The Autobarn Mazda of Evanston

Reviews

• SB

  Stella Bowman

  Aug 27, 2026
  5.0
  I got a new Mazda CX-5 a couple weeks ago and the process could've not been smoother. Ivan, Jeff, and Leo were the staff members that helped me get my new lease and they were amazing. I had a previous lease with Mazda and was extremely excited about getting my new car. Ivan had initially reached out to me and was extremely helpful, professional, and efficient with the process of returning my old Mazda and getting me a new lease. After we had set my appointment, I gave them my preference for color, and although they didn't have it at the dealership, they went above and beyond to get my preferred color and model to the dealership within a week, ready for my appointment. They helped me take pictures with my new car, explain the features, and got me in and out very quickly. I felt also when it was time to go through the financials, I was not being sold to - it felt like Leo genuinely cared about my price range and how much I would be spending on the car each month. I was shown all of the new features from Ivan, and he helped me transfer my stickers from my old car to my new one, and made sure everything was taken care of to the last detail. I also feel comfortable contacting him with questions and he is very responsive and helpful. Overall, an amazing experience that I have had again at this Mazda dealership. I love my car and I intend to be a Mazda customer for life!
• ST

  Stephanie T.

  Aug 27, 2026
  5.0
  I had a fantastic car-buying experience at The Autobarn Evanston. Tommy, my sales representative, and Jonathan in finance were both knowledgeable, friendly, transparent, and genuinely collaborative throughout the entire process. There were no sales theatrics, unnecessary pressure, or games- just straightforward conversations and a real willingness to work with me to meet my financial targets. Tommy also took the time after the purchase to make sure I understood all of the vehicle’s features and knew how everything worked, which I really appreciated. I can directly compare this experience to a frustrating dealership visit I had just the day before, and the difference was night and day. I would absolutely recommend The Autobarn Evanston, especially to anyone looking to avoid the typical negative dealership experience. Tommy and Jonathan made the entire process easy, professional, and enjoyable from beginning to end.
• AB

  Alexa Bradley

  Aug 18, 2026
  5.0
  We bought a brand-new Mazda CX-50 Hybrid from the Autobarn Mazda of Evanston yesterday, and I genuinely cannot say enough good things about our experience—especially with Jesse in sales and Jonathan in finance. Jesse deserves some sort of award for patience alone. We asked approximately one million questions and changed our minds about which cars we were interested in at least 36 times, and he somehow remained kind, helpful, knowledgeable, and completely unflappable throughout the entire process. There was never any pressure, and he worked incredibly hard to get us exactly what we wanted. They ultimately beat the offers we had received from another dealership and added some fantastic incentives, which made an already great experience even better. Jonathan made the finance portion—which is not exactly the part of buying a car anyone looks forward to—actually FUN. He was incredibly knowledgeable, personable, hilarious, and clearly invested in getting us the best possible deal. He and my partner bonded over video games and their shared culture while working through everything, and by the end it felt much more like hanging out with someone we genuinely liked than sitting through car-buying paperwork. But perhaps the best illustration of how wonderful everyone was is what happened on day two. The first night, I jokingly asked if we could have one of the dealership’s enormous car bows. I was told they don’t normally send the bows home with customers. Naturally, I interpreted this as a challenge. I continued my campaign throughout the evening and, before we left, reminded Jesse that I was having surgery the next morning and that truly nothing would make me happier than being picked up afterward in my brand-new car wearing a comically oversized bow. Plot twist: instead of being picked up in it, I ended up at the dealership myself after surgery while my partner finished the paperwork. The team offered me the couch upstairs, where I proceeded to take a roughly 90-minute post-anesthesia nap. Jonathan even TURNED DOWN THE MUSIC IN THE DEALERSHIP so I could sleep and gave me a tea recommendation to help me continue sleeping when I got home. And when we finally left? THE BOW CAME WITH US. So, to recap: they beat competing offers, got us a fantastic deal, stayed late for us the first night, worked to get us in and out quickly the next day, patiently tolerated our approximately 36 changes of heart, provided me with a post-surgical recovery couch, adjusted the dealership’s ambient noise for my nap, offered sleep-tea recommendations, AND eventually surrendered the giant bow I had become emotionally invested in. At this point, I genuinely do not know what more I could ask of a car dealership. We absolutely love our new CX-50 Hybrid, but more importantly, this was hands-down the best car-buying experience either of us has ever had. Jesse and Jonathan treated us like actual human beings rather than a sale, and we felt taken care of from beginning to end. If you’re looking for a Mazda, go here. Ask for Jesse. And when you get to finance, hope you get Jonathan. Just know that the giant bow may no longer be available. Sorry. 🎀😂
• DY

  Danny Yee

  Aug 18, 2026
  5.0
  My third Mazda purchase and counting. They truly drive better than most comparable brands at similar pricepoints. I purchased a 2026 Mazda turbocharged AWD sedan taking advantage of the 0% APR a couple weeks before the program expires. The overall purchase experience was quite pleasant. Getting there takes alot of homework from the buyer. Showing up two hours before closing, we were not rushed and the friendly staff stayed hours past closing to help finalize the sale. Special thanks to manager Jeffrey Gossage for crunching numbers and sales consultant Nathan Bernabe for walking through the process. From there, finance officer Jonathan Daniel helped make the final processing go smoothly and entertaining sharing stories of his passionate hobby of building and racing cars. As a bonus, he offered several nice maintenance and car care freebies; a kind gesture of good will to take care of loyal customers. Overall, it's reassuring to know there are local people willing to go out of their way to earn our business. With the limited time incentives and negotiated price, I received an excellent deal especially factoring in the financing rate. I highly recommend Autobahn Mazda for their professionalism in sales and service (dept) as I will be visiting them for maintenance and another purchase. Yes... another Mazda! 😍
• VS

  Victoria Dal Santo

  Aug 11, 2026
  1.0
  Beware of deceptive practices in the finance department if you are an out-of-state or cash buyer. I purchased a pre-owned vehicle via wire transfer on July 25. When we arrived to pick it up on Aug 7 after they fixed some dings in the car that were agreed to as part of the purchase agreement, Finance Manager Leo David subjected us to a 90-minute runaround regarding our legal paperwork.First, he claimed there was no paperwork to give us. Then, he gave us at least four completely different, conflicting lies about the title—claiming it was already sent to the Illinois Secretary of State and would take 4–6 weeks to arrive (even though it was to be registered by us in WI and not IL and he knew this), among others. He also flat-out refused to provide a receipt showing we had paid in full, forcing me to demand he hand-sign a makeshift note on an old bill of sale.After an hour and a half of us refusing to back down, Leo magically produced the complete, physical out-of-state packet from the back room. The original title, correct bill of sale, and Wisconsin DMV documents were sitting in the building the entire time. He actively lied to avoid the manual effort of processing an out-of-state transaction.I emailed General Manager Brady Spiehler directly about this misconduct, and the dealership completely ignored it, with no follow up whatsoever. Absolute lack of integrity from both the finance staff and management. Buyers beware. Update after Mgr Response below: I find it very curious that the mgr posted the below response to my negative review and sent me an 8 paragraph letter within 15 min of me posting this negative review. So in that 15 min, he had to go back to his email and find my email in his junk folder and then talk to both his office assts (that I had cc:d) and confirm it went to their junk folder also and then he wrote me an 8 paragraph apology letter (certainly with the help of AI vs a sincere apology). Amazing! But don't believe he didn't have my email and chose not to respond until I posted a negative review. Buyer Beware!

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