After more than two months of research and living in these forums, I finally decided to lease an '05 silver GT with appearance package, rotary accent package, and spoiler. I picked it up last Friday. So far, I am very happy, but I have not had much time to drive it (I still have a car to sell, and I'm taking that everywhere I go for more exposure). I was eligible for S-plan pricing. I initially started looking at '04s because of the better lease incentive, and was looking for a late production model. This did not work out for various reasons.

This may be a bit long, but I thought I'd share my experiences in dealing with a number of dealerships by phone and in person. I learned a lot from reading about what had happened to others. I did not get a hard sell from any dealership, and all the salespeople were courteous. Some were more knowledgeable than others, and some more helpful than others, but I have no serious complaints in this area. I met no one who was truly arrogant or obnoxious (Toyota salespeople should take some lessons—a topic for another day). Follow up varied, and while this did not bother me (since I had choices), these dealerships lost my business. I'll not mention names to protect the guilty, but if they read this forum, they may recognize themselves, and maybe they'll be better with the next person who is considering buying a car from them. My son, who is a college grad, has been thinking about buying a new car, and he will likely avoid these dealerships.

A few details:
One salesperson pulled a bait and switch. He said he had an '04 on the lot that was exactly what I was looking for. When I got there, he discovered his "mistake"—it was an '05, but.............he had seven other '04s that he was willing to sell below invoice. It was October 31st and he needed to make a quota for the month. He got me in the door, and he was determined to sell me car no matter what. As time went on, the deal kept getting better: at 1:30, $500 below invoice (in addition to the lease incentive); at 2:30, add the 6-disc changer and appearance package at no charge; at 3:00, add paint protection and fabric protection free (he initially tried to sell me these). If only I wanted green, I could have probably asked for the nav too. At 4:00, a red one for even less (he had three of these). Once I left, I never heard from him again. Dropped like a lead brick.

Two phone contacts with other dealerships resulted in nothing to warrant my driving 40-90 minutes to see them. Both confirmed they had what I wanted, and when I said I was looking to pay below invoice, they never followed up ("let me check with the sales manager, and I'll you back by the end of the day"). Over the phone, one said he knew he could get me $500 below MSRP (wow!).

One dealership I visited three times. On two occasions, I asked for exact numbers for lease payments on the car I wanted with the options I wanted (and not the "example lease"). Both times, the salesperson said he would get back to me that night. On the third occasion, I was waiting to hear about a car they located at another dealership, and he would get back to me that night. All three times, it was five days later. I would have bought my car there except for this. It was his sale to lose, and he did. He promised the best after-the-sale service I could find, but if this was anything like his before-the-sale service, I expected I might have problems. The salesperson showed me how he wasn't making much money on an S-plan sale, so this may (I can only guess) have affected his attentiveness to me.

One dealership let me test drive without making a copy of my license, two wanted my license beforehand, and one wanted both my license and my insurance card. Three dealerships let me go alone on the test drive, while one had the salesperson go with me.

My two best experiences were at a dealership 100 miles away (they had an '04 I was interested in on 12/30), and the local dealership where I ended up leasing. The salespeople were courteous, kind, patient, and honest. Both gave me accurate numbers for lease payments. The price was a bit better at the 100-mile dealership (they had no advertising fees included in the lease price), but they didn't have a car that met my needs at the time I wanted to lease. The local dealership had included the advertising fee in all the quotes they had given me so there were no surprises. They do offer free oil changes, which offset some of the increased cost. The salesperson was great, despite my numerous visits to test drive the 8. In the business office, I was offered the extras such as the typical four-way miracle protection (inside, outside, between the sides, and under the car) at a "discount" and a tire warranty, but the approach was relatively low key. I was out of the dealership in less than an hour.

I can only hope that I my experiences with the service department be this good (and few).

 

Congrats! The finance guy finally struck a deal. That's some patience and determination there! Service guys aren't that bad if you are just as well informed as your shopping experience. This board helps immensely.

 

Congrats, I recently got my 8 after extensive research and time spent in dealerships (I still feel dirty...LOL) and I'm SOOO HAPPY with the car. I can relate to your story big time, but try this on for size...

"I drove from Orlando to Miami 225+ miles to have the bait and switch done to me"

They said they had the 04 and I could get the payment I was looking for, then said..."Who are you? You spoke to who? I sold that car yesterday..."

#$%&#$()#&%#()&$#_)

But, it's all good now...I wish I could drive down again and show them my new 2005 RX8...

 

Ditto. The salesman who was slow on the follow up, sent me an email on Sunday asking what I decided. It was nice to be able to say, "too late".

 

I hope they call me so I can give them my...

"Nah Ne-nah ne-naNA"

LOL

 

Hey...congrats on your purchase and welcome to the cult!! :D

What car are you selling?

- Irish

 

2000 Civic Si with 30,000 miles.

 

My salesman told me over the phone he had a red 8, so I went down to see it. He greeted me at the door and told me it would be a couple of minutes as he had to close a deal. He never came back and after 2 hr wait, the person he closed the deal with was driving off in the red one.

 

That sucks. You should have cursed out his manager. Some of these people have no respect.

 

Fred, congrats on your 8!
My buying experience was quite pleasant too. I also got the S-Plan pricing. Basically most of the communication was through email. Sent request for quote email to 3 dealers. They all responsed back within 2 days. 2 of them had the exact configuration I wanted. One dealer (Hancock Mazda) even listed the price and the break up of all the tax, title, license, inspection and fees, and later on fax me their invoice (this is the dealer I bought my car). The other one kept saying they can not give me the break up of the TTL and fees. This is the closest one to me, but one of my co-worker had a bad experience with this dealer's high pressure tactic. The 3rd dealer after I asked 3 times in email finally told me they won't have it in-stock until 3rd week of Jan. So I went to Hancock Mazda, took the 8 for a spin, sat down, they worked on the paper work. I pre-arranged autoloan (4.55%) , but they were able to offer me a lower rate (4.25% for 48 mo) after 10 mins. Of course they did their normal pitch of extended warranty, but no pressure at all. I was out of the dealer in less than an hour. Oh, they also dropped the $50 doc fee. Yes, even in S-Plan, they have the "option" to add certain fees.