Fair price for GT without tech?

vikramts

Dealer in Portland Oregon offering me soul red Mazda 6 GT (no Tech package) for $27315. I'm trying to bargain for $26200 but he's refusing to you any lower. Should I settle for his price? Or perhaps ask him to throw in some oil changes or all weather mats in for free? What other fees should I anticipate? tTL should be under $500, right? No sales tax in Oregon (thank god!)

stever

Invoice is $29,339 (including destination) and TMV is just a couple of hundred less than that for a Portland zip.

I follow SUVs mostly but ~$2,000 under invoice sounds pretty good. And the market up in Seattle (for some brands at least) seems pretty tough for buyers. Your Portland dealer seems pretty aggressive.

And yeah, you have to watch the fees - that may be where all the profit is for the dealer. Any doc fee over $50 is too much, but you don't find many that low.

vikramts

The dealer says invoice is ~$29k but I have no way of checking this. What are the other fees they're likely to add on? 

Also yeah dealer is aggressive and more budging even though it us thanksgiving weekend and ends of month. No special offers. Not sure if I should wait longer. 

stever

Invoice rarely varies from one site to another (us, KBB, etc.). Sometimes ad fees get stuck in there, and some sites neglect to include the $820 destination.

Some fees are mandated by the state - the usual registration fees, sometimes tire disposal kind of fees, etc. Dealers love to mark up doc fees. Some states limit doc fees by statute ($50 is typical) and in some states, the fees are absurd. You'll hear about $750 doc fees in Florida, for example.

And you're right - besides the Black Friday business, dealers usually earn bonus money at the end of the month and deals are often better then. Invoice doesn't mean so much any more because of all the unknown bonus money and other "kickbacks" to the dealer - that's why dealers can sell below invoice and still make money.

Go with your gut, but if the fees are reasonable, I'd pull the trigger (of course, I'm pulling the trigger with your money, lol).

Good luck!

vikramts

Hi stever, The dealer informs me that the closing fees in my county in Portland OR are:

$272 Registration, $77 Title, $25 Electronic Registration and $75 Doc Fee. This will equal $449.

Does that sound reasonable?

stever

A $0 Doc Fee would be a little more reasonable. After all, they are filing electronically - a lot of it is filling in the blanks on a computer program through the State's outside vendor (crvweb.com) and zapping it over the net to DMV. The $25 likely covers that subscription fee (and then some?) and the other $75 Doc Fee pays for the $10 an hour clerk keyboarding stuff in.

Back to reality, yeah, the $448 is reasonable.

Enjoy the new ride!

vikramts

Thank you. I am checking with the dealer to see if the $75 can be removed :P

I am also trying to get him to throw in some accessories for free. These are the ones I am interested in:

TINTED WINDOWS (no price listed)
ALL-WEATHER FLOOR MATS $125
REAR BUMPER GUARD (N.A. WITH CLEAR FILM, REAR PAINT PROTECTION) $120
CLEAR FILM, REAR BUMPER TOP PAINT PROTECTION (N.A. WITH REAR BUMPER GUARD) $95

Do you think the bumper guard or paint protection are worth getting?

stever

Film is pricey but lots of people like it. I don't have a trunk and would benefit more from a heavier guard since I often slide junk into my van, but you may get by fine with film or nothing.

I've never had any luck getting mats or other accessories thrown in. In my experience the parts dept. is run separately from sales and service and for whatever reason, it's often hard to get "parts" thrown into the deal.

Doesn't hurt to ask though.

vikramts

The dealership agreed to round off the price to $27000! I am now the proud owner of a new Mazda6 GT
Another dealership offered to throw in free all-weather mats but the price difference was still $600.
Registration/title fees amounted to $448. Thank you stever for all your advice!

stever

You done good! Congrats!