Complain about a product or service

Menlo Mazda

Redwood City, CA

Perhaps things will be improving at this dealership. We received the following on Feb. 12, 2003:

To Whom it may concern: Menlo Mazda has recently gone through a buy and sell and all former employees of the company have been temrminated. There is a customer complaint in your website from a customer who delt with the former owners. We would appreciate it if the complaint was removed because it dose not reflect the new ownership. I am the finance manager at Menlo Mazda and we would like this matter resolved immediately.
Arash Haidari

Lana of San Leandro CA writes (7/10/02):
I just bought my new Mazda MVP from Menlo Mazda, I came to pick it up when it was ready. As I was waiting for the salemen to fill up the tank and bring it back to us we were ready to go. As we were driving off the lot 2 salesmen stopped us and informed us that we had the wrong tires and rims.

The MVP that I bought had 17 inch tires and alloy rims, considered upgrade and cost more. The technician forgot to tell them he switched the tires off another vehicle and they did not mark it up. They said we could either pay for them at dealer cost of $1900.00 or return the vehicle and put the standard tires on there the day after. We said, w'ell think it over, then we left. After thinking about it, we consulted everywhere if they were able to do this since it was their mistake.

Finally 2 weeks into this they are calling me and threating to repossess my vehicle if I do not return the tires or pay them. And the owner also stated that they were not going to eat their mistake. Well after all this I have called DMV Investigation and was told that I do not have to do anything, they cannot ask for them back after a contract was signed for that vehicle.

If the upgraded rims and tires were indeed included on the contract, it doesn't seem that Lana would be under any obligation to the dealer.

Nora of Burlingame, CA, writes:

On the afternoon of Thursday, April 20, 2000, I was driving my 1991 Mazda 323 down El Camino Real towards Redwood City when I noticed the "hold" indicator was flashing. I pulled over and took out my owner's manual, which detailed that this was an electrical problem and the vehicle should be checked out by an Authorized Mazda Dealer as soon as possible. I then drove to Menlo Mazda in Redwood City, which was 10 minutes away. Mark Von Sund, the customer service manager who assisted me, told me that he would have a service technician check my car's problem within an hour. My guests from out of town and I went to a nearby restaurant to wait. Upon our return, a Mazda technician named Eugene and I took a 10-mile drive and the light did not go on. Eugene said my car still ran really well for being nine years old and having only 78,632 miles on it. I said I have never had any problems with my Mazda and would definitely purchase another Mazda product. He suggested an original quote of $150 to perform general service, which increased to $921.91 (less $100.45 discount coupon) by the time they finished on Friday, April 21, 2000. I put my trust and the safety of myself and others with the employees at Menlo Mazda. On Tuesday, April 25, I was driving from SFO (five miles) to my home in Burlingame when the "hold" indicator went on again and continued to flash! I called Mark Von Sund at Menlo Mazda and told him of the problem - he said to bring it in.

The following day, I brought my car in and was told by Mark that they didn't have time to look at the car! I asked if it was safe to drive and he replied, "I don't know." After that, I began reviewing the 4/21/00 invoice more thoroughly and saw under "Job #1" that it stated "cleared light and road tested OK." I thought, "How could they just "clear" the light without fixing the problem, and why would they do that? This made me nervous because the owner's manual said to have the vehicle checked as soon as possible and now I didn't feel it was safe to drive my car at all. I also saw other questionable items on the invoice; i.e., "Job #5" which stated "engine noise" when I did not have one, to which my out-of-town guests can also attest. Then, when I reviewed their "Maintenance Checklist," I saw that the transmission was checked for two transmission-related items; transmission and differential leaks, and transmission shift leaks. I believe that the "hold" indicator problem should have been found at this time and so does George West, the Service Manager at Putnam Mazda in Burlingame, where I drove my drove my car (three blocks away) for a second opinion.

On Friday, May 5, I spoke to George West, explained the situation, and showed him the repair bill from Menlo Mazda in Redwood City. George explained that their technician would look at the car and if he couldn't find the problem, he could call the "Mazda Hotline," which is what should have been done at Menlo Mazda in the first place. He said the light flashing "obviously" indicated a problem! I left the car over the weekend. On Monday, May 8 , I spoke with Hank, the Putnam Mazda technician, and was told that I needed a new transmission, possibly costing $2,500. I decided to wait on repairs, since the car is nine years old. In the meantime, on April 29, I received a letter from Menlo Mazda stating that my mileage should be at 79,304 and that it was time to schedule another maintenance service for 80,000 miles! First, there isn't even an 80,000 milestone checkpoint listed on their Maintenance Checklist; second, I just had a thorough and expensive service done at 78,632 miles the previous week; and third, since I only average 8,737 miles per year (78,632 miles @ 9 years), or 728 miles per month, how could I possibly put on enough miles to warrant another service so quickly? As you can imagine, I am very upset and feel that I have been taken advantage of by a dealership that, like so many others, habitually manipulate the truth regarding repairs.

I believe that Menlo Mazda knew I needed a new transmission and wanted to first make me pay for needless repairs and then the transmission later. In addition, I have had to incur the expense of renting a car for almost two weeks while I look for a new car because I feel my Mazda is no longer safe to drive. I might add, while doing the paperwork at the Enterprise Car Rental office in Burlingame, I was asked why I needed to rent the car. I explained the situation and was told by Vince (Enterprise) that George West at Putnam was an "honest" guy. That was also validated by George, the owner of Texaco on California Street in Burlingame, where I went for a third opinion. Based on the above information, I am disputing the charges of $821.46 until I get proof that the work done was needed in the first place. I feel the Menlo Mazda certified technician's level of work was below standard and their Service Department circumvented the initial "hold" indicator problem to perform the work/maintenance that I believe was unnecessary to the immediate issue at hand. In addition, the time, energy, and expense relating to this situation have cost me a great deal of unnecessary stress and anxiety.

As I mentioned above, the expense of renting a car paying for a service that was not performed correctly and the stress has been unbearable, not to mention the feeling of being taken advantage of because I am a women. I discussed the situation with a friend who happens to be a member of the Menlo Park rotary club and he said he would never do business with Menlo Mazda. The owner of Menlo has about four other dealerships in the area.

Back to the top | California Auto Dealer Complaints