Well, I called Joyce at Al Smith today and she stated that their President decided to throw on $995 to the MSRP. I got the presidents name from her and left him a polite message asking him to call me back.

I've been a customer with Al Smith since spring of '98 and this will be my third straight Mazda from them. That's right, three new vehicles in 5 1/2 years. That is definite customer loyality. Up until this I've had absolutely no problems with them.

So, if after my call with the president tomorrow things don't work out there will be a red, manual, GT RX-8 available for purchase in a couple of weeks.

bbarrington

 

I wish you well with your conversation. I trust the President will recind his across-the-board decision, because of your loyalty.

 

I hope this isn't the start or the dealers beginning to turn the screws. Interesting to see how this develops when advertising and commercials start to kick and the general populace begin to get word of the forthcoming 8.

If you already put a downpayment down I would have an immediate talk with the 'prez' and state your case.. sounds like a little bait and switch to me... I can only think of 2 words for this situation and that's "bull" and "sh*t"....

 

When I put down my refundable $500 in January they stated that it was "possible" the president would decide to add $1000. I'm curious to hear from Roachman because he is buying from the same dealer but got it in writing that he would pay MSRP. I wonder now if they will honor it.

The great thing is that my Tribute is still running fine and I don't mind keeping it until it's paid off in February. By then I'll be able to find a RX-8 on the lot for less than MSRP only it won't be Al Smith Mazda. The sad part is that Al Smith will be the only party to lose in all of this. They will have lost an extremly loyal customer.

 

Good luck, hope you talk some sense into him. If my dealer decides to screw me on MSRP (which he's been swearing up and down he won't) I'm not buying it. I love the car, but I'm not that desperate that I'm willing to line their pockets any more than I already am.

 

I went in today and spoke with the president of the Mazda dealership. He didn't seem too interested in keeping my business. I'm beginning to wonder if this is going to start happening at other dealerships as well. I hope you all don't get a screwed as me.

Right now I'm not interested in the RX-8 anymore at all. Too bad Mazda USA can't keep the dealers from pulling this crap.

The real shame is that up until now Al Smith had been great to deal with. They were very helpful in getting me my last two cars especially my special order of the Tribute when it first came out. The service department is outstanding. Now they seem willing to lose a young but already loyal customer over a $1000.

When the car comes and if it doesn't sell I expect they'll try and call me. If so, I'll offer them $1000 BELOW MSRP. Seems only fair... :D

 

In what form did they add the $995? Didn't you draw a binding contract with your preorder? I expect to go to my dealer and just give them a check for the deal that we reached in March. Let me know how things work out.

 

This is why I went with Capital Mazda in Cary. I did not like having the people at Al Smith add to MSRP. I went to Capital Mazda and they are charging MSRP. I have been dealing with Isaac Cornetti there (since beginning March), and he has been great to deal with.....so far!

Just some FYI!
Dean

 

Capital Mazda told me today that they were charging $2000 over MSRP. Did you get it in writing that you are getting MSRP?

 

Yes, I did get it in writing for MSRP.

27200 RX-8 (6 spd)
3900 GT Package
933 3% use tax
61 Title and license
297 Handling, inspection, notary (bullsh%t)
32391 Total

Again this was back in March. Sorry to hear that they are now charging 2000 over MSRP! I told them that is why I came to them because Al Smith was charging 995 (at the time) over MSRP.

 

bbarrington,

I am very dissappointed in that news. I just got back from a bus trip today. I will swing by tommorrow with my signed paper stating that I will only pay MSRP and make sure they plan to stand behind it.

I will let you know. FYI, I am not happy with some the latest news on the car either. I almost bought a '99 Porsche 911 last week with 11K miles for $41K, but backed out at the last minute. I have been waiting for this car for over a year now. But I am worried about the low torque and maybe the future of the car becoming a "rice" car.

Again, I will let you know what they tell me. FYI, I know that they have not sold all their pre-orders yet. They have cars coming in already that are not spoken for.....

Roachman

 

bbarrington,

I am very dissappointed in that news. I just got back from a bus trip today. I will swing by tommorrow with my signed paper stating that I will only pay MSRP and make sure they plan to stand behind it.

I will let you know. FYI, I am not happy with some the latest news on the car either. I almost bought a '99 Porsche 911 last week with 11K miles for $41K, but backed out at the last minute. I have been waiting for this car for over a year now. But I am worried about the low torque and maybe the future of the car becoming a "rice" car.

Again, I will let you know what they tell me. FYI, I know that they have not sold all their pre-orders yet. They have cars coming in already that are not spoken for.....

Roachman

 

Actually, I went to Capital Mazda in Cary and they were willing to deal with me since I've proven I'm a loyal Mazda customer. I didn't get MSRP from them but I got close enough. I also was able to switch to a Winning Blue Mettalic with the GTP. I had a red on order at Al Smith but after seeing all the pictures of the blue I'm glad I switched.

So, I'm back in the game!

 

I feel you. I was at Al Smith last night and told the manager that he was crazy to think that I was giving him $995.00 just because he wanted to put an Al Smith Sticker on the car. I too have bought several Mazdas in the past; (Harrelson Mazda, Charlotte, NC 1996 Millenia S, Apex - Cary, NC Auto Mall - 1999 Mazda 626 ES, Coggin Mazda [now Millenium Mazda], Durham, NC) - 1990 MX6-GT. I have test driven at Al Smith, Capital of Cary, and MIllenium, and visited Asheboro Mazda. Capital of Cary seems the most interested in my business at the present although Asheboro Mazda did write and call me back after I visited. I won't hesitate to visiti 10, 11, 12, 13 or even 14 different dealerships until I get the right feeling. I did this in 1998 when I bought a Mitsubishi Montero Sport 4X4. My theory is somebody will deal with me on my terms; Patience is a Virtue.

 

Barrington, good for you for walking out on that deal. You were getting totally screwed. Still, I'm suprised when you put down your deposit you didn't get a written agreement on the car you were buying and the price. I had all that explicitly in writing, signed by the sales manager, when I first placed my deposit.

Nevertheless, these screwballs have proven they are not trustworthy and they don't deserve your business. I'm glad it worked out for you and that Blue is awesome! Happy driving; when will you get your car?

 

I ended up getting a Titanium 6MT GT from Capital instead of the Blue. The Titanium came in unallocated and with the same options about three weeks ahead of the Blue. I just ended up falling for the color. Very classy look IMO.

If anyone has noticed a Titanium RX-8 in the Brier Creek area of Raleigh its probably me.

-bbarrington

 

Way cool. What color interior?

Next time you have a chance, cruise by Al Smith in your new 8 and tell 'em what you think of their markup policy. And esp make sure their service dept knows they're not getting ur business cuz of their sales dept. Loss of service customers costs them way more than your loss of a sale. And costs them way more than the $995 they woulda made from you. Jerks.

 

Black leather interior. I've seen pics of the Titanium with Black/Brown interior and I'm not a fan of it.

Al Smith actually called me about a month ago asking if I was still interested in the Red 8 I ordered. I told them I had gotten the titanium from Capitol Mazda a month earlier. It's too bad to because Al Smith is only three miles from where I work. It was very easy to use their service dept. Now I have to travel down to Cary, NC to get service. Oh well, worth the money I saved.

 

Well, the fact is you can get service at any Mazda dealership; doesn't have to be where you bought it. But I'd avoid Al Smith just out of spite.

 

I'm also looking at getting a RX-8 within the next 6 months. My girlfriend and I went to Millenium(sp?) Mazda in durham, and they seemed pretty interested in my business. I wasn't very sure how much they marked up over MSRP there but, when i went to Al Smith in raleigh i could tell they were charging about 1000$ more than what i saw at millenium. The guy who came over to me at al smith was an a*s. He said to come get him when i needed anything.... D*ickhead. I'm thinking this weekend of makring a trip to cary and if they can compete with Millenium then i'm taking my business there.

04

 

Dump those schmoes. It is incomprehensible to me that any dealership would think that treating your customers like crap is a good business model. How do these knuckleheads stay in business?

 

I'm wondering if Al Smith is now run by new management. When I dealt with them in '98 and '01 they seemed much more interested in customer service. Now they seemed only interested in the extra $1000 they were trying to fleece out of me. This wasn't from the sales team though but just their President. He was outwardly nice but I could tell he felt "Nobody else is going to sell it less than $1000 over MSRP so why should I"?

The guys at Capital Mazda in Cary were totally opposite. They knew I was an RX-8 enthusiaste treated me as such. They kept me informed of when the first RX-8 showed up so I could come look at it. They also informed me when the Titanium came in which is the one I ended up buying. If anyone from Capital Mazda in Cary, NC is reading this I want you to know you did an awesome job! Just don't turn on me in a couple years when I'm ready to buy a Mazda Speed RX-8... :D

 

Sorry to hear you are having problems....

Based on data for other threads on this site, I recommend you consider internet searches for pricing. Some have said that the price of RX-8s at northern dealers is coming down because they think it will be hard to sell them in the winter.

Just a thought.

Good Luck

 

Recommend you consider internet searches for pricing. Based on data from other on this site, northern dealers are dropping prices because they do not think they can sell 8s in the winter.

Just a thought.

Good luck

 

Has anybody talked price with Smith or Capital lately? If you check the inventories at mazdausa.com, RDU area dealers are sitting on a TON of 8's...