I picked up my RX-8 this morning, and I can't stop grinning! I got the original invoice from the dealer, so I now know exactly what I bought -

2004 M/T GT, Titanium grey w black/chaparral interior, 6-disc in-dash CD, Nav, rear spoiler, spare tire, front air dam, side & rear aero trim, and rotary emblems. It also has tinted windows, additional interior lighting, and fender strakes.


I got almost $5000 off sticker, so I'm very happy with this deal.

Melissa in MI

Sounds beautiful! Now get off the computer and go drive it.

Another user making me jealous... even more so because you have the same exterior/interior as I do... :-( The car was supposed to be here last Wed. now all I hear is its going to be here tommorow... Well that would be great, but Ive heard that since Wed. :-(

Melissa,

Sounds like you equipped the car the way I'd like mine...

Grand Touring Pkg
Appearance Pkg
Rotary Accent Pkg
Rear Wing Spoiler
In-Dash 6 CD Changer
Navigation System
Fender Strakes

At over $35K the price becomes a bit of a mental hurdle (especially to my wife who is pushing for a Bimmer). At closer to $30K, it's more than an easy sale, it's a done deal. :) How did you get $5K off the MSRP? Edmunds doesn't show the car being priced that much over invoice unless the dealer sold it at invoice, gave you the $500 cash back (I think this is the current deal) plus their 2% holdback...hmmm. But, where's their profit if they did that? Anyone know if there's more cash in the trunk for a dealer on the sale of an 8?

Either way...CONGRATS!!! :D

-Eric

Originally posted by Sue Esponte
How did you get $5K off the MSRP?
-Eric

Thanks! It was one owner, 200 miles used. The prior owner drove it for a week and changed her mind, traded the RX-8 for a Mazda 3. I was hesitant about buying a used one. I knew I was buying an RX-8 6 months ago, and had already decided exactly what I wanted in options. This car had more than I planned on, but it was just too good of deal to pass up.

My son rushed home from school today to take it for a drive. He loves it, of course.

I'm very lucky - I don't have to convince anyone when I want a new car. My husband asked that I look at the 350Z, and offered a new 'Vette as an option too. The Z just didn't thrill me like the RX-8, and the 'Vette is too tight for my plus-sized husband's shoulders.

Melissa in MI

Well, if you start at invoice for all that stuff, you're looking at it like this:
Invoice for the car: $24,659
Grand Touring Package $3,441
Navigational System $1,721
Appearance Package $775
In-Dash 6-Disc CD Changer $400
Rear Wing Spoiler $285
Rotary Accent Package $111

The strakes are about another 185, but i don't know what install on them costs so for now, we'll neglect them.


Then you have $520 for a destination charge.

Here's the total before any reductions:

$31,912

On top of that, you can pull the 2% dealer holding fee which is 638.24 so you have
$31,273.76

Then if you get 500 bucks off of that for a discount you're at 30,773.76. This is before any dealer fair profit which IMHO is generally about the same as your holding fee or a little more.

Is the dealer still making money off the car? Not really, but it goes to their sales quota which in turn gets them money from the factory. If you give them that 3% dealer profit, they're making a little on the car.

Ajax

Good point. So, is the consensus that most Mazda dealers will come down to invoice? Getting my wife's Subaru at invoice was as easy as pie but the Outback had been on the market for ages. I wasn't sure how Mazda was dealing with demand for the RX8. Try getting a discount on an E46 M3 and you'll be sorely disappointed. Even after the TT had been on the market for a couple of years, the best deal I could find was $800 over invoice (Audi and BMW don't have a dealer holdback)...which was about $4K off MSRP.

At $31K, IMHO, the car's a deal and a half.

-Eric

Any dealer will come down to invoice given the appropriate situation to do so except saturn. Saturn is MSRP and only MSRP.

True, but I've found that the likelihood of finding dealers willing to discount their cars is much less with certain makes/models than it is with others.

-Eric

Just deal with the fleet/internet dealer and you should be able to pay the price you want.

I think her situation was a little difference because technically, the car was used. The dealer probably made a healthy profit after screwing over the woman who traded it in after a week. Plus, being used, there would be no hold back or $500 recent college grad incentive.