frankfrugaduga

I went with my cousin this weekend to buy a Mazda 3 with cash. However, Mazda of Redlands, CA has made us never even consider Mazda ever again! They attempted to steal money from us! Here is their info:

Mazda-Redlands Mazda at Redlands Auto Center
500 W Redlands Blvd, Redlands, CA
(909) 793-2141

We agreed on a car for $17k OTD. What a great deal, right!? Nope. As we were doing a final check on numbers, the price said $20,800, NOT including tax and license. That's about a $5k difference.

At this point, we had already given them the $17k. They insisted that we the pay difference. I reminded him that we had agreed on a lower price and he looked me right in the eyes and said, "no, we didn't." He insulted me even further by trying to get us to finance the rest! Our intent was to pay cash and drive off that day.

My cousin wanted out of the deal now. However, TONY, ERIC, and MARLENE wouldn't give us our money back! To make a long story short, after two days of kicking, screaming, and scaring away customers, we got our money back.

The moral of the story: don't buy from REDLANDS MAZDA in Redlands, CA. If you want to verify this story (or yell at them for us), ask for TONY, ERIC, or MARLENE. I'm curious at to what they'll say. They must be embarrassed.

To be honest, he still wants a 3. Does anyone have any SoCal Mazda dealers that don't steal like REDLANDS? Thanks in advance.

Roddimus Prime

Please buy a mazda3. They are quality cars and very impressive. However there is a sad fact you will HAVE to accept.

MAzda dealers are pure horse-****. In order to be a Mazda dealer you have to under-go several test to see how far up your as you can cram your head and how little soul you have.

You'll love the car and hate the dealer. Just have to accept it or buy a bland honda.

frankfrugaduga

What do you think of the Acura TSX?

Roddimus Prime

I think it's a 4dr rsx....which means very little to nothing to me.

velocity_r3d

well, I have a 3 and my fiance has a TSX...if it wasnt for his car being automatic i'd rather be driving his(and even still.. its pretty close)!

vielster

You may consider reporting this incident to the better business bureau, or especially Mazda. I think Mazda would be pretty upset that they turned away your business the way they did and especially upset about them giving you an ill opinion of Mazda in general (not to mention business practices). They may even offer to cut you a deal to keep you from turning away from Mazdas. I've driven a few 3's and they are fantastic vehicles, so don't just give up on it.

I would say the TSX is more elegant and sportier than a 3, and not quite the equivalent to a 4dr RSX (2.4L vs. 2.0L: 166 vs 143 ft/lb tourque), but darn close. Driven both and I actually like the TSX much better than the RSX. I guess the technical way to put it is that an RSX is a super hopped up Civic and the TSX is a hopped up accord (Euro Accord actually). It's also somewher around $27k, so quite a bit pricier than the 3. You can get a juiced up 6 for less.

Just get a Protege5 and WOMP it...the best of both worlds!

tastade

Did you have a trade? They tried to screw me with a trade.

You have to be careful, they tried a similar thing with me at a Mazda Dealer in Cedar Rapids. I think it is more related to the dealership and doesn't have much to do with Mazda. here is what they did.

They told me they would pay off my old car for up to $5,000, (they didn't write this down)
then they wrote down the price of the car (say $16,000),
then they wrote down the down payment (say $1,000),
then they wrote down a monthly payment number, they said $475 a month for 48 months.
The only numbers they wrote down were:
$16,000 for the car
$1,000 for the down payment
$475 / mo for the payment
-> sign here

I added the payments (48 * 475) and came up with $22,800 and immediately thought, what the heck is going on here, that is way too high. So I said no, I want to know what the interest rate would be, they wouldn't tell me. So I looked up on the internet (in the dealership) what payments should be for $15,0000 (16,000 - 1,000 down) and at 4% interest it should have been about $350 a month for 48 months as I figured it should be.

So I dealt with them for about 1.5 hours and said, look, with the numbers you are giving me, I won't pay more than $350 a month. Finally, after a while the manager came over and broke down the numbers for me,
$16,000 new car
+ $5000 payoff
- $ next to zero trade
- $1,000 down
+ $tax, registration, etc
--> total of like $20,000+ and at 4% interest would be about $475 a month.

They were trying to take my old car for $0 and just add the $5,000 into the loan and base the payments off of that. $16,000 + $5,000 payoff - $1000 down, is about $475 a month for 48 months. Basically they were trying to screw me.

Once they broke out the numbers for me, I immediately saw this and told them to go screw themselves if they wouldn't give me $5,000 trade plus the payoff (i.e. I sell them my car for what I owe). I got my way after a total of 2 hours at the dealer (settling for $4,600 on my trade). It sounds like this same thing might have happened to you. In the end I was happy, I got my way for the most part, but it was a stressful experience, and a lot more trouble than it needed to me. I felt like they were lying about the trade, they were implying that they were giving me $5,000, but were really trying to rip me off and give me nothing. I wish they would have been upfront with the trade value and we could have negotiated in an open manner that would have been much more efficient and honest.

frankfrugaduga

That sucks man. What was the name of the salesman and manager in Cedar Rapids? What's the name of the Dealership?

I went to Redlands Mazda in California and I dealt with Eric, Tony, and Marlene. They are s

Roddimus Prime

NEVER NEVER NEVER go into a dealership and tell them what you want to pay every month..EVER. Never do it.

All you should do is haggle for the lowest price on their vehicle and then haggle for the highest trade-in on your vehicle. After that you get a set cost OTD for a cash price. Then make them sign it. Shop around at 4 dealers with the first quote,.....each dealer that offers you a lower quote keep it while throwing away the first. After you feel you have gotten the best deal possible return to dealership A and show them dealership D's offer. Let them know if they hadn't jerked you around when they had their shot at you that you'd be driving off in their car. Then leave. Buy your vehicle at the dealership who gave you the best numbers up front.

frankfrugaduga

Rodimus...you have to help me! I just called another dealer and they were extremely rude to me! I told AL that I wanted to pay cash and he asked for my phone number. I said I don't want to give that and he said, "that's strange." He then asked for my cell and I gave him the same reply. Then he said, "if you don't have a phone, you probably can't afford a car anyways. Bye!"

Ironic--I was paying cash! Here's their info:

Phillips Buick-Pontiac-Mazda Map
24888 Alicia Pky, Laguna Hills, CA 92653
949 837-2400
Salesman: AL

Can you help me buy a Mazda without any attitudes or rudeness?

Roddimus Prime

I used to sell Mazda's and Fords. NO matter where you go you will always be scammed. They will always try to rip you off. It's the nasture of the business.

I highly suggest you walk into the next dealership with a breifcase with your money in it. Have a local police officer to escort you.Phone ahead and tell them you are traveling with a lot of cash and would like to be escorted. Walk into the dealership with escort and open the breifcase in front of the manager and ask for their most polite salesman. You are tired of being jerked around. This should get you very prompt and courteous service. Stop a few times during the negotiation process to request a free drink or snack. Let them know that you are in no hurry by driving several models of the exact same car...even if they are only different colors. Most importantly put them on YOUR clock. DO NOT MOVE AT THEIR PACE. If the salesman asks you to sit stand up. If he asks you to come inside tell him you want to stay out side and look at more cars even if they're the same ones.

Salesman train to lead you where they want you. Do not be led. Lead.

Remember what I said: Ask for their best price up front. Tell them they have one shot at this. Haggle for the best possible price for their car. DO NOT MENTION TRADE UNTIL AFTER YOU HAVE THEIR BEST PRICE! After you get their best offer for their vehicle have it put in writting and take it away from them. Fold it and put it in your pocket. Excuse yourself from wherever you are and make a call on THEIR phone to the next closest dealership. Give them the offer from the dealership you're at. Ask that Dealership B beat the deal...even if by only $1. Have them fax over a written invoice from the vehicle signed by the sales manager. Show it to salesman A. Ask him to match it or beat it. If he makes you offer lower than his original get up and leave. Let him know you offered him ONE SHOT and one shot only at giving you his best price upfront. Leave.

Go to dealership B and start over.


p.s. I have done this before and it is VERY successfull. With as many new cars as I buy I've gotten quite a reputation around town for not haggling. I called a Ford dealership about buying my motrher a new Mustang Mach1. The sticker was $31K. Dealership A offered it to me for $28.5K otd. I did what I just said to do (minus the suitcase of cash) and Dealership B offered me the exact same $31K vehicle for $25.9Kotd. Trust me, I know how to manipulate car sales.

mannydingo

Sorry Frank, I'm going to play the other guy's lawyer for a moment. We are only hearing one side of the story and Frank has offered us to call the dealership which a forum member in California can do. The dealership will tell a different story that makes Frank look bad. We don't know if Frank didn't read something correctly or understand something. I'm sure a couple of you have had bad experiences with Mazda but I have had a bad experience with dealers that don't have a single thing to do with Mazda. It's the people that work there that make the difference. If you get a bad general manager, he will hire idiots. Also, I think if too many of us call, they are going to say, after the third person calls, that that transaction is personal. They aren't going to waste their time explaining themselves to strangers who call in. Remember, we weren't there. Don't automatically call them ******** and not believe anything they say immediately. frankfrugaduga just finished joining this forum right now, this month. We don't know how legit he is. I'm not saying he's not. He may be a very honest, truthful guy. I just say we don't know him and don't know all the details. Any long time California members willing to call that Mazda dealer?

juddz

Just one day of misery for years of enjoyment...

U_n_L_u_T_k_R_e_A (ultranuke)

First of all, I've been the Mazda in Redlands, CA and the guy Tony there is scum. He insisted that he needed my driver's license in order for me to do my test drive, but no other dealerships that I've been to had asked me to do the same.
But even worse, he said that the car I wanted wasn't at any other Mazda dealership in the area. He INSISTED that the nearest one was an hour away.
So I drove 5 miles to the San Bernardino Mazda and the first thing I was TWO of them.

frankfrugaduga

Be careful of that. I read that dealers legally don't need your license. They claim it's for insurance purposes. However, most of the time they run your credit to see if you can even afford the car. On the down side, it's illegal to run someones credit without consent. I would see if he ran your credit man.