I’m in the market for a 2009 Mazda5 Sport Manual Transmission and the dealer has come down to 16,700–we graciously walked out because of principle–our bottom line budget having already considered financing and other options is 16K. How likely are we to get a call this week with some sort of movement in our direction? Is waiting to our advantage? Thanks!
You did exactly the right thing. You will most likely get a call in the next few days. As long as your price is anything close to reasonable (and $700 is certainly in range) they’ll get back in touch. Be patient, be firm.
You also have to take into account the demand for the car. I’m not sure how popular the Mazad 5 is, I’ve only seen a couple of them on the road. But if you went into a Honda dealership and balked at the price of a Fit or another car that is in high demand, don’t expect them to call back. But if the difference is only $700 you’ll hear back from them towards the end of the month.
I got a price to carpet the house, I told the guy he was out of his mind and to call me when he wanted to deal,its been a month,no call.
He found someone who would pay his price. You might get that call when he runs out of work or maybe he just got out of the business.
While waiting for the call you will likely receive, go around and price the like car at other dealers, even if it means a long drive. Pitting one dealer against another is usually a good idea.
Ah… the Law of Supply and Demand in action.
Basic principle: The price of something is only as high as someone is willing to pay for and only as low as someone is willing to sell it.
“Walking away” is a good tactic, but the point of the exercise is to determine if you have reached the guy’s lowest “willing to sell” value. If you have exceeded it, then don’t expect a call back. Plus, be aware that you have to have left an impression that you were actually going to buy the car if the price were lower.
Car salesmen can sometimes be pretty bad at reading people and the impression you left may determine the next move.
Could That Be The Difference Between …
"I told the guy he was out of his mind … " and " --we graciously walked out because of principle-- " ?
Good For You For Having A Bottom Line.
I do this also when buying cars that a dealer has in stock. I reached my bottom line once and graciously walked out. It was the last month of a bad sales year. I told the salesman to call if they could reach my price. A week or so later he called and met my price. I told him that I forgot to mention that I never pay sales tax. He informed me that not paying it is unlawful, it’s required. I said that I was aware of that, but that I always have the seller pay it. He acted offended and said they couldn’t do it. I reminded him that he had my phone number. About a week later, he called and asked when I wanted to pick it up. I bought the car, but you should have heard him when I called just to ask a question about something that didn’t pertain to the selling price!
I’m not really too computer literate, but I have heard where people post new vehicles they are looking for on the web somehow and dealers call them with offers. I worked with a guy who supposedly saved a bunch by making a 100 mile road trip.
The price is already below invoice - way below. The invoice price for this car is $17,535 including destination charges. No, they won’t typically eat the destination charge. If they do, it’s an unusual price deduction.
One possibility is if you finance through them, they will give you an extra $1000 off. Of course, you must accept their rates and you can typically do better on your own at your bank or credit union. It’s the total cost that matters, not just the purchase price.
If you are financing elsewhere, you will probably not get a call. If you are financing with Mazda, they might call.
I was at home, the carpet people insisted on sending someone out to give a estimate,I warned them it will be a short visit but they wanted to come out. The salesman tried several techniques to make the sale. I warned them before they came out all I wanted was a price, I gave them dimensions,carpet type and pad type but they insisted on comming out.
You were right to leave unless the car is really popular. They can take 2,000 off any car and still be making a nice profit. You should mention the MSRP so that we have a better idea of the discount.
I did this one time but walked very slowly toward the door while the salesman and I kept on talking. He met my offer.
I really appreciate everyone’s feedback. I think it’s in our favor that for some reason hardly anyone is buying the stick Mazda5 Sport…for some reason. I personally love it because it’s a small minivan, a true mini minivan with sportscar (ok, wagon) pep. It’s been an interesting process. now’s the time to buy if you are in the market.
Willingness to walk away from a deal to buy an inanimate object is always worth while. I have usually told the sales person they had a deadline to meet my offer and I was immediately leaving the show room to look at other options that met my expectations. Always feel you’re doing them a favor. Never talk about your financial capabilities…only what you think the car is worth and what you are willing to pay for it.
There are other competitive cars to the Mazda…fight the urge to fall in love with anything that won’t love you back. The salesman must feel that it’s a completely unemotional, dispassionate decision on your part.
they may feel it, but they always try to get you to fall in love with it
they did not call–rather I called back and returned to the dealer to test drive again. They met us half way, at $16.5, no hassle no problems. I am so excited that I couldn’t sleep last night! We get the car tonight. Well worth the wait.
Invoice is not necessarily the price the dealer actually pays for the car. There are various incentivess and rebates applied by the manufacturer that don’t show up on the invoice. They perform this trick by having these items apply after delivery.
I recently had some time to kill so I stopped by the Toyota dealer to see what the new Tacomas were going for. When I first talked to the salesman, he had only extended cabs with options, lowest price about $21,000. By the time I walked out he had a standard cab with few options, list price about $17,000, that he could deliver for about $14,000.
It’s already so far below invoice that it is unlikely they can go much lower.