Mazda RX-8 Prices Paid and Buying Experience

lhess · April 2005

i talked to my sales guy briefly, but didn't ask about the rebates. i'm sure they're still honoring giving good deals since they still have so many 04's. they had moved a couple 8's since my purchase - oddly enough, i missed at least 2 white ones and they were 05's?

i think i'm gonna go for the rotary accents and the cd changer for sure. i've debated on the strakes (they do look good), but, WOW, they are pricey!! I have decided to pass on the front air dam and the side skirting - i think i like the "sleeker" look without them. other than these, i'm pretty much done adding.

dwynne - saw a new s2000 in the honda showroom with a sticker of 33K. i wasn't aware that you could touch a new one for that price range. red/black - my colors!! but, i think i have enough payments ahead of me as it is!!

ps, i saw an e-bay auction for a yellow 04 8 and they said that only 1000 yellows were made. i've always wondered where you can find that kind of info? anyone know?

cappy4103 · April 2005

I was at the Mazda dealer yesterday negotiating on a 2004 RX-8 and this is what I was told... Mazda used to have a $1500 rebate as well as a $2500 rebate if you financed through Mazda. As of about a week ago, Mazda Corporate has "washed their hands" of these 2004's and basically gave the dealers $4000 to use as they wish to move these left overs. Based upon the figures I was quoted the $4000 appears to be in the form of a discount and not a rebate as I was only paying sales tax on the trade difference, not the trade difference plus the rebate. Rebates are normally taxable. The dealer offered to sell me a red 2004 Grand Touring 6 speed with an MSRP of $31,634 for invoice ($28,965), then discount the car another $4,000. I offered to buy the car for $1,000 less. In another three months, this car will be two years old and from what I've read out there, some dealers are going below invoice to sell them. My dealer didn't - yet.

dwynne · April 2005

On the 8 I like the spoiler - I think. I go back and forth on that, but I think I like it better with it.

I don't care much for the "appearance kit" - and I REALLY don't like the nearly $1,000 it costs from the factory.

The rotary accents look OK, and I am on not that big on the strakes.

But this is why they have so many options - to make everyone happy :-)

At one time dealers were getting MSRP or over for the S2000, now you can get a new 05 for just over dealer cost - and some dealers have 04s sitting on the lot (a mini version of the 8, but with fewer cars). So it is as good a time as any to buy one.

The factory would be the only place that tracks the numbers by color - and I don't know that they have published that info. You might try calling Mazda customer service and see if someone could look that info up. I would be curious as the the colors popularity as well.

Dennis

dwynne · April 2005

I bet they didn't require that you use MAC financing either, did they?

I have heard of folks getting as much as $1,000 off of invoice less the $4,000 in discounts (used to be rebates). Most are paying a bit more, like maybe $500 off. Of course, the dealers now give you the car quote then hit you with a large "doc fee" to get some of it back.

If your dealer has lots of 04s I would think they would be more motovated to move them. You should be able to get a new 05 for close to invoice now, and they have/had a $2,000 LEASE incentive on them. With "only" $4,000 off of invoice the 05 is not that much more - and is a better deal if you are going to lease a car.

Too dad Mazda removed the 04s from the inventory search on their web page - makes it a LOT harder to find a leftover car like you want and get a good deal on it.

Dennis

cappy4103 · April 2005

You are correct on all counts Dennis. I was offered a deal to buy the car at invoice and receive an additional $4,000 off, and I was not required to finance through MAC. The dealer I shopped at has five of these in stock. I offered to buy the car for $1,000 below invoice (plus receive the $4,000 discount) but the dealer wouldn't budge! He didn't even make me a counter-offer? I looked at my watch and confirmed that it was April of 2005, confirmed that the car was a 2004, and looked at the lot to see five of these left over 2004's sitting there. Per their invoice, this particular car was delivered in August of 2003! I don't know, maybe they are collecting them and not selling them? The one thing that was to my disadvantage was that this dealership is not high volume and there were no 2005 RX-8's on the lot to buy in lieu of the 2004 models. Who knows, maybe they'll call me in a few days but I thought my offer was reasonable considering other dealers are selling these cars below invoice and passing along the $4,000 discount to their customers.

dwynne · April 2005

Holdback on Mazda cars is 2% of base MSRP - i think that does not include options so it would be about $540.

I guess you could raise your offer to invoice - hold back - $4,000 and see what they say? Tell them they may not be making money, but they get a nearly two year old car off the lot.

If you don't have a trade, then why not try it? Also - where are you located? Perhaps there are other dealers around that are more motivated? If you don't mind travelling to get a car, I am sure you can find one. Of course, at some point having the hassle of having to get a discount car cancels out the savings.

Dennis

lhess · April 2005

cappy, I held for another $1000 off my deal a couple of weeks ago. $30,300 car, quoted to me for 27,900 minus 4000 rebates, and 1500 in trade equity. I told my dealer that there were some things i would like to add and would definitely be doing that through them, plus all my service will be with them - they'd get the $1000 back on parts, accessories and service. they did it. also, had i waited until the rebates are now discounts, i would have saved myself $200 in taxes. however, paying the 200 was worth getting the car i wanted - last yellow on the lot. not having to finance thru MAC would have been great - my local bank has lower rates at the present.
dennis, agree with you on the appearance package price and although i think the strakes look good, i don't think i can make myself pay the kind of prices i've seen for them. had mixed emotions about the spoiler. i got used to seeing my car without it and, even though i like it with one, i could have lived without it too. that s2000 may have been an 04, i didn't even think to look at that. i was surprised at the room in it - she would have been a real competitor for my money had i spotted it prior to buying the 8!! but, no regrets on the 8, i just miss my convertible at times!!
Lisa

cappy4103 · April 2005

There are about $200 worth of accessories that I am interested in, such as the sunroof wind deflector, molded splash guards and the cargo net. Otherwise the car is equipped to my liking...GT Pkg with spare, spoiler and rotary accents. I did plan to pay for these extra items cash/charge. Oh yeah, the car has the Bridgestone Potenza tires on it. I want them to switch the Bridgestones for a set of the Dunlops which they have on another new RX-8 in the lot, which they agreed to do. The Bridgestones have a tread life rating of something like 140 while the Dunlops are rated at almost double that. At $200 a piece, I want the longer lasting tire! I would be trading in my current car which is paid for. They are giving me $17,500 for my trade off a discounted price. Basically, the trade difference is at $7,968 and I'd like to be at $6,968. My trade allowance is a little low, but acceptable. I have a buyer for my car which I would sell for $18,500. I tried to get the dealer to run the transaction through their books to make up the $1,000 but they wouldn't. I was surprised by this as my trade is still under the bumper to bumper factory warranty. Dennis gave me a suggestion earlier which I may try...to hit them up for the $500 (+/-) holdback instead of the full grand. I'll let you know if I'm successful!

dwynne · April 2005

Do you get a tax credit for the trade in your state? Here you don't have to pay state tax (7%) on the trade in.If you sold the trade yourself you would miss the tax savings of the $17,500 or $1,225 . So a trade of $17,500 HERE is worth more than selling it for $18,500 yourself. If you don't save on the tax or rate rate is better, maybe you should just sell it yourself and do the new deal for cash. Having the car paid for and title in hand is a big bonus for selling it yourself.

In the past I have tried to get dealers to do something similar without any success. There is probably a broker who could do this for you for a fee, but it would probably wipe out most of the savings.

Dennis

grantlu · April 2005

Does anybody have an idea on competitive lease prices, e.g. base RX8, 36 months, 12k miles, no money down?
I have solicited quotes through 5 dealers in the Atlanta area.

dwynne · April 2005

You can get your own 3rd party quote online - instant with no obligation here:

Lease Compare

But I will tell you - the 8 is not a good leasing car. Even with a 36/36k lease the residual is less than 50% - which is VERY poor. The G35 is close to 60% as is the S2000.

Lower residual = higher payments.

Last month Mazda Credit had a $2,000 lease incentive (to dealers, I think) to make the lease deals a little sweeter.

If you look on CarsDirect and put in an Atlanta area ZIP code you should be able to get no haggle quote for $100 UNDER invoice.

I think I know which Atlanta dealer is the CarsDirect one - or at least one of them.

Dennis

cappy4103 · April 2005

I am in NYS and yes the trade in value comes into play regarding sales tax, which is a whopping 8.25%! Getting $17,500 for my trade from the dealer, I'd have to sell the car on my own for that much plus 8.25% just to break even. I could sell my trade privately for $19,000 but it's not as attractive of a deal and the sale is to a relative. Just looking for a win/win situation. The dealer has agreed to sell my car to the same relative, but after giving me $17,500 for it, they are going to mark it up to about $19,000 to get a piece of the action. Some dealers will allow you to run a private sale through their books when you buy a car from them and have a buyer for your own car. Unfortunately, this Mazda dealer won't. If they had allowed me to do this, it would put another grand in my paocket to use towards the purchase of the new 8 and not cost they anything. We'll wee what happens.

dwynne · April 2005

And I thought our tax on cars was bad :-)

We pay 9.25% sales tax, but 2.25% is local and has a cap on the first $3,200 of a major purchase. So in effect the sales tax on cars is $80 on the first $3,200 and 7% on the whole thing.

Saving 8.25% of $17,500 is over $1,400 - so you DO want to trade that car in :-)

Dennis

grantlu · April 2005

Here's what I've found so far from contacting the four dealerships listed on Edmunds. For simplicity, all prices assume 48 months, $1600 down (give or take $100) and 12k miles, unless otherwise stated.

Dealer A: $420, inc. dealer installed moonroof and tax. My response: your ad last month had $279 (no moonroof and no tax). His response: there were special incentives from Mazda last month

Dealer B: $370 with $500 down, no moonroof or tax. My response: your current ad in the paper says $299. His response: that's for one car only.

dwynne · April 2005

RX-8s just don't lease too well.....

I would not have a car with a "Dealer installed moonroof" - don't like them and in the 8 there is a cross-member across the back of the roof that might be "in the way" and was cut.

Be sure to get at lease the sports pack car - it has the most goodies for the extra money and nice stuff like: HID headlights, stability control, traction control, etc.

There was a $2,000 dealer incentive for leases last month - but I was hoping Mazda renewed it. They seem to have LOTS of cars to sell so I think they would have?

Dennis

cappy4103 · April 2005

You aren't going to believe this! I haven't heard anything from the Mazda dealership so we threw in the towel and started shopping for other "fun cars" like the VW New Beetle convertible and the Toyota Solara convertible. We discounted the Beetle, but we liked the Solara. Toyota quality, reliability, milegae, resale value...with front wheel drive for our upstate NY winters. Came to an agreement on price but wanted to think about it. It's certainly not an 8 but it is a practical "fun car" for a second vehicle. I get home and doesn't the Mazda dealer call, agreeing to sell me a new 2004 RX-8 GT pkg for $5,000 below invoice!! Damn! After debating with the wife about all the benefits that the Solara had over the RX-8 (mileage, resale, front wheel drive...) now I have to attempt to down play all those Toyota attributes to justify getting (from what I've read on these forums) the fuel thirsty, under powered A/C, fuel flooding, oil burning, sludge forming RX-8 with it's $250 tires that only last 15,000 miles car that I can't drive in the snow without buying $1,000 worth of snow tires! Whew! This is going to be a tough sell but I want one, darn it! Just wish the dealer didn't play these games. If they can sell me the car for $5,000 off invoice now, they could have done so a week ago and now, I wouldn't have to eat crow! Wish me luck.

dwynne · April 2005

Good luck! The car is a lot of to drive, but like you said ther are some issues with it - poor milages on the required premium gas, flooding, maybe poor resale down the road. But, it is unique and fun car. Hey, I want one too - even with the flaws and at that price the resistance to the car can be just about impossible to overcome. I love getting a deal, and $5k under actual invoice is a deal.

Dennis

wpavlik2 · April 2005

You mentioned the premium gas as a downer, I have been running mid-grade in my 8 for some time, and am considering dropping to 87 octane because of the price and see if I get pinging... I know that the pinging only has been happening to folks when they "floor it" at like 2000 rpms and that's when they are getting the pre-detonation. Since I am never planning to "floor it" at 2000 rpms, I doubt I'll hear any pinging.
I would only worry about flooding if you don't have the latest flash on your car's CPU and if you start it, run it for about 20-30 seconds, and then shut it down cold.

The deal you are describing is AWESOME! I got a good deal on my "leftover" '04 back in November. (Invoice, minus the at the time $1500 rebate, plus they paid me about $1000 more for my trade than it was worth "wholesale" )

dwynne · April 2005

Gotta see what deals are available after I sell a car

I am afraid now that the codes department is going to come see me thinking I am running a car lot. My insurance man sure seems to like me, though

I think the flood problem can happen even with the latest (N?) flash, it is just something you have to be aware of and use the "rev it up" before you shut it off method if you can't warm it up.

You should be getting better mileage the worse gas you run, but I want all the performance in the car (and usually more) so I would run the expensive stuff...

Dennis

lhess · April 2005

I got right at 19 mpg on my last tank of gas using high octane premium. It was about half and half on highway/town driving. My current tank looks to be around 16 with all in town and just making a common sense guess on the amount of gas i've used. I always use the premium gas - my dealer advised against the cheaper stuff. I'm really pleased with the mpg's i've gotten so far and if i can get at least 16, i'm ok with that.

I have had no flooding problems and my trip to work is very short (2 or 3 mins). I usually take a trip around the block before parking to warm it up a little better (also delays the agony of checking in to work a couple minutes early).

Just checked my oil and will need to be adding soon (before my oil change). What kind of oil do you rotary veterans recommend?

dwynne · April 2005

Good news on the MPGs - it should get better with time as the motor breaks in.

Kudos for checking the oil on a new car - most folks do not and for sure on the rotary you have to. Some non-rotary engines will use some oil during break in but so many folks never check the oil level "it is a new car, why should I?".

As to the oil, anything other than synthetic - as long as the viscosity and SAE service match what the owner's manual calls for. Note: for the record I have never owned a rotary engine car

Dennis

audia8q · April 2005

just remember...the rotary engine does not take pinging well. you might save a few dollars but your only one ping away from needed a new engine. Don't risk it.

tomatnavy · April 2005

There are approximately 15 different gasoline formulations used in the US.They vary state to state and various times of the year[winter/summer]. In southern california I've been using 87 for about a year now.No pinging experienced ever.These different formulations may go along way to explain the differences drivers form different parts of the country experience with gas mileage.

lemmer · April 2005

Cars pretty much never ping anymore. The computers won't let them. If you want to reduce your horsepower and drivability to save a few cents, 87 octane is fine. But if that is a good compromise for you, why in the world would you want an RX-8?

audia8q · April 2005

I didnt want to start a debate on octane....but I can't think of a single directive in 20+ years in the biz that I have seen more than the one stating that premium unleaded must be used on the RX-8.....They send it over in big velocity red letters..

I can't imagine why anyone would ignore such a strongly worded warning from a manufacturer....this isnt an Escort. I would guess they have a very good reason for making such strong statements..oh btw: Mazda does not own any gas stations, lol

grantlu · April 2005

Finally got a gray 05 RX8 lease at Rick Case. Price was $23,500 for a base model. For a 42 month lease, the payments are $393 plus 7% tax for a total of $421. $500 due at signing which includes the first payment. The lease is through Chase: money factor of 0.0024 and acquisition fee of $795 which is rolled into the lease payment. They did tack on a dealer service fee of $499 but I did get the 6 CD changer for free.

Residual is $11895 which is low and of course, this makes lease payments higher. On the other hand, as I see it, whether you buy or lease, you end up paying for the high depreciation of the RX8. If the depreciation is as bad as expected, trade in on a purchased car will be low. If depreciation is not as bad as expected, I can always buy the car at the end of the lease for the residual.

Mazda Finance money factor was high (0.0032) although residual was higher and acquisition fee was lower. On balance, the monthly payments thru Mazda would have been higher.

lhess · April 2005

are you happy with that deal? Even if you had bought and financed it, your payment at 6.25% (my Mazda rate) for 72 months would have been about $393 a month - no money down other than paying TTL. I bought an 04 with a price of $30,300 for $21,500 at a monthly payment of $357.

audia8q · April 2005

enjoy your new RX-8!!! You will love it!

vroom7 · April 2005

Could you tell me which dealer you got your 2004 RX-8 at? Thanks
Additionally,
The deal I am getting on a new 2004 Silver
Invoice: $27891
Selling Price: $22500

6-spd, Sports Package, Appearence Package

Is it a good deal (financing at 5.7%)?

grantlu · April 2005

To lhess:
I am fully satisfied with the deal that I got, since I contacted all five major dealers in the Atlanta area and generally, nobody seems to be selling the base car below $23,500 (invoice of course is about $24000). The only way that I see to get a lower payment would be to wait for lower interest rates or other incentive from Mazda. As far as financing vs lease, it should arguably work out the same. It's roughly the same payment for a 3.5 year lease and a 6 year loan. After a 3.5 year lease, you own nothing. But after paying on a loan for 3.5 year, you probably also own nothing (say you sold the car and paid off the loan at that point). It's just that I feel more comfortable with leases; I've leased my last 7 cars without any problems: never went over mileage and never owed any wear and tear on the car.

To vroom7:
I got my 2005 car at Rick Case Mazda in Duluth, GA. I hadn't seen any 2004 RX8s in Atlanta although I hadn't specifically been looking. Therefore, I don't have any comparison for 2004 cars, although the deal you're describing sounds reasonable given what others have said about a $4000 dealer "close out incentive" for 04 models.

Other comment: although we complain about the poor residual on RX8s, I didn't find any lower monthly payments when shopping for a Mustang coupe V6 or a Nissan 350Z (anything with auto). I was quoted about $425 per month for these.

lhess · April 2005

Raines Imports in Charleston, WV. That's doesn't seem like a bad deal and you're getting a better rate than I did. My invoice was $27,846 - mine did not have the appearance package, but it did have the navigation. I had some equity in my trade to the tune of $2,500 so you're selling price is lower than mine. I financed 21,4?? and paid my TTL out of pocket. Sounds good - if you like the car and are comfortable with the payment, go for it!! PS You have checked the insurance? Mine is about 1200 per yr here in WV.

I should apologize to grantlu - i'm not the car-dealing guru, but I looked at leasing an 05, buying a used 04 and buying a new 04. The lease numbers were just not pretty on this car and I really don't like worrying about mileage every time you wantonly drive the car. And, you will want to wantonly drive this car. As audio8q said, you'll love it!!

vroom7 · April 2005

What color did you get?

Shout to all;
Just to get a general idea, what colors do people like? My choice is between Silver, Green, Red and (maybe) Black.

At this point I am so confused I feel I need a vacation!

lhess · April 2005

lhess · April 2005

LIGHTNING YELLOW!! Actually, the color led me to buying a leftover 04. Not making yellow for 05, very few used yellows available out there and most seemed to be autos, and my mazda dealer had one leftover yellow on the lot that met my specs (really nothing beyond wanting a 6 spd and anything else on it was ok). A fellow poster did advice me not to buy one without the Sport package because it gives the stability control, the xenons, and some nice little extras. Mine has the Sport and I would advise going for that. My too-tall boyfriend knocked me out of a sunroof - it takes too much headroom to put it in and he didn't fit with one. I was gonna cut his head off, but was told that wasn't very nice (not to mention blood on my cloth seats, not leather!!) haha
I test drove a silver and think that is very sharp in the brochure photos. Red would have been my choice had i started looking at 05's - love that metallic shine in the red, but I traded a red car that I'd had for 4 years. I admire black but do not want to maintain one. I owned a black car for 9 months and that was enough for me. I'm not a big green fan, but when i was shopping for my 8 there were certain times and in certain lights, that I had to look at the sticker to see if some of the cars were nordic green or black - almost impossible to see. I think the white ones look pretty good too.

Good luck!!

grantlu · April 2005

My wife wanted Titanium gray (or possibly blue); both seemed less common on the dealer lots, especially compared to white or silver. Personally, I would have gone for white and saved a couple thousand dollars by buying the car that had a teaser rate on it at another dealership.

As a general comment, it seems to me that color is a more important factor to women than it is to men

cappy4103 · April 2005

Well... good, bad or otherwise, I made my purchase and it wasn't an RX-8. As much as I love the car and was looking forward to a change, it isn't the right car for me at this point in time. I worked out a great deal on a new 2004 that had everything I wanted on it, but I needed a car that would be able to comfortably haul my wife and children around too. Coming out of a DeVille, we just felt too tight in the 8. Even though the RX-8 would be a second car, I need something bigger. I ended up with a new Avalon. By the time the Avalon is paid for, the kids will be heading off to college and it will be only my wife and I at home (if she stays with me that long ... hee, hee). Maybe I'll get my RX-8 then! In the meantime, I'll have to "live" through all you proud 8 owners and your experiences with the car! Enjoy and keep the posts coming. My time will come!

lhess · April 2005

and with all in-town driving, i got a little over 16 mpg. I can live with that. Also, need to add oil to it now. My gas mileage and the oil usage are not as bad as i had expected. Folks made it sound like you had to have a petroleum IV hooked up to keep oil in it!!
I have added a spoiler to mine and just this past week i ordered the front and rear rotary accents along with the 6 disc changer. That's about all the accessories i'm interested in for it. I do like the fender strakes but think the price is way too high. As of tomorrow, I've had it one month!!

buffalo66 · April 2005

Cappy, or anyone. Where in the countryare there still 2004 RX-8s for 5000 off invoice or 8000 off MSRP? They dont seem to have any 2004s here in Oregon at all. I am willing to drive one back from California or to have one shipped to oregon from wherever if I can find one. Thanks

cappy4103 · April 2005

I'm in central New York. The deal that I struck but didn't take
advantage of was $4,500 below invoice on a new red 2004 GT. That was at
Paolozzi Car World in Marcy, NY (about 45 minutes from Syracuse). They had three or four other new RX-8's to pick from. Also, try checking for a new RX-8 at www.autotrader.com. Dealers have been listing new 2004 RX-8's there too! Good luck!

dwynne · April 2005

Mazda removed the 04s from the inventory search, which really cripples the ability to find them. Someone in SoCal said a while back they had trouble finding many 04s as well. I guess it all depends on where you live.

I would use the Mazda dealer locator and start hunting dealers and call/visit their web site to see what they have in stock. If they have an 04 that is suitable, then see if they are ready to deal on it.

Dennis

lhess · April 2005

I know lots of folks start having seizures at the idea of buying a car from E-bay, but I have noticed a lot of dealers listing their untitled 04's on there with a buy it now price. Don't remember numbers, but they seemed reasonable for the options. I wouldn't suggest actually buying from there, but you can contact them. Chances are they will have more than one. Do a completed items search within the Mazda rx8 category and that will show you the ones that were listed but did not sell. Most will list their e-mail address or a phone number.

If you want to trek out to WV, I can hook you up with my dealer. Haven't been on the lot for a while, but a couple of weeks ago, I'm guessing they still had 10 or more 04's. A red one is particularly nice with about all the options at an MSRP of $34,750. They priced this one to me for $26K - I can't remember exactly, but it was in that range.

Hey, off the subject somewhat, but I have always thought that autotrader needs to set up a "Wanted" section. Let us saps who are always car shopping list what we're looking for. Private sellers and dealers could cruise these listings to see if someone is out there looking for his/her car. Let's face it, if you're a very big used car dealer (I guess I'm mainly talking used cars here), you can't list everything you have on the lot and inventory changes so much!! Sorry for the sidetrack!!

dwynne · April 2005

Nothing wrong with finding a car on fleabay, a lot of dealers use it as advertising to find customers for hard to sell cars. With a new car, the worries are really off since you are getting it from a legit dealer with a full warranty.

I have been looking on their lately, and no new 04s have been listed for a while.

One thing to keep in mind about fleabay motors, a lot of the auctions never reach the end. Someone calls or e-mails the dealer with an offer and bam they sell it to them (not through fleabay). So if you see something on there interesting, don't sit around waiting for the auction to end to see what the price does.

A wanted section would be nice, but you know those hose-head car salesfolks would be contacting you trying to sell you an SUV when you posted you wanted an RX-8

Dennis

lhess · April 2005

how true on 2 accounts - don't sit and wait a few days on the e-bay cars and yes, the car salesmen are hose-heads (usually) and they would pull the old "I must have misread, i thought you wanted a 1970 baby blue town car!!"

Still cruising for that rx8? and still slumming in the BMW?

dwynne · April 2005

My efforts to sell the BMW have been less than successful

So I guess I will drive some more value out of it so I can afford to sell it for less. Not a bad way to go, I suppose. I am still on the lookout for RX-8 deals since "you never know" when I might find a buyer for the BMW.....

Pretty soon Mazda will have to start offering money to move the 05 8s out before the 06 models arrive (assuming they don't drop the car for poor sales, which I would doubt).

I did the big, powerful VS light, nimble thing with convertibles a couple of years ago when I sold my C5 'vette convertible and got the S2000. I am thinking the same direction with the "sedan" - get rid of the very powerful sedan for the much less powerful, but nimble RX-8. Awesome power is great, but is just not as much fun (to me) as a quick, sharp handling car. I have learned this the hard way, I guess....

Dennis

buffalo66 · April 2005

Ok, lhess, can you tell me the name of the dealership in W.V., and/or who i should call there? thanks alot.

vroom7 · April 2005

Anybody had good/bad experiences with this dealer named "Mazda of Kent"?

vroom7 · April 2005

Hi, your comments please o the following deal being offered:

2004 Automatic with Touring Package
MSRP: $26805
Selling Price:$22500
Invoice date: Aug 2003

Anyone see any issues/red flags?

cappy4103 · April 2005

I'd pass on this deal. Just for comparison purposes, I was offered a deal on a $32,000 MSRP GT for $24,500 (Invoice minus $4,500). Looks to me like you're paying sticker minus $4,300. By the way, Mazda gave the dealerships a $4,000 incentive to apply towards these cars. What the dealership chipping in, a $300 discount? No way! If you can get them to knock $4,300 off of invoice, that would be a deal. In my opinion, the time for dealerships to make money on a 2004 has passed and at this point. The 2004's are almost two model years old, and dealerships should just be looking to dump them at this point. You should be able to determine what the invoice is for this car online in the event the dealer won't show you. Good luck!

Kirstie_H · April 2005

Please don't ask for contact information or salespeople's names as that's not allowed (see the note above the "post a message" box).

kirstie_h
Roving Host
Host, Future Vehicles & Smart Shopper discussions

dwynne · April 2005

Something is not adding up. Does the $26,895 include the destination charge?

My 2004 price list shows MSRP for the 04 AT as $25,180 . Sports pack for AT is $1,800 and touring pack for AT is $3,500. So $26,895 for the car + touring pack does not add up.

If this car really is an AT w/touring it would be more like:

$25,180 + $3,500 + $520 = $29,200

Invoice would be $23,274 + $3,011 + $520 = $26,805 dealer cost.

Take away the $4k Mazda buy down and you have $22,805. If the price you show ($22,500) includes destination and any dealer/doc fees then that is a decent price - if this is an AT w/touring. Most dealers with left over 04s are going a little lower, however.

Dennis

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