Our Experience with QEW Mazda

[DashRipRock]

Purchased a new car October 18 from QEW Mazda. At time of purchase asked salesperson to check if our winter tires from the car we were trading in would fit. The salesperson took us back to ask the Service Department and the answer we got was yes they would fit. Great we thought that will save us 1000.00 bucks

October 23 - E-mailed QEW Mazda Parts Department about new Steel Wheels for our winter tires and TPMS for each wheel. Waited one week and never got a reply back.

Went in person the following Monday (Nov 1) and ordered the Steel Rims and four TPMS. Confirmed the tire size I was going to be using and was told I would be called when the Rims came in.

Called Tuesday afternoon and was told the rims hadn’t been ordered and I had to talk to the Assistant Parts Manager. I did and he confirmed my order and made and appointment for me on the following day (Wed) to have the work done.

Brought car in to have work done. After about 1.5 hours I asked about the progress and was told it was ready and would be out in a minute.

Several minutes later I was told the technician heard some noise and was checking it out. The noise I was told was rubbing of the tires because they are too big. Would I like them removed? I tell them yes to put everything back the way it was when I arrived.

I asked the Assistant Parts Manager why did he tell me the tires would work when they don’t. His answer was: “I said might work” I told him the salesperson was a witness to him telling me that they would work. I was then told; “the salesperson doesn’t remember what was said.” …… Nice I can really feel the love.

I get my car put back together and leave fuming mad. Later that night I write and e-mail to the President of the dealership. Outline the story and ask him to look into it. Jason replies within 30 minutes that he will call me on Thursday to discuss this matter.

Thursday comes and goes I don’t hear from Mr. Guttman as promised.

Friday and at around 3 pm the salesperson calls to find out what she can do to help. My wife tells her nothing and that I was expecting Jason Guttman to call. The salesperson’s reply was Jason will call me back ASAP. After one hour I have to go out.

Jason called from his car and my wife answered he told her he was going away all weekend and would call me back on Monday.

Monday arrives and still no call from the President of QEW Mazda.

I am still not sure why, if everyone at QEW Mazda was working with a mindset that the tires “might fit”, then why they put on all four tires, and then wrap up the summer tires, put them in the car, and tell me the car is ready and it’s coming right out. Why not just use a web page that another Tire Shop showed me that would have told QEW Mazda that the tires were 3.17% bigger and out of the 3% range Mazda recommends. There were several times that QEW Mazda could have got a definite answer if they though the tires would not work.

We don’t really want anything from QEW Mazda or Mr. Guttman. We feel the dealership treated us really poorly and basically called us liars. We expected the President of the company to take a serious interest but he doesn’t really seem to care that he’s has lost a customer and we will be taking our car somewhere else for service. I wrote him more as a courtesy to let him know what was going on in his dealership. I guess a reply explaining his employees actions was asking too much.

Good Luck Mr. Guttman

[S.F.W.]

what size tires were you trying to install?

[aris]

what size tires were you trying to install?

+1

It would be nice if you let us know what tire size you were going to run

[McGuyver_3]

Why exactly did you join this forum? So you can complain about your first service? I dont think its right on your first post to bash a dealer. Since you found yur way to a forum why didnt you do some reading or searching about tire sizes

[aris]

Why exactly did you join this forum? So you can complain about your first service? I dont think its right on your first post to bash a dealer. Since you found yur way to a forum why didnt you do some reading or searching about tire sizes

I think he has a valid reason to complain... The fact that the president of QEW did not respond to his concern...if you say your going to contact someone then do it... Nothing Pisses me off more then then someone saying one thing and not following through

[Chuckie]

Before everyone jumps on the QEW Mazda is great bandwagon, I think we need to give this guy an opportunity to present more information about his side of the story before everyone jumps on him. It seems plausible that he was forgotten as I assume the president would make and receive many emails and calls. I think the story has some merit.

Although, there is a inconsistency as he first spoke to service and then later says the ast. part manager told him they will fit. As parts is a different department from service and certainly cannot communicate about every customer's car that may come in.

I can see where the guy at service told him it would fit and the parts guy told him it might and somehow that information got crossed. However, it would seem prudent that the service guy and/or parts guy should have knowledge as to what fits since they do so many winter tires. I am going to reserve any definitive judgments until QEW Mazda chimes in.

[hatthi]

I'd like to hear the dealerships side of the story. Using a first post just to bash a dealership seems a little suspect to me.

[McGuyver_3]

I understand the fact that the dealer did not contact him, especially the GM or the president of the dealer. As you are probably aware I had my own problem with another dealer and my problem was much worse and larger then fitment of winter tires. I had to keep calling them to find out what was going on as they did not inform me what so ever. I have never been to QEW mazda so i have no right to say if their service is good or bad. I just dont like the fact that he bought the car had 1 bad experience at a dealer and then comes here to complain on his first post. OP stated that he had to buy new rims which makes me think that OP either had another brand of car or had a older mazda with 4 bolts. Even if the dealer said yes i would have done some reading to be sure. More then 1 tire size does fit a car for example 205/50r17 is stock and people run 225/45r17 BUT if you were to do 225/50r17 the difference would be outrageous and you will get rubbing. I speak from experimenting. It could have been a simple thing like that which caused this mess.

[S.F.W.]

ok guys, let's keep this thread clean until either QEW or the OP update the thread. No need for anyone to jump to conclusions good or bad, or defend or criticize anyone. I am confident QEW will post a response. In my experience, they have never shied away from a TM3 posting.

[QEWmazdaPrez]

...Jason called from his car and my wife answered he told her he was going away all weekend and would call me back on Monday.

Monday arrives and still no call from the President of QEW Mazda...

Good Luck Mr. Guttman

DashRipRock,
I have a bit of a different perspective....On Friday, I believe that the Product Advisor indicated that I would call "shortly" (I was walking past her desk at that time, unless she made a commitment later in the conversation). I did not realise that you were waiting by the phone and had to leave within the hour. I had the opportunity to speak to your wife who asked me to call back when you were available. I asked when it would be convenient to call back and she replied Monday. I was in meetings all day yesterday and didn't get home until just before my son's bedtime.

I do apologize for not calling you on Thursday, but certainly my email response, the Product Advisors call, and my phone call on Friday, should be sending the message that we weren't ignoring you, and that we were trying to keep the communication open.

As I indicated in my response email, I truly value your feedback, and I have invested the time with our Team investigating your issue.

I'd like to discuss this issue with you before posting any responses here. Thank you.

[bluemazda3]

+1


Why exactly did you join this forum? So you can complain about your first service? I dont think its right on your first post to bash a dealer. Since you found yur way to a forum why didnt you do some reading or searching about tire sizes

[shu5892001]

I think he has a valid reason to complain... The fact that the president of QEW did not respond to his concern...if you say your going to contact someone then do it... Nothing Pisses me off more then then someone saying one thing and not following through

+1

Whats wrong with bashing a dealership on the first post if it's a valid story, as we can see Mr. Guttman did forget to call him when promised, no buts or ifs.

DashRipRock,

I do apologize for not calling you on Thursday

[McGuyver_3]

+1

Whats wrong with bashing a dealership on the first post if it's a valid story, as we can see Mr. Guttman did forget to call him when promised, no buts or ifs.

I just do not think it is right to come on to a local forum visible for everyone to see on the internet and on their very first post and start hammering a dealership. OP stated he purchased the car in October 18th his join date is november. OP had from the 18th of OCT to the 3rd of November to do some snooping around on his own to confirm that yes the tires will or will not fit.
Perfect example I have for you here. I have the rim and tire protection I took one of my rims in because the rim was cracked. Took the rim to my normal dealer that i service the car at and they told me that.... Well the rim and tire protection only covers original wheels and tires (mind you I have rx8 wheels). I tried explaining to them that other rims and tires have been covered before but they did not want to beleive me. i took the rim to my selling dealer and without a fuss they ordered a new rim mounted and balanced the tire for me. Moral of the story is dont beleive everything they tell you do some searching of your own. Had I not done some researching or known this then I would have sent the rim out for repair and spent money out of my own pocket.

[aris]

I just do not think it is right to come on to a local forum visible for everyone to see on the internet and on their very first post and start hammering a dealership. OP stated he purchased the car in October 18th his join date is november. OP had from the 18th of OCT to the 3rd of November to do some snooping around on his own to confirm that yes the tires will or will not fit.
Perfect example I have for you here. I have the rim and tire protection I took one of my rims in because the rim was cracked. Took the rim to my normal dealer that i service the car at and they told me that.... Well the rim and tire protection only covers original wheels and tires (mind you I have rx8 wheels). I tried explaining to them that other rims and tires have been covered before but they did not want to beleive me. i took the rim to my selling dealer and without a fuss they ordered a new rim mounted and balanced the tire for me. Moral of the story is dont beleive everything they tell you do some searching of your own. Had I not done some researching or known this then I would have sent the rim out for repair and spent money out of my own pocket.

I don't get where your getting that he is bashing the dealer....he is stating his experense with them...I don't see why he should have done researching about his tires if they told him it would fit?


Would you feel the same way if he came on here with positive feed back??

[S.F.W.]

I don't think there is anything wrong with your first post being a negative one. I would only ask that the OP keeps the post updated. If the individual was going from site to site just posting negative feedback I would have a different response. It is possible that the OP may not have heard of TM3, until they began searching for feedback on QEW or information on winter tires.
I do see that the OP has logged into TM3 since this original post. My guess is that the OP and Jason/QEW are working on a resolution. Once the situation has been resolved, either favourably or unfavourably, I would ask the OP to post again with their thoughts on the resolution, and the end to end situation.
As well, I would like to see them become a regular poster, and member of the TM3 community. Nothing frustrates me more than someone using TM3 as leverage in a situation, and once that situation is resolved, never posting again. Rather they should continue to contribute to the site by staying active, to help other members, as they were assisted.

[zakman]

I don't think there is anything wrong with your first post being a negative one. I would only ask that the OP keeps the post updated. If the individual was going from site to site just posting negative feedback I would have a different response. It is possible that the OP may not have heard of TM3, until they began searching for feedback on QEW or information on winter tires.
I do see that the OP has logged into TM3 since this original post. My guess is that the OP and Jason/QEW are working on a resolution. Once the situation has been resolved, either favourably or unfavourably, I would ask the OP to post again with their thoughts on the resolution, and the end to end situation.
As well, I would like to see them become a regular poster, and member of the TM3 community. Nothing frustrates me more than someone using TM3 as leverage in a situation, and once that situation is resolved, never posting again. Rather they should continue to contribute to the site by staying active, to help other members, as they were assisted.

perfectly said

but the title is mis leading because the experience is not complete yet. lets hope it gets resolved and that the out come is posted. Im sure everything possible to resolve this is being done over at QEW

[hastiej]

Jason also stated in his post that he would perfer to to discuss the issue futher before posting anything else so I think your correct Ami regarding them discussing the issue.

[zzz3]

Op started the thread off with a negative experience, hopefully qew mazda will end it with a positive experience. Lets at least wait for the resolution before we start laying blame or taking sides.

[DashRipRock]

The end of my story is simple. We will never spend another dime at QEW Mazda. In wouldn't feel comfortable having QEW Mazda service our vehicle. Luckily we were able to try out the service department with a very simple job and they failed. No harm done time to move on. Lots of places to have a car serviced.

QEW Mazda stated to us that the only way to see if our tires would fit was to mount balance and install all 4 tires and then load our summer tires in the car and then back out of the garage. Every other Tire Shop uses an Internet Program to determine this. There was a lady waiting for her car when I was there and she was held up because the mechanic stripped 2 lug nuts and they had to send out for parts. i have seen enough.

Mazda Canada is sending us a customer survey and we will evaluate QEW Mazda and let nature take its course.

I have privately e-mail Mr. Guttman and told him any further communications with us and QEW Mazda should be in writing so both party are sure what is being said. Sorry folks there will be no messy public flame war. This post was to put on here to share my experiences with QEW Mazda for others to read and make their own judgment.

I look forward to following and participating on Toronto Mazda 3 when I have something to add.


Thanks
Barry

[S.F.W.]

I really am curious, what size tire you initially wanted to put on the car?

[DashRipRock]

Too be completely fair with QEW Mazda I should comment on the sales portion of the transaction. We both thought the sale of the vehicle went well and we thought it was the best of the four different dealers we had experienced.

The Sales Manager (Dean) came out and introduced himself when we were coming down to the number crunching. He wasn’t try to hide from anyone. At the time we though the sales person was pleasant. It was obvious she was fairly new but we had researched the car so we didn’t really need any serious input on her part. It turns out her and my wife went to school together. Unfortunately we have a slightly different opinion of her now.

This time I used Car Cost Canada to help me with pricing and I really felt this got me on to a fair playing field with the dealer. I can’t recommend this service enough. When you arrive at the dealer with the sheet from Car Cost they know you know their numbers so cut the BS. This is exactly what QEW Mazda did the gave me a great price the first time and a great price for my trade in.

So it is really too bad the service part of the relationship didn’t work out but that’s life. It wont be the first time I have bought a car and used a different dealer for service. The car is great and we really enjoying driving it so that part is all good. Which is really the important part.

[antifuse]

Too be completely fair with QEW Mazda I should comment on the sales portion of the transaction. We both thought the sale of the vehicle went well and we thought it was the best of the four different dealers we had experienced.

The Sales Manager (Dean) came out and introduced himself when we were coming down to the number crunching. He wasn’t try to hide from anyone. At the time we though the sales person was pleasant. It was obvious she was fairly new but we had researched the car so we didn’t really need any serious input on her part. It turns out her and my wife went to school together. Unfortunately we have a slightly different opinion of her now.


Why? You bought the car weeks ago, went in to the service department weeks ago, and you expect her to remember if the parts manager said "they will fit" or "they might fit"?

This whole "fiasco" is kind of ridiculous... Yes, they should have done a better job at checking to see if your winter tires would actually fit. But since it sounds like you had a pretty good sales experience, which is what the customer survey will be asking you about, it is pretty crappy of you to give your salesperson a bad review (ie "Mazda Canada is sending us a customer survey and we will evaluate QEW Mazda and let nature take its course.") based on a bad experience with the service department after the fact.

[S.F.W.]

One other thing I want to ad. Despite requests by myself, and other members, the original poster will not state the size of tires they are/were trying to fit on the car. I have also sent a PM, and asked for this information, and received no response. Unfortunate, as maybe the membership had an idea to make the tires work.

[hastiej]

Why? You bought the car weeks ago, went in to the service department weeks ago, and you expect her to remember if the parts manager said "they will fit" or "they might fit"?

This whole "fiasco" is kind of ridiculous... Yes, they should have done a better job at checking to see if your winter tires would actually fit. But since it sounds like you had a pretty good sales experience, which is what the customer survey will be asking you about, it is pretty crappy of you to give your salesperson a bad review (ie "Mazda Canada is sending us a customer survey and we will evaluate QEW Mazda and let nature take its course.") based on a bad experience with the service department after the fact.

+1 the service experience you had in no way should reflect the sales person expereince you stated was, to summerize, "good" any any negitive feed back to her, is simply out of place..

[n00bMeiSter]

At the time we though the sales person was pleasant. It was obvious she was fairly new but we had researched the car so we didn’t really need any serious input on her part. It turns out her and my wife went to school together. Unfortunately we have a slightly different opinion of her now.

That's not very fair of you. She did her job and did it well, you were happy and satisfied. She's not the Service Technician, or the Service Manager. You can't blame her for a screw-up by a different department, on an issue that is not related to her in any way.

DashDipRock: What size tires were you trying to fit on your car? And why did you need to buy new rims for them? Please inform us.
Maybe Mr. Guttman can fill us in if the OP doesn't respond, in say, a week?


Subbed for results.

[Speedy2008]

I also think there is nothing wrong with expressing positive or negative opinions/experiences on this forum as a 1st post. As long as it's honest because this is the type of information we all need to read about in order to make more informed decisions if we ever find ourselves in similar circumstances.

I find it strange that many forum members are quick to defend QEW Mazda as if all their employees have a halo hovering over their heads. In truth, they are not unlike any other dealership; in business to make money. Just because they have employees who are very active on this forum doesn't make them immune to criticism.

I've had a personal experience and found that they are no different than any other dealer in terms of carrying a strong desire to get you to sign on the dotted line. The only real separation between QEW and the rest is that they have a strong leader who places extra emphasis on communication - through emails, phone calls, and internet posts.

No matter which dealership you decide to visit, one should never undermine the importance of comparison shopping and prior research.

[Jeff-TheBiz]

Nothing frustrates me more than someone using TM3 as leverage in a situation, and once that situation is resolved, never posting again. Rather they should continue to contribute to the site by staying active, to help other members, as they were assisted.

I couldn't agree more.

We need to get one of these smileys...

http://i558.photobucket.com/albums/ss26/CSBDan/Smilies/soapbox.gif

OP: Hope when your situation gets resolved, you decide to stick around.

[Olestra]

I find some of the responses fairly ridiculous.

1. Does it matter what tire size the OP was trying to put on? If I knew nothing about cars and I wanted to put my tires from my Nissan Altima trade in on my new Mazda3, that would seem pretty logical. They are tires, they go on cars. The only thing the OP should have to do is ask a professional, which is the dealer in this case, will it fit? It is a yes or no question.

2. I find it unfortunate that people have to go online and ask around about information on something simple like tires. Yes it always pays to be more informed so that you can make better decisions and even find good deals. But you should also be able to ask a professional a basic question and get a correct answer. The fact that the tires went all the way from unmounted to mounted, balanced and installed is silly. Like the OP knows now, there are plenty of resources that will tell you if the tires will fit before anyone has to do any manual labor.
If the dealership is unsure that a tire will fit, it is in their best interest not to install it. They probably should only install stock tire sizes because anything else is uncertain. Anyone at the dealership, especially the tech, should be able to take one look at the tire and say these cannot be installed.

3. These are authorized dealers doing work on our cars. These are very fundamental mistakes.

The only positive side I see from this story is they luckily caught the error before giving you the car. I really hope that they did not ask you to pay for any work and I hope that your fender is not damaged in any way.

[n00bMeiSter]

I find some of the responses fairly ridiculous.

1. Does it matter what tire size the OP was trying to put on? If I knew nothing about cars and I wanted to put my tires from my Nissan Altima trade in on my new Mazda3, that would seem pretty logical. They are tires, they go on cars. The only thing the OP should have to do is ask a professional, which is the dealer in this case, will it fit? It is a yes or no question.

2. I find it unfortunate that people have to go online and ask around about information on something simple like tires. Yes it always pays to be more informed so that you can make better decisions and even find good deals. But you should also be able to ask a professional a basic question and get a correct answer. The fact that the tires went all the way from unmounted to mounted, balanced and installed is silly. Like the OP knows now, there are plenty of resources that will tell you if the tires will fit before anyone has to do any manual labor.
If the dealership is unsure that a tire will fit, it is in their best interest not to install it. They probably should only install stock tire sizes because anything else is uncertain. Anyone at the dealership, especially the tech, should be able to take one look at the tire and say these cannot be installed.

3. These are authorized dealers doing work on our cars. These are very fundamental mistakes.

The only positive side I see from this story is they luckily caught the error before giving you the car. I really hope that they did not ask you to pay for any work and I hope that your fender is not damaged in any way.

Now that is ridiculous.

Yes it does matter what size tire you are trying to put on. The big honking 320 from my neighbours' motorcycle is not going to fit on my winter rims; it wouldn't even in my Mazda3's wheelwells. Yes, tires also go on planes, buses, bicycles, and many other objects. Doesn't mean you can put any old tire on.
You should be able to ask a professional, but it doesn't mean they have every piece of information about every single car memorized. They are MAZDA technicians, not Nissan technicians. They specialize in Mazda vehicles.

[Olestra]

Now that is ridiculous.

Yes it does matter what size tire you are trying to put on. The big honking 320 from my neighbours' motorcycle is not going to fit on my winter rims; it wouldn't even in my Mazda3's wheelwells. Yes, tires also go on planes, buses, bicycles, and many other objects. Doesn't mean you can put any old tire on.
You should be able to ask a professional, but it doesn't mean they have every piece of information about every single car memorized. They are MAZDA technicians, not Nissan technicians. They specialize in Mazda vehicles.

You missed the point.
I'm not saying it doesn't matter what size go on your car, I'm saying it doesn't matter what size the OP was trying to put on his car. People badgering him about what tire size he was trying to use is irrelevant. I don't see how it would benefit this conversation because we would just be telling him what he has already found out. The OP didn't blindly try to put the tires on. He asked a Mazda dealer if the tires would go on, and the dealer said yes and tried to put them on.

Yes the point is they are Mazda technicians and so they should understand what tires go on Mazda. It has nothing to do with Nissan and it was simply used as an example. If they don't have this information available, why are they called a Mazda dealer?
Let's make it even more obvious. If I was a Mazda technician and you gave me a tire (it could be from an airplane, a harley, a bicycle, a tractor), unless the tire said on the side wall 205-50-R17 or 205-55-R16, I would say no it does not fit. Is that not simple?

[n00bMeiSter]

You missed the point.
I'm not saying it doesn't matter what size go on your car, I'm saying it doesn't matter what size the OP was trying to put on his car. People badgering him about what tire size he was trying to use is irrelevant. I don't see how it would benefit this conversation because we would just be telling him what he has already found out. The OP didn't blindly try to put the tires on. He asked a Mazda dealer if the tires would go on, and the dealer said yes and tried to put them on.

Yes the point is they are Mazda technicians and so they should understand what tires go on Mazda. It has nothing to do with Nissan and it was simply used as an example. If they don't have this information available, why are they called a Mazda dealer?
Let's make it even more obvious. If I was a Mazda technician and you gave me a tire (it could be from an airplane, a harley, a bicycle, a tractor), unless the tire said on the side wall 205-50-R17 or 205-55-R16, I would say no it does not fit. Is that not simple?

No, it's not that simple. Those two are not the only tires that will fit on a Mazda3. I have tires on my summer rims that don't fit the rim, but the whole package still fits on my car. The tires are just stretched a a bit to fit on the rim. OP could have gone with a different rim size to make the whole rim&tire fit. We would not be only telling him what he already knows, we may have a solution on how to get the tire to fit. The whole point is that we've asked for simple information, and the OP refuses to give us that information. He is making a huge deal out of this, and he's not even willing to answer one simple question. How do we know there is more he is not telling us? For all you know, the OP could have left out some details that would make this whole incident turn 180 degrees, and show that QEW Mazda is not the one at fault, but the OP himself. Heck, the OP seems to think the saleswoman is partly to blame for all this. She had nothing to do with it.

They are called a Mazda Dealer because they sell Mazda's, and someone decided to pay for a franchise/dealer license. They could still sell and service Mazda's but not be called a Mazda Dealership.
Yes they are Mazda techs, but they are not going to know every single possible tire and rim combination that could possibly fit on every single Mazda. And, they are only human. Humans do make mistakes.

Yeah it sucks that the tires didn't fit even after someone told OP they would. So you bring it up to someone higher up the chain. Calmly explain the situation, and ask them how they plan to resolve this issue / compensate you. Come to an agreement and let things progress. Worst case scenario: He has to buy new tires. Big deal, sell the old ones and recoup some of the loss. Not to mention whatever the dealership does to compensate him; be it a discount, no charge for any of the labour, whatever. They might have even been willing to take the ones that didn't fit off his hands and apply that to the cost of the new ones.

[Noisy Crow]

+1 on needing more info.

Plus, the OP is being disingenuous. There is no way a Mazda tech would guarantee tire fitment for anything other than OEM-spec tires unless the tech can see for him/herself the tires on the car under load. As we all know the non-OEM-spec tires can fit one person's 3 and rub on someone else's. And the comment about having a couple of damaged wheel studs and needing to send out for replacements is completely irrelevant. I highly doubt they were "stripped"... likely broken when the lugnuts were removed because they were seized. Dang, corrosion in Canada, who would have ever though such a thing would occur?

FWIW, I am not a full-tilt QEW Mazda fan-boy. They messed up on my car... didn't secure my under-tray properly and it started to drag when I was on the way home. I had to back and get it replaced-- and was given a free oil change as compensation.

[wormburner]

I think both parties share blame here.
The OP did not do his homework. Finding out what tire sizes will fit your car is just too easy. There are hundreds of websites.
And the QEW techs should have been able to look at the tire size and determine if they would fit before trying to mount them.

At the end of the day, you choose who services your car. Walk away and be happy.

[Pereira11]

i will explain my side of the story as well since i am the one that the OP had dealt with in regards to the tire size. he in did fact come to see me regarding putting a non-mazda tire size on his new mazda6 with the product advisor. the tire size he wanted to install was 235/55R17 for winter with 17" steel wheels (the mazda6 gt comes with 235/45R18 stock for those who do not know).

i used the tire size calculator found on 1010tires.com which almost everyone in the automotive industry uses. I did inform the customer at the time that this tire size he wanted to use was outside of the 3% advised limit from that calculator but i did tell him that it "may fit, we would have to try them on the vehicle to confirm this". i will admit that it did advise it may fit only because in some cases tires do without without rubbing on certain vehicles as others have said. many people run non-oem spec tires on their vehicles everyday but without test fitting on the actual vehicle there is no way in knowing for certain.

so yes dashdiprock i did advise you that they may work, but never did i guarantee that they would. In his first visit i did not show dashdiprock the print out resuts from the calculator which is my mistake. However I attempted to show the OP the results from the 1010tires calculator to explain why they were not fitting on his second visit when we test fitted the tires on the vehicle to which he responded "i am not interested in math or calculations". This shows that he did not put any research into this himself either and has joined this forum only to post regarding his experience, not to gain knowledge or to add to this community.

I believe that all members of Torontomazda3.ca should be here to assist and provide knowledge in the automotive tuning community. not only for mazda3s or mazda vehicles in particular (i myself do not own a mazda). i do not only post here with our dealership specials or to simply advertise. I try to also help out with questions or concerns that members post. I will admit i was wrong in advising dashdiprock that the tires may fit, maybe he understood it differently than i had worded it, but to put down our service department is not the right action either. it is in no way the service department's fault. they were instructed to install these tires and they did. the technician found that they were rubbing and did exactly what he is supposed to do which is advise the customer that these are unsafe to use on the vehicle.

so in the end i was simply trying to save the customer money by telling him that his tires from his previous vehicle may fit based on a test fit on the actual Mazda6. however they didnt. dashdiprock misunderstood what i had advised him but it was also my fault for not providing him with the print out of the test results when he first asked me. I believe that our service department should not be faulted in this as they were advised to install tires which they did. by looking at tires off a vehicle alone will not tell you they wont fit unless it is a large difference as in 3" or bigger.

[DualSoul]

Good to hear both sides of the story. This won't change my opinion of Oakville/QEW Mazda.

[hatthi]

Good to hear both sides of the story. This won't change my opinion of Oakville/QEW Mazda.

And it shouldn't. Everyone is entitled to make mistakes. It's how the mistake's are dealt with that show a dealerships true character. I'd like to hear a response from the OP now that we have both sides of the story. But, I don't think we'll be hearing from him again.

[bluemazda3]

yeah.. doubt he'll be back here..

[DashRipRock]

Wow thanks for all the responses. I don't really get on the internet much, computer is always in use. I am glad everyone is having a robust conversation about the issues we had with QEW Mazda and look forward to reading more of the groups thoughts. We have snow tires and rims installed and all is well. We bought our tires and steel rims from Jensen Tires and the TPMS from Burlington Mazda.

Just waiting for the snow.

[sip]

[

[Olestra]

No, it's not that simple. Those two are not the only tires that will fit on a Mazda3.
Those are 2 tire sizes that come from the factory that are guaranteed to fit. Obviously other tire sizes work but if someone chooses to go that route, then the liability should now be on the customer. It's not a difficult concept that would solve a lot of headache for both parties.


i will explain my side of the story as well since i am the one that the OP had dealt with in regards to the tire size. he in did fact come to see me regarding putting a non-mazda tire size on his new mazda6 with the product advisor. the tire size he wanted to install was 235/55R17 for winter with 17" steel wheels (the mazda6 gt comes with 235/45R18 stock for those who do not know).


So it looks like both sides have come out with some new information and some new lessons.
It turns out this isn't even a Mazda3 but a Mazda6.
Some better communication, preferably in writing, and better understanding can make a big difference.
The OP expected some kind of magic to happen and unfortunately learned the hard way.

Good luck with your car and your new tires.