Rootski

iTrader: (1)

I think saying "Mazda SUCKS" because of this survey is a bit... rash. Part of the problem might be Mazda's lineup, which is smaller and more specialized than a lot of other car manufacturers. Mazda is on the higher-end of the under $40K market, unlike Kia for example, so if you buy a Mazda your next car will probably come from a higher-up manufacturer like Lexus. You don't hear of too many people trading in their Miata for a Hyundai.

Boris and Natasha

It's probably the same in the suryey as on this site. The owners with positive experiances out weigh the owners with negatives ones 20-1, But the negative group howls the loudest

Krankor

Ok, the survey just lists how much people replace a vehicle with one of the same make. It says absolutely nothing about the WHY. Yes, it *could* be because of satisfaction with service, or reliability, or whatever. It could just as easily be that they didn't find anything in the lineup that appealed to them. That, for instance, is the reason I didn't buy another Toyota, despite being extremely satisfied with the company. Could be, as someone pointed out, that after their Mazda, they're ready to move up to something fancier/more prestigious/more expensive. Could be that the very kind of people who are drawn to a Mazda in the first place are more adventuresome, and adventuresome people want to try something different the next time. In short, all we have here is a raw statistic about a "what" and absolutely nothing but speculation over the "why".

My personal opinion is that half of the people they talked to about Mazda were actually beefyjoe.

expo1

I was one of those people that filled out that survey last month and said to the effect great car lousy dealer and service. JD wanted people to fill out the many pages bad, they even included a dollar bill.

Krankor

Interesting. Because the article to which we got a link doesn't mention anything about that kind of feedback, just lists the retention rate.

Detrich

Raptor75

Just wait to you need something fixed which Mazda doesn't what to fix, even though it is under warranty. You'll see how hard they are trying.

Sending out a piece of paper is cheap, standing behind your car cost money and Mazda has proved time and time again they don't want to cover their issues, it is cheaper to blame you and me for the problem or just say they don't exist.


c

Raptor75

Actually my personal experience tells me Mazda sucks, the survey merely confirms my opinion. This survey goes nicely with the one last year that also showed Mazda to be at the bottom of all manufactures for Service Satisfaction.

Surveys can be slanted one why or another but I have seen no evidence to indicated it here. Unless one of the doubters can produce something to back their speculation I must assume they have no merit here. It dose amaze me how so many would rather come up with excuse why this is false data or a unreliable survey rather then taking it as constructive criticism.

Mazda has a big problem which give enough time will destroy the company. Mazda has continuously been rated at the bottom of these surveys and by excepting their poor service we only perpetuate their behavior. I have experienced it first hand and it is to say the least very frustrating and has been the direct cause of my not buying a C7 to replace my other car. I will go further to say I can't really see myself buying another Mazda. There are just to many other manufacture out there who will stand behind their vehicle when things go wrong and value their customers. Why would I bet my head against a wall with another Mazda?

Again very sad because I really like the RX-8 but Mazda needs to clean house starting with the CEO who allows this culture if incompetent and ambivalence to flourish.

myriadshalaks

iTrader: (1)

agreed. i thought it was strange too. you didn't sense my sarcasm.

i disagree about bmw though. they've started to slack. warranty is good though, and always honored.

expo1

The survey was about eight pages and covered everything about owning this car. There were questions about if I was likley to buy a Mazda again and from my dealer.

Icemark

see that is the issue... people mixing up the manufacture with the dealer.

And that is what is wrong with most JD power ratings.

There is the manufacture that builds the car. Then there is the dealer that sells and fixes the car. TWO different entities.

Sorta like if you go into Best Buy and buy a TV. Maybe a Panasonic Plasma. Maybe falls off the wall or your TV installer mounts it on a bad mount. Or your cable/Sat company has bad reception in your area. then you find Circuit shitty down the street has it for $1000 less and you feel ripped off.

Then JD power calls and says hey how do you like your TV. Well you feel ripped off, and have a bad picture from shitty reception. How well are you going to rate that TV??? Pretty bad.

Mazda ratings in JD power are no different. Yes there are some very bad Mazda dealers, who don't even know how to prep the car correctly or what oil to put in it. Those are the ones with the pissed off owners. Then there are dealers that bend over backwards to make sure you are taken care of. Those dealers have high Mazda retention rates (in JD powers ratings).

Also JD Powers tends to take only a minimal sampling. For example, they may have taken only 100 Mazda owners all together. 100 owners out of 300,000 new owners a year. What odds do you think that they got an accurate sample of owners (maybe the only talked to 100 04 RX-8 owners).

So JD power ratings are seldom real world accurate. My 06 RX-8 is my 3rd brand car new purchased Mazda, and my 6th Mazda car all together. More than any other manufacture. See if they talked to me that would have s'qued the rating all over.

Raptor75

I couldn't disagree more. It is Mazda that allows these dealers to operate the why they do. Do you think Lexus would allow one of its dealers to operate in a sub standard manor, of course not and if they did they would have their dealership pulled. What dose Mazda do, they send you to another dealer on a hope it works out better. Not what I would call proactive.

Your observation can be true but when you take a large enough sample these anomalies will become insignificant. Few survey are with out error but most provide useful information. Are there some good dealers, of course but the real problem is Mazda's policies and making excuses for them is helping no one especially Mazda.

I have found through experience that the people who complain the most about a survey are usually the ones negatively effected by it. That fact that Mazda has been painted in a negative light and you have bought several Mazdas may be tainting your ability to view this information with out bias.

Mazda has the ability to correct this and it has to start at corporate, if you believe the dealers will all come into line on their own to bring Mazda's scores up you are delusional.

MazdaMonkey

Where has he been the last 3 and a half decades?

MazdaMonkey

Mazda does the same thing. CARE score is one example.

MazdaMonkey

Surprising that you are the only person to make this distinction so far. Dealerships are run by the dealer principle, who often owns many different dealerships across many brands. If Mazda asks a dealer to fix their bathroom in a Mazda dealership that only does 10% of the volume/profit as one of their Chevy stores with the same issues, which location do you think is going to receive the attention? The same rule applies to the tiny Isuzu, which is on the bottom of this particular ranking.

A big problem with JD Power in general is a manufacturer can be given bad marks for any customer complaint. A customer can buy and RX-8 and then say he wishes it had pistons, even though he knew damn well it had a rotary when buying the car. He just wishes it had a regular piston engine. His complaint would result in a bad survey.

Lexus does a great job of making a soulless appliance (my personal opinion after owning 2 Lexus cars), and that is what most customers want. The Mazda owner is more likely to be a car/performance enthusiast and a lot more picky about the car's little things, not just extra donuts in the waiting room.

Raptor75

Yet all manufacturers are scored under the same rules so this point is moot when comparing one company to another.

Rems31

But what if this way of scoring severely handicaps Mazda? ie is this really the best way to determine what's good and what 'Sucks'? How is the data interpreted?

expo1

What severely handicaps Mazda is the service their dealers and HQ gives its customers. I guess many of us forgot about the "Mulligan" incident from last year Mazda is getting the press they deserve. The headline Rapter75 posted about correctly reflects how I filled out that survey. Even a fantastic 16oz steak will seem poor if I have to eat it in a outhouse served by rude people.

thirdkong

Great subject, tons of strong points from everyone. I've only had my car for 4 months and so far so good.

Detrich

+1 to what raptor & expo said.

TALAN7

I probably won't buy another Mazda again even though I love the brand. The CX-7, CX-9, and Mazdaspeed vehicles are great, but I've had too many maintenance issues with my 8. I agree that it's because of the rotary engine and that the rest of the line-up shouldn't be plagues with such high maintenance issues. Regardless, it wouldn't be so bad if the dealers sservice departments didn't lie, and give me the runaround. It's like they're looking to get rich off of us 8 owners.

IMOO, Mazdas rep is what sucks not their vehicles. People on this board won't seperate the 2 just like those who really believe the 8 needs more power but won't say it openly while they keep coming on this board talking about great handling and dynamics etc., like because the car has them it doesn't need power.

We seen it before...Mazda has a bad rep when it comes to service and owner satisfaction. How does Mazda deal with it...Mulligan Gate. Mazda still isn't taken as seriously as Toyota or Honda because of things like that. Imagine, if Toyota was having problems with the celica or Honda with the S2000 and either one of them decided "we won't use these cars data" there would've been an uproaar so big, why, because these 2 manufacturers are respected as some if not the best in the industry and they're held to a higher standard. Until Mazda makes a good product (and I believe they do, RX-8 issues not withstanding) and then stands behind it, they won't really be respected and we won't have peoples fathers saying "Mazda? never heard of it"

sojourner

I am fortunate to have a dealer right here in my town. They are in fact only about 5 miles away. Anytime I take my 8 in, for service or warranty issues, it is taken care of same day. In one year of ownership, it has been in for warranty repairs 4 times. Once for the reflash, once each for tailight condensation, and next week for a broken mirror mount. There has never been a question by the dealer as to whether or not they would fix it, they just do. And every single time my car goes through that shop, either for maintenance for warranty, I get a call from MNAO within a couple of days asking how my experience was, and I get a flyer in the mail requesting I fill it out and send it back, which I do. There is a reason that this dealer has "five diamond" service, they are constantly scrutinized by the maker for quality customer care. Do other dealers around the country not recieve this same level of attention, ensuring their cutomers are getting the best in sales and service that can be provided? I have a hard time believing that mine is an isolated incident. Would I buy another Mazda? Absolutly, if they have what I am looking for. I also have a Toyota with 220K miles on it that is still going strong. I would also consider another Toyota, because for me, it is not about brand loyalty it is about dealer customer service, and quality of product, which in this customers opinion, Mazda is doing quite well. So to the naysayers, I am sorry about your misfortunes with your car, and good luck in your future vehicle ownership. For this owner however, I will continue to enjoy my "miles of smiles" for many more to come.

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

most dealerships run by dumbasses who does not know what customer service is.

I've seen bad dealerships from all auto companies, Honda, Toyota, Ford, even Mazda, just name one.

You have to be really lucky to be able to find a good dealership. and it took me a while to find the one I have right now

First one, the place I got my 8 from, service treat me like ****, Manhattan Mazda, sales was nice but did tried to rip me off.
Second one, Again, the service ppl have no idea wtf were they doing, not to mention their sales department completely ignored me, like I cant afford there cars or something? Koppel Mazda
Finally Third one, actually listen to what I told them(Service), treated me with respect(service dept), and their sale dept have some pretty cool guys. I wish I got my car from them, they derserves it.

So it really depends on your luck. Cant really blame Mazda for everything.

Plus my 8 has no major problems, Only minor stuff like Brake Squeal and tail light condensation. and both already taken cared of. So will I buy another Mazda? Sure, if they have what I want plus the price gotta be right.

Hyundai has a higher rating, will I get one? **** no.

Detrich

sadly sojourner- yes, u ARE lucky and an isolated incident, because u just HAPPEN to go to a dealership that does things correctly & properly. we wish ALL mazda dealerships were like that. but, unfortunately, the majority of them are NOT. and we say this from our collective experience. just because u've never had any issues w/ ur dealership doesn't automatically mean that all the dealerships are just like yours. it sounds pretty ignorant to make a sweeping generalization when you've only been to one dealership.

Krankor

Unproven! "Our collective experience"??? In what way does a self-selecting group of people on a website constitute a scientific sample? We all know that the people who frequent such places are hardly typical, and skew strongly towards the particularly enchanted and the particularly disenchanted.

Sounds equally ignorant to make a sweeping generalization based on anecodotal evidence from a bunch of people on a website. How many Mazda dealerships are there in America, and how many do you have evidence, even anecdotal, on? That's a mighty sweeping statement you make, that the majority of Mazda dealerships do not do things correctly and properly. I require your evidence.