new member from Houston TX, so close to buying an 8
 

hello all,

im new to the forum. ive been lurking around and came accross the "little things" thread and was compelled to read the whole thing.

I am in the market for a new car. up until recently the front runner was a 2005 Subaru STi (WRX). however, after much consideration and reading and drooling i think an 8 has taken over at the top of my list.

i realize i would be giving up some of the straight line performance of the STi but i think the little refinements ive read about with the 8 coupled with it's still outstanding performance has really swayed me.

can anyone recommend and good dealerships in Houston? i dont have perfect credit so a dealership with creditors that will work with me and not yank me around would be nice.

thanks for any and all assistance. glad to be part of the board. with any luck ill be posting up picks of my own 8 in a month or 2 :)

I recommend you go to capitol one auto finance online, apply for a loan. They will approve you and give you a blank check to buy a car. I was approved for $50,000 when I applied.

Anyway, here is the trick - you aren't even getting this to use. You use it for leverage at the dealership. Tell them you've already got financing, that allows you to talk about price, not about loan deals. Once you're ready to buy, let them offer to try to beat the interest rate capitol one offered. If they can, then you've gotten an even better rate, and still able to have the upper hand with financing.

Re: new member from Houston TX, so close to buying an 8
 

Jeff Haas Mazda is without a doubt the best Mazda dealership in the area when it comes to low level of typical car sales bs. Based on the two times I've used them, their service dept is also good to deal with. I cannot give you any input on the financing stuff since I pay cash but don't all the Mazdas dealers use some Mazda or Ford financing group?

I gave EVERY dealer in Houston a chance when I ordered my 8 (the first day that you could), and have had Miata's for 13 years (90, 97, and 99 10AE) that have all been to every dealer at one time or the other.

Jeff Haas is the best in Houston, but I have not had very good dealings with them (just better than the others).

I bought mine in Austin, at Mazda South (ask for Mike Moran, the inventory manager), and will continue to buy and recommend their dealership to anyone who will listen. I will also buy all of my future cars from one of their dealerships.

Once you have been treated the way these guys treat you, you will never accept the "standard" dealer bulls*#$ again.

ADDED BONUS - you will get to drive your new 8 for a couple of hours (in order to get home).

http://www.texasmazda.com/

I was going to buy mine at Jeff Hass, it was a friday and had the deal all settled, I told the sales man what time I would be in, and guess what he says, " I can't , I am having dinner with my wife." So I took my happy butt on up to Munday Mazda and not only did they match the deal , but gave me 500 off Jeff Hass price. Then, days after I purchased my car from them, they called me back to tell me they had found another financer with a lower interest rate and lowered my rate by a whole percent. Talk about good service. MUNDAY MAZDA, all the way.

The company I work for ownes Kia Mazda of Kingwood, if you like I can contact the dealer operator and set you up with a very good deal; they have many special finance sources available...

Judging from the last three or so posts maybe it would have been wise for me not to say "without a doubt the best Mazda dealership in Houston" in regards to Jeff Haas. Anyways, I have been happy with them.

I got an incredible deal from Champion Mazda in LaPorte. I visited 2 other large dealerships in Houston with less than a favorable experience.
Contact me offline at pccook@sbcglobal.net if you want more information.

Dr Paul,

What kind of deal can you get? Email me when you get a chance.

Thanks

audiopanik - I suggest that you attend the next Houston RX-7 Club meeting on Tue 3rd August. I went to a few meetings (there are several RX-8 owners plus every generation of RX-7) and the people are great and incredibly knowledgeable on all things rotary and Mazda. DrKillJoy (Keith) is the president and a good chap.

See here for more details. As for good dealerships - of the 4 places I checked out in Houston I thought Jeff Haas was the best and Richard or Justin (sales manager) were very helpful.

Check out Gullo Mazda in Conroe. They treated me right but I had s plan price and paid cash. Don't know how they would be on finance but salesman ( Sean Loftice ) is an RX8 owner and reads this forum. The service manager, Rocky, is willing to work with "their" owners.

I don't know what everyone thinks about Joe Myers Mazda, but the person who sold my RX-8, Jason, was really nice, and he helped my dad and I finance. It took about three hours before we (the sales manager, my dad and I) could agree on a good payment method, but it was worth it :). HAGGLE!