bbrammer

I'm shocked at the lack of dealer response even though I've put down my $$$ for a pre-order. Consider several other posts here on folks buying other cars instead of waiting.

Even when I made my pre-order my dealer was scattered. But, there's been NO follow-up beyond the pretty e-mail from corporate. My e-mails direct to the rep have been ignored.

It ain't just the economy that hammers dealers. They are their own worst enemies! I've developed a LOVE for some of the Mazda products . . . but man, talk about sales folks tarnishing a good thing!!!

Consider:

MAZDA'S DOING 4 REVITUPS IN THIS AREA. I'M STUNNED THE DEALERS ARE NOT CALLING PRE-ORDER FOLKS AND VIP-ING THEM SO THEY CAN SEE THE DEMO CAR SET TO BE THERE!

The cost to the dealer in time and real $$$ would be next to zero, but would help build enthusiasm and goodwill.

They're not even sending kissy-kissy "status of your order" e-mails, or a "special tech report" or a PDF of reprints of many of the very positive key articles on the WWW. Again, just a tiny bith of work on their part would build hype. Even by an overt event like inviting L.A. area pre-orders to a track day at Buttonwillow . . . It's only about 4K to buy a day of track time. Spread across several dealerships is next to no cost versus "wow" given to a future buyer and get them to yap their mouths off about the GREAT car they've ordered. That's BETTER advertising than the BEST of the fine WWW Flash presentations . . .

I WANT to want to buy the RX . . . but wait to sit in the dealers "glass booth" and get hammered over price leaves me cold no matter how fine the car is.

Heck, it's like elective surgey . . . You don't HAVE to have it.

We'll see. Buying used Miata to get some seat time at the track is looking pretty good right now!

BB

BillK

I hear you. If just one of the two Mazda dealers that have had my name on file since 2000 had bothered to call me to tell me there was even a rumor that internet pre-orders would be starting soon I likely would not have bought the car I have now at the end of December - but nooooo...

Add the fact that I suspect that at least one of those dealers will have a big fat "additional profit" sticker of $5K or more hanging on any cars they get and it's obvious that greed is king and they just don't get today's marketplace.

I'll be happy when someday you can just order direct from the manufacturer and bypass the dealer altogether...

DonG35Miata

I've had a good relation with my Mazda dealer over the years and was promised the first RX-8 they got, and they did not even ask for a deposit until I ordered. I am disappointed that they did not order my car through the pre-order program, but as part of their allocation. Now I have to jump through hoops post-delivery to get my pre-order toys...

tribal azn2

same. my dealer didnt even call me when the rx8 was shown and pre-orders started being taken. and theres a revitup coming up here in a week and my dealer hasnt even called me about it, i would think they would at least give me a vip pass to check out the rx8. and the accessories have also been released and dealer hasnt called me either. ima go to the dealer sometime and straighten **** out.

Smoker

Boyz,
You gotta take into account that Dealers are there to SELL cars and you know what, if I'm the Dealer I would probably spend more of my time promoting and selling those Protege and Mazda6 than doing special favours for us RX-8 Lovers who are basically SOLD by car already.

I guess later on when there are "plenty" of RX-8s around for everyone then potential buyers will get a little more attention as Sales agents can get more $$ from closing a dealing with the more expensive RX-8. But definitely not now when we crashing towards the Dealership with our Pre-order forms.

-Smoker

bbrammer

I don't disagree with ya on your sales comments. But, there's stuff they could do that would take almost NO time. Yet, it would stoke the buyer's and make for a sure sale.

And, I hate feeling like a sucker when dealing with car sellers. MSRP may be the going rate and a decent deal, but I've always bought near invoice price.

For the RX, I suppose it'll be a sellers' market for the first year. I just got done yakking with a guy in the biz for 25 years and he says to take MSRP and run with it if I can get it.

Maybe I just want the dealer to do at least a little to win over me over completely so I have no reservations about dropping cash on something I don't NEED, but do WANT. <grin>

BB

bbrammer

This came from their fleet folks from a past WWW inquiry. Looks like there may be more than a couple dealers doing MSRP in the L.A. area.

This offer based on your request and stock on hand with your pre-order with them rating you on their list, with a deposit--first right of refusal and a refundable deposit. 'Not the same as a mazda.com order, but close.

"We expect the RX-8's to arrive here beginning in June. Unlike many other dealers, we will not charge over sticker price for any of them.

In order to make the sales of the new RX-8 as fair as possible, we are selling them on a first come first served basis. We anticipate selling most, if not all, of them before they arrive at our store. We expect final pricing and color availability soon. Once we have all pricing available we will let you know.

We will be accepting deposits of $500 for the first right of refusal. We only accept deposits from customers who will be taking delivery with their own name and address on the registration. No brokers, please. Rights of refusal are taken in order of deposit date. Once colors, options, and pricing on RX-8's due for delivery are finalized, those with deposits may either accept and purchase the available car, receive a refund of deposit, or stay in line for a car from the next shipment."

RX-Nut

I hear ya.. as I've stated many a times.. I've seen my great share of sucky dealers. It's like pulling teeth tryin to get them to sell you a car..

True, I think they dont feel like catering to us because we're not in there to buy something they have got to sell. Since all dealers dont even have the 8 in hand or dont know if they will, they probably feel like they dont need to push something they're not sitting on.

Still, a little love could go a long way in the negotiation process seeing as I havent found a dealer willing to go MSRP off the bat.. My 2 cents..

pelucidor

When I first heard about the RX-8 last September I phoned several Houston dealers for info and even visited two of them. The salespeople I talked to knew absolutely nothing but took all my details and said they would come back to me as soon as they heard anything about the car - they knew I was a serious buyer.

Today one of those sales guys left me a message to say he had good news about the RX-8. When I spoke to him I was hoping he would say they would have a car in for test-drives soon - instead he merely said the car was now on sale. I mentioned that I had preordered 11 weeks ago when the car 'actually' went on sale and incredibly he got angry that I had bought from someone else just because they gave me better service (the other dealership called me on Jan 7th). He felt I should have waited for him to get back to me in April to place my order. Idiot - I let him have it .

Smoker

Good work,
You SHOULD let him have it. Make them learn that they will have do some extra work if they expect to get us to buy the car from them.