i called the four dealers in denver this weekend. all of them say, non refundable deposit of $2,000 (fine) and $4,000 over msrp. anyone care to recommend their dealer who's working at msrp. fla, mn and socal would be possible pick-up points. also, would like to know if the dealer seems to know the cars. my short time in denver tells me this is still a cow town when it comes to new auto technology.

is the MSRP price the price they posted on the website?

I would report all the dealers to Mazda and look elsewhere. I am a day drive from Denver (Omaha) and had no problem getting MSRP with refundable $500 deposit. In fact, as of a few weeks ago, my dealer still had several cars in the first pre-order allotment available.

All four dealers want $4000 over MSRP? That sounds suspiciously like price fixing to me. I'd be getting in touch with my local consumer affairs bureau.

Originally posted by eccles
All four dealers want $4000 over MSRP? That sounds suspiciously like price fixing to me. I'd be getting in touch with my local consumer affairs bureau.

I agree with eccles!!! Also, definitely let Mazda know what is going on. It is VERY suspicious that four different dealers in the same area would be asking the same price over MSRP! It also might help to mention to those dealers that you are a member of an RX-8 enthusiast site on the Net and that you could print out an extensive list of people that are getting their cars for MSRP + tax + tag. They might get the hint that they could get a lot of bad publicity for trying to be price gouging jerks.

I can highly recommend Marlin Mazda in South Florida. This will be my second car from them and have no complaints with their sales or service. Ask for Tito Zapata and tell him Dan from Pembroke Pines referred you...:)

It's hard to judge what the overall knowledge level of the dealership is on the RX-8 since I knew exactly what I wanted and have already acquired a lot of knowledge both on my own and on this forum. I would venture to say that if you've been reading this thread, you have at least as much if not more information than the dealers do.

Definitely don't let them take advantage of you, even if it means you have to travel a little to get your RX-8!

the saga continues. i recalled three dealers, and received three new answers. one is down to $1000 deposit and 3,000 over the msrp on the mazda website, after building your car. a second is now declining deposits until they understand the car to be released for production runs, and the third decided to deal at invoice with a $1500 deposit, nonrefundable.

i found it interesting that the longmont shop suggested that the cars will initially hit CA, then just about everywhere else before CO. CO is said, according to steve the sales guy, to have one of the lowest allocations.

at any rate, i find it difficult to want to do business with any dealer that presents a moving target. i'd rather take a trip to see my folks in PVE and drive the car home over a summer weekend. not sure how the rest of you feel, but from the comments i've been reading over the past few months, the dealers around the rest of the country are much more stable in their dealings with customers. i just can't do business with these dealers.

Originally posted by eficht
the saga continues. i recalled three dealers, and received three new answers. one is down to $1000 deposit and 3,000 over the msrp on the mazda website, after building your car. a second is now declining deposits until they understand the car to be released for production runs, and the third decided to deal at invoice with a $1500 deposit, nonrefundable.

i found it interesting that the longmont shop suggested that the cars will initially hit CA, then just about everywhere else before CO. CO is said, according to steve the sales guy, to have one of the lowest allocations.

at any rate, i find it difficult to want to do business with any dealer that presents a moving target. i'd rather take a trip to see my folks in PVE and drive the car home over a summer weekend. not sure how the rest of you feel, but from the comments i've been reading over the past few months, the dealers around the rest of the country are much more stable in their dealings with customers. i just can't do business with these dealers.

In your previous post, didn't you mentioned that dealers in FL would be a possible pickup point? If so, I have had an excellent experience with Gunther Mazda here in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. $500 refundable deposit, getting my 6MT w/ NAV at MSRP. There are some other members on here that have ordered from other FL dealerships and I understand that they received good service too.
:)

A. don't talk to the normal sales people. they know next to nothing and you shouldn't have to deal with them on a pre-order.

B. talk only to the internet salesperson or the sales manager- which ever one is handling all of the rx-8 pre-orders.

C. find out if they have any left in their pre-order allotment. they may have gone ahead and ordered all of their allotment even though they don't have buyers for them all. you may still be able to get one that is not bought by any one yet.

D. let them know about this site and the all of the people here that have orders in with fully refundable deposits and guaratees of msrp.

E. Definetly email mazda with your story and get them to contact the dealers and see if they can find one that will work with you.
probably the reason those dealers are getting small allotments to begin with is because they have lost many customers in the past due to these practices and so have poor sales numbers. mazda has a way of convincing them to be more consumer freindly buy cutting their allotments for future cars down. mazda should be able to find one that wants to sell you a car.

F. make sure the dealers know that you have access to dealers in other state (florida) that are willing to sell at MSRP and that you will get a car from them if they continue with this crap.

G. and definetly walk away if none of this works- do not give into them and make sure everyone you know that ever thought about buying from them, even if it was a different brand as many dealers are multi brand lots now, never goes to them to buy a car.