On the verge of a P5 purchase, however...

[ljamo]

I'm facing a situation - I've sourced a Proteg5 which best matches my needs (5 spd., ABS, Leather) but I'm somewhat skeptical of one thing: it's being sold as new, but has 143 miles on it. Is this unusual? Maybe it sold and someone's credit fell through? I want to be cautious here, but leather is getting extremely hard to find in my area in the colors I want (silver or white).

By the way, any predictions on what the new incentives will be on Tuesday when the current "Test the Best" promo ends? Should I wait 3 days and see?

Brand new to the forum - but I've enjoyed reading for 2+ months.

 

[loccusst]

The sales guys should know. Try asking them. You could always start working on a deal before the new incentives come out. I'm sure if they are better they will work with you, they would rather get rid of the car than not sell it. You could always get one without leather and have them work the leather into the deal.

 

[charles]

BTW, if you have some spare cash, you can also get aftermarket leather done, pretty nicely, usually around $1000, or even less, if you find a similar model with no leather. I would definetely stick with the ABS and side-airbags, though. 143, sounds like a demo car. I think for somebody whose credit fell through, they usually get a few more miles than 143 before they give it back. Good luck

 

[Installshield 2]

My dealership sourced mine when I purchased it...They only had auto P5's at the dealership, and located 5 speed in Pittsburg...I was told I could pay for the freight, or that they would send a rep out to drive it back...In which case I didn't have to pay anything extra...So I got mine with about 127 miles on it, which seemed ok...but I agree with charles, it could be a demo car, in which case people test drive that one...Bring that to the dealership's attention and you will probably get a discount...

 

[Installshield 2]

BTW, if you have some spare cash, you can also get aftermarket leather done, pretty nicely, usually around $1000, or even less, if you find a similar model with no leather. I would definetely stick with the ABS and side-airbags, though. 143, sounds like a demo car. I think for somebody whose credit fell through, they usually get a few more miles than 143 before they give it back. Good luck

I also agree with this on the leather aspect...The stock P5 leather option is nothing special, and actually I like the feel of the charcoil suede "like" cloth more...And you could easily get better quality leather for under a grand than that of the option on the P5...although it is like a 400 dollar option isn' it?...aftermarket leather installation for 400 bucks might not be as easy, but it wouldn't excede a grand if done by the right place...

 

[kcbhiw]

Be sure it wasn't their primary "test drive car". Try to deterimine where those 143 miles originated. You have to remember that when people test drive a car, they attempt to determine the capabilites of the car (read: rag the car). Ask a lot of questions. Use a bit of wit to determine a definative answer.

 

[Action Jackson]

Personally I wouldn't consider 143 miles that "new".

Mine had less than 20 km on it when I got mine.

 

[loccusst]

Mine had 63 miles on it when I bought it and it was on the showroom floor. They get miles on em when test driven or if the sales guys use it as their car to and from work. Find out where the miles came from.

 

[Moeed]

Mine had 11 miles on it. It came right off the truck that day.
Definately ask the dealer, more discounts may be in your future.

 

[dupa12345]

143 means it was driven for about 15-25 shows and/or some lunch runs by the dealers .. since its a stick its prolly just the test drives

i dont think thats considerd a demo car since when you buy demo they have well over a 1000 miles

you should definately mention it but i dont think its a big deal

wait for disc to end and see what happens they keep increasing it by 250 ... if for some ungodly reason they end it im sure you'll still get the disc from a week ago

you can also ask for the ship date on the car since thats what they go by here for imported cars and see how long its sitting in the lot and estimate how old it is .. even though they sell it as new

 

[323CiP5]

When i got my bmw new it had 162km on it....they said it was from moving it around and shipping when off the truck....i thought it was bs. and asked for records or anything....but found nothing out. When i went to pick up my p5 the sales guy told me it had 2km....and when i drove it off the lot it had 27.

 

[Turbo Matty P]

When I testdrove my P5 it had 20 miles on it. When it was delivered to me 3 days later it had 240 miles on it. the dealership said it was because I icked it up at another dealership and they drove it over.....the two dealerships are 30 miles apart. I informed them that this was a used vehicle and I was no longer interested. They told me that the vehicle was still new, never been titled and the warranty would start from whatever mileage the car shows at delivery. I'm not worried. I was more pissed when my 2000 Contour SVT showed up 4 hours late from Atlanta being driven by an old guy when I paid $350 for truck freight. Then they tried to deliver the car to me without being detailed or filled up with gas. I bitched until the general manager and sales manager took the car into service and detailed it personally. After that they offered me free oilchanges for a year and another detail. I should mention that the dealer closed at 9pm and they started detailing it for me at 15 after 10. THATS SERVICE!!! I also got my $350 back.

 

[ljamo]

It has a ship date of mid-August, so you guys that call it a demo are probably right. In addition, I forgot to mention that it is the only one (out of 6 total P5's remaining) with a tint job in place. Coincidence? No matter what, I've decided to wait two days to see what happens with the $$$.

This dealer doesn't seem as flexible as others, yet has the car I want! The only other place around that comes close has already drilled their own advertising plates into the front bumper even though we live in a state which doesn't require them! Bastards!!

It's cool to see so much support from this group - Thanks!

 

[dupa12345]

it doesnt matter what dlr lot the car sits at .. when i was buying mine i was buying the same car with 3 diff dlrships .. it was the only one with stick and moonroof and 6cd within 160miles

i never even talked to the actuall dlrship 160 miles away .. i could have but i was getting a good deal from one of the 3 guys already and they drove it for me for free saving my time to go and get it

so my advice is buy it at the dlr that gives u best price on that car no matter the logistics they will figure that out themselves

i wouldnt care about the extra mileage all that much .. so it was demoed a few times .. if anything say you are worried about that and to make sure there is nothing wrong say they should offer you a year of oil changes to compansate for it

another thing when look up the dlrs on mazdausa.com they have some emblems for what services they provide .. one of them i thought was for mass sales .. thats usually the dlrship to talk to cause they will give you an honest price of the bet .. they base their income on quantity .. not on overchanging
conicidence or not but that proved for me 1 of the 3 dlrs that gave me the best price had most of those icons there

in fact we were within 300-500 of the sales price if i remember .. at first i was surprised with his offer and thought they just wanted to get me in the door but soon after learned thats what they go for .. it took me 2-3 hrs to get the 2nd dlr to go down to +800 of what the other guy offered

it was funny too cause he kept on askin how i got my number and saying that its impossible to go under invoice because they paid that price ... i was like i have no way of telling what u paid for it unless you show me some paper work (offcourse he wouldnt) but my calcs tell me x .. he was +2000 of my x and in the door it was like x+600 but still about 500 more then trhe other guy .. i was just tired .. plus he was such an old faggot that id rather buy from the other dlr who never gave me any bs

 

[loccusst]

There is a red mp5 at the dealership where I got mine. I'm sure its with the sun roof, chrome wheels, not sure what else. They have a sticker price of like 16k on it so I'm sure its loaded. I got mine for just over 14k and all I have is the autostick there. If you want more info let me know. The dealer could ship it from mine if you are interested. The window tint shouldn't be a big deal, you can get that installed for around $200. As for the bumper just see if the can fix the holes for you or put on a new bumper, you never know. For anyone interested there are a couple of used mp5's at a buick dealership here too right next to the mazda dealership.

 

[mtrcyclgrl]

Less than 200 miles should not be a big worry...
The car you are looking at is not a demo...or it would have over 1000miles on it....most dealers in AZ dont specify a specifuc car as a 'demo' when the vehicle is mass produced. they just drive the customer in whichever car they are interested in.

If you are having major issues with that dealer.... feel free to drop me a line. I work at a local mazda dealer and might be able to help you!
New rebates hit tomorrow...dont know yet if they are going to change

 

[Installshield 2]

yeah technically a dealer can sell a car as "new" as long as it has an unsigned title...but the amount of mileage on it when you purchase it can be used to gain leeway as far as warranty length and purchase discounts...

 

[tttP5]

143miles is not new!!!!!

i got mine with 3-4 miles on the ODO....
find another one....

only get that if they let u get it out the door for 11000

 

[dupa12345]

yeah whatever man .. he'll put another 100 on in the first day he owns it

id aks for a 13k disc and would buy it for $50 with no financing to worry about

 

[mtrcyclgrl]

You also have to remember ...
technically the car is a year old. with the new '04's coming out, the '03's have been there for a bit. You might be hard pressed to find one at this stage in the game with only 4 miles on it.
The good news though is...
that the milage wont effect your warranty... the warranty starts from the time the car is entered into the sysem as sold...so the 4yr/50k starts from the day you buy the car approx.