Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!genrad!decvax!harpo!floyd!vax135!ariel!hou5f!orion!houca!hogpc!houxm!ihnp4!ihuxx!ignatz From: ignatz@ihuxx.UUCP Newsgroups: net.auto Subject: Re: Toyota vs. Mazda? Message-ID: <447@ihuxx.UUCP> Date: Fri, 17-Jun-83 15:50:45 EDT Article-I.D.: ihuxx.447 Posted: Fri Jun 17 15:50:45 1983 Date-Received: Tue, 21-Jun-83 00:39:39 EDT Lines: 44 Ok, now for a plus vote. I bought my first Toyota from a defunct dealership in Chicago in 1978 (Downtown Toyota). It was a case of agressively shopping for a Toyota Celica Liftback, since I knew a friend who had one and I was favorably impressed with it on a trip to Phoenix via Denver. If anyone had the right to be upset with me, it was that dealer--I called another dealer I'd been talking to from this guy's office, and bargained over his phone! But nevertheless, I got an outstanding deal and a friendly salesman. He even drove me to Waukegan in his own car to pick up the Credit Union check. (New job Monday, needed car on Friday...) That Toy ran up 100,000 miles from Oct. '78 through Feb. '82, and was a pleasure to drive. I'm a decent auto mechanic (not hubris--it was a student necessity) and was almost depressed at how easy the Japanese made that car to maintain and service; Toyota maintenance supplies (brake pads, filters, etc.) are superbly crafted, well designed, and competetively priced with the cheapie no-names in auto parts stores. I was so impressed that, on a whim, I stopped in at the Hanley-Dawson dealer in Chicago in Feb. of last year (it was some promotional--remember, times were bad and interest rates high) and effectively said, "I've got a '78 Toy with 100,000 on it. What can we do?" Ignore the haggling, which started out as 'just curiosity...' and ended up with '..I borrow your pen?'. I ended up with a good trade-in, a superb price on a new Celica Liftback S package (despite Chicago's 1% tax), and drove out with the car *that afternoon*. And so far, I'm as impressed and satisfied with this one as I was with the first; it's a pleasure to drive. Things may be different now that times are better; and different dealerships matter. I might recommend Quality Toyota, on Roosevelt Rd. in Glen Ellyn; I do my own work, but go there for parts, and they've always been friendly and knowledgable. The salesmen I met are willing to talk, even though I'm obviously not an immediate prospect. Now, all isn't a bed of roses; Toyota parts, while always easy to obtain, can get quite expensive once you get out of the filter-and-wiper range; and body work is *hideously* expensive (but, then, it probably is on all imports.) And I can't comment on the quality--good or bad--of Mazda; I've never owned one. But for what *I've* gotten out of Toyota, I have to give this 'unsolicited testimonial'. I just wish Detroit would offer something like this! What more can I say? Dave Ihnat ihuxx!ignatz IX 1C-421 x0946