Hi all:

A couple of the cars in local inventory that will be in my negotiating universe have the spare tire kit, and I don't want it on my car. Anyone have any idea whether the dealer could delete that item from the car I want and put it on something else in their inventory? Any help appreciated...

 

It's been my experience with car places that they can add/delete any accessory that they want... They just have to want to do it. They typically add things to cars (like LoJack, ScotchGaurd, Window Etching, Double Ply TP dispensers) ahead of time because they like to tell people, "It's already on the car, so you'll have to pay for it." Or, "It's already on the car, you don't want it, but I'll cut you a deal on it so we don't lose any money for it already being there"

I would say, if you don't want the accessory (and it's of the bolt on type), but you want the car. Be stern. Tell them that you don't want it, and that you know where the next closest Mazda dealership is to your location. If they won't budge, I would just walk away. They might call you back, they might let you go. It's nearing the end of the year, and like all good commisioned sales folk, they're going to want to sell for that extra Holiday Cash.

If they don't budge, you leave and can't find the same car anywhere else, I suggest you have a Scotch on the rocks to contemplate what could have been...

Good luck.

 

Thanks for the thoughts, TD. I actually don't plan on going to ANY of the six dealerships that have a close version of the particular car I want -- especially since the furthest of them is about 300 miles away. I plan to do all my negotiating via phone/fax/e-mail and once I have a confirmed deal, set up my lease contract (theirs or mine) and go pick up the car.

At the core of my question was whether or not the spare tire kit involved anything that would be especially difficult for the dealer to do in order to delete it. Knowing this information could potentially keep me out of an unforseen problem and would let me short-circuit any whining. Thanks again, all..

 

It's just a bolt-on item.

 

Thanks, Nubo. So the spare tire kit would be out and the mini pump and fix-flat goo would be in for me to accomplish my goal, right?

 

I thought about deleting but once i saw it i realized its like getting a free rear brace and an extra tire for emergency.I just put the spare in my garage.

 

As far as I know the pump and tire goo is standard equipment and you get it whether or not you add the optional spare tire.

 

The fix-a-flat kit is standard on the car, and you get it whether you get the spare or not. As for the spare tire kit itself, it's simply bolted on. If it's already on the car you're looking at, the dealer might try to sell it to you since it's already there, but if you definitely don't want it, they'll either remove it or give it to you for free (as long as they're making a reasonably fair profit on the car, they shouldn't mind the small expense of having someone in the shop remove it).

 

Just to finish out the story, I cut a deal on a car that has slightly less optional equipment than I wanted, but no spare tire kit or anything else I'd want to delete.

But when I told the salesman I wanted the 6CD added to "my" car for invoice (the deal I was driving on the rest of the car), the squealing from the other end of the phone got really loud. So I'll add stuff like the CD, accent kit, cargo net from Trussville with the money I saved on the purchase price of the car.

Thanks again for the help.

 

I ended up with the spare tire too...not because I wanted it but it just happened to be there on the 8 I wanted. My golf bag barely fits with the spare in there but it fits so all is well.

 

Can you get two golf bags in? Could you w/o the tire?

 

Way to go, boothguy. Sounds like you got the deal you wanted.

I got my car in the first shipment, when a guy who had pre-ordered got tired of waiting. I took over his order in June, and 3 weeks later had my car. The deal was, take it as-is, too late for changes as everything was being done at the port. The car was exactly as I would have ordered it anyway, except for the tire. So I took the spare and sold it later via this forum. Gained instant trunk space and some pocket money. Add in the $500 gift card and college grad rebate, and I earned back $1300 after purchase (plus free service.) Not a bad deal for a car supposedly at MSRP at the time.

Anyway, as everyone has said, you get the fix-it kit even with the spare (which I kept.) Taking it out is easy except for a hard rubber pad mounted inside the upper lip of the trunk which I couldn't remove. The guy who bought my spare came to my house; as we removed it from my trunk, we simultaneously put it in his, including the trunk liner. So now I have an uncut trunk liner, which has to be cut if you install the spare mounting kit.

 

I can only get one in now and it's a carry type bag, not a big cart bag. I've seen pics on the net, can't remember where, or maybe in the RX-8 brochure showing 2 golf bags in there w/out the spare.

I know you could get 2 carry type bags in there no problem w/ out the spare but no way you'd get two staff bags in there.

 

I saw those same pix and they were, shall we say, very slim golf bags. Not full size.

 

Nice goin' 8-wannabe -- that's the great thing about a super-active forum like this one: in addition to tons of helpful, money-saving information, there's a built-in market for bits you want to sell. Have had the same experience with my '86 and '94 RX7s on that newsgroup as well. Keep it up guys!

 

live in sf bay area. If anyone wants to sell their spare let me know
thanks