Mazda MP3 part deux!

Antoine

Administrator
Ladies, Gents its official....introducing the MAZDASPEED Proteg

Well I first created the MazdaMP3.com site (has it been a year now?) because I loved the car the second I saw it and I wanted to start an online community...Well thanks to our great members and Enry...we now have an an awesome online community!

Well I decided to start this new forum to continue the tradition and help our online family grow! I believe we have much to gain from this new MP3...from its technology to a whole new Family of Mazda enthusiasts.

Enjoy and Welcome MAZDASPEED
 
Mazda official Ltd 2000

FYI..
They are limited to 2000. 1750 U.S. and 250 Can. Have 170hp at the wheels. And will be under $25k. Its posted on the Mazda NA site... Heres the link ---->MAZDASPEED Also there is a Q&A page Link------>MAZDASPEED Q&A
 
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Will you trade in your MP3?

Is someone planning to trade in their MP3 for the Mazdaspeed? (assuming the price is CAD$27,500) Wonder how much the MP3 is worth now that the Mazdaspeed is announced?
 
I already talked with my dealer about possibly trading in my car for the ms pro, they said if I keep the car in as good of condition as I have than they'll give me $16500 for it, not too bad since I paid $18500. The only thing is that I'm not sure if I want to trade it in or not or even if I still want the new ms now. All I do know is that it's alot harder to keep your car in excellent condition when some b**** BACKS UP INTO YOUR BUMPER IN THE PARKING LOT!!!
Sorry, that happened last night....I'm fuming still.
 
I would consider it depending on how much they give me for my MP3...still not too wild about the orange tho...I might actually go with the black if it was available...but I'm not big into that color either. :(
 
My dealer actually said the MP3 was a curse for them. Mazda wasn't giving incentives on them and the dealer found it hard to move them. I would have thought they would have sold anyway but they did have them on the lot for a LONG time.
 
although I don't have one....I would consider it....IF they would have come up with different colors....black is fine...but so damn hard to keep clean and looking nice....and the orange....well....I have writen on this subject a few times....I have seen it up close and I don't care for it...if it were a deep monochromatic color it would be great...bit its not...its more of a pale orange with a pearl coat of sorts. So I think I would pass.

I think they shoud have made the thing LIME GREEN!! saw a photoshopped one that color...it was killer!!

:{D
 
It's funny that some dealers couldn't sell them and others (like my dealer - Wantagh Mazda) sold 6 or 7 of them and could have sold more if they had been available. Mine came from the Mazda dealer on Staten Island. The dealers only got 1 or 2 of them per location.

Wantagh Mazda is a smaller dealer but a great bunch of guys, one of the managers owns an blue MP3, the finance guy has a tricked out yellow P5. The mechanic that works on my car drives a modded RX7.
 
You know Bob, the people at the dealership make a big difference in their sales.
For instance, I went to a Subaru/Mazda dealership and was looking at the WRX when they pointed out the MP3 to me. But, they wouldn't even let me get in it and they had a $10k mark up on it! I was really interested in the car and had money to spend but when they couldn't take the next step with me on the MP3 they began to really hard sell me on the WRX which makes me just want to vomit so I took off to one of the other dealerships in my area. At the next one I got to drive one after much arm twisting(not like it was on a showroom floor or anything it was sitting right by the entrance to the lot, and I don't look like some punk kid wasting time, I'm 30 for god sakes!).
I loved the drive but when I asked if they were at all flexible on the $21,800 price tag the salesperson shot back with an almost instantaneous "NO". I shot back with an almost instantaneous "BYE". Then their "Manager" came over and couldn't figure out why we were leaving. BTW, that MP3 sat on the lot for months before it was finally gone. The next day I called the last Mazda dealership in my area. They had one, it was on the showroom floor, nice guy on the phone, gave me a fair price over the phone, said he would be as flexible as he could be. The vibe was already far more low pressure and accomodating. I made an appointment to come down and talk to him. They pulled it out of the showroom to give me a test drive before we ever started talking numbers. Good test drive, informed salesman, although you could tell he was more used to selling MPV's and Hyundais. We came back batted some numbers back and forth a couple times, but no pressure and no heavy-handed sales techniques. They were willing to come down to my stopping point on price and the paperwork was done without hassle and as quickly as possible. I've done my fair share of car deals and this was the smoothest, most hassle-free deal I have ever done. I've found the weak spot at this dealership is their service dept. They are connected with a large Ford dealership and we actually went over to the Ford offices to finish up the deal, which made me nervous because I HATE Ford dealerships, but even they were nice over there. The salesman even gave me a $20 out of his own wallet to buy my wife and I dinner!
ANyway, the point is that I just can't bring myself to spend that kind of money at a place where I'm being treated disrepectfully and like they could care less if I drop my $20k there or not. If the last dealership would have been as bad as the other two I probably would have just gave up and never bought an MP3.
I've never been into a Ford dealership that treated me any better than a bum trying to steal their sandwich and I've been stupid enough to buy two cars from them. But after my last experience I will NEVER even go into a Ford dealership again, no matter how badly I want a car their selling. It strikes me as very naive of a dealership or a carmaker to not insure that the people making the face-to-face contact with their customers are the nicest, most professional, best trained people they have. It makes a huge difference in sales.
 
Have you ever been in a BMW dealership? You get treated like a king! And I don't me free soda and popcorn. I mean real honest to goodness respect and professionalism. Each salesman knows all their cars inside and out, in detail. They won't try to rope you in to anything that is not financially feasible or that doesn't make any sense to you. My wife and I went in and actually tried to buy a BMW once and they saleman talked us out of it! He pointed out how it would be better for us financially to buy a cheaper vehicle and wait a couple years then buy the BMW. He did this whole financial analysis thing for us to show us how it would be better that way because of our current financial and vehicle situations. It wasn't because we didn't have enough money, it was because it was a better plan long-term financially for us to spend the money we had wisely. See if that happens the next time you go into any other dealership. The thing of it is, that was brilliant becuase now we are sure our next car will be a BMW. We won't even consider another vehicle because we know we won't get the same treatment anywhere else and there are few cars that can compare to BMW quality and performance. The guy told us he doesn't even have to sell the car because it sells itself. There's really no downside to owning a BMW. They make no excuses for the cost, it's worth it. A BMW is a car without compromises, can you say that about anything that's cheaper? The answer to that in my mind was no. I test drove an X5(an SUV) and it handled nicer than any car I had ever driven, including the MP3 and the Viper. He encouraged me to drive a bunch of other cars before I bought the BMW then assured me I'd be in to buy the BMW. It's strange but true. I have driven several cars since then, including my beloved MP3 which comes close to the suspension capability of an M3, but I still want that BMW! In a year or so I'll have it. I'm hoping to have my sh*t together enough to afford the M3 but I'll probably have to settle for the 330.
 
Bob - I thought everyone at Wantagh Mazda was great until I needed service. I wish I could remember the names, but these guys were absolute boneheads:

They were having the front bumper of my P5 painted due to peeling - they said they "pushed it thorugh" approval, without a rep seeing the car. Fine.

Then, I drop off my car and they say NO LOANER! It's in my damn warranty that I get a loaner car for ALL warranty repair. But I buckle and agree.

Repair was supposed to take one day - I dropped off Monday morning, and was supposed to pick up Monday night - so I call in the early evening, they say"better wait till tomorrow, just to be sure" - I'm not happy (remember, I have NO car and I can't work because I'm a travelling tradesman), but I appreciate them wanting to do a good job.

Tuesday rolls around, and my lady takes me to the dealer to pick up my car, at about 5:45 PM - NO CAR!! No one ever picked it up from the body shop! Now I'm pissed, but keeping calm - I ask them to please get my car. They say no - the body shop is closed and my car is behind locked gates. I quietly explain that SOMEONE has a key to those gates, and that someone should be phoned to open them for me. They REFUSE!! I ask for the name and number of the dealership president - again, THEY REFUSE!! I tell them that I have tons of worked backed up, and they are costing me literally hundreds, possibly thousands of dollars by not getting my car - and ask for a loaner. All I get is "we can arrange a rental for you - at YOUR expense". I'm fuming.

I picked up may car on Wednesday with a "sorry - guess it fell through the cracks" and that was it. The only saving grace is that the work was flawless.

I have not been back since - I actually drive to Smithtown if I need service.

Phil sold me the car - he was great. And Danny (with the tricked out yellow P5) is awesome, too. But I will never deal with that service department again.
 
If you got the extra warranty that covers your car rental then you should get a rental if the car is going to be in the shop for over a day. That was the "rule" the screwballs at the service shop I went to gave to me. However, I bagered them until I got a rental car out of them for the one day anyway. I whip out the piece of paper that says I get a rental and point to it and say "Gee, then why did I pay all this extra money for this extra warranty? Guess I'll have to talk to the guy who sold it to me. Do you know where he might be or who I can talk to over here in Sales about this?" I'll let the sales manager on duty do all the arguing for me. But it never goes that far. All it requires from the Service Manager is a quick signature on a slip of paper and you've got your rental. It really shouldn't be a problem. Otherwise, unless you're stuck get your keys and ask them where the other Mazda dealer in town is.
 
damn guys im sorry, i love my dealership. i always talk to the service manager when im in there. they always offer me a rental at there cost, even when they were just doing my sway bar bushings. they did a great job on my tranny, and fixing my car after it was broken into. If anybody is around MO go to Blue Ridge Mazda.
 
That's great! I have a feeling you're very lucky. Most reports of the service deparments on here seem to be about how untrained and how much of a pain in the butt they are!
 
Phil sold me my MP3. Danny is a great guy...saw them both today as I stopped by to ask a (non-Mazda) car question. Everyone in the sales end are great folks to talk to! (And this comes from someone who HATES car salesmen almost as much as I LOVE cars.)

I have had decent visits with the service department. Remember the standard Mazda warranty calls for a loaner car. Being a computer consultant, I need to have transportation and have gotten sales demos like a Pro5 in the past. Recently, they had to replace the rear window due to a broken connection on the rear defroster, didn't have the demo they were going to give me due to a brake problem but hooked me up with a free rental from Enterprise. The standard deal was a Chevy sh*tbox...oops...Metro 4 door but the lovely manager of the rental place (and I mean that) talked me into stepping up into a Nissan Maxima. I hadn't driven one and between that and the fact that I didn't want to look like the wheel man in a clown car at the circus...I paid the 10 or 15 dollars more.

I am still doing battle over the clunk issue and I want one of the Racing Harts replaced because the clearcoat is coming off, but Wantagh Mazda has been decent to me so far.
 
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I'm not going to trade in my MP3 for a Mazdaspeed Protege.

The dealership I went to had four MP3's all together. The first one they sold with a mark-up. Then they sold the other three for sticker, no arguement. I got mine at sticker.

I have a feeling the reason some cars got stuck on the lot is because of the markup. I can understand trying to get an extra grand or two out of the car, but five or six is screwed up.

I don't plan on ever going to my dealership for maintenance. I tried talking to my service rep and he was an asshole. I tried to ask a few questions and he started arguing with me about what the car had. I just kind of shrugged and left. i figured if the guy who is in charge of servicing my car is a jerk to me when i ask some questions, I really wonder what is going on out in the bay.

Fortunately, I built a reputation (read as paying lots of money) at an independant shop that specializes in Mazdas, particularly RX-7s. The owner was really cool to me, cut some deals and fixed my car really fast, even without an appointment. He did stuff like, "We are really busy, it might take three days to get it fixed."

I look around and there were cars stacked up all over. So, I say, "No problem. I don't mind waiting to get something fixed."

Later that afternoon, "Your cars is fixed."

I'm like, damn. What happened to three days??

On top of that, the owner races and has a couple of other MP3 owners in there for maintenance. So, good for me I guess.

Anyway, this was a long post and I'm done now. Thanks for your time and consideration.
 
cfbjr said:
At the next one I got to drive one after much arm twisting(not like it was on a showroom floor or anything it was sitting right by the entrance to the lot, and I don't look like some punk kid wasting time, I'm 30 for god sakes!).


Pfff, I believe you. I had trouble getting a test drive in a P5 at two different dealerships. I am 22 but both times i was either with my older brother or with my bro and my dad. My bro told them, let him drive the car, he'll buy it. Nope no cigar. So they lost a sale.
 
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