Mazda's Dealership Experience Is as Nice as Our 2020 CX-30
Mazda wants to be considered a luxury brand—can the dealership experience deliver?
Our long-term 2020 Mazda CX-30 has been with us for 11 months now, and it hasfinallycalled for its first service. That's less of a commentary on Mazda's service intervals and more of a reflection of how close to home we've stayed in the lost year of 2020. Nevertheless, with our Mazda asking for its first trip to the dealer, we obliged and took care of a couple of recalls while we were at it.
Are Mazda Dealerships Nice?
Over the past few years, I've had long-termers from both mainstream automakers and luxury brands. With Mazda on a march upmarket into the luxury space, I was curious to see what the dealership experience was like—would it be more like a Jeep or Chevy? Or more like an Audi or Mercedes?
0:00 / 0:00
I was pleasantly surprised to see the Mazda dealership experience fell squarely on the luxury side of the spectrum. I showed up 15 minutes early for my appointment (made painlessly online without having to pick up the phone) and was quickly greeted, offered a bottle of water, and whisked into the well-appointed (and socially distanced) waiting room. Whereas mainstream automakers' waiting rooms (and even some luxury ones) tend to be DMV-like (low rent and tucked into a corner and out of sight of prospective new customers), Mazda's waiting room was in the center of the showroom, where it was surrounded by Mazda 3s, MX-5 Miatas, and CX-5s on lifts.
Whereas most dealerships leave you wondering when your car will be ready, the Mazda dealer kept me up to date on the status of the CX-30 via text.
What Does the CX-30's First Service Entail?
Like most cars these days, the CX-30 analyzes your driving habits and will let you know on the instrument cluster when it's ready for service. Regardless of how much or how little you drive, you can expect about 10,000 miles between each service interval. For its first service, the CX-30 requires an oil and filter change, as well as a tire rotation. Standard stuff.
2020 Mazda CX-30 Recalls
There were two open recalls on our CX-30 when we brought it in. The first concerned a condition where our Mazda's Bose audio system could suddenly play loud static, which sounds like it'd be super annoying if it had ever happened to our SUV. The second had to do with the way the CX-30 brakes when using its adaptive cruise control. The update to the cruise control system is supposed to make the system feel more human. We'll report back on whether we notice any changes in a future update.
How Much Did It Cost Us?
Despite the luxury-like experience at the dealer, it sure didn't cost us that much. Our total bill was far shy of the $500 bills we're used to seeing at Mercedes or Audi dealers. With both recalls performed under warranty, our CX-30's first service costs us a grand total of $143.18.
Read More About Our Long-Term 2020 Mazda CX-30 Premium AWD:
I generally like writing—especially when it’s about cars—but I hate writing about myself. So instead of blathering on about where I was born (New York City, in case you were wondering) or what type of cars I like (all of ’em, as long as it has a certain sense of soul or purpose), I’ll answer the one question I probably get most, right after what’s your favorite car (see above): How’d you get that job? Luck. Well, mostly. Hard work, too. Lots of it. I sort of fell into my major of journalism/mass communication at St. Bonaventure University and generally liked it a lot. In order to complete my degree senior year, we had to spend our last two semesters on some sort of project. Seeing as I loved cars and already spent a good portion of my time reading about cars on sites such as Motor Trend, I opted to create a car blog. I started a Tumblr, came up with a car-related name (The Stig’s American Cousin), signed up for media access on a bunch of manufacturer’s websites, and started writing. I did everything from cover new trim levels to reviewing my friends’ cars. I even wrote a really bad April Fool’s Day post about the next Subaru Impreza WRX being Toyota-Corolla-based. It was fun, and because it was fun, it never felt like work. Sometime after my blog had gotten off the ground, I noticed that Motor Trend was hiring for what’s now our Daily News Team. I sent in my résumé and a link to my blog. I got the job, and two weeks after graduation I made the move from New York to California. I’ve been happily plugging away at a keyboard—and driving some seriously awesome hardware—ever since.
Read More
