Grabitquick

Hi, folks. I've been browsing here for several months and finally decided to join up. I'm still not ready to purchase yet, but should be in about 3-4 weeks when I receive a down-payment stake from an auction item. I've been doing a lot of due-diligence--about the RX8, of course (it's the car for me--blue, and maybe yellow if I can still find one, and of course MT since I've always driven one), number-crunching and credit score monitoring (high credit card balances like a lot of folks, but fortunately an otherwise long and unblemished credit record and a score well up into the 700's), and all of the other good stuff, including the latest suggestions from carbuyingtips.com (great website if you haven't seen it yet).

I was wondering if anyone has any recent experiences with dealer purchases here in L.A., with any suggestions on who to try for the best deal? I haven't purchased a new car in 10 years, so I'm out of practice--bought my MX-6 at Kramer (now Santa Monica) Mazda, and they're still the closest to me, and have also looked into CarsDirect (about halfway between invoice and MSRP, which isn't bad but maybe not the best). Is Santa Monica Mazda still a place to try, or are there other dealers in L.A. that I should see? I'm not looking to add on a bunch of options--maybe the Sport Package at most, but it's still a lot of money and I don't want to be stressed out from haggling and the like more than necessary. Anyway, I'd be grateful for any advice. Thanks!

8pex

Don't live in SoCal anymore so I can't suggest a particular dealer.
You sound like your not in to price haggling (don't blame you),
go to Edmunds.com and build the car your looking for and they will give you options of getting quotes from internet depts. at local dealers. Get these proces and pit the dealers against one another.

Grabitquick

Thanks for the suggestion. I may well take that route, and I've seen others suggest playing the dealers off against each other. I've also heard that the fleet managers seem to be easier to deal with than the typical floor salesperson. I haggle for a living (work in the legal area), so I prefer not to do it in my off-hours too if I can avoid it. CarsDirect has some great no-haggle deals on a lot of cars, but at least here in So. Calif., the demand for the RX-8 is apparently pretty high, so they're not giving that much of a break and purchasing from a dealer may save some $$$.

kantonm

I just bought my RX-8 last week. I went to Galpin on Roscoe in Van Nuys... I was impressed...Marcus Pasette found the car that I wanted without a deposit, credit check or anything (Black 6sp GT W/Blk&chapparal, nav, rotary accent and appearance pkgs)...he found the car in 4 days...I got a killer deal and I went for 3 test drives and the last one was about 45min long...that dealer ROCKS. Also Marcus told me about 'flashing' the computer and told me how to get it done. The entire experience was great...they really love these cars and you can tell that they want to make the customer happy. Give Marcus and Galpin a try..tell him Kurt sent U. He'll take care of you!! Good luck wherever you go!

Grabitquick

Thanks--I'll chalk one up for Galpin. They're right over "the hill" from me and I know that they're huge, so the chances of finding what I want in stock (or getting it quickly) are probably good. Are you planning on getting your service done there, also? I'll probably stick with Santa Monica Mazda for service since they're closest to me--they're not perfect, but they've serviced my MX-6 pretty well for a decade.

Napboy

I'd have to go with Galpin on this one too. My first RX-8 was sold to me by Lorraine something (cute too), then had Dale something (not too cute) for my second one.

Because Galpin has so many cars cars, I'd suggest you make sure they have the car you want, then go in there with the price you want to pay. It makes it easier with no haggling. If they make the deal, great. If not, go somewhere else. That's one of the great things about living in this area because there are a lot of dealers to choose from.

About service, I'd highly recommend Galpin also. Scott (a high school buddy of mine) is the service manager and he's great with customer service.