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Prices Paid: Buying & Leasing Experiences Prices Paid & Leasing Experiences Archive Mazda Protege Prices Paid and Buying Experience 
265 messages, Last post on Jul 08, 2008 at 6:05 PM
You are in the Prices Paid & Leasing Experiences Archive Forum. Your Hosts are car_man & kyfdx
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I've joined the Mazda fold. For the past few months I've searched for a commuter car so as not to continue adding 600 miles a week to my other car. This weekend I buckled down and tested all manner of cars from used to brand new. My goal was to get the most fun, reliability and comfort for my cash without exceeding 13-14k. I fiddled with used CLs and Solaras but they were too sloppy handling for my tastes. I stopped in at Ford and tried out a Focus. Not bad considering the amazing power of the 2.3L engine. But I worry that it won't hold up for the commute. The Corolla made me feel like I was sitting in a hole. Civic had decent pull but was noisy at 80+ and felt light. The Hyundai Elantra GLS/GT felt too lightly sprung and scary wiggly at highway speeds. The Scion xB pulled like a champ up to 90. It teetered a bit unnervingly in corners but the build quality was top notch, the interior had gobs of space and the price was reasonable. The Scion xA with a CAI, lowered. 16s and sporting a strut tower bar was easily the home-run handling champ of the cars I drove. Yeah it didn't sport much in power but given the 2300 lbs weight, that didn't matter. Unfortunately, those mods would tack on at least 1000-1500. The price would come in above 14k. Finally I took a spin in a Pro LX. The engine had good pull, the interior felt nice and the handling was quite good. I moved on to the ES and found the 16s felt more surefooted to me. The interior fit just right (though the telescoping of the Mazda3 would be a bonus). The back window had some nasty gunk inside though...the salesguy said it would get cleaned off. Ended up buying a 2003 Pro ES in the emerald mica (not a color I want but a search online showed 0 ES Pros in the San Diego area). It has the moonroof/6 disc option for a sticker of 17,090. Including my impending $500 grad rebate I paid $11,390. The buying experience was a nightmare as the dealership lied on several occasions. First I was told they allow buyers to put up to 50% on a credit card (hey, free points and 0% interest until may), but that turned out to be a lie. "This is such a good deal, you must pay cash or use a loan." Okay, how about an option contract? Nope. Again, because I "had such a sweet deal" it was not allowed. Argh! Fine, lets see what you can pull up with you-finance-guy-you. First shot was a jacked up 8.49% APR. I laughed and said sure as I'll nail another loan monday and nuke it. Oh and they want to leave the Stargard bogus security chip thing on the car for a mere $500. ROFL Some haggling and suddenly the joker wants $400 for the toy. nope. $300? No, take it off. By the end, no toy stargard "security" system and the rate was 4.49% for 4 years. Still not a rate that makes me happy. Gonna talk to a place Monday. Doc fees were reasonable at $40 though. So I go to leave after the arduous 1 hour ordeal with the finance twit and my salesperson tells me he can't get anyone to drive one of my cars back to my place AFTER we agreed upon that. Fine. He says I should come back tomorrow (Sunday). I came by this morning and I noticed a few things: scratches and the car still wasn't cleaned right. The manager told me they'd try to buff out the scratches but he would not go near anything related to painting. Hey, just fix it. He also declared the car was detailed. Uh, as if. His response: "You got a great deal. If you dislike it, leave the car and we terminate the contract." Finally they said they'd work to get the scatches out. Still really mad that the back window has smudges and that grease inside it. I'll call a real Mazda dealer tomorrow to discuss them cleaning it. Also, they informed me that I'd have to guide the dealer employee home to drop off my car and then take him back as the 5 salesguys standing inside watching a Mexican soap opera couldn't bother because they were "busy". Apparently, gravity is reversed inside the dealer showroom and if too many salesmen leave, the floor would lift up. One last smack...they didn't have my wireless key fobs. "We don't know where they are." "We'll get you some this week." What? Love my Pro but Westcott Mazda in National City is a straight ghetto dealer with zero customer service skills. If Mazda calls to check my dealer experience I'm gonna go off like an H-bomb at the Bikini atoll. If Mazda doesn't call, I'll contact them! |
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| westk1, was the college grad rebate included in your deal? You got an absurdly low price and I'd love to get the same. | |
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Cej22, My price DID NOT have the college grad rebate. Looking at the boards I think I got a very good deal, but I have seen quite a few others for similiar prices. Good luck. |
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I thought my deal of $11,200 for DX automatic with CD changer was amazing (straight invoice, half of the $500 dealer incentive, and both the $2500 customer cash and the $500 college grad rebate. I would have paid the extra few hundred for an ES. |
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I'm shopping around for a P5 (auto w/ ABS) in LA area and was wondering what the buying climate is like (now mid-December). I've read some GREAT deals here, but prices in LA may be spiked a bit. Anyone know if fac to dealer incentives are still around? I don't see any on Edmunds. I gotta imagine they're getting more desperate to ditch these cars. Should I even CONSIDER paying into 14Ks (before TTL)? |
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| Look to san diego and check their paper for friday/saturday/sunday. Odds are good you'll see deals mentioning 5-6k off msrp. | |
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went to the place that offered me 4k on my trade in. 2003 es sport-at, abs/airbags,cd/moonroof pkg. sand metallic (nice, nice color). 14600 after rebates and we-gotta-get-these-off-the-lot discounts. edmunds tmv is 14359 did the deal at a local dealer, 5 miles from my house, including time to get to credit union and stuff...under 2 hours. freaking painless. i think i may have paid about 300 more than i had to, but saved me taking the day off of work and driving 60+ miles to the twin cities,getting a sitter, etc.4 plus i really tire of the 'haggling' with the sales people. the best part, though, was seeing a salesman in the same dealership that offered me 3100 trade in value on my 98 protege lx, not 2 weeks ago. sorry pal, your loss. |
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| How much was your 98 pro brand new and what kind of miles, condition, accidents, rust has it seen? Just curious as I'd like to know if you saw 8-10-12-14k in depreciation over 6 years. | |
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Hi, Is this a good price? I was offered $12,500 this week for a new 2003 Protege LX with automatic, moonroof/6-CD package, abs-side air bags package. That figure includes the $2500 rebate, but does not include any grad rebate/cash. Since it's near the end of the year, can I get a lower price than $12,500? Thanks for any advice...appreciate your help. |
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What was the MSRP of the car? Nobody wants to go to the Mazda website and build it to find out. With that info, someone will be able to give you a good idea. regards, kyfdx |
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