i have been shopping for the past month for a mazda.
i started the journey looking at mazda5s.
i presently drive a 2005 ford focus wagon w/106k miles.
car has been a gem.
wanted to find another wagon but couldn't find what i needed and that was how i found the mazda5.
i test drove and liked but wondered, for the money if i added a wee bit more would it get me a better vehicle.
test drove a 2016 mazda3 hb/auto.
liked it alot but my ever-patient wife just didn't like the sight inlines.
the focus wagon has plenty of glass and very easy to drive, especially if 5'1" like she is (i'm 6'1").
and then i drove the 2016 cx-5 w/2.5L engine.
very decent. much better than anticipated.
went online to shop.
found a decent deal with hertz rent2buy program.
a 2016 w/24k rental miles.
drove for two days. put 125 miles on. average 28mpg.
now i felt good about the cx-5 as our next vehicle.
took the hertz car to local ford/subaru/mazda dealer where a friend of a friend is a mechanic and looked over the hertz cx-5.
he pronounced it solid and i remained interested.
he then started talking up buying the mpee extended warranty (same as cpo).
seems "stuff" that breaks these days can be very expensive.
i priced the warranty and added to the hertz price i'm now looking around $18k otd.
i remain interested.
i then emailed 30 local mazda dealers the general terms of the hertz deal:
2016 cx-5 fwd sport
24k
mpee
$18k
27 dealers got back to me with goofy come-ons some about mazda, others about models i have no interest: $159/month nothing down for a dodge.
3 dealers got back to me with interesting cx-5s.
unfortunately, one was a 2015 cx-5/awd and one was a 2015 with 2.0L engine.
but one-from ramsey mazda in northern nj-got back to me with a just traded 2016 CX-5 Sport/AWD/w/roof rack+backup camera+infotainment but no nav.
seems like a retiree had purchased the 2016 cx-5 but found it too big and only drove it local with under 5K miles.
she traded for a loaded mazda3 sedan.
gm at ramsey had taken it in 2 days before and hadn't even listed it.
i spent 3 hrs looking over the silver/black and it was clean.
carfax was clean.
the gm said it qualifies for cpo.
we go back and forth on price.
he won't discount the $499 prep or $299 doc fee but is not unreasonable at all.
he has 3 2015 cx-5s w/under 15k on the lot but can now move a car w/o doing anything.
so he makes $800 on his fees. trade in on the 2016 cx-5 w/4400 miles was around $19k
i figure anything less than $20k otd would be decent.
and the gm and sales guy at ramsey mazda did a good job trying to get above $20k.
i asked for a retractable cargo cover and some oil changes.
and so for a tad under $20k the deal was done.
msrp with extras was close to $25k so a 20% savings off new.
plus the zero deductible cpo which adds 1yr to the original 3/36k and goes 7/100k
(and if i bought the zero deductible mpee that would have been near $2k after sales tax!)
so till may 2022 the cx-5 now has a warranty.
i pick up the cx-5 tomw.
the next "new 4 us" car in the family but as new a car can be w/o actually being new!.
be well.
rob
i started the journey looking at mazda5s.
i presently drive a 2005 ford focus wagon w/106k miles.
car has been a gem.
wanted to find another wagon but couldn't find what i needed and that was how i found the mazda5.
i test drove and liked but wondered, for the money if i added a wee bit more would it get me a better vehicle.
test drove a 2016 mazda3 hb/auto.
liked it alot but my ever-patient wife just didn't like the sight inlines.
the focus wagon has plenty of glass and very easy to drive, especially if 5'1" like she is (i'm 6'1").
and then i drove the 2016 cx-5 w/2.5L engine.
very decent. much better than anticipated.
went online to shop.
found a decent deal with hertz rent2buy program.
a 2016 w/24k rental miles.
drove for two days. put 125 miles on. average 28mpg.
now i felt good about the cx-5 as our next vehicle.
took the hertz car to local ford/subaru/mazda dealer where a friend of a friend is a mechanic and looked over the hertz cx-5.
he pronounced it solid and i remained interested.
he then started talking up buying the mpee extended warranty (same as cpo).
seems "stuff" that breaks these days can be very expensive.
i priced the warranty and added to the hertz price i'm now looking around $18k otd.
i remain interested.
i then emailed 30 local mazda dealers the general terms of the hertz deal:
2016 cx-5 fwd sport
24k
mpee
$18k
27 dealers got back to me with goofy come-ons some about mazda, others about models i have no interest: $159/month nothing down for a dodge.
3 dealers got back to me with interesting cx-5s.
unfortunately, one was a 2015 cx-5/awd and one was a 2015 with 2.0L engine.
but one-from ramsey mazda in northern nj-got back to me with a just traded 2016 CX-5 Sport/AWD/w/roof rack+backup camera+infotainment but no nav.
seems like a retiree had purchased the 2016 cx-5 but found it too big and only drove it local with under 5K miles.
she traded for a loaded mazda3 sedan.
gm at ramsey had taken it in 2 days before and hadn't even listed it.
i spent 3 hrs looking over the silver/black and it was clean.
carfax was clean.
the gm said it qualifies for cpo.
we go back and forth on price.
he won't discount the $499 prep or $299 doc fee but is not unreasonable at all.
he has 3 2015 cx-5s w/under 15k on the lot but can now move a car w/o doing anything.
so he makes $800 on his fees. trade in on the 2016 cx-5 w/4400 miles was around $19k
i figure anything less than $20k otd would be decent.
and the gm and sales guy at ramsey mazda did a good job trying to get above $20k.
i asked for a retractable cargo cover and some oil changes.
and so for a tad under $20k the deal was done.
msrp with extras was close to $25k so a 20% savings off new.
plus the zero deductible cpo which adds 1yr to the original 3/36k and goes 7/100k
(and if i bought the zero deductible mpee that would have been near $2k after sales tax!)
so till may 2022 the cx-5 now has a warranty.
i pick up the cx-5 tomw.
the next "new 4 us" car in the family but as new a car can be w/o actually being new!.
be well.
rob
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