Hey guys, been reading this thread a lot and decided to share my own experience so far (I'm getting burnt out).
Received a quote of $27,000 for a 2015 CX-5 Touring AWD with Bose/Moonroof and Tech, roof rails, and wheel locks. However, as they kept pushing a lease on me despite my request to not lease and instead purchase, and I had to get to class, I walked away (did not receive a card, did not receive a brochure even though I asked twice).
I then began shopping online: inquired to a bunch of dealers in the area: one dealer offered to match their price (even though they are over an hour away), and another dealer had an identical 2014 and he offered me $25,800 on the phone (really should not have called... I should have just waited for that e-mail that has never come).
So I called in to schedule a test drive, drove the 45 minutes out of my way to the dealer who had the 2014. I mentioned his $25,800 was fair, and I wanted to go ahead with it. In fact, I mentioned his $25,800 quote multiple times, and he never denied it. However, after signing to allow him to run a credit check (over 750 for both myself and my wife), he comes back with a price sheet that now has negotiated price of $28,900. At this point, I get quite upset because I allowed him to run a hard credit check on false pretense, and he suddenly pulled away from his previous quote. So I ask him "what about the $25,800 quote you gave me" and he mumbled something about "there are fees and stuff like that." When I asked him "what does the word quote mean to you," he avoided it, saying "this is the invoice price" which is the best he could do (calling into question his competence in first giving me a quote).
I explained to him that I had quotes from two other dealers for a 2015 model for $27,000 so it was ludicrous to expect me to pay $1,800 more for an older model. But to add insult to injury, he then: explains that as a "first time car buyer" I would only be eligible for 3.49% financing, possibly 2.99% if another bank called bank; explains that the "Mazda loyalty" only applies to people buying their second Mazda at the same dealership as their previous one; explains the dealership would be losing money if he offered any price below invoice (I understand factory holdbacks and dealer incentives--in fact, in our phone call he cited the inclusion of a $500 dealer incentive for the 2014 model year in order to arrive at $25,800). So I packed up my laptop with my spreadsheets and research, shook his hand, and walked away with my wife. At this point, he kind of scurries off to say "maybe I can do a little better, hold on" but I ignored him, shaking with my increased cortisol. As we're walking out the door, there are two employees on a bench outside, and I know they hear us saying "that was ridiculous," so one gets up and runs inside. As I started my car to back out, I see the manager and the guy from outside opening the door, then waving me down and shaking a piece of paper. In fact, as I'm putting it into drive, I see the other employee on the bench attempting to wave me down as well (the salesman who was working with me was nowhere to be found). I just drove away.
So after getting two calls from them and ignoring them, I get a voicemail from the salesman: give me a call back, that was my invoice, I can do a little better on my invoice, probably could do 27 on that vehicle, or I could get to 25 without the touring package. Which, in my mind, is a worthless voicemail.
What's worse, when I broke down the numbers for the paper quote of $399.xx over 84 months with $2,000 down and a "negotiated" price of $28,900 (approximately $31,501 after tax, title & license in SB county CA), I discovered the APR he was quoting would be nearly 4%, not even the 3.49% he stated I would be receiving (total purchase price of approximately $35,589).
So I drove home, calmed down a bit, and called up my local dealership that had given me the $27,000 quote on the 2015, albeit not in the color we wanted (silver, not black). I explained that I had not received a card previously, but wanted to come in and explore purchasing from them, perhaps asking for a different color (I really am thinking about scooping the same car from that dealership, buying it from my local one...). He said it would be possible, but only after I came in and did the paperwork, because they would have to buy the car outright from the other dealer and wouldn't want to do that if it wasn't a guaranteed sale (understandable).
But then I asked him two questions:
1)being a first time car buyer with a credit score closer to 800 than 750 would that preclude me from any special financing?
(no, anything over about 700 will get me 0.9% financing)
2) How about a quote, what does the word quote mean to you?--this is where I explained i was brought in on a 25.8k quote and then suddenly it was 28.9k and I walked
(sometimes big dealerships lowball to get you in the door, because they don't really care if you buy or not, they just want you in their door... we don't do that here, if you get a quote, we honor it).
So that's where I'm at now:
2015 Mazda CX-5 AWD Touring w/ Moonroof/Bose & Technology, roof rack side rails, wheel locks.
$27,000 quote (before TTL) in SoCal, price matched to another dealer for identical car.
