this is odd, maybe everyone knows already

[mpvue]

went w/ a friend on saturday to look at a new Mazda3 or 6. she wanted a manual one; I fugured she should look at a 6 isport over a 3 s touring, since they are so close in price.
we were REAL close to getting a nice black on black one they had in stock, BUT...she wanted a sunroof.
well, it looks like Mazda has decided that people that want a manual shift Mazda6 DON'T want sunroofs because you can't get one.
real odd, I thought.
so she would up getting a black on black '10 Mazda3 i touring w/ the Bose/sunroof pkg. real nice car, she's real happy, got a great deal (0%/60 mo w/ $500 owner loyalty plus another $840 off MSRP)
I wouldn't have believed it, but the lack of a sunroof was a deal breaker on the 6.

 

[CTt3P5]

That does seem odd and is news to me.

Going to guess that you went to Young?

 

[MazdaSpeeder]

With the 6 manual transmission, more and more they're just offering it with "economy" features...no V6, etc. Zoom-zoom apparently doesn't apply to the 6 anymore.

 

[mpvue]

That does seem odd and is news to me.

Going to guess that you went to Young?

no, we don't go to young's anymore, I can't stand the mazda sales manager, total sleezeball. we go down to North Penn Imports in Colmar. incredible dealership, totally upfront, no pressure.

 

[CTt3P5]

hahahaha....I won't go there anymore either and I live a mile from them. We bought our 2010 3i from Flemington (where we also purchased the MPV). No pressure as well....I actually called to inquire about the loyalty cash and cash back promos and the salesman gave me a price of $300 under invoice right then and there.

 

[mpvue]

hahahaha....I won't go there anymore either and I live a mile from them.

North Penn had the best price on my '09 Mazda5. when I called them, they gave me the price right away, said "well, let us know". compared them to like 4 other dealers; they were all like, "we don't like to give prices out over the phone", yada, yada. they all would harass me endlessly w/ calls and emails trying to get me to come in. North Penn never called me; I liked that low key approach.
they cut my friend a GREAT deal like I detailed in the 1st post. I really like them.
I did get a '00 MPV new from Youngs, and back then I had gotten a really good deal, things went well. but after that, not so much.

 

[CTt3P5]

True....I was actually shocked when he told me the price over the phone. I had already printed out info from truecar.com so I knew the price was good. We got our 3i (no options) for $1,352 under MSRP + $1500 cash back ($500 promo + $500 loyalty + $500 for a President's Day sale) and opted for th 2.9% 6yr plan. Needless to say we are happy (like the car). lol

 

[Antonio DiMarco]

That's like saying all autos aren't fun...

With the 6 manual transmission, more and more they're just offering it with "economy" features...no V6, etc. Zoom-zoom apparently doesn't apply to the 6 anymore.

AUtos and DSG-type trannys are becoming more and more prevalent. Even some high end sports cars have autos and not manuals. I wouldn't necessarily say it kills zoom-zoom.

 

[deadstick]

I'm a little pissed at the manual. It really is a 4 speed, as the gears are so close together, it is just gearbating to use all six. I use 1,2,4,6 mostly. Sometimes 1,3,5,6. But really useless.
I wonder if Mazda purposely hamstrung the manual to get more auto sales. The 6th gear is needlessly too short. The auto gets better mileage.

 

[mpvue]

I'm a little pissed at the manual. It really is a 4 speed, as the gears are so close together, it is just gearbating to use all six. I use 1,2,4,6 mostly. Sometimes 1,3,5,6. But really useless.
I wonder if Mazda purposely hamstrung the manual to get more auto sales. The 6th gear is needlessly too short. The auto gets better mileage.

w/ a narrow high rev powerband, the more gears the better to keep it in that powerband. generally, the less hp you have, the more gears you need.
I don't even always use all 5 in my Mazda5. I can easily start off in 2nd, and I skip 4th quite a bit. thats one of the nice things about a manual.

 

[MATX]

well I would take the loaded 3 over a base 6 anyday!