ByeByeSaturn

UPDATE 3/22:

Mazda has chosen to ignore me.

I started a poll to help me decide whether I want to have a relationship with this company going forward. Any input from current owners would be greatly appreciated:

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...threadid=23796

Many thanks.



UPDATE:

I received a response to my email, stating that I should fill out a survey and contact the rep I had been dealing with if I wanted to continue discussion.

I replied saying thank you very much, but that doesn't help me because the rep was not the person I had an issue with, it was her supervisor.

I got another response saying if I wanted to talk to her supervisor, I should call her first to ask her supervisor to speak with me.

That's what I call quality helpful service.


ORIGINAL MESSAGE:

I can't believe that after all this time, all this anticipation and eagerness at owning this car, that I will probably be having to back out due to the attitude I have received from my dealer and Mazda over something that should have been very simple. I put a $500 deposit on a car 2 months ago, and have been trying to get someone to address my concerns regarding the delay in delivery and the car sitting at the port in the hot sun in LA for weeks. Mazda is blaming the dealer, and the dealer is blaming the port, and in the end, when I asked Mazda directly if they were telling me that they didn't care about keeping my business and someone buying a $30K car being a happy customer , and making sure that there was no undue wear on the car from sitting in the port, they said "yes." I was floored I never asked for too much, or was unpleasant or petty with them, they just told me it's my right not to get the car, and if I don't, oh well. If this is an indication of how they value business and will treat me in the future, I want nothing to do with this company, despire their great products.

For those who are pissed at me for writing this and think I'm flaming - I'm not - I'm simply relating my experience. If you have had a better experience, that's great, and I don't wish to detract from your positive experiences. I really truly regret that I may never be behind the wheel of this car again. I just sent Mazda a lengthy and detailed email and will follow it up with a letter.

And just when I become a Senior Member too

ibfubar2000

wow thats horrible that Mazda would say they didn't care, please keep us updated if they respond to your letter. intersted to see what they say.

Riccio

Well - I can see you're pretty upset with them -

but, I'm not sure what you were asking them to do????

I bought my 8 off the dealer's lot - build date on it was 11/03 and I purchased on 1/18/04. Don't know how long it sat anywhere - on the boat, at the LA dock, at the dealer.... never even thought of it.

zthang

I can understand being mad at them for an attitude like that, but I think you may have been asking a bit much if your delivery delay was only a couple of days. The harbor where your car will come in is relatively safe, and they usually keep that white wrapping around new cars to keep them from getting damaged by the sun etc. In the end, it's just a couple of days.

ibfubar2000

If I rememebr correctly I think my car sat in the port for about 6 weeks or so also, It was a preorder It sure seemed like forever knowing it was only a few hours away and i could not even see it. but I do think it is pretty normal to sit in the port plus i think since 9/11 it takes even longer to search and make sure the car is safe too, nowaday with all these threats everything takes longer!!!

rx-7~rx-8

Just go to the dealership and talk to the sales manager... you should buy a 350Z and peel out at the dealer ship... man they will be SO pissed... j/k

let us know what happens... it sux tho becuaser you waited a long time

-Some dealersships are full of $hit...

DaveT

Take a deep breath. I dont think your car will be harmed sitting at the port. Mine was manufactured in May '03 and was at port up thru at least the end of July, probably longer, since I didn't buy it off the dealer's lot until December.
I'm sure you're anxious, and people's attitudes don't help when they act like they don't care. Sorry you're having an unpleasant experience, but don't let it get to you or change your opinion of the car. You'll forget all about them after the first 10 miles driving your new RX8.

MazdaManiac

iTrader: (3)

I don't understand the whole "waiting" thing.

Why don't you get on the 'net, find the car you want at a local dealer and go buy it?

I pondered my actual purchase for about a month, but I know this was the car I was goinig to buy eventually back in 1997.

That said, when I had the finances settled, I walked over to a dealer, tested out a model that fit my needs and wrote a check.
The whole process was about 4 hours and there was no anxiety, deposits or ports involved as far as I was concerned.
I just looked at 30 or so RX-8s and picked one.

This was back in October.

Why would you need to wait for an RX-8 now in March when they can't seem to give them away?

Positron

I too passed up the choice of ordering a car and waiting 60 to 90 days for it to show up. Instead I went to the Mazda website and did an inventory search on exactly what I wanted. When I had the list of dealers within 25 miles of my home I called/emailed them until I got the deal I was happy with, then went and got the car. BTW, what exactly was the problem?

Sorry for your trouble.

mm

ByeByeSaturn

I did get on the web, find the car(s) I wanted, and bargained for them until I got the best deal. Finding a black 6-spd with Sport and less than 400 miles and from a dealership willing to sell to me at market rate (invoice or below) was not easy. There were only 2 actual cars in the Bay Area meeting the description, and both hadn't arrived on the lot yet. One dealership met my price, the other didn't, so I went with the one that did, even though the wait time was longer.

I must stress that I am actually not terribly concerned about paint damage either - I know that it's probably not a big deal, but just wanted to be sure given how much I'm spending, and just wanted Mazda to look into it for me. At first it looked like they cared, and they would. Then, I got the attitude -the "it's not our problem, settle this with the dealer" and telling me they didn't care about keeping my business.

The paint wasn't even my main concern. It was the "passing the buck" on the reason for the delay (which is almost a month now, not a couple days) - I basically felt the dealer was deceiving me, and wanted Mazda to help me get them to address my concerns. I asked for a letter saying the dealer had told them one thing, so I could take it to the dealer asking them why they told me another thing (Im leaving out details here, but bear with me). Mazda told me they wanted nothing to do with the sales process or arbitrating a dispute between the dealer and a customer, and that if I didn't want to buy the car, so be it. I mean, they should care that those representing their vehicles are straightforward with the customers, and should want to make sure the customer is happy with the vehicle he/she is about to purchase.

Like I said, this was a relatively small thing, until Mazda told me directly they didn't care about my business - that kind of attitude doesn't bode well for an ownership experience.

stickman

I do not want to offend you by saying what I am about to say; I am just trying to give you another perspective.
First of all, it was not Mazda who doesn't care about your business; it is one employee who was either having a bad day or is simply not a good employee. Second, I don't know how you approached this, but it is possible your request for anwers that people simply did not have and could not get left them with only one alternative. I have managed service organizations for over 35 years and have always worked hard to put the right people in place and to either retrain or get rid of people who did not have a good customer service focus. However, at times a customer would come along who simply could not accept the only honest answer that could be given; nothing anyone could do or say would make this person happy. What the person wanted to hear was simply not possible. So yes, there are times when even a service - oriented business must fire the customer. Not all business is good business.

Lufa

Holy crap... that has to suck, screw em, move on to something else.

I don't know if I would drop the 8 if I were in your situation, but it seems like after a month of beating my head against the wall it might be time to take a second look at that WRX/350z/S2000 etc.

Madza simply has not earned your buisness.

ByeByeSaturn

You are not offending me at all. I totally understand your perspective. But please understand mine - regardless of the circumstances of the dispute, the very fact that they would tell me directly "We don't care about your business" is very disturbing It was this rep's supervisor who did this, not the rep herself.

Up until this point, I wasn't asking for anything other than information - i.e., why was it delayed, and how has it been stored. I continued to get bad information from them of the course of the few weeks of delay, and an attitude that they cared more about offending the dealer than turning away a customer.

BIMMER5&RX8

What color and config is your car? With which dealer are you working? I got my Red MT/GT with black/red interior for a few hundred bucks below invoice. I got it off the lot and it had 2 miles on it. The build date was two months before the purchase. I suggest that you check the MazdaUSA site for inventory and you should be able to find one you want somewhere in the Bay Area. I think there are plenty of them here willing to deal.

BIMMER5&RX8

That sounds like a sales manager in a dealership in the Penisula.

ByeByeSaturn

Mmmmm hmmmmm.

My attitude is that if you're going to be dishonest, power to you, but if I call you on that dishonesty, fess up.

Not you - the dealer

BTW, I could have gotten anything on the lot for a few hundred under invoice too, but there were only 2 black 6mt w/sport and one wanted $500 over, so I went with the other. I was willing to pay a little more to get what I wanted.

Mr M

Oh, the dealer told you they didn't care, not Mazda? I thought you meant you called up the hotline at MNAO or something, and they were the ones who told you that you were not needed.

If you can be bothered, call MNAO again and complain. Most people on this board are very happy with their response.

Regarding the dealer, it sounds like they are getting smug because they have a car -in-demand, they know they can sell it to someonelse if you don't buy it. Drop them like a hot potato (if you don't have any sucess with MNAO).

You must understand that this is a very high demand car though. The assembly plant is struggling to keep up with demand, the engine plant is at full capacity (did you know the internal components of the rotary engine are HAND assembled?), and with shipping times, port recalls etc a one month delay is quite possible.

It is also possible the dealer has a bad credit record with Mazda and Mazda is not delivering cars there until the money is in the bank.

Buy an 8 from a dealer you will be happy with.

ByeByeSaturn

No, you were right the first time - it was Mazda NA customer service which told me they didn't care if I didn't buy the car and if I was an unsatisfied customer. I couldn't believe it either.

The dealer was probably deceiving me about why the car wasn't leaving the port, because they told Mazda one thing, and me another, assuring me that it was the port's fault and they were doing their best to get my car. That was true after a point, but not entirely, and I wanted them to be straight with me. So I asked Mazda for a letter stating what the dealer told them. The rep seemed receptive to my request, but then after talking with her supervisor, came back to tell me that any issue I had with the car regarding delays or condition of the vehicle was between me and the dealer, and if I didn't want the car, I could just refuse it. So I asked does this mean your supervisor doesn't care about keeping me as a customer, and she said yes.

As for the high demand, the whole reason that I didn't get my car 3 weeks ago is that the dealer was preventing it from being delivered b/c their lot was full. When I was there 2 months ago to place the deposit, there were almost 40 RX-8s on the lot.

These cars are going for under invoice, so I find it hard to believe that there is a supply problem.

niadvance

yeah i got mine for under invoice and i do belive it is the same car i test drove twice. i couldnt wait to get mine. the dealer, billingsy mazda, was great when i asked to test drive they brought the car up and let me drive off without a chapparone. but if i got the same attitude you say you got i think i would tell them to go to hell.

JSE RX-8

its good to hear different experiences. that sucks that u have to give up on Mazda. would u think about going to another dealership and see if they will give u better business and service?? it sucks to hear that u wont get an RX-8 because of crap service

Hou-TX-RX-8

I went to the lot here in Houston and there were about 16 cars on the lot to choose from the only color they didn't have in stock was yellow. I traded in a yellow IS300 and I was looking to change colors so no biggie. The dealer came off the sticker $3900 and I got a fair trade-in on the IS. I was so happy that I would definately buy another vehicle from them. The dealer never used the words rare or we only sell this car at MSRP like I have heard from other dealers. Do some shopping I can't see why you would have to wait if you live in a major metro area.

Now go get that 8.. Tell your dealer to screw off and find one that will work with you. That is the beauty of our country..

I will get off my soap box now.

Nat

Pavehawk

I think part of this is expectation setting. In my case I couldn't find the exact car I wanted online so I dropped down to the "minimum requirements" (aka Port Installed Options) and found a car on the Mazda website that was on a dealer's lot on the other side of town. We're lucky here in Austin because there are 3 dealers here in the city and a few more within easy driving range.

So my car was on the other dealer's lot according to the web site. I took the VIN number to my dealer who had already agreed to invoice on any car and he called the other dealer to discover that the car was "on a truck" and would be delivered in a few days. This is where my disappointment started. The car was listed on MNAO's site weeks in advance of it's actual delivery. Thankfully in my case it was only two weeks out when it finally showed up. I patiently watched the MNAO and dealer's websites until my car showed up. Once it showed up in stock at the other dealer I called my sales girl and we had the car two days later after the PDI and cross-town delivery.

Those were the two longest weeks for me. I can't imagine the frustration you must feel after getting the runaround from both the dealer and then MNAO for the past two months.

It's possible that you just got a bad rep at MNAO or he was very thin skinned and took offense to something you said. In general I've always felt that my dealership has been as close to honest as car salesmen can be.

I say go grab the dealer demo and go for another ride and remember what it is that made you so fall in love with this car. When you get your post-purchase survey in the mail put the simple facts on it and be sure to rate the dealer how you felt your service was. The look on my saleswoman's face when I told her I was going to fill out the survey honestly and accurately was priceless.

For me the survey will include the timeliness of their logistics as an issue. In today's modern enterprise software market there's no reason that a company shouldn't know EXACTLY where it's inventory is and when it will be delivered. While knowing my car was going to be delivered to the other dealer "in the near future" helped, I'd rather not see it on Mazda's site until the car is actually there. Let the dealership do the search for future inventory delivery and let them set realistic expectations on when it will arrive.

vudoodoodoo

A dealer nearby has a few nice RX-8s just sitting there. They've been there for MONTHS. I can just waltz down there and buy one w/o waiting.
Only problem is the money. LOL. :D

jtimbck2

What exactly are you worried is going to happen while the car you ordered is sitting in port? I can understand you being aggravated about having to wait while it sits there, but what do you expect them to do, put it in an airtight, watertight, opaque capsule?

TheDosDog

ByeByeSaturn,

Being in the business I can tell you the ports are not in the business of damaging cars so your car will be fine. There are many reasons for delivery delays. After cars are received at the port the port options still have to be installed. Vendor delays for spoilers, accents or even throw-in items like floormats will delay the car. Realize the port receives a shipment of ~ 3,000 cars at a time. They can't process them all at the same time.

The port processor usually does not know if the cars they are processing are dealer stock or preorder. A typical unit will take from 3 days to 3 weeks to get through the port process. After that there are issues customers are not aware of. For example dealers can go on finance hold. Meaning their flooring is maxed and deliveries to that dealer are suspended until it is resolved.

Another problem right now is trucking delays. The manfucaturers use trucks to deliver our cars to the dealers. Everyone is pushing cars right now so the trucking companies are backed up significantly. A delivery to Norcal from Port Hueneme can take a truck out of service for 2 days. In the same time they can make 4 - 6 SoCal drops. When the port gets crowded, the volume regions sometimes get priority. Thats just the way is is. We can't change it.

Regarding Mazda customer service, I have found it varied. One guy told me to have realistic expectations for the car while another put me on hold and called the dealer to make sure my issue was being addressed. Then called me back a few days later just to make sure.

Bottom line. It's a great car. Definetly worth the wait for the one you want. If the car is at the port then delivery is not too far off. If your suffering too bad come meet us a Lincoln and La Playa tomorrow.