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WIth my protégée as a trade in, he can give me the car for $12,528.
Thoughts? I certainly don't want to lose his interest or lose the car. But all I got is 12K Of course I could add that $528 to the finance but I rather not.
If you guys think I should stick to the 12k, how should I approach the sales man from here? What could I say?
Thanks
thanks
Sticker: $20,700, invoice with advertising adjustment $19,500. Price was $19,995 plus tax and registration/plates, no other fees. i bought it at Smith-Cairns Mazda in Yonkers, NY.
We picked it up and drove from White Plains NY up twisty, scenic NY route 22 in the evening sunshine. All I could hear were the wows from the the driver and my wife! The car is outstanding and a fabulous color. I'm glad I went through the time and trouble of locating one.
Now the zoom-zoom begins. :-)
The color is amazing - and I've never had a car that corners as well as this one does... seems like you got a good deal as well. My buying experience was one of the easiest I've ever had.
My partner had an '02 CL Type-S and compares the handling (definitely not the power, however) to my 3. He is accustomed to luxury vehicles and is impressed with the quality, styling, driving dynamics and handling of the 3. All new cars, whether $100k or $20k, have their quirks, but there isn't a car out there that looks this good, drives this well or gets the attention like the 3 does. I highly recommend to anyone serious about buying!
If life serves you lemons, squirt the juice in someone else's eyes. If you have to suffer, you shouldn't be the only one.
Curious as to what the delivery time has been for others who have had to special order directly from Mazda? At the end of June it will be 6 months for mine...is that what others are finding, too? ($21,288 was the price)
Instead of doing a factory order that was going to take months my dealer found one that was "on water" (already built and on a ship from Japan...) but invoiced to another dealer and worked a trade with that dealer to get the car to me.
The sales manager indicated to me that most Mazda dealerships are more open to trading than other dealerships since they are strictly an import company.
My car was delivered to me within 3-weeks of my initial inquiry.
I got an internet quote for a s Touring should be silver/AT/leather/cd-changer/moonroof (don't really need the cd changer or moon roof, but it always comes before the leather) OTD $20,156.17. Is that a good price? The dealer is in north virginia.
Thanks for the suggestion.
Congrats on the forthcoming car purchase! If you like the Mazda3 half as much as I do you're going to love it - I'm finding all sorts of excuses for driving these days...
Looks like list on the car you're looking at is $20,605. Why not just get a Silver S-Grand Touring w/AT - list is $20,675?
You'll lose the CD-Changer Moonroof package at that price (which you said you didn't want anyway) but you'll gain:
-Heated Front Seats
-Tire Pressure Monitoring
-Rain Sensing Automatic Wipers
-Automatic Xenon HID Headlights
-Automatic Climate Control
-Trip Computer (shows MPG, Avg MPH, Miles to Empty, etc.)
-Theft Deterrent Security System.
All of which are, in my opinion, an infinitely better deal than the moonroof-CD Changer. In the Charlotte, NC area I payed $21,718 + tags for my 3GT w/ Moonroof, Bose, and Navigation.
I started out, just like you, looking at the S-Touring with leather but it just didn't make economic sense to me to go that direction - the GT just seemed like a much better value.
You're right, the G Touring is only $140 more expensive.
I'm glad I knew this information before I rush to the dealer. Thanks!
Now just if Mazda could have included an i-pod port in its car....this issue is killing me.
BE PATIENT, CAN GO WAY BELOW INVOICE!!
monday morning i got an email that said the quote i got on sat. was for an i touring, and it had arrived. funny, because i saw it on the lot on sunday (went back for another look)... i called him and said i had some questions. went in after work on monday, showed him my quote worksheet that showed the quote was for the S. he said he made a mistake. when he looked at the incoming inventory he saw the S, but was looking at the sedan part. whatever, mistakes happen, and it was a killer price for the sport, still a good price for the i touring. after clearing that up i still wanted a day to think about it. he was off tuesday, so i went in on wednesday to leave a deposit since my financing & down payment were still in transit.
i have an S-plan through work, so here's what i was looking at: i touring with moonroof/6-cd changer, 5-speed, auto dimming mirror, wheel locks. with s-plan, $16018.
wednesday i went in to leave a $250 deposit to hold the vehicle a day or two until i got my down payment transferred. turns out i had to do all this other paperwork too. no problem, the price was drawn up, etc. he took it to the sales manager to approve (who gave him the numbers on saturday, by the way). but now there's a problem. sales manager came over and said they accidentally took the s-plan $500 credit off twice. the actual price is $16518. they said it was an honest mistake. i said no thanks, got my $250 check back, and left. on monday i had called another dealer who said he could match the price, just hasn't found one yet...
a couple hours later the GM called to apologize. he said they made an honest mistake and he'd throw in a front-nose mask if i'd still consider them. (that's a long convo made short. we talked about why i felt the need to go to another dealer anyway, blah blah blah).
anyway, i thought if i wanted the car, i'd have to do it, because i hadn't heard back from the other dealer. but he called yesterday morning - still no progress though. then i got an email from the original salesguy apologizing again and wanting to know if there was anything he could do to get my trust back and sell me the car.
after taxes, that $500 mistake will cost me almost $700, front-end mask not included. i have no problems just going to the other dealer, but i am afraid he might not be able to find my car. i'm not in any hurry, but i do love this car.
should i try to get the original price from the original dealer? should i call other dealers? and they asked me for my employer's s-plan number... i have no idea where to find that (HR doesn't know...)!
edit: found the s-plan stuff, including an exact price of what i should be paying - 16252.
There are many people trying to use E-mail to negotiate new car deals - some dealers take the position that they will tell the customer anything they need to get them into the dealership - then change the terms of the deal -
Even if they loose 75% of the deals (which they will not) they are still way ahead VS not ever getting the customer in the dealership in the first place.
Just tell them - if they want to earn your trust then they must give you the original deal -
As far as the front-nose mask - do you even want it? Would you have bought one?
Throwing something in "for free" (which in this case is a $500 up charge) is only worth what you would be willing to pay for it as a separate transaction.
Basically I am either going to go with the 3 5 door (either Touring or GT w or w/o sun roof).
Any suggestion would be helpful. :confuse:
Thanks in advance.
BTW what is S-Plan? I keep on hearing people talk about it, but have no idea what it is.
If you start to think - Well it is FAIR for them to charge me $300 (whatever) for the regional jack up the price and cheat the customer after the deal has been made fee - because its on the invoice - or because the dealership had to pay it - or its only $300 so its not worth messing with - then you are making a mistake - don't just roll over for this stuff.
The dealership pays for a lot of things that are not directly passed on to you - like the sale commission - all of these fees have been added just to DRIVE UP THE PRICE and profit of the deal.
Sure if you are getting a price at invoice (before fees)and they TELL YOU in advance they will add in a $300 fee - it still may be a pretty good deal - you need to look at the TOTAL amount you will pay - But if you negotiate a price - & both agree to it and THEN at closing they try and add in a fee - I would always 100% of the time tell them NO. It is not the price that we agreed on. They should have included this in during the negotiation.
If they pull the - everyone pays this - its like sales tax crap I would walk out - if they insist on having the fee - tell them to reduce the sales price by the fee amount - so the TOTAL price you pay IS THE PRICE YOU AGREED ON! What can be more fair than that - sticking to the agreed on price.
Do you think that if you tell them at closing - I paid a $300 fee when I bought the car I am trading in (see look at my invoice!) so I must pass this on to you - so you must give me an extra $300 for my trade in (over what we agreed on) - anyone think the dealership would just say -
OK sure thing - since you had to pay it - its fair!
Now someone try and explain to me whay it is OK for a dealership to change the agreed on terms of a sale.
OK sure thing - since you had to pay it - its fair!
Amen. That post just made my day!
is this a good deal and what kind of fees should i expect to get tacked on to this? is destination charge part of invoice? I heard this dealer (MapleShade Mazda) was pretty good but this is my first car buying experience and im a little aprehensive. thanks for the help
I do not care one bit if they are made up out of thin air (conveyance or doc fee) or if they are a regional / national / global (not sure anyone has this one yet - but give them time) fee that Mazda has ENGRAVED onto the invoice and MUST be (really actually is) paid by the dealership.
Please explain why money coming out of my bank account for one type of fee is any different than the money coming out of my account for another type of fee - its all the exact same thing.
Now keep an open mind and think about this for a minute before you respond.
The selling price has nothing - that is right - I mean nothing to do with how many dollars in fees the dealership must pay -
But there is more - hard to accept - but 100% correct -
The selling price also has nothing - thats right - NOTHING to do with how much the tires on the car cost - or the engine - or how much any part of the car costs to make. It does not even have anything to do with what the TOTAL cost of the car is.
Why is this a fact?
Because the price people pay for a new car is based on the amount that you negotiate with the dealership - its not based on some COST plus formula - maybe some government buyers have this - but I am talking about individuals.
Need more proof - OK -
Why did GM have a 10 BILLION dollar loss last year - why did Mazda have a loss a few years ago - why does any car company (or any company selling anything) ever have a loss?
Why not just add up all the costs to produce - and then add in a FAIR profit and charge customers that amount?
Because that is not how selling prices are determined in the USA - where market forces - supply and demand determine (most) selling prices.
Now before you post something lame like - but a company must charge more than it costs or they will go out of business - please think about it - because - even though that is true - it has nothing to do with how the selling price is determined.
Destination is part of the invoice and is usually not negotiable. There may also be a documentation fee (varies a lot by state, it's typically $50 where I live but can be much higher) and the usual taxes and license fees.
What is it that you mean by a fee being legit? Is it that the dealership actually must pay it? I say - So what - who cares what the dealership pays - I don't want to do the accounting for the dealership -I want to buy a car at the lowest price I can - with the least amount of trouble.
The cost of the fees paid by the dealer should have nothing to do with the selling price of the car. That is not how selling prices should be determined - selling prices are determined based on supply and demand.
If the dealer adds a fee onto the selling price - it is just a price increase - no other way to look at it.
Why do dealers like to add on fees? Simple - because people will agree to pay them - and that increases the selling price / profit the dealership makes.
But there are other reasons - that you know are true.
Would a customer rather pay $100 over invoice or $500 over invoice? Dumb question?
A customer comes into a dealership wanting to buy a car - he is ready to negotiate and fight for the best deal. He knows the invoice price because he has done his homework.
Sales person says - I will sell you the car for $100 over invoice - Now what does that do? All of a sudden the customer thinks - that was easy - he knows that the dealer must get some amount of profit - 100 bucks seems more than fair. He takes the deal. Calls his wife - tells her I got them down to $100 over invoice - I am GREAT!
But when the contract is written the dealer adds in a $200 Doc fee - and a $300 advertising fee - now add this up - I get a final price of $600 over invoice - so the question is - would you rather pay $100 over invoice or $500 over invoice?
Add on fees are nothing more than a selling tool - invented to make it easier to close sales while also increasing (maintaining) dealership profit.
So just say NO to legit fees!
It was hard to find a car configured the way I wanted it in stock. They had to go out about 100 miles to find it.
Its wrong - but the strange thing is many people just roll over and pay it - like my example above - they already said yes I'll take the car - its great to have that part behind you - and you feel good - then you find out that the deal has changed and the dealership people try and make you feel like an idiot because you should have know that there were other things that had to be added in - I have even had a guy try and tell me - its just like sales tax - we HAVE to charge it?
I think the other reason dealerships do this is because they do not do a very good job training their sales people - they have a lot or turn over and they don't like spending time and money developing their employees. So the sales person is really just the first step - then you get handed over to someone who is the closer (or to finance) where they try and squeeze extra out $ out of you.
audia8q - "why not just say no to paying anything? is anything legit in your world?" hard to justify this with an answer - I will say this -
Every time I have made a deal with a company to pay X amount for a vehicle - and accept X amount for my trade I have completed the transaction (or tried to) - never have I - at closing tried to get them to change the terms - that is really all I expect from the dealership in return.
But its sad to say that almost every new vehicle I have purchased the dealer has tried to pull something to get more $ out of the deal. I don't think I am alone in my auto buying experiences.
That is fine, and I never said it was ok to slide in anything extra...Bill constant attempts to paint me and bad dealers with the same stroke is offensive and rude.... destination fees are posted on the window sticker, doc fee is posted on the buyers order(I quote otd numbers) the ad fees is nobody business but the dealers...pretty simple.
When did the dealers business become the customers business? why should any dealer be "transparent" with anything that isnt directly the customers business? In the past 20+ years in the business I have seen alot more sleazy stuff from consumers than dealers. We had a guy who tried to pass off a salvage title car to us as having a clean title on tuesday night. I'm sure there are dealers who would try the same crap but not at my stores. I humiliated the guy for trying something so sleazy and tossed him out....I walked away from a very profitable deal because I didnt want to do business with a crook like that....If consumers would tolerate less sleaze from dealers there would be less of it....but reality is different. Consumers talk big about honesty and professionalism but from what I see and what we read on edmunds...its mostly talk.
What incentive does a dealer have to offer the highest quality anything if the only thing that matters is the lowest price?........now back to our scheduled program....Mazda3 pricing.