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Old 12-28-2018, 03:33 PM   #1
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Buying a 2018 Mazda 3 5-door

Going to buy one of these in the next few days, and it's been a long time since I walked into a store to buy a new car.

Without having done any pricing research yet, my gut instinct is to offer to pay the MSRP number, all-in, including sales tax and fees. "Get me out the door for no more than this MSRP number."

Is that a reasonable approach? If not (or even if so), is there a new best site or other reference any of you recommend to come up with a better approach? Edmunds TMV was a good tool back in the day, but seems to be less so now.

FWIW the new redesigned 2019 models have been unveiled but are not on lots yet.

Honestly I don't feel the need to wring every last dollar out of the deal, I just want a fair deal where I'm not getting screwed, since I'm going to feel like I'm getting screwed no matter what the number ends up being, due to the inherent miasma of stench and slime that will remain on me from dealing with these amoral bottom feeders to begin with.

Any advice appreciated.
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Old 12-28-2018, 03:55 PM   #2
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That sounds way high to me. When we bought our CX-9 ages ago we paid many thousands below invoice.

Find a site that will tell you all the local and manufacturer incentives if you can
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Old 12-28-2018, 04:00 PM   #3
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https://forums.edmunds.com/discussio...ing-experience

That's an old one but that's exactly the thing I used to guide my CX-9 purchase
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Old 12-28-2018, 04:01 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Plaz View Post
Going to buy one of these in the next few days, and it's been a long time since I walked into a store to buy a new car.

Without having done any pricing research yet, my gut instinct is to offer to pay the MSRP number, all-in, including sales tax and fees. "Get me out the door for no more than this MSRP number."

Is that a reasonable approach? If not (or even if so), is there a new best site or other reference any of you recommend to come up with a better approach? Edmunds TMV was a good tool back in the day, but seems to be less so now.

FWIW the new redesigned 2019 models have been unveiled but are not on lots yet.

Honestly I don't feel the need to wring every last dollar out of the deal, I just want a fair deal where I'm not getting screwed, since I'm going to feel like I'm getting screwed no matter what the number ends up being, due to the inherent miasma of stench and slime that will remain on me from dealing with these amoral bottom feeders to begin with.

Any advice appreciated.
I suspect for a car like the Mazda 3 you'll be leaving a lot on the table if you do it that way.

TrueCar.com is a site I've heard others talk about but haven't ever used, and it suggests that the average discount for a Mazda 3 is $3679 off MSRP--it claims it can get a bigger discount than that if I register, which I don't feel like doing.

I hear you on not caring about wringing every dollar out of the deal, but I'd at least ping a few dealers and see if they will give you a quote. Email is hit or miss these days, but the good news is that you can blast a lot of emails out pretty quickly and get a sense for who it makes sense to keep talking to.
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Old 12-28-2018, 04:16 PM   #5
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Note that in NJ, sales tax is 6.625%, $400 doc fees are common, add title/license, I'd say he is asking for a 8 to 9% discount.

That said, Plaz, the discount off MSRP on that car may coincide with that number or may be more or less.
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Old 12-28-2018, 04:35 PM   #6
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Right, no personal property tax, high sales tax up front.

That being said I didn't know on a common car like that the gap between invoice and msrp was that large.

I guess I should actually prepare instead of going by my gut.

Thanks.
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Old 12-28-2018, 05:43 PM   #7
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What are you replacing?
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Old 12-28-2018, 05:52 PM   #8
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What are you replacing?
I guess you could say it's replacing wifey's '02 E46 325iT, though that has been a mere driveway ornament for a long time at this point. She doesn't really miss driving.

But it's really for my daughter primarily, though my wife and daughter will be sharing it for awhile. Before daughter takes it away in a year and a half (if whatever school she ends up going to allows freshmen to have cars on campus) we'll get wifey something new.

From what I'm reading it looks like I should be aiming at around $3.5k under MSRP, before taxes and fees. So you're right, "MSRP out the door" is leaving a little too much on the table.
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Old 12-28-2018, 06:08 PM   #9
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Also factor in buying on ew years eve and a sales guy trying to get one last sale. You should do way better than msrp. USAA site says average of $2k off msrp
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Old 12-28-2018, 06:35 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Plaz View Post
I guess you could say it's replacing wifey's '02 E46 325iT, though that has been a mere driveway ornament for a long time at this point. She doesn't really miss driving.

But it's really for my daughter primarily, though my wife and daughter will be sharing it for awhile. Before daughter takes it away in a year and a half (if whatever school she ends up going to allows freshmen to have cars on campus) we'll get wifey something new.

From what I'm reading it looks like I should be aiming at around $3.5k under MSRP, before taxes and fees. So you're right, "MSRP out the door" is leaving a little too much on the table.
Solid choice for a college car. I had a Mazda GLC in college. A three-door hatchback. It was a super stripper with one side mirror, no air conditioning, no carpeting (just vinyl covering the floor), and no radio! And a stick, of course.

My later Honda Accord EX hatchback felt like a Mercedes by comparison.

Mazdas have come along way since the early ‘80s.
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