drsinfla

:sigh:

2005 Titanium Grey red/black leather with GT & nothing else... tried to buy but dealership was unreasonable... wondering if the rotary is worth it any more.

Nothing gets more depressing than aggressive salespeople.

Should I hang in there?

mysql101

go to another dealership. I visited 4 before finding one that treated me right. It was a full 2 months of looking at the rx-8, researching it, and doing test drives before I decided to buy one.

quack_p

Hang in there. I had a couple of discouraging experiences in my buying process, but I finally found a cool salesman. Take your time. I went to CarsDirect, visited 2 dealers, corresponded by e-mail with another 2, and talked with another 2 by phone. If you can wait until the initial 05 rush subsides, you'll probably get a better price.

RXE16T

How many dealers are there across the US?

If you really want the 8, I'm sure you'll exhaust every last avenue.

drsinfla

Yeah, its not like the cash is burning a hole in my pocket. I think that the dealers will be a bit more pliable in a month, with more selection in the '05's and a few of the 04's still hanging around. Hate to wait though - we've been through a lot here in florida, and I want a new toy as a reward! See my post under central florida dealerships for my experience.

Ninja

Also, keep in mind that you can use the mazda usa web site for searching dealer inventories. I used this info to apply a little more pressure on my sales person:
"Well, I happen to know that you have 19 in your current inventory, and you've only sold three in the last two weeks."

I don't think he was too happy with my knowing that, but their second counter offer was a LOT more reasonable!

drsinfla

20 2004 RX-8's on the lot, and 5 2005 RX-8's in the dealer lot. With all the hurricanes here over the last 2 months, nobody has been buying cars unless they got hit by trees.

The only conclusion I came to was that the old salesperson misread me and was trying to teach the young salesperson a lesson in standing firm and getting the customer to come up in price.

check out : http://www.beatthecarsalesman.com/school/ for an education on how it works. I should have printed out that webpage and handed it to them - but they were so dense I think they would have continued to try the 'grind 'em down' strategy.

I'm just so ticked because I was so close to buying, and would have even paid what I considered an unfavorable price, and they got greedy and killed the deal!!!! And worse, wasted my entire afternoon.

Then again, I put the first 50 miles on a brand new RX-8 for free, so maybe I didn't come out worse for wear.

Salespeople! Don't get greedy! If you don't make the sale, you don't get paid!

Ellar

Each dealer seems to have one salesman who answers any questions that come in from the dealer website. You can start negotiations in e-mail. It gives you a chance to think out how you want to word things for greatest impact. They also have a way to get back to you when you politely "walk out" after you've heard the best price they're standing firm on. They will get back to you.

My negotiations took a week. I thanked my guy for his time and told him I was going to have to go with my original plan and find an early Miata that I could buy outright. It wasn't a ploy in my case. The monthly+down+tax+DMV he quoted was insane. I was really going through the classifieds when he replied and asked me what I'd been hoping to spend. Two days later I signed the order for the car with the keys-in-hand figure I gave him, and $6/month higher than the top payment I told him I had hoped to get him down to ($226/24 months versus the $315 I walked out on).

My friend apparently left his name and number at a Toyota dealer when he went to look at a Highlander. The lease payment they quoted him was $300 more than what it had said in the paper, and he walked out. A week later there was a message on his machine asking him if he could do a deal for $250 less than that quote. Still more than the ad said, but he had a baby on the way, and he writes it off to "All salemen are scum."

Don't lose all hope, and keep an ear out for a phone call.

Rob Tomlin

The fact that you are buying a 2005 is going to make a difference. You simply are not going to get the same kind of deal as you would on a 2004 at this time of year.

swoope

iTrader: (5)

skip the dealership, get quotes online. then pit them against each other. it is not a rx8 to them its just another unit.

beers

mxdoc

Yes, use the Mazda site. I knew every RX-8 on the lot within 300 miles of where I live. You will find a suitable car and dealer.

Cam

iTrader: (1)

Oh, the rotary is worth it. I went to 4 different dealerships before buying. Shop around...or better, email the dealerships Internet Sales Manager, thats what I did.

magixpuma

i went to 1 dealershit who wanted to gimme flak and then i went to another 1 that was very courtyous and trusting they were no pressure they gave 3 grand below invoice it took us 20 mins to buy it no ****. on the test drive he let me and my dad go alone very nice. if you are in jersey go to Schwartz in schrewsbury exit 109 they are the best.

Sullibr

I'm with the others, took 3 tries before I found a salesman that didn't want to sell me what he had on the lot vs what I really wanted.

ayap888

Pit the dealer among each other. The other dealer was ask me for $460 /month without navigation system and leather seats. The other dealer gave me $358/month with Nav, GT (leather, zenons), 6 CDchanger. Shop around. Don't give up.

boothguy

Don't go to the dealership at all. Once you're on their turf, you are in their power. Phone/e-mail with the fleet or Internet salesperson, once you've found the car you want, using Mazda's useful search function. Just remember that not every VIN they show is necessarily sitting their on the dealer's lot. The cars are "assigned" to the dealer well before they receive them from the port of entry. Ask the salesperson if the VIN you're interested in is physically on their lot. Then make your deal. Save yoursel a lot of stomach acid as well as a pretty fair amount of money. Go visit the dealer when it's time to sign the documents and hopefully pick up your car in the same trip. Not before.

quack_p

The phone/e-mail thing didn't work for me. Only one dealer was willing to talk about price via e-mail. Another dealer quoted me at $700 below invoice over the phone and then changed it to $500 below invoice when I showed up at the lot. Another dealer told me over the phone he would look for the car I wanted and then never got back to me.

There's no substitute for speaking face to face. The important thing is to not walk onto the lot with a "buy now" mentality. Otherwise, you won't get the best deal. Be ready to shop around. I had 5 or 6 dealers mapped out, and I was ready to go to all of them to get the best deal. But I found almost exactly what I wanted (color, options, package) at the price I was willing to pay at my second dealer. I think it helped to have the confidence and attitude that I could always take my business elsewhere.

Edit:
And for me, it was helpful to set a goal on price beforehand. Otherwise, I could have spent forever agonizing over whether I could get a better deal elsewhere or trying to outdo the folks who bought their 8's for $2K+ below invoice. I decided upfront I wanted $1K below invoice, and once I got that, I stopped looking.

gt1

I really agree with this, phone/e-mail did tell me which dealers to absolutely avoid (a lot of dealers were not straight with me so I crossed them off, saved me the visit) but when it came down to real #'s the only way to go was face to face.. i.e best I got over the phone was a few hundred under invoice (they just don't want to get serious) when I went there I was able to buy for several thousand under invoice...

[QUOTE=quack_p]The phone/e-mail thing didn't work for me. Only one dealer was willing to talk about price via e-mail. Another dealer quoted me at $700 below invoice over the phone and then changed it to $500 below invoice when I showed up at the lot. Another dealer told me over the phone he would look for the car I wanted and then never got back to me.

drsinfla

Thanks for all the support..... As of right now, still haven't bought the car. Waiting until the end of the month when dealers should be a bit more pliable. REFUSE ALL DEALER FEES!!!! And never pay added dealer profit.

G-ReX

The dealer fee is just part of the equation. As long as the final price is good, who cares how they break it down. If you're letting it get added AFTER the fact, that's bad news. Do stick to your guns, there's no shortage of similar cars if you can wait and get past the '05 impulse buyers' price hike.

swoope

iTrader: (5)

yes,
i have to agree. the price you are concerned about is the otd price.. (out the door) includes everything tax title and licence. my car had a 799 dealer fee, but the sold it at 1200 under invoice. it works out that in last jan i got what i wanted dx'ed from a dealership 90miles away for 400 under invoice.

it is a shell game that i dont understand completly. but am still very happy 16k miles later.

beers

subduedracer

All salespeople arn't scum! I am one. I've been in the business 8 years. For the record. Customers lie all the time. I never do. I don't have too. I sell people on fact and logic. I love what I do. There are some out there that are scum. Thats like saying all RX8 owners are young kids driving to fast. Thats just not the case.

subduedracer

Remember that all dealers final cost on the same car are not the same. Depending on a dealers allocation, the hold back is a different figure. A dealer that sells more RX8's can sell them cheaper because they have more hold back to give up.

menace1227

Dude, are you a member of a credit union? the reason am asking is those guys were able to help me get my 8. got a good deal from them. they negotiated for me and picked up the car from them. paid only $500 above invoice. also did search the mazda site to check on the inventory of the dealers in the area. hang in there and good luck. the 8 is definitely worth the wait

Tayninh

Give the dealer your number and tell them to call you when they are ready for a deal. I went to one who had a no haggle price policy. I told them I wanted the price lower and gave them my number. They called me in two weeks to deal. Sorry guys. I already bought a car with a better price than yours. This is early in the month. Sales folks need to meet monthly quotas. Try this is a week or two. Yes, by all means try competition. Try a car broker. Go sit down and have good laught. Its all a game to them. Nothing personal, no feelings attached. You need to take the same approach. No feelings, its your money they are joking around with. Approach it as a business deal and nothing else. Don't go for the sales crap about these cars being babe magnets, and its a looker and all that emotional crap. They are going for your emotional side. Just keep it business like and don't let them talk to you in front of the car. Never never sign a darn thing until you get quotes from other dealers. Work it on your time and by your means. Hang in there, you'll be in an RX-8 in two weeks I think if you stay cool.