gusmahler

My wife is turning her car in the second week of June. So I thought the end of the month of May would be the perfect time to buy the car. I went to Edmunds and sent emails to several dealerships here in the Bay Area.

The first responder was Pedro at Menlo Mazda. He quoted me $250 over invoice for a Sport/Manual. But the car is not on the lot. Another thread here says that he pulled that same ploy last month (car not on the lot), so I'm not as impressed as I could be. He did say he would beat any price, though.

I'll post further goings on as they occur.

Xyntax

I dunno about you, but if you search the feedback on Menlo Mazda, you will see that people have had bad luck with them. I did too, but it was just a phone conversation. They weren't very nice

First off, don't rush. Check out the newspaper ads, especially for the upcoming Memorial day event. Someone out here will put discounts on particular RX-8s. I would recommend Oaktree. Good luck on your find!

brothervoodoo

Gus,

To help in your search, go to the mazdausa.com website and type your zip code in the "locate the dealer" area. You'll get a list of all local dealerships. Now search each individual dealerships inventory for rx-8's. This will arm you with some information prior to talking with a salesman. You should be able to get an 8 for no more than $500 over invoice. Happy hunting.

gusmahler

Putnam called me back. Offered me $100 over invoice on a sport/appearance.

So without even having to do any back and forth, I'm already at $100 over invoice. Good thing I waited instead of ordering it last summer.

Paradisaeidae

I also had a horrible experience at Menlo, both in person and on the phone. I found a newspaper ad from Royal Mazda in SF and paid $1,200 under invoice. This was in Feb. I am not sure if they still offer the same deal, plus they have a small inventory.

Loaded8

Great News !!!! I've been very happy with Putnam.

cr8

I sent email to 6-8 dealers from the mazdausa site, not including Menlo Mazda which is actually closest to me (because of all the comments about them I've seen on this forum). Of the responses I received, Royal Mazda in SF, Putnam in Burlingame and Almaden in south San Jose got back to me in good time with quotes around or under invoice for cars they had in stock. YMMV.

CR

PUR NRG

Here's a question: if a dealer (Pedro) offers to meet or beat any other dealer's price, why won't they do that from the start? Why make you search around for a better offer before Menlo will start negotiating? I've never been fond of that tactic and would rather reward the guy who offers the best up front terms.
________
Vaporizer Guide

310Guy

I understand what you are saying. When I bought my 8 in So Cal I had one dealership tell me this as well. I told them I did not do business that way so I moved on; i.e. this dealership wanted to know what other dealerships were quoting before they would quote me a price.

gusmahler

To be fair to Pedro, he offered 250 over invoice before saying he would match other offers.

Al Sanchez in Gilroy called me, but they were less than helpful. He couldn't find any car at all for me, promised he'd call me back, and hasn't yet.

gusmahler

Since I never heard from any other dealers, I'm going with Putnam. I already put down the deposit and will hopefully pick up the car at the dealer on Saturday. I'll see how much more than $100 over invoice I can get it.

gusmahler

Finally got a call from Almaden Mazda. $600 over invoice.

I don't think so.

Loaded8

What color did you end up getting? :D

gusmahler

Red. Putnam found a yellow, but it had the Appearance package and spoiler, which I didn't want. I asked if they could find a red, and they did.

310Guy

Well, that's not THAT bad... $600 over invoice.


Congrats though on the purchase.

gusmahler

Putnam is starting to **** me off. After continuing to promise me the car over the weekend, he called me on Friday to tell me that it wouldn't be there until "Tuesday or Wednesday". I called back this morning, he says that he has to talk to the sales manager this morning and will call me back in "10 minutes". That was half an hour ago. They still haven't even negotiated with the other dealer to get the car.

I'm going to ask for a refund of my deposit if he doesn't get me the car by tomorrow. (The deposit was via credit card, so I can get it back whether or not Putnam allows me to).

gusmahler

I finally heard from Putnam. They were lying the whole time.

* First, just after I posted, I called him again. He said that he had talked to the other dealer and was just trying to get it delivered to his dealer.

* 4 minutes later (according to my cell phone's logs), he calls me back and says the other dealer doesn't even have the car in stock. Obviously, he never even talked to the other dealer or he would have known about this before.

* He did offer me a Silver Sport/Rotary accents for $200 under invoice. It's on their lot now, so no worries about getting one delivered. I'm not sure I like the Silver though. Plus, I really don't want to deal with that lying b*#*#*d.

gusmahler

Just called both Oak Tree and Oakland to find out what they have in stock. They are both checking and should give me a call back when they have checked their inventory. I'm not going to deal with dealers exchanging cars. That's the benefit of living in an area with multiple dealers, if one doesn't have it in stock, I can just drive to one that does. Dealers swapping cars to get one in stock may work when there is only 1 dealer within 100 miles. But it was a mistake for me to even attempt to get a car that way.

gusmahler

I can't stand dealing with the salespeople. They think I'm some kind of idiot.

I called Royal Mazda in SF and asked what they had. They had a yellow, but it was Grand Touring. I told him I wasn't interested in the Grand Touring because of price. He said is there anything we can do to help. I said, "yeah, give me the GT for the same price as the Sport." He said he would do that! So I told him the price I was quoted on the Sport ($200 under invoice). He said, "I meant MSRP of Sport." Thanks for nothing, a-hole.

Oakland has a only one Sport in an acceptable color, but it has appearance package and spoiler. Almaden has one Sport, but it also has Nav. Oak Tree and Putnam both have Sport, but only in Silver. (And I'm not buying from Putnam no matter what they do for me with price.) So my choices are now between the model I want in a color I don't want. Or the color I want with additional features that I don't want.

Decisions. Decisions.

Loaded8

or you can wait until you can find what you really want. sorry you had problems with Putnam, they were awesome for me. :D

gusmahler

I'm thinking of that. The problem is that my wife loses her car on the 14th. So I need something by then. I was actually thinking of getting an Accord just to tide the family over until I can find the appropriate RX8. But I don't know if I'm that desperate.

PUR NRG

I highly recommend nav for those who can afford it. It's a very nice feature. For what it's worth.
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Lovely Wendie

Loaded8

I wasn't going to get the nav, then I wasn't going to ever use it... now I use it and I'm very glad I got it.... it's great....

xxMax Powerxx

spread your search out to Sacramento, Fresno, Redding, Reno, Monteray, etc... Sometimes you can get better deals if you are willing to go to smaller, out of the way places because demand is lower. They tend to be better on the customer service front as well.

gusmahler

I've called pretty much every dealer in the Bay Area, except Marin County, including Santa Cruz and Gilroy. Only one Red Sport available, the one I wrote about earlier with NAV that is at Almaden. I will be meeting them today to see if I can work something out.

I should probably just negotiate over the phone, and if they start the typical salesperson grandstanding, I'm just going to leave and try the North Bay. If nothing is there, I'm buying a backup car. Haven't decided what yet.