Sending my car to GS for leather seat wrapping today.

So I went back to Mazda Glenmarie today to fix the knocking sound as well as the less major rattling issue. Overall quite pleased, the foreman they assigned me (believe his name was Faiz) was excellent and extremely thorough.

He solved my knocking sound by using synthetic grease on a part of the control arm (think it was the rubber part?), instead of the regular grease that was being used. It seems to have worked, we took the car out for 4 different test drives (he was very thorough, we even hosed the wheel arm with water to see if it was wetness that was causing the sound to appear/disappear) and he made sure I was completely happy that the sound was no longer there before I signed off the release form.

He has also ensured that the staff there logged it into their system and has promised to gather all of the feedback to be sent to Mazda Japan. Apparently they have a Jap rep at Glenmarie now too, so good flow of communication between Mazda Malaysia and Japan.

The rattling sound he fixed easily - apparently there was a clip that was loose somewhere at the back (in the booth I think, right behind the seats? Should have gotten more info on this, was too focused on the arm knocking sound) and there's zero rattle on the car now.

Overall very pleased with the experience this time around. Mazda Glenmarie took the whole day as they had a LOT of cars to do, but they solved both issues and promised to help if the knocking sound appears again. They also redid my wheel alignment post fixing the arm issue.

Sometimes the staff make all the difference, and today this particular foreman I dealt with was excellent and should be commended - he obviously knows his stuff really well and is passionate about Mazda.

I'm happy to answer questions from anyone who is still having unresolved knocking sounds/rattling issues.

Mazda Service     

Just received a call from service centre. They were checking whether got any problem with my car.

Told them I only got Monday to bring in to check (Absorber got sound and my HU sometimes freeze and restart itself)

They arranging and slot in for me. 

If Honda, they will INSIST to make appointment. Then ask their foreman to come see how much money can "milk" from it.

Good to see Mazda start to become PROACTIVE rather than REACTIVE. Must keep it up and consistent!

Customer experience is important!

Next, they need to relook into their Car Pricing and Specification strategies in order to outbeat their competitors! They can price their car higher but ensure the specification justify it and better than their rivals! 

actually i think the new mazda3 is very unique. Its pretty, not a hybrid but got istop ieloop features so it saves a bit fuel at same time provide good performance. just that rm139k without leather and other minuscule features is too high hope. still i like my m3 very much....

now got free leather seat wad

sg besi branch is selling their m3 test drive car with discount~ 3k+ mileage

RM110K ?

haha i wish too...7k rebate (no leather seats), probably if really serious can haggle more~

Just collected my car from GS this afternoon, had sent it in for the leather seat changover. Overall quite pleased, not an expert but the leather seems to be pretty high quality (Nappa apparently?), and I'm glad I opted for the red stitching (extra RM200) - really suits the interior of the car.

Oh and will post pictures tomorrow when I get some decent shots on my phone