scratched my brand new rim.

Ira is great, but they don't have high speed internet in the waiting room, 128 does :).

Werner in Manchester, NH is good, I have contacts there.

I also go to 128. They seem like nice folks there. Actually, the techs put some nicks on the silver trim on the shifter and a 0.5" nick on my red leather seat (driver's side) when I was last there to have the iPod adaptor installed. I didn't make a complaint right away; I'll let them know when I'm there for an oil change next week or so and I'll see what they're gonna say.

But overall, I think they're better than Quirk in Quincy. Never been to Ira in Danvers yet.

Ira is good, but a lot of the time you have to make an appt way in advance. At least at 128, if you need something done, you can get up and get there at 7am when they open and get in and out.

I hear good things about Wellesley Mazda as well. Never tried anywhere else south of boston.

I've used Werner in Manch-Vegas for 4 years I've had my 8. Mark is the tech I have worked with and he has always done good work for me. Service Mgmt went out of its way to try and help me when the original 04 factory motor (bought in 03) said bye-bye even though I was getting nowhere with MNAO.

I've been going to Ira for a while, and overall they were good (then only decent), I would give them a shot for sure.

The appointment argument has two sides to it anyways: typically, with Ira, once I made an appointment, I didn't have to worry about waiting for too long (although sometimes the wait was longer than promised). But typically they were within half-an-hour of promised wait. Whereas with a first-come-first-serve basis, it's just too much uncertainty for me (if you want certainty, you basically have to show up at 7am mon-wed).

I went to 128 once after RPIRX-8's recommendation, and spoke to a service advisor other than the one he recommended. I got in at 7:30am, and the only actual service was the oil change. I left at something like 10:45am. When I got the car back, they checked off my brakes as "green" 50%+. I asked the service advisor whether they really measured the brakes. He said yes. I said that this was the original set of pads and that I find it hard to believe that I'm at 50%+ life after 45K miles. He was surprised and said that indeed on the 8s, the brakes go fast, like 25-30K (or some number). I confirmed again to him that I was on the original set of brakes. The service advisor just shrugged it off. When I got home, I dug up measurements from 7K miles ago and they showed brakes at about a 35% level. So I really doubt that they actually measured my brakes.

They also said they inspected the clutch and there's "plenty of meat left." I don't think it's possible to check clutch thickness w/o taking out the tranny. Oh, I also never got a Mazda survey after that visit, which is strange.

But whatever, I'll give 128 another chance, as Ira Mazda upset me on another account.

I also back Werner Mazda. I too know Mark who is a certified rotary tech. He worked on my 8 (when I had it), has worked on all my Miata's, and now my Speed3. Good place for service.

Synaptic3 in Candia, NH. (not a dealership, but they know what they are doing with the rotary. Probably a cheaper hourly rate, as well.)

I purchased a GLC, 4 626's, and 2 Millennias from 128 during the 80's and 90's.

Serviced them all at 128 and on balance was happy with the service. They generally worked to make things right the few times they messed up.

When I purchased my RX-8 in December 2003, they didn't seem to want my business as much as IRA. ;) What little service I've had done (recall, service bulletins) has gone well at IRA.

I do most of the minor maintenance stuff (oil, filter,antifreeze, rotations) myself.

Cheers,
Alan

My RX-8 will definitely be going to Synaptic3 only from now on (its been there all summer as it is getting goodies!!!). My Speed3 will still go to the dealer to keep up a good record of maintenance as I have a 100k extended warranty.

Synaptic3 is da bomb diggitity shiznit