Did anybody pay MSRP for the 03 or 03.5

everyone here knows the ecu is ford. Are you going to try to tell us that the Protege's are made/built by Ford.... Um no.

built in Japan they is.
 
I paid $20,500. they wouldn't budge, and I wanted one. I paid to play, no big :)
 
I have 2 left on my lot (in black) that I need to get rid of!!! No one is paying sticker for it at this point....anyone know of someone that wants a good deal, lemme know. I need to blow these out before the 2003.5s come in.
 
Hey guys. This is my first post. been reading this forum for a while now and finally got the guts to post. I learned alot about the "quirks" of MSP, but I think it's cool car nonetheless.

Anyway about American cars and stuff. From sounds of what everyone posted about how bad american cars are. I wouldn't be getting any Mitsubishi soon either, because I read a while back that Mitsubishi is in this alliance with Chrysler that they're gonna build cars together. And Saab(GM) is building the new 9-2 with Fuji Heavy Industry (Subaru). so let's face it, with the big three basically owning all the major car brands except Toyota and Honda (hopefully this is true). One way or another the car you drive is in connection with an American car company like Ford.
 
Don't count Toyota and Honda out either.

Toyota: can u say Vibe? how about MAtrix? Same car.

Honda: Well, guess who's bought some shares lately...um Ford. Guess what....Chevy and Honda have a deal where Honda makes some 4 cyls for Chevy/GM, and GM will make v-8's for Honda.

What is the world coming to?

btw, welcome aboard, and by all means, don't be afraid to post.

....what's the worse that could happen :)
 
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HAHA yea who could forget about the vibe umm... i mean the matrix wait they're the same car. Thanx for pointing it out. And yea i have stage fright u know, it's a big forum here :eek:
 
Price paid for 2K3 MSP

I negotiated a price of $18,946 (USD) on a 2003 tangerine dream. It was dealer stickered at something like $22,900. NOT!

That's $18426 + $520 destination charge. Took me about 2 hours to negotiate it, had 2 salesmen and the sales manager whining about how they were losing money and the owner of the dealership was going to have their heads if they sold the car at that price, yadda yadda yadda...After my state taxes and tags, my final out the door bill was $20,334. I would have liked to have been in at $18,600 on the neotiated price, however for such a neat car, I was not going to quibble over $350.

Two years ago I was able to negotiate a $22,700 deal on a $26,000 Explorer for my wife. I like to beat car salesmen down to the point where they sell me the car at my asking price to simply get rid of me. They'll make their money on the next guy. Had the saleslady crying when we finally closed the deal on that Explorer.

Do I feel bad? No, they'll rip you off with a smile on their face. Play the game back. Car salesmen are never very friendly to me after a sale. Wonder why? :>

If you know the *true* dealer cost, you can usually get 2-4% over that number. I've been told that *true dealer cost* is usually about 83% of the factory MSRP shown. (That number may vary depending on the car, lower priced vehicles tend to have narrow margins). Any dealer markup beyond factory MSRP that is ripping you off. (MSRP is ripping you off too, remember that).

I also strongly recommend anyone considering purchasing any new car check out the following websites:

http://www.carbuyingtips.com

http://www.fightingchance.com

Don't go shopping without at least reading carbuyingtips.com

A female friend of mine once said, "I'd rather marry a garbage man than a car salesman".

I enjoy the thrill of haggling price, and I really didn't need a new car, my old one is still chugging along, so I had the luxury of time. I simply found it a neat little car that handled well.

As I'm finding, there's a lot of resources and good information from other MSP owners. I'll probably make this site a regular stop.

The kids *love* the car. My 14 year old son now wants me to drive him everywhere, suddenly it's cool to be seen with pops I guess. My 17 year old daughter just keeps shaking her head and saying, "I can't believe you bought a bright orange car".


To anyone reading who is contemplating the purchase of a MSP, do it! It's a fun little machine.

-lyserjic

BTW, I've started a channel on the EFnet Irc network, #mazdaspeed. I need a few folks who might want to op.

If you don't know what IRC is, go here:

http://www.irchelp.org/

(And no, you CANNOT take legal action against me if you become addicted to IRC..) :>
 
Which dealer in Houston did you buy it off lyserjic??? I'm thinking about buying a MSP, but I'm not back from school yet. So I'm just doing the scouting right now: reading what ppl paid for their cars and problems they had with dealers and stuff. Maybe u can even tell me the salesperson, I'll try it on him too. (wink)
 
yeah man, my friend works at the GM plant in Kettering OH and they make suspension parts for GM and Toyotas !!!!
 
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