Mazda of Richmond Hill - okay experience but beware of old school tactics

[super]

just bought another Mazda3 Sport GT (base) in snowflake white (I already have 2014 GT in black)

I bought my current one from Jeff (great experience), bought new one from Mazda of Richmond Hill as it was closer to me and I went there first with the idea that I will just leave and go further to Jeff as I knew exactly what I wanted and willing to pay and if they didn't agree, then I'll walk.

They have typical setup where sales consultant goes to sales/finance manager to "approve" a price but require a CC deposit before they are willing to talk price (I agreed knowing I could walk and they had to refund me but with a bit of hassle) but this is shady in this day and age IMO

They tried to distort price (deliberate or not?) by dealing in biweekly payment amounts for the lease and won't do monthly (say for only $10 more a payment etc). I said I wanted to deal with purchase price of car and discounts/incentives. Of course they try to roll in the "discount" amount including all incentives whereas I broke it down btwn mazda incentives and discount I wanted.

agreed on price/discount and off to the finance manager! and woops!! they "forgot" the upgrade to mazda discount and added it back in after i noticed it (by adding up all the incentives/discount amt)

I wanted lease protection as car is for my girlfriend who is not careful and has scrapped mirrors and curbed rims and they said yes the lease protection will cover it and add it on for $10 a payment which I agreed, gave me pamphlet and went home. Saw that the lease protection was from FCPP and didn't cover scratches if it's to the paint or bumpers and didn't cover curb rash!

sent email saying it wasn't what we were told we were getting and they agreed to take it off but offered the mazda appearance protection package instead which covers everything i asked for will cost more (extra $16 a payment for 48 months). Said I'll think about with intention to decline as it's too expensive when buyback is only $10k

In October, leasecash increased and I emailed asking for my lease to reflect that and they agreed. emailed saying car was here a month later and i let them know i've decided not to get the lease protection.

time to pick up car after a month. They "forgot" we had wanted to not move forward with the mazda wear protection and included it for $1555. I said I didn't want it, tried to persuade me to get it and I said no. Went to amend the agreement and then came back and said if they gave me back $300 would I take it or give him a number...I said I'll take it if he gave me $450 back to be added to balance of $1000 deposit we left. agreed.

Numbers below

MSRP was 25,200 with $850 leaseback cash when I signed the deal in september but took a month to arrive and the leaseback cash increased to $1200.

so $25,200 MSRP with following discounts/incentives for a 48mth 0% lease
$1200 lease cash
$425 upgrade to mazda
$500 first time buyer
$1500 discount from dealer
no admin fee but had lease admin fee of $150 (which is on mazda site) plus like $75 for registration etc


plus $500 grad discount (told to follow up in 6-8weeks later as they submit transcript to mazda who needs to approve it?)

tldr; paying $159 biweekly inc tax for a base 2018 M3 sport GT with gold Mazda wear protection.

overall was a decent experience (sales rep was great, but he's just a rep with no power and the sale tactics was from the finance manager who was friendly enough but always in a rush). They are willing to give decent deals, but overall I much prefer straight to the point and transparent process with someone like Jeff.

[S.F.W.]

@rmenon

[Hyperion]

Deposit for a quote? Audios Amigos

[super]

Deposit for a quote? Audios Amigos

Yup! Well they'll give you msrp quote with factory incentives without deposit..hence why I said old school stealership tactic

[starwind]

Super: I also much prefer and transparent and straight to the point process.

My local [Ottawa] dealership would not give me a quote without me signing a "commitment to do business" with them; I did not ask what that meant as I was not willing to sign something to get a quote. Instead the slimy finance manager spent 20 minutes telling me about how they were Canada's newest Mazda dealership so did not need to make a profit, and could give me a great deal, beat anyone else, etc etc. I had already explained that I already had a quote from another dealership but wanted a quote from them since they were closer. they still refused. They would not even tell me when they would have 2018s in stock -- they had no 2017 and 2018 had not arrived at that point -- said he had to contact his Mazda rep to find out -- really, you don't know when your new Mazda 3s are coming in ? BS. I walked out.

I made the 5 hour drive to Toronto to leasse my 2018 Mazda 3 Sport GT with premium and tech from Jeff. Totally worth it to not have to deal with the games most dealerships want to play.

FWIW, I had planned to do my service at that local dealership, but they have screwed that up too, so I will be going to a further dealership for service (I have used them before and been happy; and their parts manager actually quickly responds to emails from customers wanting to buy things from them!). At least the further one has service hours in the evening and Saturdays.

I wish dealerships would stop playing games, but it seems it is very much still the norm :-(

[mazdaagain]

I wish dealerships would stop playing games, but it seems it is very much still the norm :-(

The best tactic is to go in with what you want to spend. Make your offer and tell them that you will walk if they try to go the "Well, my manager says the best we can do is .... back and forth" route. I did that once and he came back with the usual line so I got up and started to walk out the door. He asked "Where are you going ?" and I said "I told you that I'd walk if you tried to use that sales tactic" He said "OK.OK ... wait 1 minute". He went to talk to the manager and came back and said "OK, it's a deal".
If they let you walk then you know that you went too low.

I bought a used car from that dealership and did not have those issues at all. Maybe it's only new car sales.

[homieG]

Hi guys

Everyone has their way of selling and there has been some changes made here to avoid such situations. I agree with it not being the best practice and am trying to make the staff here understand that they don't need to be the "typical" car sales people.

Going forward, please ask for me (Gautam Shah or G) when you come in and you are guaranteed the best possible service and price on New and Pre-owned cars.

I look forward to serving the TM3 community for a long time!!

Cheers

G