lykwid
04-19-2009, 04:31 PM
Hey Everyone,
To give you a bit of background, I'm in the market for a new 2010 Mazda 3 GS... so I've been shopping around. This is my first car purchase, but I was accompanied by my parents who've bought cars before and were there as a guide. My goal for the day was to get the best price of each dealer, and whoever had the best deal would get my business.
Yesterday, I went with my family to see 3 different dealers (Avante, MoT, Agincourt) and we had completely different experiences.
I don't know what your forum rules are about naming specific names and specific numbers, so until I find out those rules I won't name names or tell you specifics. But I wanted to tell you my overall experience with each. Mods, could you tell me what your policy is on this?
Avante Mazda
I was greeted by an young woman, who was the prototypical sales-woman. Came and gave me the whole fact dropping, and showed us the car. I got this very fake personality feeling, as if all her intentions was to make a sale rather than meeting what my needs were.
We talked some numbers, and she gave us numbers for 3 scenarios: Financing, Leasing, Cash payment. Their numbers were pretty similar to what mazda.ca was quoting, but under cash she immediately gave us 500 cash rebate off the bat.
She also assured us that unlike other dealers, they don't force customers to do the VIN etching like other dealers do (forcing the cost onto you).
In the end, since it was more of a fact finding mission we didn't put an offer down. We knew where we stood ($500 off quoted price with maybe a few hundred more if we actually put an official offer down)
Overall, it wasn't a bad experience. The saleswoman was just trying to do her job, but it was definitely a typical car sales environment. Giving us the "we're better than everyone else because of blah blah blah". May reconsider going back to them to get some firm numbers.
Mazda of Toronto
I had previously been to Mazda of Toronto, on recommendation of pretty much everyone on this board. I went on a weekday originally to try to get a chance to talk to Jeff, but when I arrived he was on his lunch break (unfortunately).
Anyways because I had two experiences with MoT, I'll tell you both. Both were quite different.
First time: Greeted by a saleswoman. She was really nice, and really helpful. Although, she didn't seem very knowledgeable about the Mazda 3, as some questions I asked her was met with an "Oh I'll have to check that" or.. "I'm not sure". Sample question: "What does the AFS button do?" and she wasn't sure. But it didn't bother me that much as she was quite nice and helpful. Not pushy at all, and the whole meeting was quite laid back (what I prefer)
Second time however, was quite the different experience. I came on a weekend, and the MoT sales team was really busy. They had to call someone down to meet with us (that's fine, I understand it's the weekend). The sales person (a guy) came and talked to us. He was very vague, and honestly he came across as sketchy. Questions we asked weren't properly answered, and sometimes he would make things up. For example, in the quoted price he gave us, we asked
Me: "is there any price difference in paint choices?"
Him: "anything metallic color, you add $120".
Me: "What about the Graphite Mica?
Him: "I've already added the $120 on the quoted price".
Then later he goes away to get something and comes back to say
Him: "I was wrong, this graphite mica doesn't have any charge on it", Me: "Okay, so that means it's $120 off the quoted price?",
Him: "No, there's no charge for the graphite mica" (even though just a second ago he said he will charge us $120 for the color I wanted).
Not only that, but in order for us to make negotiate with him, he wanted us to give our credit card to him (which we weren't willing). I'm not a fan at all of negotiating and them holding on to my credit card as hostage. I'll probably write another topic about this later.
Overall, he was the worst sales person I've come across and it's unfortunate that I ran into him at MoT. I've heard good things about MoT, and my first encounter was a positive one. But this man was either 1)very sly and sketchy or 2) completely knowledgeable about the cars he was trying to sell us.
Agincourt Mazda
This was the final stop of the day, as we were all getting quite tired of traveling around. We were introduced to a sales person, who was probably the best sales person we've had so far. He was very calm and patient, and very helpful. We negotiated with him (he asked for our credit card, but in the end was willing to negotiate without him taking the credit card) and finally got to an agreed number, but the deal fell through in the end due to the Graduate Rebate (they wanted an official transcript -- which I have to order and could take up to 2 weeks). So we held the deal off, and we might potentially come back to them as soon as I get my transcript all ready to go.
I've read some bad things about them on this forum, and I'm really second thinking about this deal as I don't want to run into problems when I receive the car.
Overall, great Sales experience. They are a bit pricey on a lot of things compared to other dealers. They force the VIN etching on you. They package VIN etching and additional wheel warranty for $399, which I think is a bit of a ripoff. Also, they make charge a ton of money on rust proofing (I compared their price to Avante) and if you don't rust buy rustproofing with them at the same time as the car purchase, they will charge you at $175 "registration fee". That's a bit ridiculous.
Sorry if this post is too long, I fully expect a lot of "too long didn't read" responses, but I just wanted to share my experience with you guys. Any new potential car purchasers, hope this helps.
To give you a bit of background, I'm in the market for a new 2010 Mazda 3 GS... so I've been shopping around. This is my first car purchase, but I was accompanied by my parents who've bought cars before and were there as a guide. My goal for the day was to get the best price of each dealer, and whoever had the best deal would get my business.
Yesterday, I went with my family to see 3 different dealers (Avante, MoT, Agincourt) and we had completely different experiences.
I don't know what your forum rules are about naming specific names and specific numbers, so until I find out those rules I won't name names or tell you specifics. But I wanted to tell you my overall experience with each. Mods, could you tell me what your policy is on this?
Avante Mazda
I was greeted by an young woman, who was the prototypical sales-woman. Came and gave me the whole fact dropping, and showed us the car. I got this very fake personality feeling, as if all her intentions was to make a sale rather than meeting what my needs were.
We talked some numbers, and she gave us numbers for 3 scenarios: Financing, Leasing, Cash payment. Their numbers were pretty similar to what mazda.ca was quoting, but under cash she immediately gave us 500 cash rebate off the bat.
She also assured us that unlike other dealers, they don't force customers to do the VIN etching like other dealers do (forcing the cost onto you).
In the end, since it was more of a fact finding mission we didn't put an offer down. We knew where we stood ($500 off quoted price with maybe a few hundred more if we actually put an official offer down)
Overall, it wasn't a bad experience. The saleswoman was just trying to do her job, but it was definitely a typical car sales environment. Giving us the "we're better than everyone else because of blah blah blah". May reconsider going back to them to get some firm numbers.
Mazda of Toronto
I had previously been to Mazda of Toronto, on recommendation of pretty much everyone on this board. I went on a weekday originally to try to get a chance to talk to Jeff, but when I arrived he was on his lunch break (unfortunately).
Anyways because I had two experiences with MoT, I'll tell you both. Both were quite different.
First time: Greeted by a saleswoman. She was really nice, and really helpful. Although, she didn't seem very knowledgeable about the Mazda 3, as some questions I asked her was met with an "Oh I'll have to check that" or.. "I'm not sure". Sample question: "What does the AFS button do?" and she wasn't sure. But it didn't bother me that much as she was quite nice and helpful. Not pushy at all, and the whole meeting was quite laid back (what I prefer)
Second time however, was quite the different experience. I came on a weekend, and the MoT sales team was really busy. They had to call someone down to meet with us (that's fine, I understand it's the weekend). The sales person (a guy) came and talked to us. He was very vague, and honestly he came across as sketchy. Questions we asked weren't properly answered, and sometimes he would make things up. For example, in the quoted price he gave us, we asked
Me: "is there any price difference in paint choices?"
Him: "anything metallic color, you add $120".
Me: "What about the Graphite Mica?
Him: "I've already added the $120 on the quoted price".
Then later he goes away to get something and comes back to say
Him: "I was wrong, this graphite mica doesn't have any charge on it", Me: "Okay, so that means it's $120 off the quoted price?",
Him: "No, there's no charge for the graphite mica" (even though just a second ago he said he will charge us $120 for the color I wanted).
Not only that, but in order for us to make negotiate with him, he wanted us to give our credit card to him (which we weren't willing). I'm not a fan at all of negotiating and them holding on to my credit card as hostage. I'll probably write another topic about this later.
Overall, he was the worst sales person I've come across and it's unfortunate that I ran into him at MoT. I've heard good things about MoT, and my first encounter was a positive one. But this man was either 1)very sly and sketchy or 2) completely knowledgeable about the cars he was trying to sell us.
Agincourt Mazda
This was the final stop of the day, as we were all getting quite tired of traveling around. We were introduced to a sales person, who was probably the best sales person we've had so far. He was very calm and patient, and very helpful. We negotiated with him (he asked for our credit card, but in the end was willing to negotiate without him taking the credit card) and finally got to an agreed number, but the deal fell through in the end due to the Graduate Rebate (they wanted an official transcript -- which I have to order and could take up to 2 weeks). So we held the deal off, and we might potentially come back to them as soon as I get my transcript all ready to go.
I've read some bad things about them on this forum, and I'm really second thinking about this deal as I don't want to run into problems when I receive the car.
Overall, great Sales experience. They are a bit pricey on a lot of things compared to other dealers. They force the VIN etching on you. They package VIN etching and additional wheel warranty for $399, which I think is a bit of a ripoff. Also, they make charge a ton of money on rust proofing (I compared their price to Avante) and if you don't rust buy rustproofing with them at the same time as the car purchase, they will charge you at $175 "registration fee". That's a bit ridiculous.
Sorry if this post is too long, I fully expect a lot of "too long didn't read" responses, but I just wanted to share my experience with you guys. Any new potential car purchasers, hope this helps.