RedCarmel

iTrader: (7)

I've been eying up the new Mazda3 hatchbacks, and that made me curious if anyone has used their Mazdaspeed Motorsports membership to buy a new Mazda under the S plan? My membership has lapsed and currently don't have enough timed events planned for the next year to get back in, but I might make that happen if S plan benefits are great (plus the other perks like stock parts for cheap are great).

Any insight into how much you'd actually save vs. if you just negotiated a good deal yourself would be appreciated.

thirdgen

iTrader: (26)

You'd save a lot of money if you came over here and bought mine.

RedCarmel

iTrader: (7)

No more automatics are allowed in my fleet

thirdgen

iTrader: (26)

Lol I knew it. But it has manual mode!!!

RedCarmel

iTrader: (7)

Doesn't do it for me, unless you're giving the car away. Which I will gladly accept.

curly

iTrader: (25)

What's the S-plan for those of us who aren't members?

RedCarmel

iTrader: (7)

From their website:
The Mazda Employee Pricing S-Plan is offered by Mazda North American Operations to provide those individuals affiliated with Mazda products and services with the opportunity to purchase or lease a new Mazda vehicle with a no-hassle, set price at a significant savings versus the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP). It’s our way of saying thanks to everyone who plays a key role in our brand’s success.

S-PLAN Employee Purchase Program

Splitime

iTrader: (24)

This will sound odd... but also check the Costco pricing. If you have a membership (or know someone who does) take a look, pricing on a recent car purchase was below any quotes/negotiations we managed without it.

sixshooter

iTrader: (12)

Yeah, the S-Plan doesn't look super appealing to me. I expected better discounting than this:

http://images.mazdausa.com/MusaWeb/m...cing_Sheet.pdf

RedCarmel

iTrader: (7)

Hmm, those are very disappointing prices. Really no point to participating as I'm sure one could do better walking off the street and doing a halfway decent job of negotiating. Glad you found that info so I can forget about that option.

Will think about the costco pricing too. Thanks.

shuiend

iTrader: (24)

When I bought my 2012 Mazda2 I paid invoice + tax/tags/title for it. I was in the dealership for less then an hour, and it only took that long because I ended up financing the car through Mazda. To get that pricing all it took was a few emails to the closest dealership that had the car I wanted in stock. S-Plan pricing looks more then invoice so you should be able to easily beat it. Also remember that you can search on mazda's USA site to find out what dealerships have the exact car you want.

curly

iTrader: (25)

That's what my wife and I did. 2010 Mazda 3 for invoice. Emailing is the way to go. That's what Turbofan does at his work, internet salesman or whatever they're called. It's basically the best deal you can hope to get if you tried the traditional walk in and negotiate method.

We were talking about this yesterday, apparently Mazda's profits on their cars is ridiculously thin. People come in expecting the same $3500 off MSRP that the Subaru dealership just offered them, and it's just not happening.

revlimiter

iTrader: (1)

I bought my 08 3 hatchie with S-plan pricing via Mazdacomp. It was a very easy experience. No hassle at all. I'm trying to remember some of the details...

I seem to remember not all dealers wanting to honor it. And not all salesman want to deal with an S-plan customer since they basically get no commission. One of the two Mazda dealers here in town was willing to work with me. I think I remember tipping the salesman $100 for spending time helping me.

I could get any car I wanted and have it shipped. I was happy with a dark blue 3 Sport they had on the lot though.

I got to see the delivery price of the car (dealer cost) and how much they'd sell it to me for. There was no haggling. The profit margin was VERY thin. I can't remember exactly, but I seem to remember the dealer making around $500 on the whole transaction.

I'm not a new car kinda guy. I'd much rather buy used. But the S-plan made it worth while. I got a loaded 3 Sport for $1500 more than a stripped out Honda Fit. That was a crazy deal at the time.

Tekel

iTrader: (2)

Stupid question: How do you find invoice pricing? And not the price they try to show you saying this is what they paid for the car when we all know there are tons of other incentives etc stacked on top.

shuiend

iTrader: (24)

I used edmunds.com to find invoice price.

RedCarmel

iTrader: (7)

Edmunds is a great resource for car buying. The only time I have bought a new car I used many different tools like their incentive/rebate database, True Market Value calculator, and this article Confessions of a Car Salesman

For my last car I did contact the internet sales people directly and shopped dealerships against each other that way. I think I ended up with a good deal. Maybe could have done a little better, but they price they gave me was below what Edmunds said the invoice was so I was happy enough, although it's hard to say if one can really understand what the invoice number truly represents. I suspect there are games with that number no matter if it comes from the dealer or from Edmunds.

Anyway, I still really like that buying method as opposed to getting mobbed when you walk on a lot off the street. Since I knew what I wanted already I didn't waste any salesman's time showing me the car and answering my questions, and then going around him/her to their internet dept to cut them out of commission. If I leaned heavily on a salesperson, I would try to give them a shot at earning my business first.

Splitime

iTrader: (24)

FWIW, the Costco pricing was lowest I could find, lower than anyone would deal out (internet and in person) AND no hassle. The price was it and honored.

Was on a somewhat new release though that was lower inventory higher demand, Not sure how that factors in.

turbofan

iTrader: (1)

Like Curly said, I'm an internet sales manager at a Mazda dealer. The S plan pricing would take a considerable amount of back-and-forth and you could probably get it negotiating on the floor. Negotiating via the internet you'd beat it considerably. It's invoice pricing, says so right on the invoice.

As for finding out "dealer invoice" pricing, it's easy. Yes, there are other incentives to selling the vehicle, and there's a small dealer holdback (on Mazdas, I really mean SMALL... like, $300 on a $30,000 car). Profit margins on Mazdas are insanely thin compared to other makes. I've sold Ford, VW, Subaru, Nissan, and now Mazda (and buick/GMC) brands, and Mazda has the thinnest profit margins by far.

Anyway... The Costco program is the best no-hassle program available in terms of pricing and perks. Some cars are on the Costco program at $1,000 below dealer invoice.

sixshooter

iTrader: (12)

Befriend a small-time used car dealer and pay him $500 to take you to the big auction in your region where most of the lease return vehicles go. Then buy a 2,3,4 year old vehicle for $3-8k less than average retail.

good2go

iTrader: (2)

I recently used Costco's pricing to negotiate on a different make vehicle. In the end, I did find that I could beat it, but only just slightly. Also, I think it's worth mentioning that anyone getting quotes from their pricing program should know that not all pricing will come out the same from dealer to dealer. For instance, a person typically inputs their location and the closest participating dealer is used for the quote which may or may not yield the best actual pricing in your general area, as it can vary from county to county. For me being in metropolitan area, I have nearly a dozen different counties (so potentially as many different prices) available within an hour drive. It would seem you'd have to input a different local to receive a quote from a dealership in each county.