Help on price of an A/T P5

I located a yellow 2003 P5 with auto transmission(wife doesn't want a manual one) and leather at a dealer, no other options installed.
The sticker price is $18,545, and carsdirect.com gives a $17,222, $50 less than the invoice.

But after I searched on this forum, I found a lot of persons got several hundreds below invoice.

Can anybody give some suggestion here?
 
I bought mine on Jan. 18th also an A/T w/sport shift for the same reason, (wife can drive stick) and I paid $18,800 w/out Leather or subwoofer but loaded other than those two things. Come to think this is the first time in a long time I didn't get leather and I really don't miss it.

If you got an offer for under invoice, go for it. I wish I had the patience to deal with salespeople but I don't so I just go in and tell them what I want and if they don't give it to me I go somplace else. I actually went to 3 different dealerships before I found a salesperson who didn't jerk me around. No patience here.

Good luck and I'm sure you're going to love it. (2thumbs)
 
Where are you located? O think you can do better. Play hard ball.
 
why don't you just go to the dealer who carsdirect.com got the price with? that's what i did. makes life a lot easier when you come in, hand over the piece of paper that says the carsdirect price, choose the color car you want, sign the paperwork, then drive off with your new car. simple as that. well, the finance department sucks ass, in my experience. they are "the bad guys" when it comes to car sales. just be careful of the finance numbers, do the math before you go in to double check they are right, and make sure you don't buy anything they pressure you into buying if you don't want it. ok, that's all.
 
Personally I paid 20K but I got a FULLY loaded protege5 with every possible option (except getting the roof rack installed) I coulda gotten it for 19 if I'd take 2.3% financing but I chose the 0% apr instead. The AT is worth it though it gives you versititly.
Ryan
 
I'd rethink the A/T - First, 4 cylinder cars and A/T's are not usually a happy marriage - There's simply not enough extra HP to go around for you to be losing a percentage of it to the extra heat the A/T produces. Second, anyone can learn to drive a stick - Teach her. She'll LOVE you for it ;) Third, the A/T costs $800 more, and over it's life (assuming you NEVER have a transmission problem) will cost you about another $800 more in gasoline alone - That's roughly 10% of the cost of the car For that kind of $$$ anyone can learn to shift.

As to how to get the best deal - Research

Know exactly what you want on the car, and what the car SHOULD cost before you ever step foot on the lot. Sit down with the salesman before you even go outside to look at the cars. Tell him "I want a P5 with this and that and this other thing, and I know where I can buy it for "X" - If you can meet or beat that deal, I'm your customer, but please don't waste an hour of my time only to tell me in the end that you can't sell me one for "X" "

Don
 
Don said:

As to how to get the best deal - Research

Know exactly what you want on the car, and what the car SHOULD cost before you ever step foot on the lot. Sit down with the salesman before you even go outside to look at the cars. Tell him "I want a P5 with this and that and this other thing, and I know where I can buy it for "X" - If you can meet or beat that deal, I'm your customer, but please don't waste an hour of my time only to tell me in the end that you can't sell me one for "X" "

Don

(werd)

I paid 19,700 (2.9% APR) w/o taxes for a fully loaded PR5, from the Bronx Mazda dealer. Every option except wheel locks. I also got the Sport Automatic (I need to learn how to drive stick :D).
 
I paid $14,600 for mine this weekend. Only option being the A/T transmission. 3 miles on the odometer.

...Should note that it's a 2K3.
 
Finally I picked up a red one with A/T, moonroof and leather for 17599. That's before the 500 graduation rebate. Of course, 0% apr for 5 years.

Can't be compared with some of the super deals in the forum. But with more than 700 bucks below invoice, I am still very happy:)
 
Prices are a lot lower now than it was about 6 months ago. I always use Carsdirect.com as a base price. Edmunds.com works but not as well because they give you an estimate, and most of the time the estimate is above invoice. CarsDirect gives you a direct price.

When I purchased my 2002.5 Protege5, I only had the Sport A/T, just like you wanted. Carsdirect's price was $16,700 because the car mats were not standard until the 2003 model. I got it for $16,500. Everything is excluding taxes of course. So my advice is to shoot for about $500 below invoice for bargaining power.

Let them know you're serious by showing them the check for the down payment. If your down payment is $2000, have that written onto the check, but don't write it out to them or sign it yet. After that, they'll really know you're serious. After that, they'll throw you some prices. "No we can't do that, we won't make any money if we sell below invoice." Just tell them, "I can get it $400 below invoice at another dealer, but I want the one at your dealership. So, I'll buy it today if you're willing to compromise." If they don't bite, just start leaving and see what they'll say. Then if nothing works, slowly creap down to $400 below invoice. Just follow that pattern and you'll get what you want, but never pay more than $200 below invoice. Considering market conditions right now and it's almost the end of the month, you have a lot of power. All I did was stated a price and showed them the cash down payment I had in my pocket. "$16,500 is all I'll pay. If you agree, it's a deal, if not then I'll go somewhere else." They gave me 3 different higher prices but I kept saying, "Sorry, $16,500 or no deal." Of course they finally gave in.

Remember to be nice with your voice tone too because they don't like rude customers, even if they're desperate for your business. You'll get a better deal buy being nice. Also, Don't take the Factory Rebate either because the 0% APR is better, that is if you can get the credit approval or can get a good cosigner like I did. Good Luck.
 
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I went in upside down on my trade, and before the salesman opened his mouth, I said, "I'll pay MSRP if you pay off my trade."

I was more upside down than I realized, and it ended up being that they gave me the MP5 for wholesale, and a little more than wholesale in trade for my old car. I took a loss on the old car, but they gave me a really nice price on the MP5. Ended up working out in the end.
 
I traded in my old car too for a 2002 P5, but didn't get a good deal on it. I was so upside down on my old car that I just wanted to get the best possible price on it. About 5 dealerships (not even Mazda) were offering me $17k for my old car, but finally Mazda offered me $20k. At that point I didn't really bargain too much, just $500 off MSRP + free moonroof + grad rebate. All I care about in the end is what I'm paying monthly, and it's a nice number compared to my old car (considering the much cheaper APR). Insurance is also amazing on the P5... less than half what the old ride cost me.
 
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