I recently had an issue with my car. The passenger side headlight seems to have let moisture into it. There was a load of condensation on the inside of the housing and the low beam stopped working.

I brought it to Agincourt Mazda, and couldn’t be happier with the service.

They took a look at it and told me they’d replace the housing under warranty, which was great. They said to bring it back in a few days when the new housing came in, and they’d take care of it.

That was all well and good, except when I brought it back and they did the work, they found out that the ballast was also bad, and they didn’t have one in stock. This is where their level of service became exceptional, and why I’d recommend them for anyone for service.

Rather than just have me come back a 3rd time to finish the job, they gave me the option of leaving the car there, taking a loaner, and picking it up in a couple days when it would be done.

Now, if this was a GM dealer, I’d expect this sort of thing as GM will pay for a rental when your car needs warranty service that’s going to take more than a day. Mazda doesn’t do any such thing, however, so giving me a rental was entirely on the dealership’s tab. That was above and beyond, and I appreciated it. On top of that, they went the extra mile and cleaned the interior as well. Just as a little something extra for my troubles.

So that’s that. I highly recommend them.

Now… for the rental. As a loaner, they gave me the new Mazda3, which I haven’t much cared for since it came out. Now I’ve changed my mind.

My history with rental cars usually involves me hating them with a passion by the time I have to give them back. They’re always base models of whatever car they are, and they’re always crap.

This one was different though.

Sure, it was still a base model. I’m sure the only options were A/C and the automatic transmission, but it didn’t drive like garbage. I was surprised by the fact that it actually drove very well! The base engine had plenty of power to move it so I wasn’t planting the pedal on the floor and swearing at it. The handling didn’t feel like a boat ready to capsize. All in all, it just wasn’t crap.

As I said, I didn’t much care for the new Mazda3 when it came out. I’m not a fan of the new front-end styling. If you’re in the market for a compact car though, I strongly suggest you ignore the looks of it and take one out for a test drive. You just may like it enough to buy it!