Found a M5 - fair deal? (w/pics)

Hank3

Hank3

Asian Persuasion <><
Contributor
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2010 Mazda5 GT
Found a 2010 GT in CWP with only 14,589 miles. Previous owners only drove it to work and back. Just retired and sold the M5 back to the original dealership. Carfax is clean and all of the maintenance was done at the dealership as well (5 oil changes done total and new front tires and alignment just done). We prefer the 1st gen M5, so we're not really entertaining a 2nd gen smiley face one :)

$15,000 is their current offer. Tax and tag are not included so OTD price would be $16,070. Wondering what other M5 owners think of this deal. Pics below to show condition of the vehicle - it's super clean:

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Looks like a new car!

Pull the tranny stick and see what the fluid looks like.

Unless the fluid looks dark and burned, I would jump on it.
 
Looks exceptional. As for the cost I'm no expert on that. I will say that I don't trust carfax at all, seen too many cars with clean carfax that's had shoddy repair work done that was never reported. It's not really carfax' s fault just certain things fly under their radar. I encourage you to get an independent inspection. I encourage anybody buying used to do so. That 5 looks awesome though. Good luck.
 
Robotaz said:
Looks like a new car!

Pull the tranny stick and see what the fluid looks like.

Unless the fluid looks dark and burned, I would jump on it.
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Silentnoise713 said:
^^ Too good to be true. My scam-dar is off the charts but trust your own instinct, not mine.
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Appreciate the feedback. What's too good to be true? The price, condition, story of previous owners, or all of the above? LOL :)

It seems legit. I've questioned the mess out of the sales person and manager and my "instinct" says it checks out. I spoke with the Mazda dealer that did all the service work as well and things seem kosher there as well. The price they listed it for ($16,888) seemed like a reasonable starting point with what other dealers have been asking for other M5s that were in similar condition and mileage. I guess a little leary that they're willing to come down so low?

Anyways, been shopping intently for about a month for one with lower mileage. We lost out on a 4 other deals in the past couple weeks that were similar...you snooze, you lose. Anyways, I know that if we sorta made our decision already I shouldn't have posted asking for people's opinions. But I've been a member on here for years now and really do value the insight and help. And I've enjoyed giving back as well.

I guess I just wanted to post something so this could be a sounding board of sorts.
 
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Hank3 said:
Appreciate the feedback. What's too good to be true? The price, condition, story of previous owners, or all of the above? LOL :)

It seems legit. I've questioned the mess out of the sales person and manager and my "instinct" says it checks out. I spoke with the Mazda dealer that did all the service work as well and things seem kosher there as well. The price they listed it for ($16,888) seemed like a reasonable starting point with what other dealers have been asking for other M5s that were in similar condition and mileage. I guess a little leary that they're willing to come down so low?

Anyways, been shopping intently for about a month for one with lower mileage. We lost out on a 4 other deals in the past couple weeks that were similar...you snooze, you lose. Anyways, I know that if we sorta made out decision already I shouldn't have posted asking for people's opinions. But I've been a member on here for years now and really do value the insight and help. And I've enjoyed giving back as well.

I guess I just wanted to post something so this could be a sounding board of sorts.
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Looks like a nice one to me... If you like the color combo and equipment, You would be hard-pressed to find another with as low mileage. Consider it is 5 model years old and averaged less than 3000 miles a year... Factor in that the owners still got the oil changed 5 times, and that is a big bonus.

However, when buying an ultra low mileage car, don't forget that things like the tires, battery, brake fluid, engine coolant, have all suffered harder from the ravages of time and will all need closer scrutiny.
 
Does it have a full service record? IIRC, the Mazda5 should have oil changes every 7.5k or 6 months, whichever comes first.

As for price, I usually get around 3.5k-4k under kbb/Edmunds tmv on my last few cars including the Mazda5.

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3
 
@mazdadude - re: agreed regarding time being a factor for other elements (e.g. fluids, battery, etc.). Mileage is obviously not the only indicator of what the vehicle's current overall condition, so I have considered the other elements as well. They replaced the front two tires, however, they do not match the rear stock Toyo Proxes. Some brand I've never heard of, but I feel getting some new tires down the road is a relatively low expense. Appreciate the reminder.

@dpham00 - it does have a full service record. The dealer that's selling the MZ5 serviced it for all five of it's oil changes and Mazda recommended maintenance. Previous owner followed the 7.5K mileage closer than the 6 mos. time frame. They drove it to work and back supposedly and that really was the extent of how this vehicle was used.
 
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Just IMO so take it as a big coarse grain of salt.

-Never listen to what the dealer have to say about the PO.
-Perhaps folks do it differently in FL but I don't find senior citizens typically pick a dark tint. That's gotta be 20% or less. Harder for them to see, esp at night.
-I'm of the opinion seniors typically LIKE bumper guards and such. This PO took the time/effort to remove the door bumper guards. Guess i'm the only one who thinks this car looks too "fresh" for a recently retired person?
-Obvioust this car has been professionally cleaned, inside/out. There appears to be dressing on some of the black plastics and tire.
-New tires AND alignment with only 15k on the ODO..
-The way how the pictures are staged give me bad impression. Are these listing pics or did u take them? Are you dealing with the Mazda dealership that originally sold the car? If so, then it sounds more promising. Have them print out the full service history (they would have the records).
-can you list the carfax registration history?

Keep in mind i'm only judging based on very little detail. As mentioned above, carfax is NOT 100% accurate. All the shady stuff happens down south... Don't get me wrong, that car does look REALLY nice. I would love to have a white '09 GT.
 
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@Silentnoise - I gotcha. As far as the bumper guards, are you meaning the horizontal strip that protect the doors? Mazda did away with those and the fender blinkers to offset the cost of adding DSC and TC. I personally prefer the side door guards and blinkers. As far as the pics, they just got the vehicle in last week so they haven't had the chance for the pics to be taken when I called to inquire so they took the pics of what I asked. It had just been serviced and gone through a wash and detail. Actually, I misspoke about the dealer. It was purchased about an hour from where the PO lived. The dealer that's selling it and did all the service has multiple makes @ the same addy (Chevy, Mitsu, and Mazda). I'm gonna call the service dept later today and have them verify that they have the same maintenance and service items on Carfax in their system.

BTW...what color M5 do you have to make you want a CWP one? Our first pick would be LSM, but I've always liked Mazda's CWP...especially on the MS3 and the M5s.

Appreciate all the help. Keep them coming. We're not 100% sold yet. Actually was considering offering them $14,500 and preparing to walk away since we don't need the vehicle. Just thought it would be a nice luxury to have as our first child is due in January and it would be a nice replacement for my wife's '02 Protg sedan. More room; a nice upgrade for us; and very practical for us as she's 4'11 and I'm 5'4. Will love having the sliding doors in our garage to load the baby and other things. It really does fit us to a tee since my wife dislikes driving big vehicles. Having the seat raised and being able to see out all windows are pretty important.
 
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Is the vehicle CPO? If not, my suggestion would be to accept the $15k offer, on the condition that it is CPO. Make sure that it is Mazda CPO, and not some third party CPO. Because Mazda CPO has a limited warranty of 1yr/12k, and extends the powertrain to 7yr/100k from original in service date. It also guarantees that all the service has been done. And to me, this is important, if you ever have a problem with the engine within warranty because if the owner didn't follow the service requirement (6 months OCI) then it could be grounds for denying engine warranty service. Now if it was say 6 months and a week, probably ok. But if an OCI was extended to a year, then I could see that as grounds.

You said that two of the tires were replaced, but by some no name tires. That to me is a red flag that someone cut corners.
Also, I would be weary of them saying that it was a retired person. It seems unlikely that a nearly retired person who just drives to and from work would buy a Mazda5.

Also, even if the dealer is truthful, and the seller told them that the car was only driven to and from work, who knows, the seller could have been lying. Also, maybe the seller's son took the car without the seller's knowledge and did burnouts.

@Robotaz: even if the transmission fluid looks good, who knows, they could have flushed the fluid.

@Silentnoise: Being clean doesn't bother me much since the Mazda dealer detailed the car so that it looks clean for an easy sale. They probably do this to all their used (or even new) cars. Though, it is always advisable to have the car checked out. Even a new car could have been in an accident on the dealer's lot, and assuming that the cost was low, the dealer doesn't have to report it. Even a new car, a dealer employee could have taken it joy riding and done burn outs. So you are taking a risk either way, though obviously used cars incur a higher risk.

Sent from my LG G Pad 8.3
 
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@dpham - It is NOT a CPO, unfortunately. The PO wasn't retired. They purchased it; drove it for four years to mostly to work and back; retired recently and sold it to the dealership that serviced it and moved back to Taiwan. I just got off the phone with Mazda USA and gave them the VIN. The vehicle checks out with them and only Mazda dealership service records pop up in their system and they all match up with the Carfax service records. I also called the Mazda service department and had them verify the info Mazda USA gave me and the Carfax records; they all check out and are consistent. Regarding the alignment and two tire change. Possible that the PO just didn't get alignment done during the years of ownership and when they sold it back to the dealer, the tread wear was bad because of it. It shows that they did an oil change a week ago; balanced the new tires; and did an alignment.
 
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Right but he bought it near retirement... Meaning around 50-60 at the time of purchase. It doesn't make much sense for someone that age who needs a commuter car to get the 5.not saying it isn't true, just that it seems fishy.


Also it should meet the requirements for cpo, so the dealer should be able to do it.
Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3
 
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dpham00 said:
Right but he bought it near retirement... Meaning around 50-60 at the time of purchase. It doesn't make much sense for someone that age who needs a commuter car to get the 5.not saying it isn't true, just that it seems fishy.

Also it should meet the requirements for cpo, so the dealer should be able to do it.
Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3
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Making it CPO would most likely increase the price...maybe worth looking into.
 
Costs $650 to make it a CPO. I talked them down to $14,500, so with CPO it would take it to $15,150. Hmmm...worth it?
 
Hank3 said:
Costs $650 to make it a CPO. I talked them down to $14,500, so with CPO it would take it to $15,150. Hmmm...worth it?
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To me, I would certainly pay $650 more for cpo. Extra warranty is worth it, and it guarantees that all maintenance has been done. If you don't get it cpo, I would recommend getting it thoroughly checked by a qualified mechanic.

Sent from my LG G Pad 8.3
 
Wait? you talked CarMax down??? ..beep. ..beep. ..beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep! Get it thoroughly checked out.
 
Hank3 said:
Costs $650 to make it a CPO. I talked them down to $14,500, so with CPO it would take it to $15,150. Hmmm...worth it?
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People are looking into this way to deep. Who cares who and what the previous owner used it for and how he used it. It's obvious that it wasn't abused. If the interior and exterior looks this clean, chances are the Powertrain wasn't abused either. It has 14,xxxx miles. That is low even for a used 2013 model year. Plus it is a GT which is the fully loaded model. Get them to Mazda CPO it and buy it. Just think, you get a 12mo/12K bumper to bumper warranty and another 3 years or so and/or 100k miles of Powertrain warranty. I say buy it. If I was in the market for one I would had already jumped on that deal.
 
It's not CarMax. It's a Mazda dealership. We opted to not get the CPO for $650. Although it was enticing because it would've come with new matching rear generic brand tires since that's what Mazda requires for their CPO. Mazda USA and the Mazda dealership both confirmed in their system that the maintenance was done so we feel comfortable with that.

Just put down the $1000 deposit. We're picking up the vehicle Wednesday :)
 
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