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Best Seattle dealership?

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Old Apr 3, 2006 | 06:58 PM
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Best Seattle dealership?

Hey all,

Thinking about an RX-8. Just wondering where people like to buy in the Seattle area. I live on the Eastside and was thinking of doing the Costco thing.

Thanks,
BoB
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Old Apr 4, 2006 | 12:55 AM
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Hey Bob,

I had a good experience at Lee Johnson Mazda in Kirkland with Bob Mikolasy and Kim Washburn. My brother is a car broker and a friend of Bob's... maybe he can hook you up.... Revlis had a good experience at Doug's Lynnwood Mazda. I started there and agree that they were great too.
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Old Apr 4, 2006 | 09:39 AM
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I bought mine from University Mazda (45th & Rosevelt) less than two weeks ago and had a great experience.
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Old Apr 4, 2006 | 10:57 AM
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Did either of you do the Costco thing or use an employee discount? I work for a large company that has a Mazda deal for S-Plan. I'm just wondering if they'll be less interested if I'm getting a low fixed price?

BoB
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Old Apr 4, 2006 | 12:20 PM
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Nope, I didn't go through Costco, but could have. Oh yeah, and also the employee discount thing... I think my situation was more like a family/friend discount. But I liked dealing with Bob there, and that dealership is family owned and has been there for a LONG time (at least over 30 years), so they need to keep up a good reputation. I also liked the fact that they are closer than any other Mazda dealership when I need service. I haven't been there for service yet though. I've only got 1100 miles so far.

I would think you could sit down and talk numbers and see what they look like using either the Costco or employee discounts...

Last edited by 05TiGr8Lady; Apr 4, 2006 at 12:22 PM.
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Old Apr 4, 2006 | 05:06 PM
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I bought from Doug's Lynnwood Mazda. Was a great buying experiance, no pressure no haggle. Just tell em' what you want and step back.

Ask For Robert Sangelo. Great bunch of folks, zero pressure, No one pushing me to buy this or that, no one Looking to put me in a different car yadda yadda. No games.

I am very pleased and will be going back myself for the Wife's car as well as MazdaSpeed Parts Prolly.

Doug's is just South of Hwy99 and 220th. West side of 99. Good group of folks.
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Old Apr 5, 2006 | 07:56 PM
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Exclamation

Originally Posted by Revlis
I bought from Doug's Lynnwood Mazda. Was a great buying experiance, no pressure no haggle. Just tell em' what you want and step back.

Ask For Robert Sangelo. Great bunch of folks, zero pressure, No one pushing me to buy this or that, no one Looking to put me in a different car yadda yadda. No games...
We bought from that *** Robert Sangelo also . The experience was horrendous, we knew exactly what we wanted (with Costco pricing), yet the deal still took > 7 hours. While there, the finance lady was practically forcing us to have options installed that we did not want . Later tricking us that if we added the "extended warranty" and "window security theft etching protection" she would lower the annual % rate.

We hated the experience and let Mazda know, maybe Doug's has changed since then? We regret our purchase and should've went to University Mazda, where I've already had great experiences from, with my FD.

Laters!
Edgardo

Last edited by grinn253; Apr 5, 2006 at 07:59 PM.
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Old Apr 7, 2006 | 12:47 AM
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Originally Posted by grinn253
We bought from that *** Robert Sangelo also . The experience was horrendous, we knew exactly what we wanted (with Costco pricing), yet the deal still took > 7 hours. While there, the finance lady was practically forcing us to have options installed that we did not want . Later tricking us that if we added the "extended warranty" and "window security theft etching protection" she would lower the annual % rate.

We hated the experience and let Mazda know, maybe Doug's has changed since then? We regret our purchase and should've went to University Mazda, where I've already had great experiences from, with my FD.

Laters!
Edgardo

WOW what an intelligent and well thought out post... I would say with confidence that the problems you had at the dealership were largely the result of your Expectations, Attitudes, and inability to understand what was going on.

"***" ???

What a Wonderful and enlightened way to describe a salesman? So you’re a Homophobe, we can start there... "...Later Tricking us” What are you mentally deficient too? So easily tricked by a crafty Finance Lady?

This makes no sense, either you understand what is going on or you don't. If you don't, get someone to help you with the transaction, use a purchasing agent. Get pre-approved before trying to buy, make certain you can afford what you're after, and make certain you know what you want. Its AMAZING how smoothly a purchase can go if you have you're **** together.

Beginning to end, including a test drive, until I drove off the lot in my new car it took 1.5 hours on a Sunday afternoon... Start to finish, keys in hand.

So give me a break. I was giving an honest report on my shopping experience and you roll in with this crap.

Real Classy...

Bottom line, I came across several dealers in the area that did not treat me the way I wanted to be treated. All sorts of pressure etc... TRYING TO SELL me a car I wasn't looking for. When I rolled into Doug's I told them I wanted to drive this, this, and this. I also told them that I wasn't buying today, just driving. I was told no sweat and he "Robert" went and grabbed keys for each and Robert, My Wife and I drove each car, no hassles, and no pressure. ThenRobert brought a car to my work a few days later for me to test drive at lunch, very COOL... Then when we went in on a Sunday I took one last drive and said lets wrap up the RX. Easy and Painless.

Maybe New Management, I know Mark is running things now, but I am willing to bet just having a clue made a huge difference.
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Old Apr 7, 2006 | 01:24 AM
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Rev, I agree with you. Doug's and Robert were very nice to me as well. Very mellow, and accomodating. I think I drove 3 cars that day, without a salesperson with me.

When people complain it's cuz their expectations aren't being met, but they don't question whether their expectations are realistic...
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Old Apr 21, 2006 | 04:08 PM
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I bought my 2005 last Friday at Auburn Mazda. That said, I would recommend Lee Johnson in Kirkland. A salesman once told me that he recommends other dealers all of the time. Two that he said aren't on the list are Auburn and Lynnwood. My experience in Auburn wasn't really bad and I got a great deal, but the salesman didn't know anything at all about the car. I looked at one at Lee Johnson Chevrolet/Mazda in Kirkland with the salesman Ron Paar. Ron was excellent and I really wish I could have bought from him, but they didn't have any 05 Sport packages and other dealers aren't willing to trade for the 05's right now.

Ok, that said, no matter where you go, you should buy soon if you want a new one and are willing to buy an 05. Mazda is trying to clear the 05's off of their lot's so as of April 4th they are offering $4,000 cash back. The dealerships are also trying to get rid of them so they are willing to sell below invoice. I bought a 2005 Velocity Red Sport Package with the spoiler and spare tire package for $22,250. MSRP on this car is about $29,600. Dealer invoice was about $27,000. PM me if you want more info. I know of a couple sport packages remaining (Red, Gray) and a few GT's (Red, white) at different dealerships.
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Old Apr 21, 2006 | 04:16 PM
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> but they didn't have any 05 Sport packages

Sorry, I meant they didn't have any RED 05 sport packages at Lee Johnson. They have a nice Ti-Grey that I was close to buying, but I decided I really wanted the red.
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Old Apr 21, 2006 | 04:32 PM
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Congrats! Welcome to the group Skinless! Have you seen the posts about the upcoming meet at Alderwood Mall this Sunday?
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Old Apr 21, 2006 | 04:49 PM
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Ah, Sunday? I was thinking it was Saturday, which I definitely couldn't do. I probably can't do Sunday either, but it *might* be possible. Instead of eating in Lynnwood, group drives are always fun if you can meet someplace like Lynnwood, then all cruise out to Carnation or someplace with good roads for lunch. Fun drive out... eat... fun drive back!
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Old Apr 23, 2006 | 05:05 AM
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Thumbs up

Sup Revlis, sorry i'm replying kind of late, I was away from rx8club/computers for a couple of weeks, anyhow here is a friendly response, I'm not trying to flame on as we will probably see each other at a meet some time.

Originally Posted by Revlis
WOW what an intelligent and well thought out post... I would say with confidence that the problems you had at the dealership were largely the result of your Expectations, Attitudes, and inability to understand what was going on.

"***" ???

What a Wonderful and enlightened way to describe a salesman? So you’re a Homophobe, we can start there... "...Later Tricking us” What are you mentally deficient too? So easily tricked by a crafty Finance Lady?
Well *** is no longer used to only describe a sexual preference, it is also a figure of speach. I'm sure Rob isn't some sort of tetrasexual , but it is a method to describe a person at non serious discussions such as over the Internet. Maybe not politically correct, but neither is "Merry Christmas" anymore. I did not bash you, only your salesperson, are you two somewhat Brokeback Mtn. visitors, if so that is great, seriously.

Originally Posted by Revlis
This makes no sense, either you understand what is going on or you don't. If you don't, get someone to help you with the transaction, use a purchasing agent. Get pre-approved before trying to buy, make certain you can afford what you're after, and make certain you know what you want. Its AMAZING how smoothly a purchase can go if you have you're **** together.

Beginning to end, including a test drive, until I drove off the lot in my new car it took 1.5 hours on a Sunday afternoon... Start to finish, keys in hand.

So give me a break. I was giving an honest report on my shopping experience and you roll in with this crap.
I too was giving my honest report of my experience from Doug's. Unfortunetly it was not a postivie experience as yours, nevertheless still a dealership experience which is what this thread was about. I reported my experience to Mazda (as i mentioned earlier in the thread) and it seems Doug's is delivering better customer service, it is good that they learn from their flaws and you were able to benefit from our pitiful sales experience.

Again, we had Costco pricing, a 'purchasing agent' (didn't mention that earlier in the thread, sorry), but the agent was not allowed by Doug's financing lady to sit/converse about anything relating to the sale of the vehicle as to 'their policy.' Our financing dude said, 'bull' and told us to leave but we had already invested 4.5+ hours, so we chose to stay (which is a well known dishonest dealership strategy, to tire the customer out to settle for whatever). There was 4 sales persons approaching us asynchronously, so that each time we would have to begin discussions anew, is that not worth mentioning in this thread about Doug's horrible dealership experience?

Originally Posted by Revlis
Real Classy...

Bottom line, I came across several dealers in the area that did not treat me the way I wanted to be treated. All sorts of pressure etc... TRYING TO SELL me a car I wasn't looking for. When I rolled into Doug's I told them I wanted to drive this, this, and this. I also told them that I wasn't buying today, just driving. I was told no sweat and he "Robert" went and grabbed keys for each and Robert, My Wife and I drove each car, no hassles, and no pressure. ThenRobert brought a car to my work a few days later for me to test drive at lunch, very COOL... Then when we went in on a Sunday I took one last drive and said lets wrap up the RX. Easy and Painless.

Maybe New Management, I know Mark is running things now, but I am willing to bet just having a clue made a huge difference.
To conclude, relax tampax, its great you had a good experience, I don't think bashing others for revealing their non-great experiences is necessary though.
I had a great experience at UMazda, absolutely no pressure, so much no pressure i went to Doug's which wore me down with their 4 sales person tactics. I suppose having the clue to leave once it was approaching 2 hours time spent with a 3rd sales person approaching us at the desk, would have been better.

See you around Revlis!
Laters!
Edgardo
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Old May 2, 2006 | 03:55 PM
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JUST REGISTERED MYSELF ONTO THIS 8CLUB JUST TO MAKE A STATEMENT OR TWO. I AM WITH THE 7CLUB ('93 CYM), WHERE THE REAL MEN ARE

I am the 'purchasing agent' and everything Edgardo wrote here is accurate. It was supposed to be a simple purchase with no "Expectations, Attitudes, and inability to understand what was going on". I found the exact car we wanted on line and the Costco price that was offered to us. I even called the dealership before we came. A day after the purchase I called the dealership and spoke with the owner's son, Marc Ikegami, to express my concerns. Marc promised us some free services, and never came through with them. So the bull shitting never stop at Doug's Lynnwood Mazda. Here is something to think about guys, "Doug's Lynnwood Mazda practices incest."

I'll be passing you 'girly men/women' on the street.
Peace, Q
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Old May 2, 2006 | 05:05 PM
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Originally Posted by 05TiGr8Lady
Hey Bob,

I had a good experience at Lee Johnson Mazda in Kirkland
My experience with them was pretty good. After the deal was struck they added B&O tax to the final price. I didn't notice it until I read the sales agreement after getting home. They slip it in, put a little box next to it and ask you to intial it while your initialing about a 1000 other things. It's only .5%, but it's a pretty crappy technique used to milk a couple hundred extra dollars out of you. It's legal, but should be disclosed during negotiations, not added as a line item trying to be hidden as a sales tax they <must> charge you. I consider B&O tax to be a cost of doing business, not a tax or fee you pass on. It's like charging you for the cup of coffee or the chair you're sitting in when you negotiate the deal.
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Old May 2, 2006 | 05:38 PM
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Originally Posted by Cool Yellow Man
JUST REGISTERED MYSELF ONTO THIS 8CLUB JUST TO MAKE A STATEMENT OR TWO. I AM WITH THE 7CLUB ('93 CYM), WHERE THE REAL MEN ARE

I am the 'purchasing agent' and everything Edgardo wrote here is accurate. It was supposed to be a simple purchase with no "Expectations, Attitudes, and inability to understand what was going on". I found the exact car we wanted on line and the Costco price that was offered to us. I even called the dealership before we came. A day after the purchase I called the dealership and spoke with the owner's son, Marc Ikegami, to express my concerns. Marc promised us some free services, and never came through with them. So the bull shitting never stop at Doug's Lynnwood Mazda. Here is something to think about guys, "Doug's Lynnwood Mazda practices incest."

I'll be passing you 'girly men/women' on the street.
Peace, Q
All I can say is WoW, your so cool! I guess I better get rid of my 8 now, so I can run with the real men like you.
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Old May 2, 2006 | 08:00 PM
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Originally Posted by AdamK
My experience with them was pretty good. After the deal was struck they added B&O tax to the final price. I didn't notice it until I read the sales agreement after getting home. They slip it in, put a little box next to it and ask you to intial it while your initialing about a 1000 other things. It's only .5%, but it's a pretty crappy technique used to milk a couple hundred extra dollars out of you. It's legal, but should be disclosed during negotiations, not added as a line item trying to be hidden as a sales tax they <must> charge you. I consider B&O tax to be a cost of doing business, not a tax or fee you pass on. It's like charging you for the cup of coffee or the chair you're sitting in when you negotiate the deal.
Someone else mentioned this earlier with Lee Johnson and I didn't notice it when I looked then. I just looked again and here's what I found:

It's on the "Vehicle Buyers Order" - Section 2...

"The price/capitalized cost includes B&O tax payable by dealer on dealer's gross receipts. Customer agrees to the price knowing it includes this item of dealer overhead and that sales tax is payable on it. All elements of this transaction were negotiated. _____ (place for initials)"

I wasn't asked to initial it... Then in the column where the $ go for Section 2, mine says "N/A", so I'd say I didn't get charged. Interesting... My brother, who is a car broker, was with me and handling the deal, so he must have been watching for it and said no, cuz I don't recall talking about it...

Expensive lesson for you to learn, but now we'll all know what to watch out for - no B&O! Thanks for sharing.
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Old May 2, 2006 | 11:00 PM
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Originally Posted by FABRO
All I can say is WoW, your so cool! I guess I better get rid of my 8 now, so I can run with the real men like you.
I would, and get rid of that skirt you're wearing too, FaBro (is that short for *** Brother?). Dry those tears and relax *** Brother, anything with a rotary engine is cool with me

Last edited by Cool Yellow Man; May 2, 2006 at 11:07 PM.
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Old May 3, 2006 | 12:03 AM
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Originally Posted by Cool Yellow Man
I would, and get rid of that skirt you're wearing too, FaBro (is that short for *** Brother?). Dry those tears and relax *** Brother, anything with a rotary engine is cool with me
Well we are part of the same rotary family, no need for name bashing. Have you done anything to your FD by the way?
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Old May 3, 2006 | 12:30 AM
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Thumbs up

Group Hug Time



Goodbye!
Edgardo
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Old May 3, 2006 | 12:03 PM
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Originally Posted by 05TiGr8Lady
Expensive lesson for you to learn, but now we'll all know what to watch out for - no B&O! Thanks for sharing.
It's only 1/2 of 1%, so not too bad. But still, pure BS. They probably just pull it out of the bag of tricks when they think they can get away with it. I got even by flaming my sales guy for it when I filled out the survey they sent me. I know that cost him his $100 bonus for not getting the perfect marks he asked me to give him.
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Old May 4, 2006 | 09:12 AM
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Originally Posted by Cool Yellow Man
JUST REGISTERED MYSELF ONTO THIS 8CLUB JUST TO MAKE A STATEMENT OR TWO. I AM WITH THE 7CLUB ('93 CYM), WHERE THE REAL MEN ARE

I'll be passing you 'girly men/women' on the street.
Peace, Q

Dude - you're an idiot. Really. I mean, you give ALL car enthusiasts a bad name. Is your pecker THAT small that you have to associate the car you drive with 'manliness'? Here's what you do - you get off the computer, stand up, go outside and place a NICE game of Hide-and-go-****-yourself.


Regards.

-darin
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Old May 4, 2006 | 11:15 AM
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Pinnacle Mazda

Hey all, In reguards to a good dealership, I bought my 05 RX-8 sport at Pinnacle Mazda in Renton. I got a great price and the sales person was very polite and tolerand of me. I have worked for a dealer ship before and know a lot of things most dont. I would recommend them as well. My sales guys name is Leeon. I am not really sure how to spell or say it but he was good to deal with.
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Old May 4, 2006 | 11:58 AM
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Originally Posted by Cool Yellow Man
JUST REGISTERED MYSELF ONTO THIS 8CLUB JUST TO MAKE A STATEMENT OR TWO. I AM WITH THE 7CLUB ('93 CYM), WHERE THE REAL MEN ARE

I'll be passing you 'girly men/women' on the street.
Peace, Q

The only "statement" you made is that you're a loser...
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