OK, here's the scoop...

The car I want is out there. But there's only one. It is located in Baltimore, MD and I'm located in Fredericksburg, VA... A distance of about 115 miles. My local dealer has kindly agreed to buy that car and have it "brought down here." It occurred to me this morning to check exactly how they intend to bring it down... Turns out they plan to drive it. I asked about flatbedding it or something, and my sales guy said "I've never heard of that in the two years I've been here... we always just drive 'em. I suppose that if you want to pay for it we could do something...."

Not exactly what I wanted to hear.

I left it open right now, but I'm looking for options.

1) Go ahead and let them do it.
2) Have one of thier monkeys drive me to Baltimore and let me drive it back, they can follow me, and then do the paper work.
3) Pay for the flatbed myself.
4) Fight, Fight, Fight.

1 and 2 aren't very appealing to me. 2 is better, but I still don't want a "brand new car" with over 100 miles on it.

3 sucks.

4 isn't much fun for me because I'm a non-confrontational person by nature, but I think it's what I'm going to end up doing.

Advice, advice, advice... please, please, please!

Thx,
Andrew

 

Why don't you go to that dealership to get that exact car you want.. and you drive it back yourself. Perhaps that dealership will get you a better price for it anyways.

 

Get a ride from a friend or take a bus to Baltimore and drive it yourself. Do you have the option (or gumption) to cancel your deal and buy it from the MD dealer?

In any case, I would not opt for a flatbed nor anyone else driving it.

Good luck.

 

I agree- go up there and get it. Or, yYou can always tell them what you plan to do, and see if that makes them decide to flatbed it down this way for you.

 

Just my opinion, but try to be short with them and act as if the deal is off and you are thinking of leaving the dealership. If this doesn't work, I don't know about you but I like to drive my rex anywhere and everywhere! But if it is all highway, I wouldn't want about a sixth of my break-in period going highway. The break-in is supposed to be at varying speeds/rpms.
For me, I would try to make them eat the cost of a flatbed (Several hundred I would imagine). If they won't budge, drive it yourself and vary your speed. If they won't let you ride along (insurance excuses... yadda, yadda, yadda) I would NOT buy from them! Simply drive to the other dealership and purchase it there!!
If they do flatbed it for you, be sure and ask how many miles are on it at the other dealership before towing. Maybe even ask the time when it will be delivered. Check the miles or get there early and see if someone drove it.

 

I bought my 8 with 330 miles on it.............it was "dealer-traded" from another dealership. It just happened to be the exact one I wanted........right color........right options......and it just so happened that it was the one I liked and test drove it, then bought it 2 days later when they gave me the right $$ trade-in allowance for my boat and truck. It's no big deal IMHO to be driven to you! Go ahead and don't worry, just get the one you want.

 

You may also want to do a search about the break-in period and weigh the pros and cons. Ask yourself how important that 600 mile break-in is to you. These guys that work for the dealership are going to take this baby for a joyride!! It is hard NOT to joyride this baby! It was hard enough for me to keep it below the 6-7k rpms, and I knew how it should be driven during the break-in period! These guys probably don't know, and probably don't care. For a rotary and for the money you are spending, I would like to break my own in :D

 

My wait was just over 3 months; took delivery late Feb. But I got exactly what I wanted and no miles. Actually, that's incorrect. It had six miles

 

I live in Northern VA and found the car I wanted (exact options/color/etc) at a dealer in Pasadena, MD. The local dealer that is 3 miles from me wouldn't/couldn't get the car, so I drove out there and bought it from the MD dealer and drove it home myself - it was only 40 miles though.

As has been pointed out your warranty starts at the mileage when you sign for the car. Mine had 9 miles. If the local dealer could have gotten it he would have driven it down here. The MD dealer offered to drive it to me, but I said I wanted to do it. It is VERY hard to get a dealer to trailer a car somewhere. I wouldn't have gone much further for the car than I did. Just my preference though.

Have you tried other dealers that are closer (search the inventory at the Mazda website). Good luck.

mm

 

My sentiments exactly. Use the Mazda website to find the car you want and the deal you want. Don't except nothing less. I didn't.

dag

 

i put 115 miles on a car in 2 days so the dealer is not going to do anything to it that I wouldn't have done myself in less than a week.

Honestly, what is 115 miles going to hurt?

 

I tried to get the dealer to let me drive it from one dealer to them in a similar type deal- Now way is what they said- I have a feeling it is an inusrance thing- But I would make sure to go with them- no one says there can't be a passenger, you can tell them how fast to drive- when to shift, etc. And look at it this- you are closer to breaking it in. Belive me I have broken in 2 different 8's already and the wait to drive it correctly is hard!!!

 

When I got mine (7/26/03) it was at a dealership about 200 miles away from San Diego. Originally I was going to drive out there and pick it up, but then it turned out the dealership owner (who auto-x's porches) was coming to SD that weekend so he drove it down while his wife drove his Porsche. So when I took ownership of it, it had around 200 miles on it. I put another 200 miles on it that same day (actually ended up finding the local rx7 club who were having a run on that day also).

The only thing you have to go on is that the dealer/driver won't thrash it on the drive, and after I spoke with the guy who was gonna drive it down I didn't have much reservation.

It's been trouble-free since I've owned it.

 

I think you're thinking about it too much. If you're happy with the deal, just have them go get it!

 

It's simple. And you don't even have to be confrontational about it.

All you have to say is you're buying a brand new car, and as such you expect to to only have a minimum number of miles on the clock. Remember you're their customer here, and it's up to them to get your business. And therefore you give them three choices:

1. You buy the car from them at the agreed price, but they must flatbed it down at their own cost.

2. You buy the car from them, but at a reduced price to account for the extra miles driven.

3. You go to the dealership 115 miles away and buy it from them instead.

If they want your business, it's up to them to earn it. If they can't be bothered, then go 115 miles and buy it from the other dealership. It's their own profit they're losing out on.

Hope this helps.

Ian.

 

Which dealer?Im in baltimore and might be able to help ya out.I know at least 3 sales guys up here.

 

Hey everyone,

Thanks for your great suggestions.

The dealer refused to let me drive it from Balitmore to Fredericksburg, and flat out refused to put it on a tow truck unless I paid for it.

I called another dealer in the area to ask if this was common practice, and he said yeah, they drive dealer trades to their new dealers all the time.

So I went ahead and let them do it. I did INSIST that my salesperson make sure that the driver was aware of the proper break in procedures and that they would be careful with my baby. When it gets here I'll do a full inspection of it and I can always back out of the deal at any time.

Thanks for the advice guys,
Andrew