NORTHWOOD MAZDA - Best Dealership North of GTA

[jaM3ican]

Just had an oil change done. Got to see the underside of my car which i don't see to often. Looks to plain. IMO. Need more mods, but no $$$$$

Anyway to the review, They were busy as hell, being the end of the month, they had trucks, SUV's and an RX8 on hoists all being PDI'd and serviced. Even though they were extremely busy, the technician, we'll call him Francis :chuckle, took the time to talk while he worked. Just goes to show that he knows what he has to do without skipping a beat.

He even checked to see if there were any updates on the PCM. There were 1 or 2 updates which took all of 5 mins to do. We talked about the New dealership that will be moving to in 2009ish, I'm excited about the new dealership for them, & about a customer that didn't take the time to do oil changes. 2007, 30K+, $10k later and a rebuilt engine.:loco

The fact that Francis took time to do a little chin wagging while he worked was proof enough to me that the service here is top notch and that the people here know how to treat customers.

The guys on the Service desk always know what is going on and do everything in their power to get customers in and out as quick as possible. I just wish that some of the customers that come in expecting the world would relax. The associates in the Service Department are human too. If you expect to be in and out in 1/2 hour, then you are going to get 1/2 worth of work, but then who is to say that if they find anything else wrong that they will take the time to fix it for you.

I am 110% confident that i will be doing all of my service @ NORTHWOOD MAZDA till I have to put my 3 into pasture.

NORTHWOOD MAZDA THE BEST SERVICE DEPT. NORTH OF GTA!!!!!

Great staff!!!!!! Keep it up!!!!!

See you guys in three months.

[PKock]

Hey man. Good to hear. So far I've had nothng but great experiences with the guys at Northwood. I'll have to swager out there and chck out the bottom of my car when I'm in next. I'm also glad to hear theyre getting a new dealership, if theres anything I dont like about that place its that its due to be replaced.
PK

[Harbour Rat]

I bought my '08 Mazda3 GX from Northwood at the end of February. The purchase experience was as good as can be expected - taking on $20K of debt for the next 5 years isn't my idea of fun, even at 0% interest but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Since I drove the car home I've only been back once, for the first sceduled oil change/service at 4 months. I also had window visors installed, I got some touch-up paint and a very competitive quote on snow tires. No issues, pretty routine stuff.

I was most pleased about their attitude toward DIY service and upgrades/modifications. They made no comments about my having done an engine and transmission oil change myself nor about the fog lights and HIDs I had installed. I didn't expect them to have any any issues with simple bolt-on stuff and diligent owner care but I wondered if they might question me about the extra ground wires I added for the throttle body and injector rail. Nothing, not a word. I have heard horror stories about some dealership service departments telling people any upgrades or modifications they do will void the warranty and so forth. There was no undue pressure or hard-sell tactics at purchase time so I expected they would be cool. Glad to see I read Northwood's culture right.

[Mike]

I have been servicing my 08 GT there for a year now. I have been back 3 or 4 times for oil changes, 2 times for warranty work (replace the horn and replace a leaking rear strut) and 3-4 times for aftermarket parts.

So far, I only have good feedback to give. They have been really professional and accommodating. Warranty work especially have been painless.

Couple areas of minor improvement:
A bigger parking area. That place is always overflowing with cars and it's hard to turn around
I wish they had a bit more parts in stock. Everything I needed so far had to be ordered. It's fast to arrive usually (couple days) but I wish I could just stop by and pick parts up. I guess inventory is expensive.

Anyway, nothing major. Overall, great service and great experiences (hopefully this message won't jinx it)

[jaM3ican]

Hey Mike,

You wish will about to come true soon. I am not sure if you visit the south end of Barrie much, but there is a huge lot that has been purchased by Northwood Mazda. It's after the Toyota Dealership.

Not sure when they are breaking ground. I think Rumour has it it will be sometime next year.

Would be interesting to see if we can get TM3 members to be here for the grand opening.

[PKock]

I hope this is true. They've been great to me so far but I'd love to see a new dealership like the one in Newmarket.
PK

[jaM3ican]

Just had my oil change there again. In and out in roughly 30-40 mins. I am sure that it would have been quicker if i didn't socialize with the service guys.
That is how you build a great relationship with your service team.
The service dept is great.

They will get to know you especially if you take your car in for regular servicing. I take my car for an oil change at the very least 3-4 months, even if i don't hit the milage notice reminder.

They definately have their act together!

Great job Guys!!!

To elaborate on this thread title, Northwood is the best dealership that i have ever dealt with. If i can say this.....better than Toyota! I think I will take my Rav4 to get serviced there...........

[Mike]

Good to know about the new dealership. It will be a huge improvement if that's the case. Looking forward to it.

[Zoom Zoom Boy]

I hope this is true. They've been great to me so far but I'd love to see a new dealership like the one in Newmarket.
PK

It's true. They are opening a new and more modern dealership like the one in Newmarket.

I purchased my MS3 there back in August and had also purchased my wife's 2005 MZ3 from them a few years back. They told me all about the new dealership at that time when i went in to close the deal on the MS3.

I really like dealing with the folks at Northwood, as they are a good, friendly and seemingly honest bunch. Big + to Mac and Glen the sales manager. Northwood is very much a no pressure place, but that said, I do my sales deals over the phone and email and only go to the dealership to sign paperwork.

As for the service center, they also seem like a good bunch that tries really hard to help the customer. However, their equipment is outdated (they cannot mount and balance 18" rims as their machine can't do that size, so they have to send them out to be done) and I have doubts as to their overall expertise. I don't believe any of thier current techs are of Mazda Master tech or senior level, but I could be wrong here, in all fairness to them.

I also feel their attention to detail could be better. I won't get into all the details as to why, but for instance, the MS3 tire pressure is supposed to be 34psi in the front and 32psi in the rear. I don't expect to have it returned to me with all of the tires inflated to 32psi like a regular 3 after having new rims put on the car. Minor perhaps, but attention to detail is important...

Also, when picking up the car new, there were lots of little things they missed that should have been caught in the PDI process. None of them major, but just lots of cumulative small things. It just doesn't instill any confidence that they won't miss something more important down the road when i take my car in for a real service...

I also had an issue many years ago with a leaking sunroof on my wife's new 3 hatch. In fairness, that was a different service department with different people at the time, but I was basically given the "normal behavior/sunroof's will leak in high pressure washes" treatment. BTW- we are not talking about a few water drops either...In hindsight, I should have taken the tech through a wash and watched his face as water dripped all over his head...

Anyway, I took it to Dave Wood Mazda in Newmarket a few days later, they looked at it, said that the sunroof was not mounted 100% flush and properly and they took the entire unit out and remounted it. Since that time, no leaking. They even indicated that if it continued to happen, they would replace the unit which turned out not to be necessary. The 3 was serviced at Dave Wood since that time forward as was my Protege for many years before that.

[PKock]

Was in yesterday for an oil change and the guys as always were great. Got talking to them and found out the new dealership has already had the ground breaking adn theyre aiming for a spring opening. Looking forward to it.
PK

[PKock]

Drove past the site for the new dealership yesterday. Looks like its comming along well and maybe open I woulda guess late spring. I cant wait to have a new dealership rather than that old cramped one.
PK

[seelsy]

One of the salesmen took me for a test drive past the new dealership, it's really coming along and looking nice, huge open concept with tons of room in the service bays and showroom floor, its going to be a great space for them. Looking forward to it opening up.