2010 Mazda 3 Pricing Help-- Picking Up Tomorrow!

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As some of you may have read in the Vehicles Section, I am helping my friend shop for a new car.

She has decided on a 2010 Mazda 3i Touring Automatic in Graphite/Black. The only option she wants is the Moonroof/Bose package. MSRP on the car she wants is $20,495 and I've been getting quotes between $18,800 to $19,200 + Tax, Title and License.

Today, I spoke with a dealer that I had previously requested a quote from. While the salesman no longer had the car that my friend wanted, he did have a car that just came off the truck and matches the color combination that my friend is looking for. However, this car has Sirius Satellite Radio and Wheel Locks in addition to the options that my friend wants.

So, the MSRP of this car is $20,975 due to the additional options. I told him that I do not want the additional options, but he insisted on selling me what he had on his lot. He told me that he'd go straight to his General Manager and get me a great deal.
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I gave him the go ahead and waited to see what he'd bring back.

Two hours later, I get an e-mail with the following info:

MSRP: $20,975
Invoice: $19,524

Offer: $18,307 + TTL.
shocked2.gif

Out-the-door price: $20,477.05 (includes 9.75% sales tax, $55 doc fee, $8.75 tire fee and $321.37 title)

I think this is a decent deal for the following reasons:

1) Even if I wait until the end of the month, I doubt the price will decrease by more than $200.

2) My friend wants a specific color combination. In addition, she wants a car that's new-- not one with 50 miles on it. Since inventory is low for this particular color and option combination, I fear that by the end of the month, I may not be able to find a car at a good price that will satisfy her price, color, option and mileage preferences.

3) This deal is $1217 below invoice. The lowest price that I have seen on the Edmunds Prices Paid forum is $1184 under invoice. Most transactions for this car are currently at $500 under invoice.

4) Someone will always get a better deal than me. However, I think the offer that I have is within $200 of the best price that anyone will get. And a few hundred bucks is insignificant for such a large transaction, right?

5) I want a smooth transaction. This must be done right the first time. I am doing the negotiations remotely-- I do not want my friend to get screwed when she goes in to sign the papers. If I find a salesman that I am comfortable with, even if my friend does pay a few hundred bucks more, it is worth it for a positive experience. In other words, I don't want my friend to get screwed by some weasel just because I tried to save her an additional $100.

Personally, I think this is a good deal for the reasons that I outlined above. Therefore, I told the salesman to get the car PDI-ed and my friend will pick it up tomorrow afternoon. And most importantly, my friend is happy with the price.

On the other hand, some of my friends think I'm nuts and I'll save a few hundred more bucks if I wait until the end of the month.

What do you guys think?

Thanks.
 
Wondering if the sirius and wheel locks are installed at the port of entry. (or if all US market radios are) (or if this thing is actually made stateside)

Way back in 1989 my folks bought a new mazda 323 that had port-installed AC. They were wary but it worked great.

Does Cali have a price % based title fee? That's autrocious. They're $33 here: new or used, until the car is 16 years old, then you don't even need one.
 
If you are not going to be there when she picks up the car warn her to make sure that they don't add any bogus charges onto the bill at the last second. Things like documentation fee, local dealer delivery and prep, fabric guard, nitrogen in the tires, etc., etc. I have seen dealers do some pretty sneaky things to customers that weren't watching them like a hawk.
 
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Thats not a bad price for a 3 with those options. As Cogito mentioned, make sure they don't add any [censored] to the contract.
Also, avoid the extended warranty....as you can add this at anytime before the regular warranty expires (3yrs, 36k miles). Also, extended warranties go on sale all the time, so if you want one, wait for a sale...

Extended warranties are a profit item for the dealer (big kickback), so they will push it like crazy....just say no!
 
I would give Costco Auto Buying services a call. They have a no haggle price that I could not beat anywhere else.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
$20k. Guess there is no such thing as an economy car anymore, eh?


I mentioned the same thing. Apparently, an economy car isn't an economy car in this recession/depression
grin2.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Cogito
If you are not going to be there when she picks up the car warn her to make sure that they don't add any bogus charges onto the bill at the last second. Things like documentation fee, local dealer delivery and prep, fabric guard, nitrogen in the tires, etc., etc. I have seen dealers do some pretty sneaky things to customers that weren't watching them like a hawk.


If the critic is doing all the legwork, she expects just to sign it and drive off. I expect her to get the full add on treatment when she picks up. I imagine the girl will get a full upsale sale tactics unless your with her critic for signing the papers. She won't mind the 1200 dollar extended warranty, eh?

I had something similiar with our 06 vibe. I told the internet sales guy exactly what I wanted with options and color and he got it from another dealer. This car was for my wife, she wanted a black vehicle. I bought for invoice minus rebates. At the last minute, he was pushing this more expensive vibe on us on their lot with ABS and moonroof. I got huffy and puffy about it and he didn't say one word about it again. Then he tried to sneak a $250 doc fee at signing that I had thrown out.
 
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20,000 for a Mazda3?

My friend just bought a 09 Fusion for 14,000 even. IMO a better car, but probably not the look your friend wants.

It probably is a decent deal, and if she's happy with the car for five years it probably even makes financial sense, somewhat. Definitely go to the dealer if you can, I've heard the most ridiculous things there and if nothing else, they'll push an extended warranty hard.
 
Yes they will push that extended warranty. The same thing happened with my fiancee when she bought her 09 Fit. We declined and found a much better deal elsewhere we may take.
 
Quote:
includes 9.75% sales tax


you could save another $250 by switching to a county with less sales tax.

More importantly than trying to save nickles and dimes, what interest rate is she going to pay? With a 5 year loan at 7% she'll pay about $2250 more than a loan at 3%. The payments (what most folks pay attention to) will be $40 less per month at 3% vs. 7%.

Have you researched loans? credit union rates? Dealer rates?

Keep in mind that at any point in time you can stop the transaction. If you are truly acting in your friend's interest you must remain objective at the table. Don't get wrapped up and let your ego and excitement cloud your judgment.

It's interesting that your friend is "buying" the car but there are a lot of "I" in the sentences. You must be in some kind of Shatner/priceline role
LOL.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Bill_W
I would give Costco Auto Buying services a call.
And offer to send a resumé! Sounds like Critic's calling.
LOL.gif
 
I wouldn't pay more than $500 over the invoice price found at either Edmunds.com or KBB.com, obviously before tax and license fees. Maybe you're already in this range.

Here's some interesting information from the extended warranty I had on my 2007 Mazdaspeed 3 that I cashed in when I traded it.

Original price for me was $2,480 and I got $1,587 back because I had used 35% of the mileage. The part that sucks is the refund check came with some paperwork that showed the details of my refund and had another column that showed dealer information. Original price for them was $952 and their refund was $593. I'm not sure how the refund works for them, but I'm willing to bet this is evidence of them marking up the warranty 2.5 times what they paid for it. So if they offer her a warranty for $200 less and claim that it's their cost, run...I knew it was bad, but this was much worse that I would have expected.
 
Originally Posted By: tom slick
Quote:
includes 9.75% sales tax


you could save another $250 by switching to a county with less sales tax.

More importantly than trying to save nickles and dimes, what interest rate is she going to pay? With a 5 year loan at 7% she'll pay about $2250 more than a loan at 3%. The payments (what most folks pay attention to) will be $40 less per month at 3% vs. 7%.

Have you researched loans? credit union rates? Dealer rates?

Keep in mind that at any point in time you can stop the transaction. If you are truly acting in your friend's interest you must remain objective at the table. Don't get wrapped up and let your ego and excitement cloud your judgment.

It's interesting that your friend is "buying" the car but there are a lot of "I" in the sentences. You must be in some kind of Shatner/priceline role
LOL.gif



Sales tax is the same whereever you go-- it's based on your home address.

My friend will be financing through Mazda since they have a promotion for 3.9% for 60 months.

Thanks for all of the other suggestions. It sounds like I am doing alright in the pricie department. I've already told my friend to decline the extended warranty, but I'll remind her again.
 
Originally Posted By: The Critic

Sales tax is the same whereever you go-- it's based on your home address.



That is the use tax not the sales tax. That is DMV registration fees.

Sales tax is based on where the transaction takes place or location of the dealer.
 
Originally Posted By: blackdiamond
I wouldn't pay more than $500 over the invoice price found at either Edmunds.com or KBB.com, obviously before tax and license fees. Maybe you're already in this range.

Here's some interesting information from the extended warranty I had on my 2007 Mazdaspeed 3 that I cashed in when I traded it.

Original price for me was $2,480 and I got $1,587 back because I had used 35% of the mileage. The part that sucks is the refund check came with some paperwork that showed the details of my refund and had another column that showed dealer information. Original price for them was $952 and their refund was $593. I'm not sure how the refund works for them, but I'm willing to bet this is evidence of them marking up the warranty 2.5 times what they paid for it. So if they offer her a warranty for $200 less and claim that it's their cost, run...I knew it was bad, but this was much worse that I would have expected.



I knew they marked up the warranty, but I didn't know it was by that much! Thats just cruel...

I always tell people to avoid extended warranties on signing, becuase you can often get them cheaper later on. That said, I got an extended warranty when I bought my car....but I only payed $220 for it :p. Thats the cheapest extended warranty I have yet to encounter...I guess Ford had a good deal of confidence in their 03 Focus. Nothing ever happend to the car that required the use of the warranty. Their cost was $190 iirc, so they made a $30 profit on me.

Those upsellers are smooth operators. Make sure your friend doesn't get hearded into things she doesn't need/want.
 
"Even if my friend does pay a few hundred bucks more, it is worth it for a positive experience".

Positive experience for whom?
 
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