Advice Needed - Considering an MS3
- Thread starter DaleNixon
- Start date
Lots of good points. Amen to phillyb on the importance of Internet Sales Managers. I got my 2008.5 speed GT for $23,590 OUT THE DOOR. It has the all-weather floor mats, wheel locks, and Sirius radio...and I made them give me a free oil change (just because I'm a dick). Below are the most important lessons I learned when buying my speed3, though not in any order:
-Always determine how much you want to pay for a specific car based on the Mazda website listing for that dealer, for that car. Don't give 'em anything extra for all that dealer installed crap. Take Edmunds Invoice price and knock some of that off. Understanding dealer holdback is very important. Google it, live it, love it.
-Always have a pre-approved loan check from your bank ahead of time. Never show this to your dealer or tell them the amount you are approved for until it somehow saves you money!
-Always explain to them that you only deal with "out the door" quotes. Tell them you are too stupid to figure out all the percentages. This always makes my salesmen laugh.
-Always deal with the Internet Sales Manager. He is willing to take less than the regular sales guy. At my dealership, we were in a back office and he was even taking calls from the regular sales guys and giving them the "yes" or "no" answers about what they could take for cars. At one point (after we had already signed the papers on mine), I heard him tell someone they couldn't take less than $25000 for any MS3 GT. He just smiled at me.
-This sort of ties into the last one, but always deal with them through email. This way, you can research things between questions.
I didn't meet my sales guy until the day we signed the papers. I knew him for all of 45 minutes.
-Always tell them about the quotes other dealers have given you. Submit online requests with at least 2 dealers. You need the emails from one of them to forward on to the other one...and vice versa.
-Always tell them you really like their dealership, it's closer to your house, you've heard REALLY good things about them, etc, etc, etc...if they could only match or beat what the other dealer is giving you.
-Never tell them you are planning on trading a car in. This has nothing to do with the purchase of your car...yet. Once you agree on a price, then tell them. Get a quote from Carmax first...it's free and then you can use that for leverage if the dealer comes in below that. Or you can take it to Carmax and bring them the money.
And last, but not least, explain to them that you don't need a car, you want a car. Explain to them why they aren't going to make very much money off a car they sell you. Explain to them that they are, in fact, not really selling you anything; you already want the car. You already want specific features, you understand how they work, and you just need someone to fill out some papers for you...all they have to do is meet your price.
Please don't take any of this as the word of God. These are merely my observations and personal notes for the next car I buy. Good luck in your ventures.
-Always determine how much you want to pay for a specific car based on the Mazda website listing for that dealer, for that car. Don't give 'em anything extra for all that dealer installed crap. Take Edmunds Invoice price and knock some of that off. Understanding dealer holdback is very important. Google it, live it, love it.
-Always have a pre-approved loan check from your bank ahead of time. Never show this to your dealer or tell them the amount you are approved for until it somehow saves you money!
-Always explain to them that you only deal with "out the door" quotes. Tell them you are too stupid to figure out all the percentages. This always makes my salesmen laugh.
-Always deal with the Internet Sales Manager. He is willing to take less than the regular sales guy. At my dealership, we were in a back office and he was even taking calls from the regular sales guys and giving them the "yes" or "no" answers about what they could take for cars. At one point (after we had already signed the papers on mine), I heard him tell someone they couldn't take less than $25000 for any MS3 GT. He just smiled at me.
-This sort of ties into the last one, but always deal with them through email. This way, you can research things between questions.
I didn't meet my sales guy until the day we signed the papers. I knew him for all of 45 minutes.-Always tell them about the quotes other dealers have given you. Submit online requests with at least 2 dealers. You need the emails from one of them to forward on to the other one...and vice versa.
-Always tell them you really like their dealership, it's closer to your house, you've heard REALLY good things about them, etc, etc, etc...if they could only match or beat what the other dealer is giving you.
-Never tell them you are planning on trading a car in. This has nothing to do with the purchase of your car...yet. Once you agree on a price, then tell them. Get a quote from Carmax first...it's free and then you can use that for leverage if the dealer comes in below that. Or you can take it to Carmax and bring them the money.
And last, but not least, explain to them that you don't need a car, you want a car. Explain to them why they aren't going to make very much money off a car they sell you. Explain to them that they are, in fact, not really selling you anything; you already want the car. You already want specific features, you understand how they work, and you just need someone to fill out some papers for you...all they have to do is meet your price.
Please don't take any of this as the word of God. These are merely my observations and personal notes for the next car I buy. Good luck in your ventures.
There was another thread around here where I posted the breakdown of what I paid...as did many others. I think I found it searching for "mazdaspeed price" or something. It had A LOT of other people posting what they paid and seemed to date back to the birth of the MS3. Most of the later posts were at or around invoice + TTL. I'm a little lower, but have since seen some people pay less than me.
Lots of good points. Amen to phillyb on the importance of Internet Sales Managers. I got my 2008.5 speed GT for $23,590 OUT THE DOOR. It has the all-weather floor mats, wheel locks, and Sirius radio...and I made them give me a free oil change (just because I'm a dick). Below are the most important lessons I learned when buying my speed3, though not in any order:
-Always determine how much you want to pay for a specific car based on the Mazda website listing for that dealer, for that car. Don't give 'em anything extra for all that dealer installed crap. Take Edmunds Invoice price and knock some of that off. Understanding dealer holdback is very important. Google it, live it, love it.
-Always have a pre-approved loan check from your bank ahead of time. Never show this to your dealer or tell them the amount you are approved for until it somehow saves you money!
-Always explain to them that you only deal with "out the door" quotes. Tell them you are too stupid to figure out all the percentages. This always makes my salesmen laugh.
-Always deal with the Internet Sales Manager. He is willing to take less than the regular sales guy. At my dealership, we were in a back office and he was even taking calls from the regular sales guys and giving them the "yes" or "no" answers about what they could take for cars. At one point (after we had already signed the papers on mine), I heard him tell someone they couldn't take less than $25000 for any MS3 GT. He just smiled at me.
-This sort of ties into the last one, but always deal with them through email. This way, you can research things between questions.
-Always tell them about the quotes other dealers have given you. Submit online requests with at least 2 dealers. You need the emails from one of them to forward on to the other one...and vice versa.
-Always tell them you really like their dealership, it's closer to your house, you've heard REALLY good things about them, etc, etc, etc...if they could only match or beat what the other dealer is giving you.
-Never tell them you are planning on trading a car in. This has nothing to do with the purchase of your car...yet. Once you agree on a price, then tell them. Get a quote from Carmax first...it's free and then you can use that for leverage if the dealer comes in below that. Or you can take it to Carmax and bring them the money.
And last, but not least, explain to them that you don't need a car, you want a car. Explain to them why they aren't going to make very much money off a car they sell you. Explain to them that they are, in fact, not really selling you anything; you already want the car. You already want specific features, you understand how they work, and you just need someone to fill out some papers for you...all they have to do is meet your price.
Please don't take any of this as the word of God. These are merely my observations and personal notes for the next car I buy. Good luck in your ventures.
this is great advice!
the bottom line is you can buy this car anywhere...AND a dealership will always go lower than another...the tick is finding the dealer that wants the business most...
with the internet, your range is farther and you can solicit quotes from many dealers!
another thing you can think of is if you get a great deal from a far away dealer, it may be worth buying from them and paying to flat-bed it to you or take a trip to pick it up...
I bought my car in NJ even though i live in NH because financially it saved me money buying it in NJ even after i added the expenses of going to go get it!!
lots of options...think about them all and DO NOT RUSH INTO BUYING A CAR
Lots of good points. Amen to phillyb on the importance of Internet Sales Managers. I got my 2008.5 speed GT for $23,590 OUT THE DOOR. It has the all-weather floor mats, wheel locks, and Sirius radio...and I made them give me a free oil change (just because I'm a dick). Below are the most important lessons I learned when buying my speed3, though not in any order:
-Always determine how much you want to pay for a specific car based on the Mazda website listing for that dealer, for that car. Don't give 'em anything extra for all that dealer installed crap. Take Edmunds Invoice price and knock some of that off. Understanding dealer holdback is very important. Google it, live it, love it.
-Always have a pre-approved loan check from your bank ahead of time. Never show this to your dealer or tell them the amount you are approved for until it somehow saves you money!
-Always explain to them that you only deal with "out the door" quotes. Tell them you are too stupid to figure out all the percentages. This always makes my salesmen laugh.
-Always deal with the Internet Sales Manager. He is willing to take less than the regular sales guy. At my dealership, we were in a back office and he was even taking calls from the regular sales guys and giving them the "yes" or "no" answers about what they could take for cars. At one point (after we had already signed the papers on mine), I heard him tell someone they couldn't take less than $25000 for any MS3 GT. He just smiled at me.
-This sort of ties into the last one, but always deal with them through email. This way, you can research things between questions.
-Always tell them about the quotes other dealers have given you. Submit online requests with at least 2 dealers. You need the emails from one of them to forward on to the other one...and vice versa.
-Always tell them you really like their dealership, it's closer to your house, you've heard REALLY good things about them, etc, etc, etc...if they could only match or beat what the other dealer is giving you.
-Never tell them you are planning on trading a car in. This has nothing to do with the purchase of your car...yet. Once you agree on a price, then tell them. Get a quote from Carmax first...it's free and then you can use that for leverage if the dealer comes in below that. Or you can take it to Carmax and bring them the money.
And last, but not least, explain to them that you don't need a car, you want a car. Explain to them why they aren't going to make very much money off a car they sell you. Explain to them that they are, in fact, not really selling you anything; you already want the car. You already want specific features, you understand how they work, and you just need someone to fill out some papers for you...all they have to do is meet your price.
Please don't take any of this as the word of God. These are merely my observations and personal notes for the next car I buy. Good luck in your ventures.
I'm still in the market for an MS3 (havn't decided to wait for 2009 or just go for 2008.5) but that is one HELL of a deal! The best OTD price I have seen is $25,600 in Texas, so it looks like I have some more negotiating to do! Do you mind me asking what region of the US you purchased in? I know that can affect it some (taxes) but knowing you got such a good price makes me want to strive for the best deal possible
It does suck that MSRP has gone up by $200 in the last two weeks for 2008.5 MS3's and will probably creep up even a little more for the 2009.
I'm still in the market for an MS3 (havn't decided to wait for 2009 or just go for 2008.5) but that is one HELL of a deal! The best OTD price I have seen is $25,600 in Texas, so it looks like I have some more negotiating to do! Do you mind me asking what region of the US you purchased in? I know that can affect it some (taxes) but knowing you got such a good price makes me want to strive for the best deal possible
It does suck that MSRP has gone up by $200 in the last two weeks for 2008.5 MS3's and will probably creep up even a little more for the 2009.
using the phone...my OTD price was 23,212 on a 2008.5 MGM GT with wheel locks, compass mirror, and cargo net. Add the gas to get there and back plus food for 3 ppl and my total cost was 23,412.
phone or internet FTW!!!
It sounds like $24,990 for the color I want (white which is $200 extra for the paint) GT with navigation is actually a pretty decent deal.
I might actually go for that if I can convince them to not screw me on the trade. We'll see if he'll drop to $21,500 on the Sport and throw in those goodies I asked for.
I was mostly looking for feedback as to whether or not I'm being offered decent deals at this point. I think this salesman has been pretty great, and he laid out some pretty good prices from the get go.
I might actually go for that if I can convince them to not screw me on the trade. We'll see if he'll drop to $21,500 on the Sport and throw in those goodies I asked for.
I was mostly looking for feedback as to whether or not I'm being offered decent deals at this point. I think this salesman has been pretty great, and he laid out some pretty good prices from the get go.
emessthree
Member
1 - All depends on what you owe and what you want for the car. For example, I jsut traded in my 06 civic Si for an 08.5 MS3. I said one thing when I went to the dealership; "I want 15K for my car, and I'll take the Ms3 for 21. If you can agree to that we have a deal, if not, then fine I'll walk away".
Two hours later the deal was done and I didn't budge an inch on either price. however, I knew what I wanted to get for my car and what I owed, so it is situational.
2 - Invoice is $20,850 or so for the Sport Ms3. Get them as low as you can.
Good luck, and don't listen to a word they say to you. Whatever they tell you is probably a lie. Stick to your guns.
I'm still in the market for an MS3 (havn't decided to wait for 2009 or just go for 2008.5) but that is one HELL of a deal! The best OTD price I have seen is $25,600 in Texas, so it looks like I have some more negotiating to do! Do you mind me asking what region of the US you purchased in? I know that can affect it some (taxes) but knowing you got such a good price makes me want to strive for the best deal possible
It does suck that MSRP has gone up by $200 in the last two weeks for 2008.5 MS3's and will probably creep up even a little more for the 2009.
No problem. I live in North Carolina. The breakdown for my deal was as follows. Keep in mind that the dealer I worked with was firm on the doc fee, so he had to give a little on the price of the car, ie "sale price". I chucked when he emailed me the breakdown and even commented that I didn't realize they were "on sale".
$25,363.00 MSRP
$22,363.00 SALE PRICE
0 TRADE
$22,363.00 DIFFERENCE
$670.89 TAX
$23,033.89 SUBTOT
0 Rebates
$28.00 FILE
$9.75 NCSI
$450.00 DOC
$74.00 REG / TAG / TITILE
$23,595.64 TOTAL
No problem. I live in North Carolina. The breakdown for my deal was as follows. Keep in mind that the dealer I worked with was firm on the doc fee, so he had to give a little on the price of the car, ie "sale price". I chucked when he emailed me the breakdown and even commented that I didn't realize they were "on sale".
$25,363.00 MSRP
$22,363.00 SALE PRICE
0 TRADE
$22,363.00 DIFFERENCE
$670.89 TAX
$23,033.89 SUBTOT
0 Rebates
$28.00 FILE
$9.75 NCSI
$450.00 DOC
$74.00 REG / TAG / TITILE
$23,595.64 TOTAL
Thanks for the breakdown. I talked to my dealership, and since I mentioned S-Plan pricing, they aren't budging away from the invoice price. It looks like my tax rate is 3.25% higher here as well (sad2) but even taking that into account you got about $1000 less than what my current best offer is.
My dealership just charges tax and title fees (nothing else at all) which is a plus. Since the Mazdaspeed3 2009 is confirmed, I might just wait and build up a bigger down. The current speed I have been negotiating is not even on their lot (they would trade one of their Speed3's to a dealership) so they probably don't care too much about making a deal anyways, which makes me lose some bargaining power.
Update!
I got a reply from the dealer. Here goes:
"I'll do the $21,500 plus tax and $105.50 including the all weather floor mats, wheel locks and ipod adapter. I don't have the ipod adapter so we can install that at a later date. I need you to take delivery today."
Delivery today? I seriously doubt I can do that (gotta do a lot of stuff at work today). But does this sound fair? Should I get him to fax/email me a sales slip then let him in on the fact that I have a trade?
I have to drive about 75 miles to get to this car.
What do you guys think? Thanks in advance!
I got a reply from the dealer. Here goes:
"I'll do the $21,500 plus tax and $105.50 including the all weather floor mats, wheel locks and ipod adapter. I don't have the ipod adapter so we can install that at a later date. I need you to take delivery today."
Delivery today? I seriously doubt I can do that (gotta do a lot of stuff at work today). But does this sound fair? Should I get him to fax/email me a sales slip then let him in on the fact that I have a trade?
I have to drive about 75 miles to get to this car.
What do you guys think? Thanks in advance!
I replied with this:
"Doing the deal today would be pretty difficult as I work in IT and we are rolling out a big project this afternoon (I'm even working late tonight). I might possibly be able to slip away quickly (I'm in Baton
Rouge) to get the car today, but if that were the case I would want to establish everything first so we could make it quick.
I plan on financing. I want to know my "out the door" price (after TT&L). Also, I have a vehicle I'd like to trade (2003.5 Mazda Protege5, White, 42,000 miles, leather, automatic, all maintenance up to date, new tires, one owner, fantastic condition). If you can give me a good trade in deal on that, I think we can make this happen either today or within the next day or two.
Thanks."
"Doing the deal today would be pretty difficult as I work in IT and we are rolling out a big project this afternoon (I'm even working late tonight). I might possibly be able to slip away quickly (I'm in Baton
Rouge) to get the car today, but if that were the case I would want to establish everything first so we could make it quick.
I plan on financing. I want to know my "out the door" price (after TT&L). Also, I have a vehicle I'd like to trade (2003.5 Mazda Protege5, White, 42,000 miles, leather, automatic, all maintenance up to date, new tires, one owner, fantastic condition). If you can give me a good trade in deal on that, I think we can make this happen either today or within the next day or two.
Thanks."
His response:
"What is your address so I can give tax and license?
What do you want for your trade? What is the serial #? Has it ever been wrecked or painted? Are you close to my Baton Rouge dealership on Airline, Jaguar/Land Rover?"
He's dead serious about this. What should I ask for on the P5 trade? Should I go high ($10,000) or so and see what he says? (Of course he'll want to go lower than that).
"What is your address so I can give tax and license?
What do you want for your trade? What is the serial #? Has it ever been wrecked or painted? Are you close to my Baton Rouge dealership on Airline, Jaguar/Land Rover?"
He's dead serious about this. What should I ask for on the P5 trade? Should I go high ($10,000) or so and see what he says? (Of course he'll want to go lower than that).
You should KBB it and expect to get the "good" price for trade in and not a cent less!
good work btw!
