BasenjiGuy

What did you guys pay? What dealer experiences did you have?

I'm trying to get some info so I'll have an accurate perception of the local market. I'm looking to buy in February.

I've already driven the car 3 times at 3 different dealers; Al Smith in Raleigh, the one down in Cary, and the guys over in Durham. But I wasn't at the buying stage then.

Thank in advance.

BTW, I'm thinking of a Ti Gray 6MT with Touring or Grand Touring Package and 6 CD changer, and nothing else. Yeah, I know, most of the upmarket models have tack-ons on them like accent packages, etc... I'll have to sift thru them.

Lagrius

I'm also in the market for a rx8, I have a friend that is part of the Millenium Auto group in Durham. This past weekend he let me borrow the car for the weekend, was so damn sweet. He says they have like 60 cars on their lot and I can get a pretty good deal. I'm not sure what kind of prices they have at Al Smith. I'm looking for the same color combination as you, good luck!

The dealer over in Durham is Dave Burrell, tell him you know John from MacGregor, he might be able to help you out.

BasenjiGuy

There are at least 20 at the lot in Cary. There are about 10 -15 at Al Smith, from what I could tell. I was counting the 8's in front of the dealership and additional cars in the lot across the street to the east.

In December, the kid at Millinium told me they had more 8's than anyone else locally, but either he was lying or they were parked somewhere else. I only counted ten or so on their lot.

It sounds like some folks on the board are getting the cars at great prices, from invoice on up to a a grand or so over, but there don't seem to be many recent post s on buy deals from this area.

When I did a search for RDU posts, I saw some negative comments from when the car was launched last summer and fall about dealer gouging. I hope the situation is different now, and with all the cars that seem to be sitting on the lots, it must be.

I'd love to see a recent post ('04) from a local buyer describing their deal...

jph4219

I bought the same Ti Gray, with Nav and the Grand Touring package from Millenium in Durham. I had priced it out with Edmunds and KBB and sent in requests to 7 dealers in the area. Although I live only 5 minutes from Capital in Cary, Mike Woods in Durham was excellent to deal with. Only $600.00 above dealer cost. Do your homework and go into the dealer WELL prepared to show them the pricing you have found. Be patient but firm and good luck. I have never driven a car that is such a joy to get behind the wheel. My wife is jealous wanting to drive it as much as I do and I constantly find myself taking the long way home and looking for excuses to drive it.

Lagrius

jph, you don't happen to work off of Wake Forest road do you? I always see a Ti Gray and Black Rx8 at the building across from Wendy's.

BasenjiGuy

I asked the sales dude to show me all of their stock. They have about 30 cars on the lot. A good mix of Sport, Touring, and Grand Touring models, and even a few Base models. They had a Ti GT 6MT with black interior - not two-tone. It looked great - I hadn't seen that combo yet and it makes the interior look a lot less busy and the spoiler delete that is had is also a little more subtle. That might be the one for me. Oh yeah, it had chrome wheels, for an extra $1500. Chrome adds weight. Not good for unsprung mass. Especially on an eighteen inch wheel. Take'em off!

He said they get new cars at the end of the month and should have some more in February.

I saw that quite a few of their cars had dealer added markups on them that included detailing and, get this, "import market adjustment"s, meaning dealer gouging. I wonder how long those cars had been on the lot; if they had been sitting around since the car's launch.

I asked the sales dude about this and he said, "That's just a starting point." I said, "We'll be starting from invoice up if you want to deal with me.". He said, "OK" and I told him I just wanted to check out different color and combos and I'd get back to him in Feb.

BasenjiGuy

JPH: What do you mean by "go into the dealer WELL prepared to show them the pricing you have found." Do you mean have a invoice price for the car and all of its options? Or competing quotes from other dealers? Or something else? Please help- sounds like you got a great deal!
TIA

BasenjiGuy

I live in Brentwood, just in back of Highwoods, near WF road. Actually, I'm thinking about selling my house and moving in with my GF - she's building a new place. A lot on the plate right now, trying to buy a car, maybe selling a house, etc.......

Takashi 7

To BasenjiGuy

There are websites that will let you configure your car and give you a printout of the window sticker and the dealer cost. (The dealers most likely pay less than that) but it will give you a good starting point on price.
I don't remember the sites, try a google on "car configurator" or something similar.


Takashi 7

jph4219

Here are a few sites that I used to get pricing information and printed out details of the configuration that I wanted. Also call a few of the dealers in the area and tell them what you are looking for and that you expect them to make a profit but you also do not want to get ripped off. I also sent in requests from a few internet sites that forwarded my information to dealers in the area.


http://www.car-buying-strategies.com
http://www.edmunds.com
http://www.kbb.com

BLUE PHI RX-8

Capital Mazda of Cary has the most cars in the Triangle (43), Millennium is probably second, Al Smith 3rd. I have contacts at all three dealerships as well as the dealership in Asheboro. I almost bought last month but my gut is telling me to wait and see if the 2005 Model year has any changes. Somehow I feel there will be some changes (maybe minuscle), but yet still some. Also, I still can't force myself to by a car in its first model year. This forum has been beneficial in giving me the knowledge going into a purchase. It affords me the opportunity to decide if I can live with the little quirks of the car or move on to another one. So far, even with the minor things, I'm still looking to purchase. I do wish I could get the 250hp or more back and have a CAT that can withstand the heat (Mazda are you listening?). Plus it's Winter and I can't Zaino the car if I were to buy it. It's too cold.


I have the pricing that I'm willing to pay and have slightly hinted or tipped my hand to each dealership so they will know what to expect when it's time. This car purchase will be my fourth Mazda.

TM45

I bought my car at Millenium in Durham. I talked to the others by e-mail. Millenium was the most helpful. Price was $1600 under MSRP for only the sport package--would have been better with a more loaded version or if I had chosen one from stock. They had to go get this one. They had a very good selection of higher end models. I did not haggle much--you might do better. They were very pleasant to deal with.

dleary

I bought at Al Smith in Raleigh, NC, and I could not recommend strongly enough to buy elsewhere ! One sales person didn't know much about the car at all and was giving me answers that I knew full well to be incorrect; the other was purely interested in making the sale and nothing more. She was horrible at following up on details after the sale (taking care of the things on the "We Owe" list), and never returned calls. They were very indifferent to everything after the sale, and I had to pretty much keep on their a** the whole time to get things done.

Also, their service department seems to have very little stock on-site. They have to order practically everything . They had to cut a valet key for me (they didn't know where mine got to), and told me they didn't know how to cut a new one. Eventually they got it done.

As soon as I could, I removed the Al Smith emblem and license plate frame from my car, and I will ward anyone looking to buy away from there. I'll definitely have service done in Cary or Durham.

Love the car, hated the dealership.

JeffS

I'm guessing the original poster has bought his car by now, but I had a very good salesman and got a good price at Millenium in Durham back in August. The only drawback was that I got a lot "rat" that had been sitting for a while. But, the salesman has been excellent at following up on every detail. Send me a message if you want to discuss.