aux: 2, mazda dealership: 0

[auxilary]

Yesterday I went to buy a car. Mazda3 2.3. here's what happened:

 

aux arrives at dealership.

 

dealership: yes?

 

aux: sell me a mazda3S base model w/ mp3 player

 

ds: ok, let's do your paperwork

 

aux: no, we talk pricing first

 

ds: ok, but we need your credit check

 

aux: bs, no you don't. we're talking quotes, not writing checks.

 

ds: well, we need your information to do a credit check to make sure nothing happens

 

aux: now you're making me laugh. you need a credit check on me to throw around numbers?

 

ds: ok. the price is 17,300 for the car + fees

 

aux: make that out-the-door price and i'll write you a check this second

 

ds: we can't do that. that's a low price as it is.

 

aux: invoice is 15,5.

 

ds: well, there's also a 560$ destination fee

 

aux: those fees are bullshit. I'm not paying for delivery of a car that's already on the lot. 17,3 for base model or 17,6 with mp3 player installed.

 

15 minutes go by while the sales people scramble about confused, and then lead me to the fleet manager.

 

"so what exactly are you trying to accomplish?"

 

aux: I want to get the car I want for the price I want.

 

manager: here's our invoice price [shows me 16,1], we can't go that low

 

aux: ok, see you guys later!

 

fuckers didn't even offer to WORK with me on the price. lol.

 

Today:

The internet sales manager got my quote request from a few days ago, and calls me up at work:

 

sm: i am calling from mazda about your interest in the mazda3

 

me: great. however, I'm not interested in dealing with your dealership. ever. so please don't call me

 

sm: wait, hold on, what's going on? can I help you?

 

me: i went in, gave an offer, had a blank check on me to buy the car, and the general manager asked me 'where I'm going with this.' So in short, I don't want to deal with your dealership. ever.

 

sm: well, maybe I can work out that deal you wanted for you. What was your offer?

 

me: too much effort. My offer was 17,600 out the door with mp3 player. If you want me to consider giving you business, beat the offer.

 

sm: ok, I'll see what I can do for you. Can I call you today at this number?

 

me: sure, but better make it before 5. I'm going to another mazda dealership to get the car I want for the price I want.

[WickedWild]

Given up totaly on the Corolla?

[SleeperZ]

Good luck with that. They sound like a typical dealership.

[Confused]

Perfect example of what to do. Props to you. So, do you think they will give in?

[auxilary]

Given up totaly on the Corolla?

Never considered the corolla. I would, if it wasn't overpriced by 5k. I'm not paying 21 grand for a damn corolla. I could get an SRT4 for that price (if I was stupid enough to buy a dodge. again)

[JMortensen]

So am I reading correctly that the invoice was 16,100 and you offered 17,600 and they said no? That's a pretty generous offer on your part at 9% over invoice and they were pretty dumb not to accept it. I'd be looking to get the car for 16,900 or so (about 5% over invoice). At least that's what AAA says to do.

[EZ-E]

HAH good for you, I like how they say they cant do this they cant do that. When my grandmother had passed my mother had gotten a bit of money from her that she had left to her from her will.

 

She wanted to buy a new Camry, and well they were talking the same as you said your dealers were talking. They cant do this, they cant do that, destination fees, fees for this and that.

 

So in short, it took 6 dealerships to find one that actually wanted cash in hand and was willing to deal. I had 3 that said you dont have that kind of money on you, no one does.

 

What was great was to watch the GM of the business come over because I was getting a bit irate. He asked what the problem was. I had told him that basically his sales staff was quite rude and basically belittled me and made me feel like I wasnt worthy of his business.

 

Then I had proceeded to show him my mothers bank book.

 

I loved the sight of his eyes when he looked and I basically said, well thats 20k in cash that you can kiss goodbye.

[sab12373]

My grandfather had similar problems when he bought his Explorer. He always pays cash for his cars and the dealership didn't want to deal with cash. They said that cash was too much of a bother because the government asked questions as to where the money came from. They must think that my 82 year old grandfather is a local drug dealer. It's just some bullshit way to get their financing money.

[WickedWild]

Never considered the corolla. I would, if it wasn't overpriced by 5k. I'm not paying 21 grand for a damn corolla. I could get an SRT4 for that price (if I was stupid enough to buy a dodge. again)

???

(base model corolla XRS, with power windows, power locks, and 6 speed, no sunroof, no 6 cd changer options)

???

[auxilary]

wickedwild: i'm talking about the corolla XRS. apparently they ONLY come with moonroof/6cd changer/etc package, and base msrp is 20,500. Regular corollas are 14-15k. I wanted to see if it was possible to get a stripped down corolla XRS, that would've been worth 15-16k.

 

Given the cost of the XRS and cost of competition, it's a no-brainer

[WickedWild]

Gotcha

Sorry I'm bias twords the Corolla my '94 has 175k and still get 35mpg. I see way too many Mazdas falling appart here at the shop when they come in with 75k on em. If your getting something for just a couple years go with the Mazda if your going to drive it till you die go with the Corolla or TC.

[auxilary]

I test drove the tC. It felt like steering a bloated pig. It felt heavy and slow in braking, handling, and acceleration. It's a fad car. And it looks excessively bland.

 

I don't know about your experience with mazdas, but my friend's 626 ran about 180k miles before giving up. His family still has a 90 mpv with 190 on the clock, and running.

 

Any corolla besides the XRS is slow and bland. and the XRS is way overpriced

[zero]

My only experience with newer mazda's has been that of my friends auto 6s. Its a great car but he has had problems with the transmission acting up, with the engine light coming on and staying on for days after he drives it a little hard, and with headlights going out...alot. Other than that it has been a great car.

 

I must say though that my family has had two mazda 323's in stick. My dads 88 lasted a really long time till he was rear ended and totalled at a stop light. I bought a 92 hatch in october so i could get around during the winter, and the car has been great. I got it for a couple hundred bucks with 230k miles on it, and it still runs like a champ. Great little car.

[rudypoochris]

HAHAHHA ALEX how about the v6 mustang... bwhaha

[auxilary]

called up modesto mazda:

 

me: ok, i want an 05 3s. what can you offer me?

 

sales guy: how about 2k over msrp

 

me: I'm going to hang up now

 

sg: that's what we normally sell them for

 

me: no, you don't. either that, or you have a lot of idiots shopping in modesto

 

sg: ok, make me an offer

 

me: 17,700 out the door

 

sg: you mean after registration and tax?

 

me: yeah

 

sg: how about 1k over msrp?

 

me: *click*

[73GreeNMachine]

if they sell it to you at invoice plus T&L it will be 17,7 out the door. Ask for someone in the fleet or internet department. Im working at nissan right now and we are selling everything at invoice just to get rid of the 05's. What most people dont know is that there is what they call a hold back. A hold back is money set aside. So, even if they sell it at invoice, they still make commission on the hold back. So its not like they are really losing money, they just arent making as much.

[HeatRaveR]

I had a good experience when I walked in Broadway Mazda in Oakland, CA recently. I only went in to find out when the '06 Mazda3's were going to be available. The salesman took me to the internet/fleet sales manager and we chitchatted a bit about the '06's. He was a car enthusiast too and he leveled with me, saying that most everyone already knows about the invoice prices (the "secret" everyone knows), so he said whichever model I wanted, he'd do $500 *under* invoice. Now, I'm sure there's the usual fees on top of that, but it'd still end up around invoice price without having to twist an arm and a leg to get it. So now that I have an offer to work with, I'll probably check some other dealers and see what they can do in comparison. But all things being equal, I would of course give my business to that guy who gave me good customer service.

[Guest HBZ81]

gotta love dearlerships, i've been in the same boat with some places:toetap05:

[DavyZ]

... So, even if they sell it at invoice, they still make commission on the hold back. So its not like they are really losing money, they just arent making as much...

 

Most dealerships do not pay a salesperson commission on the holdback. Most dealerships do not deal on the holdback either, but maybe nowadays they do?

 

I sold cars for years and I can tell you that I ran across all types of people and some were like my friend Aux. To be honest, I usually didn't sell to people like him. I waited for people who were informed and knew what the numbers were in advance---there is a deal there, maybe a small one, but one that the dealership can actually afford to do. I gave my time to help people and worked with the ones that would carry on a conversation on the premises on a car that we had in stock. The result was that I was salesman of the month more then half the year, year after year, and I built up a clientele.

 

Most dealerships have their (bad) reputations for a reason, but the ones I worked at had good ones because most of the sales people were customer service oriented, not slimeballs wanting to make a quick buck---funny, but those kinds of guys never swam in the cash and had no repeat/referral business. The car business is like any other sales oriented business: if you want customers to come back or refer other, you have to treat them right.

 

I would never sell to people who gave such lowball offers that I was wasting my time. I would politely tell them the facts and let them get hammered by a bunch of other dealers, but I would always leave the door open so to speak, so that they would come back to me to actually buy a car. They just "have to do more research."

 

 

Davy

[auxilary]

Dave: I got the amount I wanted You'll probably see the car on sunday, haha