Sundance Mazda

Learn from my experience... Two years ago my wife and Learn from my experience... Two years ago my wife and I decided that it was time for a new car. Concluding that the Mazda 3 sedan was the one that Learn from my experience... Two years ago my wife and I decided that it was time for a new car. Concluding that the Mazda 3 sedan was the one that we wanted I set out to canvas all of Alberta for the best possible deal. I had 3 dealerships in Edmonton (Jarman Mazda, Weber Mazda & Sundance Mazda) that all matched the best price. Now the question was. Which salesperson worked the hardest for us and that we felt most confident in. It was a tie between the one at Weber Mazda and Sundance Mazda. We decided, based on its location being only 5 minutes away from our house that the salesperson (Sadru) at Sundance Mazda was to get the sale. Now the saga begins. Sundance Mazda Sales Department: Strike One, Two & Three. Once the paperwork was completed, I went to give Sadru the cheque for the car. Sadru stopped at this point and said that he had to check something. He re-assessed his paperwork and looked at me saying “Wooooops” I made a mistake. I quoted you on a standard transmission rather than the automatic transmission so the car would be $1,000.00 more. My first choice of reaction was to (well I’m sure you can guess). My second choice was to void my cheque, stand up shake his hand and state to him that his “Wooooops” just cost the dealership the sale and for him the commission. I decide that the second was a better choice. I exited Sundance Mazda and drove over to Weber Mazda where I bought the car. Sundance Mazda Service Department: Strike One. I tried using Weber Mazda’s service for my car but found that the distance having to travel was just a little too inconvenient. Depending on the time of day it could take up to an hour to get there. So I decided, being only 5 minutes from my house, to give Sundance Mazda Service a try. I booked the car in at Sundance Mazda for an oil change and wind noise coming from the windows at highway speeds. The oil change was completed without incident. The wind noise was something else. After replacing window gaskets (twice) and even my windshield (twice) the problem was still there. Apparently all of the Mazda 3’s that I road or drove shared this same characteristic. Very annoying at highway speeds. I was not able to test drive the Mazda 3 at highway speeds when I bought the car. Lesson learned. The problem still exists. The service manager (Jeremy Mah) gave up and basically told me to live with it. Sundance Mazda Service Department: Strike Two. Day One: The front end of the car was making a dry accordion noise every time I hit a bump or went over a speed bump (small or large) so I brought it into the Sundance Mazda Service. They replaced the Front sway bar bushings and called me saying it was repaired and tested. I picked it up only to find that the noise was still there. Just as bad if not worse. Day Two: I brought the car back into Sundance Mazda Service where it was confirmed that the noise was still there. They then replaced the front sway bar bushings and front shock mount bushings and rubber mounts. They called me up and confirmed that all was tested and repaired. I picked up the car and sure enough, NOPE, the noise was still there and worse than ever. Day Three: I brought the car back into Sundance Mazda Service where it was confirmed that the noise was still there. (Bored Yet?) I took the shop technician out with me to confirm the noise. He was shocked. This time they replaced both front lower control arms. They called me up and confirmed that all was tested and repaired. (I heard that before). I picked up the car and was pleasantly surprised that “yes” they finally figured it out and the noise was gone...For now...Read on. It gets better. Sundance Mazda Service Department: Strike Three. Wed.Oct.27/2010. My passenger side wiper arm stopped working so I took it over to Sundance Mazda Service. I was close to the 24,000km service mark so the car was also booked in for that. And sure enough that nasty annoying from end noise was back. So I booked that repair as well. I stated to the service advisor to please check the repair history and have the technician go right to the front lower control arms rather than me going through another three day ordeal. Surprisingly they listened and all was repaired...Or so I thought... I picked the car up the following morning, it was dark and frosty at the time and my car is black. I drove the ten blocks home where it was parked it in my driveway. It sat all day Thursday and all day Friday. Friday evening, it was dark; we took the car out on the highway to visit relatives in Stony Plain. Delighted at the smooth ride we were complementing the Sundance Mazda Service Department. We were even telling our relatives just how delighted we were...UNTIL THE BOMB FELL...It was pointed out that there was a good size paint smudge on the upper passenger side bumper just below the head light and a smudge on the passenger side head light assembly as well. You could imagine the words that followed. Sundance Mazda Service department is only open Mon to Fri and at the time that the damage was discovered it was too late to bring the car in. It had to wait until Monday morning. I have two security cameras on the front of my home with night vision capability pointed directly at all of my vehicles so I checked my recordings from the time I brought the car home to the time I first moved it and confirmed that there is absolutely no way that the damage was caused while it was at home. It could only have happened while in the care of Sundance Mazda Service. Mon. Nov.01/2010: I brought the car into Sundance Mazda Service to point out the damage. The service advisor Charles Tam took down the info and then asked me something that just didn’t sound right. He asked me....”How do I know it happened hear”...This might be a legitimate question to ask but the manner in which it was asked and without even looking at the damage I took offense to the question. Charles and I then went out to my car to assess the damage. While doing so it was discovered that the entire passenger side of the car had been badly scratched and parts of the driver’s side as well. “Shocked and outraged I was”. Charles then confirmed that Sundance Mazda Service had my car washed and that the damaged was most likely caused by the wash brush. So the car was left to have it power polished. Thinking that would repair everything. WRONG. I picked the car up that evening only to read on the work order that the main damage to the head light and the bumper were not caused by the car wash brush therefore Sundance Mazda Service is not accountable for it. The rest of the car was power polished and about 80 to 85 percent of the scratches have been removed. There is still 15 to 20 percent of then left on the car. I went in to inform Charles of this and once again responsibility was denied. They assumed responsibility “only” for what they could repair. Seeing that there was to be no satisfactory level of resolve in this mater I got into my car and left. Upon breaking for a red light I noticed that the driver’s side seat had voluntarily moved forward. A little surprised I tested it by breaking for the next red light and sure enough it moved forward again on its own. This was new I thought. Once I entered my neighborhood I was driving in the snow ruts which at times move the car from side to side. It was through this motion that I heard my driver seat clunking back and forth as my body and car moved side to side. After parking it I confirmed that the driver’s seat track and seat had both been damaged. Almost as if some disgruntled employee, after getting in trouble for damaging the car in the first place, had entered the car, grabbed the front seat adjuster bar and reefed the seat backwards with as much force as possible. Without question doing this a few times in order to achieve the level of damage that there was. You could just imagine my thoughts then. Having absolutely no confidence in Sundance Mazda’s Service department I then choose to bring the car to Weber Mazda for a more pleasant repair. This was not to be. I called Weber Mazda’s service department prior to bringing it in to see if there would be any problems in fixing the driver’s seat. I also asked that the front end be re-aligned because Sundance Mazda failed to do that when they replaced the front lower control arms the last time. I was told not to worry and that they would repair all at no charge. Sooo. Off to Weber Mazda I went. After doing up the work order at Weber I waited while the repairs were being made. The service advisor approached me once all was complete and told me that the alignment was done yet they could find nothing wrong with the driver’s side seat. Surprised, I then requested that the shop foreman come out to the car with me so I could show him exactly what was what. It didn’t take long for the foremen to see what I was talking about and it was then that the foremen stated that he would order in parts to repair it. So I left. When I received the call that the parts were in I scheduled an appointment for repair. After it was done I returned the car home and parked it for a few days. Not hearing any noises or feeling any loose seat track on the drive home (It was straight smooth freeway). Thinking that all was good I put this experience behind me. I received a call from Weber Mazda asking me how the car was. I was happy, at that time, to report that all was good. I spoke to soon. The next day I took the car out and sure enough the seat started knocking again. Before booking an appointment with Weber Mazda I decided to drive all the way over there to have the foreman look at it and to have him order a new seat. Apparently they only replaced the seat track the last time. The foreman was at a course so I had a tech (Glen) come out to assess the seat. I was concluded that there was still in fact a knocking yet he was not in the position to order more parts. So we left it at that and the service manager was to call me the next business day. A work order was created and a call from the service manger was expected……No call from service manager…I’m not surprised. The work order was created on (Feb.22/11. Today is May 22/11 and still no call. I just received a notice about a recall on my car. It was to replace the power steering component and lines. All I could think was once this is done. Just how many times will I have to bring it back for other stuff? Not wanting any more grief I stepped up my search for a new vehicle and on Sat Mar.05/11 I found one. I am happy to say that I am no longer and will never again be a Mazda owner……….. More