My first car purchase. Need some buying advice on 05 mazda 3

[urge262]

Hey guys,

I am looking to buy a 2005 Mazda 3 4dr. i or s I'm not sure. This will be my first car purchase. I am starting a new job at the end of the month and will have a couple weeks off. So this will be a good time for me to buy a car since the Pennsylvania inspection is up on my 89 Plymouth Voyager and it won't pass. I know they say wait till the end of the month to buy a car. So here is my question.

This is what I am looking for:
4 door
Automatic
6 cd/Moon Roof Package
ABS/Side Curtain Airbag Package
S if possible if not then i
leaning more towards Strata Blue then Titanium

So I have been doing some searching on this list of options and I can barely find anything that matches. So I would rather find the car with the options I want and pay just a little bit more than waiting till the end of the month and risk not having anything to pick from especially since the 2005 3 is a hot car right now. What do you guys think? Will this really hurt my chances at getting a good price? Also what should I say to the dealer? I have done a lot of research on buying a car but I havent seen much advice on my type of a situation.

Edmunds invoice price for my options: $18,360
Edmunds TMV price: $18,985

What do you think I would end up paying in my situation?

Also say they find me a car and it has all of the options but for example it doesn't have the moon roof and the 6 cd changer. What kind of options can be added at the dealership instead of the manufacturer?

Also I noticed while building a Mazda online I noticed if you wanted the DVD navigation you had to get 2 other packages along with it. Could you go to the dealer and say I just want the DVD navigation. Could they add it for you or would you have to get the other packages as well?

Sorry for the long post and a bunch of questions. TIA

 

[ZoomVT]

This is what i think.
You will have to get an S i dont think they offer the i with the abs and 6disc changers.
If you pay 18k for the car you would be getting a good deal i think (although now that the 06 is out you should get it for even cheaper)
I think all the options are manufacturer installed and no they wont split them, so you will have to get the options required to get the nav.

Good luck!

 

[urge262]

This is what i think.
You will have to get an S i dont think they offer the i with the abs and 6disc changers.
If you pay 18k for the car you would be getting a good deal i think (although now that the 06 is out you should get it for even cheaper)
I think all the options are manufacturer installed and no they wont split them, so you will have to get the options required to get the nav.

Good luck!

Thanks!


Anyone else have an opinion?

 

[BC3I]

what state are you in???

 

[urge262]

what state are you in???

PA

 

[triplethreat112]

i am also shoping around right now for a 3. i really dont care about options really. i would like to have the sunroof and the fog lights but i can really live without. but everything else i really dont care about. i havent test drove one yet or talked to a salesman, my buddy has a 6 and i love it. i guess what im getting at...is from you guys that have one, what was the least amount on one with auto that you saw.

im finally out of debt...credit cards from the teenage years...finally paid off and looking to get a new car..and the 3 is at the top of the list by a large margin.

so any help is appreciated. i live in the nw burbs of chicago

 

[ZumZumsGirl]

I bought my 3 back in February and had a pretty secific list of options that I wanted too..

I wanted the S (2.3 liter 160 hp) versus the i (2.0 liter and 148 hp) just to have what little extra oomph I could. The 2.3 comes standard with a sport package that has 17" alloy wheels and a sportier grill. I also wanted the manual transmission and leather interior.. As far as other packages go, I got the sunroof/6-disc CD changer, the ABS/SAB/SAC, and the Xenon and TPMS (HID headlights and tire pressure monitoring)..

I traded in a 9-year old p.o.s Eagle Talon and ended up paying about $20k..

The dealership told me that it would be hard to find one with the HID's and all the other stuff I wanted (somehow the upgraded headlights aren't plentiful around here), but I told them I wouldn't take anything less, and they ended up finding the car and bringing it in from Orlando for me..

So it can be done.. Don't settle for anything less than what you want!