2013 and Earlier - Mazda3 Prices Paid and Buying Experience

mazda6s

Dealers get paid by the manufacturer for prepping the car. So, the price you have is $502 over invoice, not bad if they don't add anything else on later.

z71bill

Go price out a Honda Civic - tell the Mazda dealer you can get the Civic for $XX,XXX (which will be less than a Mazda3 - in my case it was about $1,800 less) - then tell him you will pay $XX,XXX for the Mazda3 - plus sales tax, title and license - but no other fees. If your price is invoice plus $300 they will take the deal.

flight13

I actually did just that. I looked at the Civic EX first and the dealer offered me $500 under invoice. My wife convinced me to look at the Mazda 3 and I'm glad she did. I offered them $300 over invoice but they came back with $400 plus they added that $102 prep fee. Dealer let me walk out. Saleslady called me today to try to get me back and I said she needed to sweeten the deal. They came back with a free oil change and a tank of gas...I countered with a window tinting, waiting to hear back.

z71bill

Sounds like you have already agreed to pay the added fees.

IMO $652 (400+150+102) over invoice is not that great of a deal. Not really really bad - but just not great.

I don't want to come across as know-it-all -

But rather than say "sweeten the deal" - you will have much better luck if you tell them specifically what it will take to get you to buy the car. Once you get down to a free oil change and a tank of gas - something many dealers automatically include - you have agreed to their price.

At this point I would take the 10 minutes to find a dealer in your area that has the car with the same options as the one you are trying to buy. Mazda web site has this capability. Send them an E-mail asking for a price quote. Then tell the salesperson you have E-mailed another dealer to see if they will give you a better price and that you plan on going to this dealer on Saturday. When faced with this they will meet your price.

I assume you have more than 1 Mazda dealer in your area.

pan980

That's why I strongly recommend checking this site:

http://www.carbuyingtips.com/car1.htm?x=0tekxgl_eoyyqkz_ttky3&amp- ;y=0x40x25x25

Go through all the 7 chapters and you'll see a lot of fees those dealers charge are nothing but tricks. Confront them and they may give up.

audia8q

you need to worry about the "out the door" price and forget about the fees. The only number that really matters is how much you write the check for......if a consumer wants to haggle line by line, fee by fee the dealer will usually trip up most consumers. If you haggle one single number its hard to play the shell game.

kyfdx

Great post!!

You need to know what the invoice price is, and what OTD price constitutes a good deal, but you don't ever have to mention invoices, fees, etc. in your negotiations. Get the out-the-door price you want, and thats it. It will save you a lot of grief.

Good advice from a dealer!!
Thanks!!
kyfdx

mazda6s

Actually it's both. You need to know the invoice to know if the OTD price is in the right ballpark. Then, OTD prices can be compared between dealers.

Personally, I don't care what a fee or charge is called, I still call it "money gone out of my pocket". If one dealer wants 20100 plus 200 in fees, and another wants 19900 plus 400 in fees, it's all the same to me (gone, bye-bye, adios, hasta la vista baby).

flight13

My original offer was $20,000 out the door. Utilizing the $250 coupon and not including their assessment fee and prep fee, this was approximately $300 over invoice ($18,118). The manager came back with $20,300 out the door. This is when I told them to "sweeten the deal" and he offered a free oil change. I replied that he would have to do better than that. They called back and wanted to know when I was going to come in to sign. I said as soon as you agree to $20,000 out the door. They wouldn't agree so now I'm contacting other dealers.

audia8q

I certainly can't speak for your dealer or your market....but generally when a customer is let go over a three hundred dollar difference and the dealer is down to offering a free oil change there isnt any more money in the well....due to the demand and lack of supply of MZ3's in our region if you don't want to pay at or near MSRP we part ways....we have more buyers than available cars.

flight13

So are the prep fees and assessment fees really reimbursed to the dealer by the manufacturer?

mazda6s

I think all manufacturers pay their dealer for prepping the cars (that's just the way it's done), so any add-on prep fee is bogus. The assessment or advertizing fees sometimes are out of the control of the dealer, but these can be verified. Again, what matters is the number you pay, not how they got to that number.

npaladin2000

I have to agree; the Mazda is turning out to be VERY popular and there's waiting lists for the car in some areas. Here they're having trouble keeping them on the lots; it's worse that Tickle Me Elmo.

IMHO, Invoice +$600 is a pretty good deal for a car that's in such high demand (especially when some dealers are holding out for sticker; next thing might be dealer mark-ups). And isn't that about where TMV is, about $500-$600 over the invoice? But you're not gonna get it for $20,000...he's holding out because he knows he can get that $20,300 from someone else. Matter of fact, he probably already HAS someone interested in the same model that you're staring at and is willing to pay that.

flight13

He can definitely get $20,300 from someone else around here, probably more. An inventory search of their parent dealer shows 9 of the exact same car so there's plenty to pick from. He's had this one for 10 days now so there's no waiting list. I've never been denied a deal for $300 over so it's driving me nuts. Fortunately there's several Mazda dealers in So. Cal to choose from...one of them will probably agree to a deal.

npaladin2000

Those 9 cars might not actually BE there yet...they may just be ALLOCATED to the dealer and not been shipped.

I'll tell ya, there's people here in the Northeast that would jump at $600 over invoice, in a heartbeat. Prepare to be denied a deal for $300 over invoice, because there's a first time for everything. And I'd say it's likely here (of course you COULD still luck out and manage to get one...just know it's not terribly likely.)

flight13

Actually I miscalculated the inventory. I didn't realize the msrp shown on the site did not include destination fees. After accurately reviewing the inventory, there's only 3 within a 75 mile radius...and just my luck, they're all at my dealership's parent location. Looks like my bargaining power just went out the door.

wuster

I just picked up my Strato Blue 5 door in Northern VA this week.

Auto
ABS/EBD/Side Airbag
Moonroof/6 CD changer

$18,800 plus tag, taxes, and processing fee ($220)

Turns out the processing fee was negotiable. The dealer dropped his fee $70 bucks to beat antoher dealer's cost.

Go mine from one of the notorius dealer in Tysons Corner, but the overall experiences was good. Did everything via email, and then just went in, test drove, and signed the paper works.

Interesting side note. The dealer sold an identical 5 door (with same everything) to a guy who lives just down the road from me at the same time.

BTW - Two other dealerships matched the price, but didn't have the color I wanted. I think the market here is a little bit soft, so there should be deals out there!

z71bill

Fees are negotiable? Yes of course they are - what people need to understand is that EVERYTHING is negotiable. It all just depends on how much time and trouble you want to spend.

I know a guy who got a Nissan dealer to reduce the destination charge and most of the holdback -on a Maxima - two things that most would say are not negotiable. Its a longer story than anyone wants to hear - so I will spare the details.

I will just say that he never gets mad or abusive to the salespeople - he just does not give up on the deal until he feels he has the lowest price he can get.

audia8q

I seriously doubt the destination was negotiated, the reality is the dealer had dealer cash from the factory to create the illusion the consumer was getting certain legit fees reduced....remember it's all about the bottom line number.

mazda6s

Good point, Rich. Things aren't always what they appear, especially if the buyer doesn't have all the info, as is almost always the case. Even the salespeople don't have all the info that the manager has, the most important of which is, how much the dealership is really willing to sell the car for.

So, it's a game, but the dealership has the upper hand because they do it everyday and have all the facts (except how much the buyer is willing and capable of paying, which they try to find out ASAP). The buyer only does it once in a while and is usually very poorly prepared for the game.

modock

I was just wondinging if you guys tried to do the Edmunds price quote over the internet thing. There were 4 dealers that it contacted in my area and of the 4 only one gave me a real quote on the first e-mail. The two others gave me MSRP for the closest car on the lot and one said he wanted to call for more info.

What more can you need? I said Mazda 3S with as few additions as possible. The last, which I responded to and set up a Test drive offered "2% above the invoice price of the vehicle, plus applicable taxes and our $359 administrative fee." What do all of you think about that price? Did any of you have the same experiance with the dealers in your area?

Thanks for the Info

Corey

z71bill

I don't think there was any secret dealer rebates - it was a new (2001 I think) model and the dealership still had a bunch of 2000 models on the lot. But you never know about Nissan. They were hard up for sales back then.

But wait - lets assume that the dealership had a secret rebate..

In that case is it not MORE important to try and negotiate every item? If he did not try to reduce the destination & holdback do you think the dealer would have given him that low of a price? Just out of the goodness of their heart said - we have a secret rebate deal so I am going to give you an additional $1,000 off!

I don't care why the dealership gives up some profit / takes a loss - it could be a secret rebate or maybe they need cash to cover the payroll checks that get handed out later that day - If you don't ask for a better deal you will (almost) never get one.

mazda6s

Yes, you need to know what you can get, and then get what you can.

When I bought my last car I checked invoice prices, then checked around so I knew what dealers in my area were offering relative to invoice. At that point I knew roughly what price I could get. Only one dealer had the car I wanted, so I couldn't compare prices from different dealers on the same car. I called them and got a rough idea of what they were willing to do on the price, then went down there and got within $100 of my target price and was out of there in less than an hour.

z71bill

You need to do your homework - set a target price - get as close as you can and never look back. Wasting 8 hours on a sunny Saturday in some car dealerships back room to save $50 is not my idea of time well spent.

bigdadi118

When you ask the dealers quote, once you did it by input the area code of town you live, then do it all over again by changing area codes like 50 miles north, east, south & west of your town. This way you are expanding the dealership coverage and getting more email quotes. Also there's a window on instruction, tell all the dealers reply quote by email ONLY, do not call. You won't visit one until you have the right price.
Fees are terrible, they can name whatever they want. Even on financing they'll add $100 for certain kind of fee that I never heard of. The one pre-printed on the Sales/Purchase can also be waived. So the wise thing to do is tell them "the final figure with no other fees, just the tax & title"

npaladin2000

Figure it this way: Assuming the invoice price is $15,000, then 3% is $300. Plus a $360 admin fee equals $660 over invoice. Incidentally, invoice likely isn't $15,000, but a bit more ( $15,300 for a manual S sedan with no options).

$660 over isn't bad, exactly...it's right around Edmunds TMV for my area. They're just trying to make it sound like you got a hot deal, so you won't negotiate further.

conall

Yes, the car is in high demand - since I qualified for the 3.9%, the dealer wouldn't negotiate on the price at all. Still a good price when you consider the retail price of a loaded 16V GTI back in '92 was $17k.

conall

I paid about $600 over invoice, too.

flight13

Well I waited too long and they sold the car. Now I can't find one(equipped how I want) anywhere within a 150 mile radius. Mazdausa.com inventory search is pretty worthless. They list vehicles on there that haven't even left Japan yet. The dealers that will be getting what I want said it will be 1-3 months and they will be sold at MSRP.

npaladin2000

Hate to say "I told ya so" but....well....I did.

Now if you want one at $600 over invoice (which I hope you now realize is a very good price) you're going to have to get a little flexible on the options and colors. I had to do the same thing (I just realized later I didn't WANT the TPMS, no matter how band I wanted the Xenon lights).

z71bill

What options / color are you looking for & what state do you live in.

I pass by the dealership where I bought my car about once a week and they always have a whole row of Mazda3's sitting on the lot. Must be at least 20 of them. I don't see a shortage in the Houston area. I am also seeing many more Mazda3's on the street - which was rare back in January when I first bought mine.

If the dealer is telling you wait 3 months and then the price will be MSRP - they are not telling you the truth.

audia8q

If you want to factory order a mz3 it's 4-5 months actually...we are getting calls from people who live over 100+ miles away for certain versions of the MZ3 and its because there are more buyers than cars. we have apx (25) MZ3 instock but we sell apx 30 MZ3's per month, which means there are not alot of cars to be had. If you want a base 'i' auto with a power package you can have one right now and I can discount it a few hundred dollars but if you want a stick 's' then its MSRP, and if your real picky about color and options your going to wait...
Let us in on your expertise about all regions of the country, please? I can use all the extra 3's I can get...so can most dealers.

flight13

I'm looking for(in Southern California): 3s, Auto, cloth, ABS, Moonroof, Sport, Titanium Gray. I originally didn't want the sport package but I realized how much better it looks. On mazdausa.com it shows 6 exactly equipped at a fairly local dealership, but when they pull up the VIN, it says "not shipped".

z71bill

Southern California covers a lot of area - The car you want has the exact same options as mine - only difference is mine is black. My MSRP was $20,005 - my final price back in January was $18,933 (plus TTL). Using Edmunds invoice price I was $394 over invoice. I got a similar story as you when I first went in for a test drive - hot new model - we can't keep them in stock - some dealers are getting over MSRP - we would be doing you a favor to sell it to you for MSRP - because they come from Japan it takes months to get a fresh shipment - bla bla bla lies lies lies. I am sure you know that most salespeople lie about what will be available in the future - because they want to sell you a car today - and the only way they can do that is to sell you what they have on the lot.

I found the Mazda USA web site to be very helpful - I did the search within 150 miles - then sorted by MSRP - The cars that were listed on the web site were actually on hand at the dealership.

audia8q - So you are selling Mazda3's for MSRP - if that is true then - good for you.

I would guess someone - somewhere has paid MSRP or more for a Mazda3 - but from what I have read on this board - most people are paying far less.

flight13

Actually my dealer says they will give me the same deal as before on any car but they just don't have what I want. I go to mazdausa.com and pull up all the VIN's of the cars that match and have the dealer look for them...all "not shipped". Every dealer I call that shows one on the site says it is on the way but don't know exactly when. It would really be nice if the mazda site was accurate. Even when I do a 150 mile radius it doesn't pull up all the dealers.

halocline

I was curious how many people had that clear film which stops paint chips on their Mz3? I wanted to know what the ballpark price should be. Buy from the dealer or shop around and get it done at an automotive shop? Is it worthwhile? How much coverage do you really need? etc, etc. Any information would be appreciated as I pickup my car on Friday!

flight13

I may have found the car with the options I want but it includes the Xenon/TPMS package...any thoughts on this package? Is it worth the money($600+) or should I hold out for one without it?

npaladin2000

"I may have found the car with the options I want but it includes the Xenon/TPMS package...any thoughts on this package? Is it worth the money($600+) or should I hold out for one without it?"

If you can afford the extra $600, grab it. You can't be REAL picky, you know. But ask them if they can disable the TPMS..it's REALLY annoying sometimes. I couldn't find one with it...wanted the Xenons though.

I'll pay you $300 for your Xenons and you can keep the TPMS if you'd like.

flight13

What about the TPMS is annoying? I don't know the advantages/disadvantages to these options.

npaladin2000

Well, it's been posted before, but the gist of it is the TPMS system consists of 4 radio transmitters and a light in the dash. It's informative to the point of "ONE of your four tires is either OVER or UNDER inflated to SOME degree." THen you get out and check your tires...which, if you're a good driver, you did before even getting into the car.

Also, if you swap rims to put on winter tires, there go the radio transmitters, and you have no TPMS while you have your snows on.

This is just a guess, but it's probably also calibrated for the stock RSAs...if you put a tire on the rim that requires a different pressure, it's gonna be off as far as the sensor goes.

gokalps

Time is getting close and I am getting more excited everyday. I started to contact dealers in my area-philadelphia- to get some prices. One price I got is 600 over invoice plus tax and tags. How does that sound?
I noticed that the 3.9 APR will be expired on June 30th. After that do you think it will drop, increase or stay same?

z71bill

I would not accept a car that did not have an option I wanted - but would always be willing to negotiate for a car with extra toys. Does not hurt to push for a better deal because you are being ask to buy something you really don't need or want - If you are still in the $600 over invoice range then they have some room to cut the price back on this option package.

No way to prove this - but IMO - you will get almost nothing (maybe $50) for this option package when it is time to trade.

billo

Interested in a Mazda $250 certificate (good for a new Mazda only), for $100, expires 5/31/04.
Billo

rinebird

Do you have to be in a mazda family to use it? I am looking at a new mazda's 3 i.

rinebird

I have not seen a shortage in my area Southern NJ
I think color may play a role.

Mazda comes out with a new car soon. I saw it on the Mazda web site.

cash back(rebate) for college degrees(6/30/04 it ends) is an incentive to move cars from what I read have read on car buying sites.

gokalps

I am aware of the college cash back, but unfortunately my graduation was in Jan 2002.:(
I have looked at Mazda 3's in Faulkner Mazda in NE Philly. Where did you get your at invoice price?

billo

No, any one qualifies, as long as you take delivery by 5/30/04. Applies to 2005 model as well.

flight13

Well I finally found one I want. In addition to the packages I want, it has the upgraded compass mirror and wheel locks. The dealer offered $500 over invoice..I countered with $300. He called me back and accepted the offer. Granted the $300 is in addition to the $150 assessment fee so really it's $450 but I'll take it. He faxed me the dealer invoice along with the deal sheet so no surprises when I get there.
In case anyone else is having a hard time finding what they want, Mazda has a department that will search for the car for you...best of all their search shows the actual inventory of the dealers and not what's sitting in Japan...(800)639-1000

kyfdx

Congratulations!! In the end, it is all about getting the car you really want. A couple hundred dollars either way will soon be forgotten, when you are cruising down the road in your new car. That sounds like a good price, anyway.

regards,
kyfdx

rinebird

Thank you for he reply. have you had offers?How far away are you? 100 for a 250 certificate? let me know the details then i will decide thank you