memrie

Hey everyone! I'm a first time poster & long time browser of this forum. Thanks to all for your great posts concerning every aspect I can think of concerning the 8. I know this will be my next car, and my first vehicle purchase. I have been driving around a 97 Sunfire since, um, 97. More recently, with my job, I have been driving a company vehicle for the past 8 months, and have only driven my personal car a couple of times. I'm not a diehard for speed, so I wont make any engine mods, but will enjoy driving a sophisticated and stylish machine, as the 8 is.

Now on to the post....

I was oh so close to hammering down a great deal on the 8 here in Indianapolis yesterday (Feb. 28). Dealerships are charged a 2-3% tax on each car in their lots on the first of March, so I tried to take advantage.

MSRP on the Blue 8 was 32,100. It was a GT with rotary accents, the weird looking silver lip thingy (IMO) and front/rear splash guards. Additionally, the dealer had fender strakes, door sills, and rotary tire caps on the 8. Nice. That brought the price to 33,400. Oh yeah, and they were willing to swap the front lip for the spoiler.

I really wanted the appearance pkg. and in black, but was willing to make the sacrifice for a great deal. I was able to get them down to 30,600 for what was on the lot. I'm barely eligible for the $500 college rebate, and was offered $2500 for my Sunfire. That makes the total cost pre-fees and taxes, 27,600. Hmm. I knew of the $1,500 dealer incentive (thanks rx8club) and was hoping to get most of that, but they wouldn't budge too much. I walked. I was fine with this because the cost of the appearance pkg. would be alot more since it wasn't stock, but I still think the price was pretty good.

I have plenty of time, and this can be used to save up more of a cash downpayment, or sell my Sunfire privately and get a few more dollars out of it. What do you guys think?

Gord96BRG

Good move. RX-8s aren't in short supply in the US, and if you have patience, you can find exactly what you want for the right price.

Regards,
Gordon

Trx8

Bargaining is an individual strategy, so I am not giving you advice, rather asking a question.

Why not have the dealer find a car with the exact features you want? Likely they aren't as willing to negotiate price that way, but at least you are only buying the things that you want. If you can find a Ford empoylee to get you S-Plan, then the price is within a few hundred of "Invoice" without negotiation. Depending on what you actually want on the car, that could be comparable to what you pay after you talk them on down on features you didn't really want and have them add or remove options.

If you are OK with selling your Sunfire, you may d come out many dollars ahead.

A downside is they may have to retrieve the car from another dealer. That is routine and supposedly involves known good drivers driving the car. I was somewhat apprehensive about that, but then I found myself in the same position with an Audi I was looking it -- same story that its OK to have the known good drivers drive your new car. Maybe someone else has comments on having your dealer of choice finding and retrieving your car of choice from another dealer.

That is how I got my car and it worked out fine, and I have the features I want.

memrie

Initially, the salesman and I began to write down the exact car I would like to have. He even said, "I'll pick it up myself if it is within a hundred miles". I was weary of that myself, knowing I'd like to have the first hundo on the car. I pulled back after realizing I would not get the "great" deal I believed I had for the one sitting on the lot.

I think selling the Sunfire privately will bring in an extra thousand to 1500 that the dealer won't offer. It may be 7 years old, but it only has 74,000 miles on it, and is very well maintained.

Of course by the time I do sell my car, and save some more money, I'm sure I could locate the exact 8 I want. Maybe by then the 2005 model will have the new or improved features available to the public, and I can make a choice between the 04 and 05. I have family back in St. Louis and go back once every couple of months. The city has a much better selection of dealers than Indy at this time, so I would be willing to travel for the best deal.

ByeByeSaturn

What is this $1500 rebate?? I thought it was for leases only? Am I a sucker for getting my deal without mentioning it?

memrie

I could be mistaken. When I saw a sticker on the window of one of the 8's I was looking at, it showed "$399/mo". I asked the salesman and he said it was if you leased the car and it included a $1500 rebate. Ok. Going into the talks, I never mentioned if I was going to buy or lease. When it came to the end and I was filling out the credit application, I told him I wanted to lease so I could use the $1500 towards the car. The salesman then left to talk to the manager. I could overhear the manager saying there was never a rebate, thoguh I was told 30 minutes earlier there was on the lease. When he came back, I was informed it was a dealer incentive, which they would pass some of it along since I "knew" of it. So it's not really a rebate, or neccessarily given to the consumer, unless they want to wheel and deal a little more.

Trx8

At 7 years, 74,000 miles, and good care, you likely have something that is a notch or two above other SunFire's of the same year on the market.

Being able to look at both the '04s and '05s and picking what you want could have significant advantages, provided '04s with the options you want don't get scarce. That also assumes you don't get the RX-8 bug to the point that waiting become intolerable. I considered delaying for the '05s. My '94 Accord was starting to show electrical and mechanical problems, and I wanted to move it before it burned me, I had to invest more money to keep it running, or both.

I had also read some speculation that Mazda may subtly degrade the RX-8 quality in future years. At that point my dealer found the car I wanted, I had the RX-8 bug and had already idled for 3 months ... I really like my car and enjoy driving it every day.

WHealy

memrie,

Were you on the far north side of Indy? I know they have that nose ring on just about everything they have in inventory. A good deal is simply one you are happy with. Yea they are going to get inventory tax on it. But what's one more. I bet the recall/hault to sales may have hit them harder and they may already have a deal from Mazda to cover it.

But keep in mind, I belive it's the inventory they have at the end of the day Monday ... hum ...

memrie

Trx8: The 8 bug is in me, thats for sure. I've been browsing this site since last October, and daydreaming about the 8 since June of 03. I have waited, in most part, because I am currently in my first job since graduating in 02. Just waiting till I was financially stable... which is about now (or so I tell myself every day). I hope to hold out at least until the specs come out on the 05, but as you said, how much can I take before it become intolerable.

WHealy: Yes, I went up to N. Keystone. Very friendly I might add. There was an 8 with everything I wanted except color. Grrr. Thats so tough. I would LOVE black, like blule alot, and consider red. Of course the one on the lot was red.... Monday you say... uh oh :-)

.... I think I'll hold out for my brilliant black.

Kel Rx8

as for the 1500 lease its only good till march 1 which is monday
by what the dealers says 9pm(lol i guess all dealers close that time.)
but i will be in mazda tommorow night hopefully signing papers
as long as they dont try to pull a fast one on me.

memrie

So you were told it is an actual rebate KelRx8? Hmm, I think my salesman was being honest with me, and his manager was trying to play dumb to keep the money, and thus the car... for now.

memrie

So you were told it is an actual rebate KelRx8? Hmm, I think my salesman was being honest with me, and his manager was trying to play dumb to keep the money, and thus the car... for now.

Kel Rx8

yes memrie i just got back from the dealer
but i was 2 sec away from signing. i was guaranteed by the sales
manager he even signed the invoice of the car(copy i have with me)
that the $1500 is not going anywhere right now.
he gets a update ever 15th of the month and will call me back when the 1500 will be taken away by mazda.
if your dealership is not aware of the 1500 only on leases, rx8
he is trying to keep your money.actually my sales guy doesnt know of the dealer pay out(1500) what i was told my another dealer is maybe the managers dont want all sales guys to know this. i told him and he asked the manager and he said yeah so we crunched #.
im debating between 2 dealers now to see which one will give me the better deal.but im so anxious right now i would of driven it home tonight.

Kel Rx8

pm me if you need any info.

memrie

Ahhh, same grief here. I received a call from my salesman who helped me Sat. night. Here's the lowdown from him:

Red 8 $34,161
- $2,000 dealer discount
- $1,500 dealer cash (only on a lease 48 months or longer)
- $500 college rebate

So the 8 came down to $30,161.

- $2,500 for my trade in
- $1,000 cash down

Now its 27,661. God I was close to going to the dealer and signing. He said mo. payments would be $380 AND included aplicable taxes and fees. Given, I was on the phone with him and could have had some hidden fees, but hopefully I would have caught them. I said no. I loved the price. But I really really wanted black, and red is just not my color. I do feel it was a pretty good deal he was offering.

As for that $1,500 dealer cash, do you mean to tell me its not over and done with by tonight? It makes sense, why would they end it on a monday, the first of the month? Hopefully it does stay around. What a ploy to get me to come in and sign tonight :-)

memrie

By the way Kel... HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Kel Rx8

thanks bud:D

Kel Rx8

it seems like the 1500 is not up im going nuts right now hoping actually praying that the dealer is not lying about the 1500 being over.
th only reason i rused out of work and made it to the dealer at 7:30pm tonight was cause i was told that it ends on march1 meaning for dealers its the closing of feb.
dude be happy dont settle for less get every color,option you want its your money.

memrie

Absolutely agree... I got the call from the dealer around 12-1pm this afternoon, and didnt get off work till 7 this evening. Finally I called him and thats when we went over the numbers... still, I beleive its best I wait as you said, for everything I wanted, instead of biting now. If I wait, I know I'll have more money saved and possibly get a better deal on my trade in elsewhere... but man, I do hate waiting... I have the bug.

Kel Rx8

p.s $1500 for lease back doesnt matter on 39-48
i was at 42 months im not doing 48 at all.i tried 39 but...
who told you on 48 or better ?
im at $385 a month g/t missing navi only.

Kel Rx8

you im going to atlantic city this week for my bday with a bunch of freinds and one of my friends she just got her rx8 2 months ago.
what fun we would of had driving down .errr
but i must hold out to see if i can get a bit of a better deal
btw what package option you looking at ?

DrRockin99

I'm new to this forum , and want to say the input in here is awesome ! I saw my first Rx-8 about 6 months ago , I've wanted to buy a new car for a while and nothing caught my eye until I saw the Rx-8 ...so now I have the bug ! Guess I should have never test drove one . My goal is to get one by Aug . All your input has made that fire even stronger ...thanks !

Kel Rx8

goodluck DrRockin99
the test drive will do it
1st time i drove it was my friends
i kicked everyone out the car turned the radio down opened the windows
14 degrees outside. and got on every gear it was music to my ears a flashback.i have had rotary cars since '97 and alwayz had one or either had one in the family.an basically have had just about every rx7 ever made.im getting the bug big time.wankel will visit me soon.

memrie

I got yet another call from the dealer today, saying they "just found out that the rebate is vaild through March". Thats nice, but I knew because of you guys that it would still be here.

He also located the car I wanted without some of the little accessoies, such as chrome exhaust (which I do want but...), door sill, cargo net, fender strakes.

I still think i want the strakes and chome, but I can wait to get that done later, right? His prior deal with me still stood, which tells me that the right time to buy (tax day last night) didnt matter with price.

So without those accessories, the msrp comes down 1200 or so, making my deal mentioned earlier, $26,461. If I can put $2000 down, I beleive a four year lease will run about $360/mo. I'm getting more and more tempted.