2013 and Earlier - Mazda3 Prices Paid and Buying Experience

z71bill

You got a good deal - the wheel locks are a $25 item, hard to value the accent stripe somewhere between $50 and $150. I watched a guy put accent stripes on a Tahoe - it took him about 10 minutes to complete the job - if I would not have seen it with my own eyes I would have thought it would take 2 hours. He does work for several dealerships - said he could do a Tahoe in his sleep.

I think floor mats are a standard item.

kyfdx

I agree... your price is good. That doesn't mean someone won't beat it by a thousand dollars, but you should be happy.. Not many people negotiate that good of a deal on their first car.

regards,
kyfdx

3fanatic

I need help...I found the car that i wanted. A 3s 5 spd metallic blue with ABS, Sport, Xenon, and Moonroof packages. But the dealership is hours away from me. I was wondering if they deliver, to maybe a dealership closer to me? And if they do, would they charge? I just found this out today through mazda website dealership locator, and its the only one within 150 miles from me. Their MSRP is 19,236...not bad. But im gonna definitely bargain some more since i dont really want the moonroof/6 cd package. If anyone knows, let me know. Im definitely calling them up tomorrow too. Another thing, can a dealership install xenon lights incase you want them added later on? And how does TPMS(tire pressure monitoring system) work?

janamax

Thanks for the info, runin. Although, I'm in Asheville (WNC), so Greensboro is definitely a long way to go. The salesperson I will be dealing with is a young woman (like me) who I am very comfortable with... maybe a little too comfortable. It's going to be hard to be firm with her, I think. Anyway, thanks for keeping us up to date on your buy. I hope you have a great time with your new 3! I can't wait to get mine!!!

bhd1

I'm in the Cincinnati area and looking at buying a 5-door, 5-speed 3. I just had a dealer tell me he could do $300 over invoice on an auto transmission model, but not on a manual, which he claims to be flying off the lot. Result: I'm hearing $600-800 over invoice at the moment, depending on options and dealer. I had earlier heard a similar claim from another dealer about demand for the 5 speed. Is there anything to this?

kyfdx

Not sure what the market is either way... but, don't you find it interesting that the car that YOU want is the one "flying off the lot". Jeff Wyler Mazda in Batavia has an ad in the paper the last two Saturdays: At least $1980 off MSRP on any Mazda 3. Not that I recommend them, but that is the deal I would be shopping around to the other dealers.

regards,
kyfdx

bhd1

Yeah, I do find it a little strange. It's why I was asking. Oddly enough, the comment came from a saleperson at Wyler. I've been out of town, so missed the ad. Can someone give a bit more detail on what exactly the ad said? Were there any fineprint exceptions? What about an expiration date? I just find it hard to believe they're selling these cars for such prices when Edmunds tells me the model I want has an MSRP of $19,105, and an invoice of $17,766. This would mean they'd be selling at least $600 below invoice.

bhd1

To answer my own question, I checked today's paper. The ad says $1580 off, and specifically excludes the 5-speed.

kyfdx

I just looked at it... Last two weeks, it said $1980 off ANY 3, with no exceptions... Now, it has changed.. I've heard good things about Kings Mazda.. No personal experience, though... You might be able to make a good deal at Wyler with a lot of dickering, but I doubt it will be pleasant.. I was looking at Pro5's there last fall and it wasn't much fun.. I think I could have negotiated a good deal, though, if I was willing to put up with them.. Ultimately decided that wasn't the car I wanted.

regards,
kyfdx

drywall

Those deals in Cincy sound pretty good. I've solicted quotes from several dealers in my area (I live in Western MA, where Mazda dealers are sparse, so I've talked to dealers in CT and NH) and I'm not liking what I hear.

"It's a very in-demand car. We can knock $200 off sticker, but that's it"

"Under normal conditions, the proverbial "nickel deal" ($500 over invoice) is a reasonable price for all parties.  The fervor over the Mazda 3, however, has left Mazda dealers in a status where we will actually run completely out of Mazda 3 inventory over the summer.... We are affording our customers a nominal discount to show we are all in this together"

Anyone else getting fed lines like this? It's frustrating, because I know the car is selling well and getting good reviews, but from some of the prices I'm hearing on this board, sounds like these aren't fair deals.

Also... on a whim I stopped by a FleetBank and they actually said to me that these days automakers are offering such good financing, I'd probably be better off going with dealer financing thatn with the bank. A quick comparison of auto loan rates from banks in my area confirmed that.

In other words, dealer financing isn't always the wrong way to go, contrary to what some have suggested.

kyfdx

The Northeast is a tough market for Mazda buyers, if the talk on this board means anything.

Dealers can be a great source of financing, but it always pays to know what rate you can get elsewhere.. otherwise, you won't know if you are getting a good deal, and they have no incentive to give you their best deal. Nothing wrong with financing through the dealer. The convenience is a great thing.

regards,
kyfdx

abonney

I have been a major fan of the Mazda 3 since I first read about it here in the forums last February. I had dreamed of the day that my internet build would become a reality. Unfortunately the car is in incredible demand and I have missed my golden opportunity. I went to Mazda Village in Norwood, MA today to test drive one and hopefully, if I liked as much as I thought I was, get it. I wanted the S sedan manual, xenon, leather, nav, moonroof. I can do without the nav, but I thought that it would be really cool and helpful. The test drive was great, I drove a basic S sedan. I had told the salesman what i wanted for options, and so at the end of the drive, I went back into the dealership and we talked a bit. He told me that he did have one 3 loaded like i wanted, but it was the dark grey, amd though it is really nice, that color is wayy too popular right now. He said that's all he had, but that if i wanted to wait a while, he would check to see if there was one available in Strato Blue, Black, or Red (all my preferences). He came back and said that he had checked the whole North East as far South as Maryland and there was not one matching my wishes. These options are not waivable, except for the Nav. I find it hard to belive that he is the only dealer in the NE that has what I want. Too much of a coincidence. This is my first time buying a car from a dealer, so I am wondering if that is hogwash, or true. Given the rate at which these are moving off of the lot, it may be true. We never negotiated on a price, but i will be speaking with him tomorrow.

I love the 3, but I need a car now. My 1990 Honda Accord is on its last legs at 212,000 miles. There are other makes and models that I am negotiating on right now, and I can not wait weeks, only days.

harddrivet

Hello,
Since it is end of month they will most likely make a deal, also the 05's will be coming out, there also is 4th of July sales to be had soon, but your urgency is probably very visible, and that can make a dealer get very excited with the dollar signs popping up in his head. You did the right thing by not buying today. I had an offer of a 6i from a Chicopee MA dealer for a little over $17K, but I think I like the 3 better beleive it or not, it just has a look to it, cannot figure it out. You can also get good deals on Accords now as they are working to get those off the lot. I have received a terrible response from the local Toyota dealers with their attitudes and have hence scratched Toyota from my list. I also got an offer today from Ford on a loadded 04 Taurus for a little over $15K.
I would continue to look around, there are a couple local dealers in MA that have about 100 Mazda 3's on their lots with more coming in. Good Luck and let us know how you do.

birdman579

I'm having a similar difficult time finding a loaded 3s with the 5-speed in Maryland. The Titanium Gray is widely available, but any of the unique colors are difficult to find. Good luck, you'll need it

abonney

I sacrificed the leather, and they found a strato blue with all the other options, nav, roof, xenons. But tonight i test drove a 2002 Audi A4 and got a great deal on it. So, i will not be in a 3, but I am sure to see more and more of them on the road in the coming year. Now I have to call Mazda Village and give them the bad news. They were really great there, and I would encourage anyone in the MA area to check them out in Norwood, MA on the Automile.

tonytouch

It's not just you- loaded 3's ARE a rarity in the Northeast. I wanted a 3 sedan in silver or gray with all options except Nav. I did a search in Boston and Atlanta (where I'm moving) and out of 10 dealerships, only 1 had the car I wanted. That one was sold- but luckily I was able to get the model I wanted at Wellesley Mazda in Boston.

Even on the road, all the 3's I've seen have been hatchbacks or I models.

bhd1

Followup on the Cincy search. I ended up getting the car from Kings Mazda. The salesman got me the car I wanted (from another dealer) without any BS, it arrived when he said it would (actually a little early), and there were no problems.

I paid around $400 above invoice (if it's true that Ohio is subject to a $144 regional assessment fee on the 3). I even had the dealer and my bank dueling for the best credit rate, which ended up at 3.49% for 60 months.

I didn't have time to spend endless time trying to track down the absolute best deal in the world, and I feel I did pretty well for a first-time new car buyer. I did, however, get the sense that it's not easy to get a decent deal here and now.

audia8q

Mazda has announced a price increase today on most models including the MZ3....I will have complete details later today, but it appears on avg they increased prices $200-300 on base prices. Some options packages like the power package increased from $1190 to $1400, which is a 17.6% increase...

this applies to 2004 model vehicles except for Tribute which already is 2005. Get ready for the 2005 increase also.

harddrivet

Well if that is the case then bye bye Mazda, So far I can get $700 off of dealer invoice from my local Honda Dealer on a car with 5 star ratings and great resale, you cannot go wrong. I am not SOLD yet, but in speaking with the local Mazda dealers in the Northeast, most have a BIG attitude. This will ultimately drive customers away, I know it is working with me because I was ready to buy yesterday, but it did not happen because of the dealers attitude. So with that said, I hope your information is incorrect as I was considering Mazda as a potential. I just need to find a dealer I like, if not I will purchase a Honda for my next car soon.

npaladin2000

"So far I can get $700 off of dealer invoice from my local Honda Dealer on a car with 5 star ratings and great resale, you cannot go wrong."

Yeah, that's what all the crooks think too...they go after Civics with a passion. You'll pay that $700 back in insurance premiums. And repairs after the first 3 years...and rental cars for when the Civic breaks...then there's the DIOs that Honda is in the habit of charging a bundle for....plus the fact that they're just SOO ANONYMOUS! I mean, everyone and his brother has one!

Edit: I assume you're talking about a Civic? Not the Accord? Not that that makes a HUGE difference, I just think the Civics aren't selling that well this time around so that would be why they're willing to go so low. If so, that isn't an EX model I bet, is it?

mazda6s

You can go wrong if you don't buy the car that's really what you want.

If a moderate increase in price on a car that is in most people's opinion currently a bargain will cause you to buy something else, then I guess you should buy something else. But I have to ask, what's more important, getting the car you really want or getting saving $200-$500? You might be asking yourself that very question for quite a while if you decide to buy your second choice.

howac

I think you answered your own question. You just need to find a Mazda dealer that you like and find the Mazda3 that you want at a reasonable price. We did all of our price negotiations over e-mail and ordered ours. It took almost 5 months to come in, but we feel it's worth it. I understand your frustration, but some things ARE worth the price. Good luck with your decision.

mazda6s

Oh no, I hope this doesn't turn into a Mazda3 vs Civic debate.

harddrivet

Hi NP,
Actually I was referring to and considering the Accord. I did not know there were that many issues with them, can you expand upon that? I have never owned a Honda, Have you ever owned one?
I also have never, ever, ever owned a Mazda and am a little concerned with reliability. I have a long daily commute and looking to spice it up. Again, I think they look cool, but the dealers need to chill out in my opinion.

harddrivet

By the way I currently own a 98 Pontiac Gran Prix that has 120K Miles on it. It runs great, still looks pretty good aside from some nicks my children put on the sides when rampaging in the garage. GM has some really great incentives right now. I wanted to go import this time just for a change, but if the import dealers such as Mazda cannot work with me then I may consider going back to Pontiac.

audia8q

We see people everyday who buy cars based on the biggest discount they can get....These are also the same people who are trading their car in 18 months because they hate it. hahaha

toolfan1

I just picked up my 3 5 door last night and I already love it. I got the Mica Black with no options. I negotiated to around $17,000, and they were fairly generous with my trade. I feel I got a pretty good deal. I can't wait to leave work so I can drive it more!

harddrivet

Hi Audi,
I have had my Pontiac since november of 1997, I actually still like it, has a 6 cyl nice power and still gets 30 MPG. I really have not had any problems with it, just regular oil and brake maintenance, not bad for an american car eh? I also own a Nissan Quest and have nothing but good things to say about it.
Anyway back to Mazda, I just came back from a dealer that has 42 Mazda3's on the lot, they even had one yellow and one lava orange, so I am not sure why some folks are saying there are none left.

carguy58

"The Northeast is a toughmarket for Mazda buyers, if the talk on this board means anything".

Really? I don't think the Northeast is a toughmarket. It used to be back in Mazda's bad days of the mid 90's. Now with hot product where I live in New Jersey Mazda is enjoying some kind of resurgance.

As far a dealers are concerned Mazda dealers aren't the best but I'm sure there are some good ones. There are like 5 Mazda dealers that are within 30 miles or less of where I live. Out of those 5 dealers I would expect(if I were shopping for a Mazda)at least 2 of them to be good in terms of making a deal.

harddrivet

I agree with Carguy. There are many Mazda's in the Northeast. I have been to 5 dealers in the Boston area and each has many on the lot. Most still wrapped. Just try to find a good dealer is my recommendation, I am still working on it.

kyfdx

Congratulations.. I head Kings was easy to deal with.. sounds like you did well..

Hardrivet: You were just bitching about how hard it is to get the dealers to deal, and now you say it isn't a tough market for Mazda buyers in the Northeast? Well?? Which is it?

Carguy58: I'm not in the Northeast, but I was commenting on what prospective buyers are stating in this forum.. Maybe read back a couple hundred posts...

regards,
kyfdx

harddrivet

Nope, what I said was that there are many cars ie. Mazda3's onsite at dealers in the Boston area. People keep saying on this board that the Mazda3's are hard to find, and in my opinion the cars are not hard to find. Every dealer I have been to has many on the lot.

Perhaps the dealers are on this board and trying to create urgency to go buy a Mazda3 before they are all gone :-( . I would say, take your time and get your best deal, if not move onto something else.

audia8q

if a dealer sells 40 mazda3 per month and has 30 in-stock that is a negative inventory....dealers are required to stock 90 days inventory, they should stock 120 cars, not 30... To the uninformed, 30 cars sitting on the lot may look like alot of inventory...but it's not.

If the factory can not replace cars at least as fast as they sell, you will find that dealers are not so willing to haggle the price.

birdman579

Not here in Maryland, its rare to see a single 3s (4-door or 5-door) on dealer lots. The 3i is a little more common, but I've never seen 30 cars.

terza

I also had a tough time getting the car I wanted. It was the 3i w/ Power everything, ABS/SAB/SAC, automatic, and AC. I went through some local dealers that said they would get the car no matter what from another dealership and then I waited almost a week. The car never came. Don't let a dealership slow you down if you know what you want. I ended up getting my car at Maple Shade Mazda in New Jersey. I found the car buy calling all dealerships around my area. I think I called 15 dealerships until I found a dealership that actually had a car in stock.

I got exactly what I wanted in silver. The car is great!

npaladin2000

Oh, okay. The Accord isn't as bad as the Civic but it's still fairly anonymous (the coupe looks somewhat handsome though). I've heard Civics this time around haven't had such hot reliability; not as sure about the Accord. And one thing about Honda dealers (at least around here) is that they all know everyone WANTS their cars, so they can be a bit stuck up and hard to deal with. And Accords are still high on the theft rate list, so you might want to go check out an insurance quote on one.

TO whomever in NJ who was saying Mazdas aren't hard to find in the NE: You're not in the NE. The Northeast mostly consists of green states that get lumped in with CARB. That NY, MA, Vermont, I think NH, and a couple others. We're required to buy cars with California Emmisions packages, which means we can only get a certain number of any model car, including the Mazda3. Whereas in NJ you can grab any Mazda from around the USA. So for those of us in "green states" we have a more limited seletion of the 3 to choose from. Since said 3 is already popular here, it gets very hard to find one you can buy. And I don't know what Mazda's CARB/Non-CARB production ratio for the Mazda3 is for the US.

truckzter

I'm using Edmund's dealer pricing to see which dealership has the best price .. my friend just bought a 3s hatch, and the same salesman that sold her car also sold me my used car 6 years ago .. he said that prices are too low to haggle .. ALSO, I realize the HP difference on the 3s .. but I'm thinking the 3i would be more than adequate .. any comments?

pzev

So it looks like a Mazda3 2.0 with power package could be as much as $500 more than it was before. Has A/C also gone up? SAB/ABS gone up? I know it's only $500 but this is getting too high for my taste. If A/C and the air bag package have gone up too I don't think I'll be buying this car.

npaladin2000

With something selling this hot, I was expecting it sooner or later. Most people who want the car will still pay it, and Mazda stands to make more money per unit (which will help pay for their production expansion). Eventually they'll hit a price/sales equilibrium that they like. Let's just hope the prices don't get TOO high before they like the equilibrium.

pzev

Buyers of the 2.0 though may be a little more price-sensitive. If both the 2.0 and 2.3 base prices moved up the same amount then that means a 2.0 with power package and A/C (assuming the A/C is the same price) is now about $500 away from a 2.3 in price. I think they offered the 2.0 only for the PZEV engine and help boost fuel economy requirements for the brand. Otherwise the 2.0 is getting more pointless. People wanting a 2.3 won't mind a $200-$300 price increase but for those wanting the 2.0 to save money, a $500 increase is more significant.

giman

After doing lots of research, I've decided on buying a 3s hatch, automatic with ABS/SAB/SAC. I live in Biloxi, MS, and there is only 1 mazda dealer close by. Unfortunately, this dealer does not have any cars matching the car I want. Doing a search on the mazda website, I found a car that has the options I want in Louisiana (about 1.5 hours away). The dealer in Biloxi says that he will be able to transfer that car in. However, I don't know if he will be able to give me as good of a price as if I went to the Louisiana dealer myself and bought the car. Any thoughts of how to approach this? Which dealer should I go to first? And if I buy the car in Louisiana, and need servicing (like the airbag light or brake problems mentioned in the Mazda 3 problems post), will I always have to keep driving to Louisiana to get serviced, or can I go back to the dealer in Biloxi that I did not buy from?

drywall

After talking to multiple dealers here in western New England, none of who were willing to shave more than a few hundred bucks off MSRP, I found one that offered me the car I wanted for just about invoice. I got a titanium grey 5-door with the ABS package for $17,201, from Gallo Mazda in Worcester, Mass.

Didn't qualify for the Mazda 3.9% apr, but the dealer got me 4.3% through Chase. Also managed to get the $500 owner loyalty bonus, which was a contentious issue -- some dealers seemed to think I had to live with my brother in order to get it, others didn't. This one insisted he had to live with me until I demanded they show me in writing where it said that, at which point they backed off and gave me the $500.

Note that I haven't actually gotten the car yet: they need to swap with another nearby dealer which won't happen until next week. But I have a VIN so no worries.

Just wanted everyone to know -- it's still possible (though not easy) to get a good deal on the 3 of your dreams. I got exactly the color and feature set I wanted. I think I netted mine largely because it was near the end of the month and the sales guy was quota-sensitive. Can't wait to get it.

pzev

".. he said that prices are too low to haggle .."

What prices are we talking about? MSRP? Invoice? What kind of deal are you getting?

"ALSO, I realize the HP difference on the 3s .. but I'm thinking the 3i would be more than adequate .. any comments?"

I've driven the 3i 2.0 with automatic (slowest of all Mazda3's) and thought it was adequate enough for me. It had enough power to build up speed to merge on the highway so that was the big thing for me. Also it'll run around 2200rpm at 60mph so the engine isn't running too hard at highway speeds.

pzev

I'm no expert on the matter but here's my opinion. As far as I know you can have your car serviced at any dealership natiowide with no problem. Dealerships make money from changing your oil, etc. so they'll be happy to take your business. With that said, personally I would try to buy from the local dealership you'll get serviced at. Having a good relationship with the dealership certainly can't hurt.

I would deal/haggle with the local dealership first. If the price seems too high for you you can always haggle with the other dealership. 1.5 hours away isn't that bad. I don't know what demand is like there but try to figure out what is a fair price for everyone involved and stick to that. Offer a few hundred below what you think is fair so if they try to move the price up you have some room to work with. I would think a couple of hundred within invoice is fair. So try for straight invoice and if they go a couple of hundred above invoice no big deal. They have to trade with the dealership to get it plus the Mazda3 seems to be fairly high in demand in most areas so this is fair in my opinion.

pzev

Obviously if you have any rebates due to you, you want to subtract that from the negotiated price. Even if you don't have any a couple of hundred above invoice in your situation seems fair to me. Depending on how bad you want the car and how high you think demand is you may accept a higher price than that. Bottomline start with straight invoice. Print out the invoice compared with the MSRP and at least seem like you're prepared and have your numbers in order. If you seem informed that might save you some money on its own. If they won't budge from a certain price you can try having a few oil changes thrown in for free or something like that. It can't hurt to try.

peterdh2000

My lovely GF bought a 3s 5door Titanium Gray, 5speed ABS, Moon, Xenon packages and leather. Deal made a week ago, car in yesterday and picked up today. 5/04 build date.

Internet quote 300 over invoice. Doc fee 35; WA state B&O tax 91 (a disturbing trend in WA). So actually 426 over, but offset by the 500 grad cash which she qualified for. No funny stuff in F&I.

Had to walk out a couple times to get them fair on her trade. She got a bit over Edmunds TMV and KBB. PS--always ask for a free hat at the end of the deal. You'll always get it.

Everyone happy, except for the other salesmen asking to sell her car before we got there.

Have been lurking on the board here for a month or so. Thanks to all who posted their experiences. This is a great buyer's tool.

PF_Flyer

Be sure to check out our Town Hall chat lineup for Tuesday evenings... First up, talk the latest in new automotive technology during the Hybrid Vehicles Chat from 5-6pmPT/8-9pm ET

Hybrid Vehicles Chat Room

Immediately following at 6-7pm PT/9-10pm ET, we keep the chat party going with the Mazda Mania chat.

Mazda Mania Chat Room

The Town Hall chats are a great place to take these message board topics LIVE. Hope to see you there this week!

PF Flyer
Host
Pickups & News & Views Message Boards

audia8q

The 7/5/04 changes for MZ3 incentives are as follows...

60 month finacing 4.9%
owner loyalty was dropped
$500 college grad continued.

mazda6s

Rich - What are the new incentives on the Mazda6?

audia8q

The MZ6 remained the same except the dealer cash is now customer cash. 1500 cust cash OR 0%-36 mo, 1.9%-48 mo and 2.9% for 60. some regions have a strong lease program.