
Michael McWilliams
Service Advisor
Castle Mazda Downers Grove
1850 Ogden Ave
Downers Grove, IL 60515

3 Reviews
Write a Review3 Reviews of Michael McWilliams
May 03, 2025
Run don't walk away from this shady service department. I took my car there for a recall notice and after making an appointment for this specific reason, they neglected to order the necessary $5.00 part. T I took my car there for a recall notice and after making an appointment for this specific reason, they neglected to order the necessary $5.00 part. This was a waste of 2 hours of my time by the time they did some purported inspection which I doubt they even did. I then had to make another apt and waste more of my time to go back. This is where it went downhill, and they showed their true colors of how they operate. First, I am very mechanically savvy and know how to fix many items on a car / take care of a car. With that in mind my car I knew had no mechanical or maintenance issue that needed to be addressed as the car was just fully inspected during a full engine replacement a few months back and all maintenance was up to date. After their tech looked over my car and made a social media style video, detailing all of the issues he found, the service advisor proceeded to send me an estimate for nearly 2K. Remember I only went there for a recall repair and never asked them to inspect any other portion of the car. Again, considering the car has a brand-new engine in it, just a few months old here are the items they stated needed to be addressed immediately. 1. Coolant Flush - When a new engine is installed the coolant is all drained so there is no need to do this or even suggest this. 2. Brake Fluid Flush - The car had new brakes all around recently and a new caliper so by default the brake fluid was already flushed. 3. Idler Pully / Drive Belt - They claim the belt was cracked and the pully was showing signs of wear. The belt was not worn or cracked, why would the engine get replaced and not address this at the same time other than the belt was fine. 4. Transmission Fluid Flush - Again when a new engine is installed and the transmission is disconnected the fluid is drained and refilled. 5. New Water Pump - Suggested if they are doing a coolant flush and the belt change why not replace the water pump as well. Maybe because it isn't leaking, not making any bearing noise and works fine? 6. CV Boot - Showed some video whey they claim the CV boot was not torn or damaged, but the spring clamp had magically come loose, and the boot was not sealing properly. This was due to them removing the spring clip / disconnecting the boot with a pair of pliers and trying to induce fear to sell more services. Completely falsified claim and possibly not even my car as the CV boot was not disconnected after getting the car back.... 7. New Spark Plugs - Again new engine = new plugs completely made up unnecessary high margin service. 8. New Air Filter - The filter is not dirty; in fact, it was dirtier from the techs grubby hands touching it than it was from air bone contaminants. 9. New Cabin Filter - This was dirty but at cost of over $80 to do this is a complete rip off. Bought a new HEPA filter for $18 at Nappa. 10. Valve Cover - Stated in their reality type video that my valve cove was not leaking. Amazing since it is a new engine! 11. As a final thank or possibly FU you for not buying any service, they loosened the negative battery terminal and returned the car to me. While it drove home fine, the next day after going out, the battery became completely disconnected and the car was dead. I looked under the hood and found that they loosened the negative battery terminal to the point where it was barely was connected anymore. I re-tightened the terminal on the battery post, and it worked like normal. Keep in mind the battery was only about 6 months old / no terminal corrosion and had a tag on it showing the purchase date. An honest independent repair shop would call to discuss, ask questions and even invite you to come and see the issues first-hand. The lesson is, never take a dealer's service department recommendations at face value. Do your due diligence and potentially save yourself thousands over the life of your car. More
November 08, 2024
Professional and courteous through the whole process. Very helpful when ordering tires, very nice waiting area Very helpful when ordering tires, very nice waiting area More
Other Employees Tagged: Helen Barton , Angel Cruz
October 29, 2024
Service team always go above and beyond! Mike has always been very kind and patient to us. The kind of service every client deserves. And i get the chance to drive the new CX 70 as a loaner Mike has always been very kind and patient to us. The kind of service every client deserves. And i get the chance to drive the new CX 70 as a loaner while waiting for our car to be serviced! Thanks always Mike and the team! I Never regret to drive longer everytime cause I know these people can be trusted. Till next time! More