A little background about myself before going into the topic:

I jumped ship from NASIOC to RX8Club soon after taking a short test-drive in the RX8. While not particularly enamored with the interior quality and material feel (specifically the aluminum-alike brushed trim piece that runs fore-aft), the car did drive brilliantly in corners. I just hope that the new 2005 Legacy GT is a lesser car when the time comes. While both cars differ in class category (Sports vs Sedan), drivetrain (RWD vs AWD), they do share the distinction of being named the Cars of the Year in their domestic market (RJC Car of the Year '04 vs Japan Car of the Year '03-04).

General pricing:

I have observed from other threads that recent completed sales seem to be mostly invoice price minus $600-800. According to Edmunds, the holdback on Mazda is 2% of base MSRP. Therefore, sale price less than invoice minus ~$525 would theoretically cut into the dealer's bottomline, without taken into consideration of miscellaneous incentives/rebates. Was there ever a promotion besides the standard $500 Graduate Rebate being offered on RX8 in the past to motivate the dealer in selling the car at a loss?

Dealership selection:

I would like to hear feedbacks on these following franchises in New Jersey (NJ): Wayne Mazda on Rt23, Maxon Mazda on Rt22, and East Coast Mazda on Rt17. I have read up on existing posts extensively and narrowed my choices to this trio. Better Business Bureau (BBB) reports East Coast to be outstanding, Maxon (one resolved complaint), and Wayne (one unresolved complaint). I am looking for comments on purchase/service experience.

ps. Has any RX8 owner ask for their dealers in replacing the summer Bridgestone RE040 with all-season Pirelli PZero Nero as a condition of sale? Due to space constraint (renting instead of owning), having only one set of tire/wheel is easier to deal with. I still remember the time when I had three sets of tire/wheel on my beloved Honda CRX. Those were days when I was young and "nuts" about cars.

Thanks in advance for all helpful responses!

 

I don't mean to bump my own thread, but any comments are welcome!

 

I generally don't answer my own questions, but no one else cares to comment besides bxb40 who actually sent me PMs.

Pricing: The final price will solely dependent on your will and wherewithal of getting the best offer from the dealership. Make sure you go into the negotiation with offers from competitive dealers. Stick to your ground and watch out for miscellaneous charges. Use your best judgment on fees such as window etching, credit inquiry, "wash & wax" aka dealer prep, NY Assessment Fee for NY/NJ base, and Warranty Retail Parts Recovery. Confirm with MazdaUSA or nearby dealers for verification. You should always expect to see these surprises since invoice information is readily transparent and dealers may use these fees to make up on the lost profits. The "Total" including fees, tax, registration/title fee, and Doc Fee is what you should be concerned of to simplify the process and to save yourself the headaches of justifying how dealers come up with the price of vehicle.

Dealership: Homework, homework, and homework. I will do a write-up on my purchase experience once the car gets delivered to my satisfaction. Until then, please be aware that you may run into individuals/sales consultants that can be pushy and demeaning. Remember that the law of supply & demand on RX8 is in consumers' favor at the moment. Walk away from the table if you ever feel uncomfortable. Pressure and haggling are all part of the concession. Bottomline: go with CarsDirect's invoice +$500 if you find negotiation to be a pain/chore rather than the norm of business world.

Tire Swap: Maybe possible but can be the deal breaker if two sides are off by a wide margin. Be ready for words such as "collusion" and "liability" being thrown around in the talk. Advice: sell them yourself or bite the bullet and have multiple sets of tires/wheels. Hence, I have a set 4 x 225/45/18 Bridgestone RE040 OEM tires that I'll be looking to sell immediately after taking delivery of the new car. My first stop after the pickup is to swap the OEM summer tires with all-seasons at a tire-store nearby. I'll also put this up in the Parts for Sale/Wanted forum for interested parties. Asking price: $150/each/FIRM + actual shipping charge by buyer. TireRack sells it for $211 + shipping. You will get these brand spanking new tires with less than 10 miles on them guaranteed at ~30% discount. Local pick-up in NJ/NYC only.

Hope this information can be of help to prospective buyers!

 

I called Wayne Mada and was quoted $29K for a Tit RX8 with GT package.

 

Here's my story about East Coast Mazda. I gave them 3 g's as a deposit to hold a blue rx8 with touring package, got a receipt and form with the vin # on it. I was suppose to pick up the car on the 22nd and they told me I have to wait because they don't like delivering cars on a saturday which is BS and also my sales rep had to go away for and wanted to be the one that delivered the car to me. So he asked me if I could pick it up yesterday so I agreed. Monday comes and at 11 in the morning while im at work i get a call from him and he tells me they sold my car!!!! Im like what the f*ck how the hell do you sell a car that you were suppose to be holding. He's telling I'm sorry I dont know what happened. i tell them to find me another car and I tell the where this is 1. He said he was going to call me back, but never did. i called him and spoke to his team leader I guess that what he was and he told me the same BS about someone sold it by accident or whatever and he said he was going to call me back and let me know and he never did. So i go there after work tell them I want my money back and you might hear from my attorney. He tries to keep me there offering me a different color, asking me for a couple days. To make a long story short, I gave them 3 g's for three weeks and they sold my car!!! East Coast SUCKS!!!

 

Oh yeah this is the East Coast Mazda on rt. 17

 

wow...that's definitely grounds for getting a lawyer involved, especially if they keep giving you the run-a-round in giving you your 3g's back. Honestly, I wouldn't buy from them anyway unless they gave me a GREAT deal (like at their or around their bottom line price). Do you really trust these people enough to deal with them for the next 4-5 years?

My two cents, albeit late...if you feel like making the drive you should check out Pacifica Mazda in Philadelphia. I got quoted all the models I was looking at at invoice. Just another option.

 

I thought I'd add that one of the best ways now to get a good deal is to find the online website for a dealership and speak with their internet person. Since internet users tend to shop around, they don't mess around - the first car dealership I contacted was also the closest to me, and immediately offered dealer invoice on the car.

 

I'd like to recommend Flemington Mazda in NJ. We just bought our 8 from them, and it was a pleasant experience overall. We managed a fair price (couple hundred over invoice) at a good rate (4.1% for 60 months).

I'm sure some have paid less, but others have paid more as well, so overall I'm qute pleased.

They did a number of things they didn't have to do, including allowing numerous test drives, treating my ailing father-in-law like royalty, and working with my wife and insurance agent to keep the actual purchase a surprise for me (I knew we were trying to buy one, but I had no idea she had already bought it until we went there to "apply for credit" and I saw a bow on one <g>).

So that's a big thumbs up for Flemington (ask for Joe)

 

Hi

I just found out about this forum about 4 hours too late!
Last night I bought a base auto with rear spoiler from Wayne Mazda and paid 24515. Seemed to me to be 186 over invoice. However, after checking this site, it seems invoice is lower than what i saw on carsdirect. THen i checked carsdirect for different zipcodes and found invoice changes depending on where you are! It is of course highest in NJ. But wierd thing is carsdirect price is lowest in NY/NJ and I beat their price. However people are implying here you can get 300 to 500 below invoice.

In the end it doesn't matter since I had to trade out of a 2003 Ford Expedition and it seems that only Wayne Mazda would give me a decent trade-in because he likes to sell trucks off his lot.

East Coast in Englewood Cliffs quated me $700 below invoice for purchase only (but 3k less for the trade-in from them) based on $1000 rebate but it seems the rebate is for leasing which has hidden fees and doesn't allow tax offset on trade-in.
East Coast in Woodbridge was similar.
Ramsey wouldn't look at the SUV, but said the best they would do was $500 over invoice.

So there it is Wayne won out.

I get the RX-8 Friday!!! Winning Blue!!!

 

I think you got hosed on that rebate. According to Edmunds, it's a $1,500 rebate. They just made $500...

Which salesman did you work with?

 

Actually I did not get therebate as they said it was only for leased vehicles, and when you added all the fees associated with the lease it turned out cheaper to finance for me as the trade-in wiped out the sales tax on a purchase but not on the lease. (I did my own finance from chase directly and got a lower rate then the dealer would give me plus saved the $60 they charge for a credit check).

The salesman was Chris.