TLDR - Gyro Mazda was exceptional to deal with when purchasing my car, i'd highly recommend them for friends and family
I bought a CPO 2014 Mazda 3 sport GS 6MT from Gyro Mazda a few months ago and I just thought I’d share my experience.
This is my third Mazda, my first being a 1993 Mazda B2200 pickup, and the second being a 2006 Mazdaspeed 6, so you could say I’ve sipped the Kool-Aid. I'm a big proponent for Mazda, I’ve successfully encouraged many friends and co-workers to give Mazda a try for their next car, the Mazda 3 specifically. Since I’ve recommended the Mazda 3 so many times, I figured it was time to use my own advice when it came time to replace my Mazdaspeed 6, and I couldn't be happier!
Based on a referral from my uncle, who’s bought 4 Mazdas from Gyro, I went to pay them a visit when I happened to see that they had almost the exact car I was looking for on their used lot. I ended up dealing with Brian Spivak, who was a fantastic person to work with. Brian gave me full freedom to look over the car and showed me all of the features it had. Next we went out for a test drive on a variety of city streets, including some potholed ones to check for errant noises (really, every road in Toronto has potholes, so they weren’t hard to find). After working out numbers, which was a very transparent and honest negotiation, Brian and I actually spent a half hour shooting the breeze. He’s a true gearhead and had many stories to beguile me with, including old cars he’s had, including some particularly cool Mazdas. The way he talks about Mazdas, you can tell he’s invested in the brand, and he enjoys sharing that with others.
After waiting a week for my car to be prepared (the windshield had to be replaced due to a small crack), Brian greeted me at the dealership and took me to my car to give me a thorough walkthrough of the car, including showing me how to pair my cellphone, setup the radio and modify other settings to my liking. We then drove to the nearest gas station for a complimentary full tank of gas, then I was on my way home with my new ride!
I did actually admit to Brian when I went to pick up my car that I was kind of surprised at the asking price of the car, as it seemed to be around $1000 less than Canadian Black Book value. He confided in me that since manual transmission cars are a harder sell in the Toronto (due to traffic), they have to be priced very aggressively to sell, or they’d languish on lots with no takers. So all manual transmission enthusiasts should take note, shop in the downtown core for better prices and more flexible sales staff.
A couple of weeks after picking up my car, Brian emailed me to see how I was liking it and ask if I had any questions or concerns. The car has been great, it drives so nicely, gets great fuel economy and should prove to be very reliable over the life of the car. I’m looking forward to adding kilometres to the car, as well as a few performance parts. My Mazdaspeed6 was fully bolted and custom tuned to about 260 AWHP, so the Mazda 3 will be a bit of a compromise as far as tunability and performance, but it should still provide tons of smiles on twisty roads.