Soon To Be Mazda 3?

[Shags]

Name's Tom. Just joined. Thank you. Lil backstory.

I've been a Jeep driver for about 8 years. I currently own a 95 Wrangler, my baby, the beast. I did the whole "Jeep thing" offroading, rockcrawling etc etc. It's lifted 5" with some big ole 35" tires and it's mean as sh$#! But after yesterday I think she's for sale.

My sister came over yesterday with a rental, her Neon is in the shop. She walks in the door and says, "You have to drive this rental!" "What is it?" I say. "It's a Mazda 3" she replies. At first I scoff, I've been an Amercian made kinda guy. Reluctantly I get in and the rest is history! I totally fell in love with the Mazda 3! I've been searching for a new ride for quite some time now and have completely looked over this vehicle. All I can say is that it is excatly what I want in a car.

I'm now searching dealerships for the exact combination I want. I'm looking at the Mica Black with the spoiler, the 2.3 and possible the 5 speed auto. I need the auto cuz the wife can't and won't drive stick. I can live with that. I believe the 2.3 comes in the "S" model?

Anyways enough of my rant. I'm new here and really looking forward to learning some things and getting the right kind of information. If any of you have any advice before I buy, ex; what to get and not to get, I would gladly appreciate it. I'm looking at the 06's by the way.

T

 

[Shags]

I guess no one cares. Oh well I'll still be here.

 

[Blackrose]

Welcome to the boards. You will definatly love the MZ3. I have an 04 and its a great car. Are you going to get Sedan or Hatch? I curenlty own 3 Mazdas and love all of them. Good luck.

 

[ZoomVT]

hey welcome to the boards. we do care, weekends are kind of dead around here.
i have an 04 mazda 3 s. i love this car, and i think you will love it too.

 

[wildeagle]

Welcome to the boards, I am new to here as well and just got my 06 Mazda3 about a month ago. I have the 5 speed auto with the 2.3L and it is awesome. I was the same way as you when I took it for a test drive I fell in love with the power and handling of it. My only suggestion after driving it over 1000KM is to look in the tire threads because the factory tires suck. I got a quote on a set of kumho's and am just waiting to hear when they can take my baby in to replace the factory POS's.

 

[Shags]

I'm looking for a 2006 Mazda3 S sedan in Black Mica, withthe Moonroof/6CD option Auto 2.3L and the rear wing spoiler. So far there are only 2 in town and they are about $19,000-$19,500. Does that sound about right? How much could I haggle them down if at all?

 

[boardumb]

I got my S-Touring, which stickers at 19125 (Add 199 for custom pinstriping that was already on it, so they tried to say it was 19324 instead) for 17500, but I wouldn't call myself a great haggler.

 

[Shags]

How did you get them down that far? I need to know before I go in and just hand them my ass. I definately don't want to pay full sticker price!

 

[boardumb]

How did you get them down that far? I need to know before I go in and just hand them my ass. I definately don't want to pay full sticker price!

Hmm....did you say it was only 19,000-19500? Building your car through the mazdausa website, black mica sedan s with moonroof/6cd changer and rear wing spoiler should sticker it at 19655, with an invoice of...18285.

Again, I'm not a great haggler, but the easiest thing for me to do is wait til the end of the month. I know in Texas, (or maybe just Houston and Austin) they get a special bonus if they sell so many Mazdas in a month, so some were telling me they would sell the car 1000 under invoice (but then the guy added some 130-170 fee that I think was kind of a scam, but hey, thats about 850 under invoice). Of course that deal was in Houston, and to save the trouble of driving all the way over there, and being impatient, i got my car 500 under invoice just 6 days ago (you could say 700 if you count that gay pinstriping).

But also, save some money on the side so you can get a different set of tires ASAP.

 

[1sty]

I'm looking for a 2006 Mazda3 S sedan in Black Mica, withthe Moonroof/6CD option Auto 2.3L and the rear wing spoiler. So far there are only 2 in town and they are about $19,000-$19,500. Does that sound about right? How much could I haggle them down if at all?

Sounds right to me. The thing that sucks about the 3 is the price. Dealers are very unwilling to haggle on them, atleast around here, as they are a VERY hot selling car. This is also why mazda does not rebate them much.

Also, check out the website of the dealer you are going to use, alot offer some extra savings coupon if you visit their website.

 

[Shags]

Yeah the one I'm going to has a $500 coupon for military, reservists, or retirees from the military. I served 4 yrs. in the Army maybe that will count. For March they're also paying registration and first months payment. I'll see though.

Is the 6CD/moonroof option worth it? I was thinking that the only mod I wanted to do first was get rid of the stock speakers and get some Polk's or Infiniti's. Maybe throw an 8" sub in the rear with an amp. I want to keep the head unit though because I like the way it looks with the dash and interior an all. I might change that later but for now it's gonna stay. New tires are definately on my 1st to do list as well. What's a good tire to go with? Right now I'm used to buying 33"-35" offroad tires with aggressive tread at like $150-$200 a tire.

I'm also considering the Titanium Gray as a 2nd color option seeing as that the Black Mica's are rare around here.

 

[wildeagle]

I'm in Canada so pricing is higher for me (Canadian dollar isn't worth as much). I did wait til the last coupel days of the month and I got them down from 29,900 to 28,800, I'm not much a haggler either but I wanted to make sure that I got the price all in (everything in Canada has GST tax on it) so with my negotiations I got them to throw it in. Mine was a Hatchback in the Titanium Grey with everything in it (moonroof and 6 cd changer plus all the other extra's). I do like the 6 cd changer as I can throw in a bunch of cd's and not worry about changing cd's multiple time a day, and although it's been a bit to cold up here to make full use of the moon roof I like having it alot.

As for the tires it depends on what you are looking for but again I suggest reading the Tire thread as that is where I got my info from. The Kuhmo's I got was because of the quality and All season capability.

 

[Shags]

I have a few more questions. I'm having extreme difficulty finding the model I want with the options and colors I want around here. Like i said before I'm looking at this combo:

2006 Mazda3 "S" 4 door
Mica Black or Titanium Gray
Moonroof/6CD option
Rear Wing Spoiler
Auto Tranny

My question is what is the difference between getting this combo with the "S" model and getting it with the "I" model? I know the main difference is the 2.0 in the "I" model but what else? Is there that much of a difference betweeen the 2.0 and 2.3? It looks like i can find the combo I want but in the "I" model not the "S" model. s***!!

EDIT:Forget it!!! I'm going with the 2.3 "S". The search feature works charms. I just gotta find the one I want here locally! s***!!!

 

[boardumb]

You could have them order it for you if you are patient enough, they'll probably just ask for a down payment. Just don't be fooled by any salesman saying you'll have to pay sticker or extra fees because they lose out on money for it, because if you buy it first day they come in, they get more dealer holdback

 

[Phatbungo]

Hey guys, everyone is talking about price. I am getting an '06 mazda 3i touring w/ the spoiler for about 17500 (before tax/tags/etc.) and thats loosing about a thousand on trade. what you think?

 

[1sty]

The reality is that no price is really comparible. There are too many ways for the dealer to make back money even if the buying price seems good.
The trade, the loan length, and the interest rate are all very important and all give a dealership a way to hide some things. Also, the area your in make a HUGE difference. Down in the Boston area, these "deals" I see people talking about getting on here now and againdon't exist. Most of the best "Deals" I have seen have been from the middle of the country where there is MUCh lower operating cost for the dealer. i have yet to see one that didn't have some BS in it that was in a high buisness cost area.

 

[boardumb]

Hey guys, everyone is talking about price. I am getting an '06 mazda 3i touring w/ the spoiler for about 17500 (before tax/tags/etc.) and thats loosing about a thousand on trade. what you think?

Isn't that almost MSRP? I mean...if in your area they are being sold very well, then it's hard to get the price down.

And based off 1sty's post, I would suggest trying to find some people in your area and see how much they are paying, calculating in trade value, loan, etc. Fortunately (or unfortunate depending on how you look at it) I got mine without a trade in (totaled my last car) and got a loan from my own student bank.

 

[Shags]

I guess since I started this thread I should post up and update.

I don't have a Mazda3 yet

I am waiting until the end of the month to see if I can get a better deal. I have no trade in but I'm gonna put $6000 down so that should be incentive. I'm still looking at the Black Mica but I am now leaning towards the Titanium Gray. I thought I wanted the rear wing spoiler but no one in town has it so hmmmm...Should I go with the rear wing spoiler, the rear lip spoiler, or no spoiler?

I want to be in this car so bad but yet I don't want to settle for just picking anything off the lot!!

I read these forums every day and am so stoked to be getting a Mazda3!!!

 

[tsunami]

welcome to the forums... and good luck with the purchase... i don't see why you couldn't get a non spoiler sedan and have the dealer order you the mazda part for the spoiler and have them paint/intsall it for you... also with that coupon you have for being a reservist don't say you have it until the very end right before you agree on the final negotiations... lol the look on their face is priceless... (btw black mica ftw!!!)

 

[Shags]

Oh I'm not throwing any coupons into play until deal is near done. I like the Titanium Gray cuz I think it will be easier to maintain than the Black Mica. I live in Vegas and trust me it gets dusty as hell out here!