Dealers in Tampa, Fl
 

With Ferman Mazda taking over Courtesy Mazda, I feel that the selection of dealers is really dwindling, so what is your recommendation on a dealer in the Tampa area (I really don't mind travelling in Fl either) to purchase from?

If you have any specific people I should talk with let me know! :)

What are the recent experiences and deals you have made?

I am trying to find a dealer that is not too difficult to deal with, ideally one where I complete the whole transaction go in and out in 2 hours.

I bought from Ferman in Tampa.

edit: don't bother with them. my sales person Richie doesn't return phone calls and doesn't honor the $100 finders fee that he promised.

Thanks for the information, I was in contact (with Pamela and) with a different salesperson who was very new + very friendly. It would be great to split the $100, but I don't know if that is possible now :( Also I thought invoice is not as good as the deals happening, but then I realize these great deals I see on this board may be in different markets (states), maybe Tampa will area dealers will not go much lower (if at all)?... anyone receive significantly under invoice in this market?

Jason, did you pay the admin fee they charge or were you able to cut that out?

If I go to this dealer, I will try and negotiate the $100 referral and split it with you as you suggested. Any little bit adds up eh?

So this sounds like the way to go, but are there other recommendations for dealers in the Tampa area?

Thanks :)

Invoice is pretty good, but there are other things like rev it up coupons if you can find someone who has one available that hasn't expired (good for $250 additional off). There are lease incentives (i think 2500 off) - some people lease, then reneg the lease into a purchase.

I tried to go through Ferman's online dept, but received no reply back in Nov. Then 2 weeks later they tell me they put Pamela in charge and tried to get me to buy, but I had already made the deal on my car. No biggie, did just as well since I got the rear spoiler free.

Air Force, who did you go through in the end?

I keep going back and forth between the 24 month 0% interest (which would be hard for me to do due to monthly payment, but doable) or the lease incentive and re-negotiate to purchase.
My problems with the lease/re-negotiate idea are:
1) There are too many unknowns for me with leasing especially when you get the added complication of working out interest rate for the now Lease Bought out car (Capital One was 5% or so)
2) The high residual (63% for 15K miles) from my understanding is great if you just lease and return the car after the 24months, but if it is a lease buyout then that makes the selling price really high! As people say you either have it good for leasing or have it good for buying after the lease, but not both, and from my understanding the high residual makes it excellent for a lease.
3) Although I get the idea of leases, there seems to be many more variables to be caught out on, one wrong move and it's a free big screen TV for the sales manager, lots of money lost for me.

I am still open to the lease idea and I did post a seperate thread last week on this, but noone has replied that they have actually done it and it has resulted in a bigger saving than just buying with the 24month deal.

Hopefully someone reading this will have done the lease re-negotiation to purchase and can provide details :)
Any comments or thoughts on this I would really appreciate right now!

If anyone has the Rev-it-up coupon (not expired!) and is willing to part with it (I will be happy to pay $25 for it) please PM me ASAP! :)

And thanks for seeing about the no haggle deal, I could really do with that...

I went to Boniface-Heirs Mazda in Melbourne, FL.

If only I read your signature.. sorry 'bout that...

hmmm free-stuff, that's always good...

Thanks for the info....

If you do deciude to use Ferman Mazda, I would go to the brandon ferman for all service/warranty work.

The Ferman on Florida got very anal and stern with me about installing non-MS parts in my 8 and that it would void the warranty. However, I spoke to the Service Manager at the Brandon Ferman and he said that he has never turned anyone away b/c of aftermarket parts for warranty/service work. As long as the aftermarket part is not the part that caused dmg to the car, then he sees no problem with it and that installing aftermarket parts will not void the warranty.

Just a bit of info for ya. I got my 8 from the Ferman on Forida but will now be taking it to Brandon for any kind of wervice work.

In the end I did not go with either dealer because they didn't have the spec. I wanted and having them transfer a car would not help with my negotiation.
Thanks to everyone who helped with my decision :)