How was your CX-5 Car Buying Or Leasing Experience

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CX-5 AWD, Touring
Just wanted to start a thread discussing how it went for new or used, leased, or buying experience. Since this time of the year so many of people in this community are getting CX-5's and it is Mazda's top selling vehicle.

So I'll just start off saying I got my new 2017 CX-5 Snowflake Pearl White, AWD, Touring with Preferred packaging. For a very pretty good price considering my situation.

Before going to the dealer I did the following research:

-Used Costco auto purchase program to get a quote and available discount & incentives.
-Used truecar.com to price out a Sport, Touring, and Grand Touring.
-Checked yelp.com for reviews and feedback on 5 different Mazda dealers within my city & county.
-Talked to my credit union and got pre approved for an auto loan with lowest APR % rate. I belong to and have a checking & savings account with 2 different credit unions.
-Checked kbb.com for the trade in value of previous car which was a Prius Model II base model.
-Read and watched several reviews on car review sites and watched many review videos on youtube.

All that research took me about 2 days total and mainly done on the internet and using google and the above listed websites.


Going to visit a local dealer:

-I went last Saturday bright and early at 10AM a hour after the Mazda dealership opened. Yes I actually had an appointment with a designated Costco sales person at this dealership.They texted me the night before to setup the appointment time.
-The car sales person I dealt with had a nice and relaxed non pushy attitude the minute I pulled up to the lot.
-Car sales man showed me the 3 different type of CX-5 models I was interested and the colors I was looking for. He didn't try to sell or push me a different color or certified pre owned model.
-Took the CX-5 sport model FWD drive for a test first and quickly realized this model was not right for me based on features & interior. Came back looked at test drove a CX-5 Touring AWD and that literally sealed my decision. During the test drive the car deal knew each model well and answered in detail all of my questions.
-Got back to dealership and got down to business and started the negotiation and numbers process. The car sales man showed me that he was an authorized Costco person and showed me a list of discounts related to each CX-5 and model going on at the time.
-Used truecar.com lowest price and Costco $750 discount and the San Diego auto show discount $500 to get to the lowest price before Tax, Title, and licensing fees.
-Filled out and did credit application and found out my credit was good enough for 0% APR financing. They came back and showed me my credit report and score.
-Found out what they appraised my Prius II base model which was $1100 less than kbb.com "fair" condition price. I countered back and said I needed more for my trade in and the sales person spoke to the car dealer manager and kicked in another $500 for my toward the trade in value.
-Car sales man came back and showed me in detail the final "Out the door price". Which I agreed to.

Finance officer:

-This honestly was the process I dreaded the most going through. I just HATE being in the home stretch and these guys in this department will always throw curve balls at you trying to squeeze more $$$ out of you and try to tack on more to a car loan.
-The finance officer was a young guy compared to the car salesman I worked with and was easily in his early to mid 50's age wise.
-The vibe and the way this finance officer talked to me just right off the bat rubbed me the wrong way. I could see him coming a mile a way that he would start pushing & up selling extended warranty's, a use less KARR security system, GAP coverage etc.

So yeah after signing all the paperwork and doing the final car inspection. I drove off the lot in my new 2017 CX-5.

The whole process took me a good 4 hours at one of the very best reputable Mazda car dealerships in my city & county.
 
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Mine was easy and hard. I visited my regular dealer - already bought 2 Mazdas in the past, talked for a while and got some ballpark quotes. Had them look at my trade, and they were going to call around. Also went to carmax and got a sell price on my trade. Filled out some online requests for other local dealers, and only 2 replied. One dealer asked questions instead of responding to my request. Another gave me a price on the car, but no out the door price. His quote was great, but had an asterisk, and some mystery language.

So, I went back to my dealer a couple days later with the email and the great price. He could not touch the price. He was a $1500 higher, and still could not value my trade. He wanted me to double check the price quote from dealer 2, so i called, and got price breakdown out the door pricing. I found out the price was dependent on taking their financing and their protection package, so on the phone he gave me a new price and full OTD breakdown for 0% APR. Still cheaper then my dealer by $1000, even if I paid for the Environmental protection package. So we left.

The next day we went to dealer 2 - 30 miles away. Dealer 3 was 50 miles away and i was emailing him. He would give me OTD price, but not the breakdown. It was higher, and i never went down there. I was dreading going to dealer 2. My wife and i put on your battle gear ready to fight sales and finance. But it was not to be. We got there and the price was $200 lower then on the phone - Car price was $30,300 (he had told me $30,500); EPAP was still included though for $899. We started to ask if it was already applied (no evidence of that) and the guy says if you don't want it, will knock off the warranty - make it $299. They took one look at my trade and carmax offer, and agrreed to that - so that saved me $850 in taxes. We test drove it and said yes - it took us no time to agree.

Finance guy knew we wanted no extended warranty, so that took 5 minutes max.

I then got to apply my $500 owner loyalty too. I didn't bother going the Costco route as they worked with dealer 1 - and the $750 would not have got me the price i got at dealer 2 - and i see no guarantee from costco that there is a fixed discount.

On the ride home, my wife and I discussed how we could not believe we were in and out of the dealer in 2.5 hours, and got the price we wanted, and the car we wanted. I came out $3000 under MSRP and got my Owner loyalty on top of that, and 0% APR - Grand Touring, AWD, Premium package in snowflake white.

And yes, I know EPAP is crap - and maybe i could have fought to get that knocked off. But i know they get spiffs for selling it, and the price and trade made my target better then what i expected. So they got a win and I got a win.
 
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It was fine as far as car buying goes. I mean, I never like car shopping.

This was all mid-December, week before Christmas. Biggest surprise for me was that I ended up with a CX-5! I hadnt planned to get another Mazda. Or a CUV at all. I was rather set on a Toyota Tacoma. Toyota and Mazda dealers here are next door to each other. Was ready to sign for a 2017 or 2018 TRD Off Road but slightly hesitant since there would be some sacrifice on features (like remote start) so we went next door just to look at a CX-5.

Got there near close of business on the Friday but test drove a 2017 CX-5 GS, did some internet research that night, took my own car back next day for them to look at it and they were prepared to give me $6,500 CAD cash/cheque for my 2010 Mazda 3 ($4k more than Toyota would give as a trade in only and more than I would give it going buy CBB). I wanted a 2018 (which they only had two of, none with specs/colour I wanted...I wanted GT w Tech in SCR/White) and in Canada they can be chintzy on incentives especially with a new release/cars not on lot but I still got offered free remote starter (~$700), a bit of a discount on winter tires/rims I wanted and 1% loyalty discount. We took it on an extended saleswoman-free test drive and talked over the Tacoma v CX-5 and ultimately at end could not resist the bang for less buck I got with CX-5, even with added accessories, especially considering what they would give me cash for my Mazda 3. Plus it just feels nice to drive...that Mazda feel :) I still like the Tacoma a lot, but the CX-5 does make more sense for me (and my husband already has a 4x4 truck when we need a truck).

They are under new management since last time I bought from this dealer, which is a big improvement. There is only one dealer here (next is 3 hours away) and after last time my husband never wanted to deal with the
local dealer again but it went well. Saleswoman was chatty but not pushy, and sales manager turned out to be someone my husband knew (and did not know worked there). No push on extended warranties. They are fixed on their doc fee but they do throw other stuff in to make up for it (though not stuff I was set on having, but whatever). Both saleswoman and sales manager have been great with follow up and updates.

I did my first ever lease (five years) as the numbers worked out well for me and I have decided five years is long enough for me with cars especially with tech changing as it is, and nature of my job. No down payment.

I should be able to take delivery on Friday. Took a little longer than expected due to all the holidays. It arrived at dealer on Friday and I went and checked it out Saturday while it is still all wrapped and marked off the truck, but looks good anyway!
 
I do generally what you did for pricing. I use true-car to get a price and go to the dealer. I immediately ask for a final out the door price in writing and if they don't give it, I walk away. I always ask for 50% off most things, like extended warranties and get it.
 
Well why are we not shouting out to these dealers if we like them so much?

Bass Mazda in Sheffield Lake Ohio treated me right from the minute I walked in the door.
"Yea, can I test drive a CX-5?"
Makes a copy of my license. Tosses me the keys.
"Do you know the area?"
"Yep!"
"Have fun".

The only dealer that let me take the car out alone.

Zero pressure. Didn't try to upsell me. In fact, when I noticed the 3 and how pretty I thought it was, my salesman had no issue talking to me about buying the much cheaper 3. Didn't try to talk me out of it. Almost like he... just wanted to please his customer. It was crazy! :D
And then I left. Yea, I just left. And he was like "OK, send me an email if you have questions".
This is night and day from the experience I had at Jeep and was probably the #1 reason I did not buy a Jeep.

We spent a week talking over email about the color and options I wanted. He was very patient with me Made my choice, showed up, and sat down with the finance guy. Nothing extra was pushed on me or even offered. That would annoy me. That stuff should be worked out when you agree to buy, not when signing paperwork.
 
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The only dealer that let me take the car out alone.

Interesting. Every dealer (Mazda or otherwise) I have test drove around here will do the first test drive with you out on a route - usually outside the city along some highways and back roads, and then a bit of city (so the sales person can do their spiel) but then without fail they have always let me take a vehicle for an extended solo test drive (i.e. to take home and see how it fits in garage). I usually get 2-3 hours with them. Last time my husband bought a vehicle, they let him test drive it overnight as he went near end of the day.I thought that was the norm, to be honest. It is actually very good sales tactic, as once you take it and start putting it in your garage and such...you start thinking of it as yours ;)
 
Well why are we not shouting out to these dealers if we like them so much?

Dealers really do make a difference when buying a car.
I'm a little older than most of you folks here, so I have had a ton of experience over the years with various dealers and makes.

Example: One of the reasons I have a dislike for all things Honda and Acura is due to poor (that's putting it mildly) dealer encounters.

When I was searching, and eventually purchasing my Mazda 6, I was amazed, again, by how much dealerships differ from one to the other.
I was dealing with two Mazda outfits, and they were not the same at all.
Even worse, my old Nissan dealer that I bought cars from before had been bought out a few years ago. New name, management and staff.
I went there just to see what was up. I was not intending to buy another Nissan, but felt I should at least drop by. They were great in the past.
Wow, what a difference. All the old staff was gone, the place had been "updated", for the worse, and the staff was as bad and rude as the renovations.
Couldn't believe it. How they sell cars at this place now is beyond me.
I also dropped by a new Toyota dealership in my neighbourhood, and was completely ignored.
I walked around the showroom for a while, poking around at the cars, and not one person looked my way.
The receptionist didn't bother looking up from her phone.
Too busy texting her boyfriend I guess.
I eventually just left without being approached or talking to anyone. Brutal.
 
Interesting right back atcha. I've never heard of an EXTENDED TEST DRIVE unless it is offered as a special promotion. I love being able to do that initial test drive alone and only Mazda let me. Subaru, Honda and Jeep did not.

@Buzzman: totally agree re: dealer experience.
North Olmsted Jeep (yes, I will publicly shame you) was horrific. I walked in and said straight up:
"Not buying today, I just want to test drive"
Test drove.
OK thanks!
"So do you want to buy?"
"No, I want to test drive a Subaru. I already said..."
"I can do this price"...
"I am not buying today"
"Let me go talk to my manager..."
OMFG
He went to "talk to his manager" 3 times and the car got cheaper every time. Screw you.
 
I dealt with 3 dealers, Baglier in Evans City, PA, Rohrich in Pittsburgh, PA and Kenny Ross in Irwin, PA.

Most of my process was on line, gathering pricing, incentives, intel on models before I set foot in any dealership. IOW, I knew what to expect before I got there. Before any of that, I went back and forth on line with all 3 dealerships until I was fairly certain the next move was come in with vehicle to trade for appraisal as the KBB price that most seemed to be beholden to was not satisfactory.

Baglier got the first shot, went on a Saturday afternoon in a pouring rainstorm. They looked my car over, offered KBB and I said, truthfully, I could sell that car today for $2K higher than that. So they bumped it up $2K. They gave me what I believed to be the best selling price that was equal to what Rohrich(best online price offer) was offering and the fees were lower. I gave them a time limit of about 15 minutes to come up with pricing and they did. I walked out with a price in hand and told them a second buyer of the car wanted to see my trade before I made a decision.

Ross was visited on Monday, was aggressive on their pricing as well and matched any online offer I had received. I had on line pricing on my phone which made negotiating easy. The attraction to Ross which was the furthest dealer away from me was they wanted my trade...bad. Offered me what I was trying to sell the vehicle for out of my yard since August and it was now November. Sell price was a few $100 better, fees were less and this reduced the tax. This deal ended up $900 better with trade allowance than any other offer before finance guy.

Rohrich.....the salesman on line info was great, produced a little phone video sales clip that was emailed to me, was very responsive, but.......IT WAS $900 MORE THAN ROSS. I could not see where this guy was going to come up with that kind of money for my trade plus less in fees and selling price. So I never even went in to see him. He was pissed and let me know how disappointed he was that he never even got an in person visit from me, had worked his fingers on sales pitch, was the regional top sales bla bla bla and.......nothing.

Monday, I shined up my black 2006 MX5 with 85K and a check engine light on and took it into Ross. The sales manager wanted to buy my car for himself and offered $7500. All other figures matched what I had on line, I did buy an extended warranty as the amount of electronics on the car and the transmission problems scared me a bit. I had not bought a new car since 2003, I did search used but right now am glad I bought 2017 model year of this car.
 
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Interesting right back atcha. I've never heard of an EXTENDED TEST DRIVE unless it is offered as a special promotion. I love being able to do that initial test drive alone and only Mazda let me. Subaru, Honda and Jeep did not.

It is surprising they don't, because it really is a good sales tactic. As you experienced, there is something really enjoyable about being able to do that test drive alone. I mean, the reality is that is how you usually are going to be using the vehicle, right? As soon as my husband came home with his truck for an overnight test drive I knew we were buying it. Our business also involves sales and he does the same thing with customers "sure, just take it for a day or two and try it out". The majority of the time they return wanting to buy it. (eekdance)
 
Two months ago we bought our ‘17 CX5 GT w Premium package. Since I had researched and knew what I wanted, the process was pretty quick. After a 20-25 minute test drive without the salesman we made our initial offer, he countered and we made second offer which was accepted. Less than ten minutes. Finance guy was very quick. I told him no warranty and he didn’t push the issue. Just over 5 minutes. The car we picked was missing one of the fobs plus the detail so there was a wait. The salesman gave us the keys to another CX5 for us to kill time in and have lunch. This was the best buying experience I’ve had.

Our test drive had no limits either though they asked us to keep it local.
 
Buzzman12- gotta disagree a bit. i can't stand being hounded the very second i'm spotted browsing a dealership lot. once they've spotted you, they very rarely leave you alone. i only want to speak with someone if i either want a test drive, or have very specific questions about a particular model. and if i want a test drive, i'll go in and find someone to help me out.

now, this mostly refers to the outside lots. if i'm inside the building, i don't mind be approached in a casual manner. but if they start getting pushy, i usually just get up and leave.


I remember one instance many years ago, when I was looking at a used Mitsubishi Eclpise. big fat slobby guy comes waddling out, and immediately throws out a price. i mostly ignore it, and just ask for a test drive. after the test drive he immediately starts with the numbers again. i don't recall exactly what i said, but he immediately became unhinged, and basically ranted that someone who isn't ready to buy a car has no business being at a car dealership. i walked out, never to visit that dealership again. a few months later some poor lady was outside that place with a homemade sign about how they had ripped her off. put a smile on my face knowing i never game them a god damned penny.
 
Well why are we not shouting out to these dealers if we like them so much?

That is a great point. I used North Penn Mazda in Lansdale PA and Stokes Mazda in Charleston, SC. Both are very good with no pressure.
 
I got mine from a dealer far far away. I will never see him again - only saw him fr 1 hr 45 mins. I now go to a decent dealer nearby. Hoping by the time I hit 60K miles I get tires from discount tires and do rotations there and go to an independent nearby for Mazda moly oil changes and bring my own oil. I would like to keep this car for about 120K miles.
 
My local Mazda dealer let us take a CX5 out by ourselves when we were test driving multiple cars prior to our decision of which one to buy. As far as the purchasing procedure, I get everything hammered out online before I step foot into a dealership. I have done this with the last 5 cars we have purchased and it saves a bunch of time and eliminates any surprises.
 
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I went as far as doing a test drive and providing all of my info on paper and did not get a return phone call. How bad is that?
 
I went as far as doing a test drive and providing all of my info on paper and did not get a return phone call. How bad is that?

I never did hear back from my dealer i bought 2 cars from and test drove the 2018 and 2017 CX-5 - he knew i was going to buy... no longer a preferred dealer. But i never liked their service dept. much either.

As for test drive. I have never had a dealer not let me take a car out by myself.
 
I find it amazing how different certain dealers follow up. Most email, text and phone call you like the world is ending. However, I had two dealers that had CX5's in stock as we wanted equipped, and neither one called me back after I left voice messages for the salesmen that helped us set up test drives. We ended up driving over 80 miles to get ours because the dealership was dealing and were responsive.
 
I find it amazing how different certain dealers follow up. Most email, text and phone call you like the world is ending. However, I had two dealers that had CX5's in stock as we wanted equipped, and neither one called me back after I left voice messages for the salesmen that helped us set up test drives. We ended up driving over 80 miles to get ours because the dealership was dealing and were responsive.

What price did you get on your 2017 GT?
 
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