bob teatow

Frank,
let us know if the BBB does anything for you. IIRC, BBB is an association of local merchants and they have no police power nor are they likely "to go after" one of their own. Unless, perhaps, he is doing something that is significantly damaging the reputation and livelihood of the other area merchants.

If you are still being cheated or harassed - contact the policy and/or the frauds unit at your local DA's office. But I think you say that in the end, despite the hassle, you got all your money back -- so for the most part - you have remedied the situation yourself and their is little the DA can do for you now. Still it would be a good idea to write up a memo on the incident and send it to the local DA, and the State Attorney general -- they may be collecting evidence on this bad actor.

blaznblair

my brother has a TSX, thee are really sweet. it has .2 liters more displacement and torque hits peak a lot sooner than a RSX. really fun to drive especially when in stick form.

frankfrugaduga

BBB got back to me. Redlands Mazda told them that they are sorry and the mix-up was due to a highly inexperienced salesman who no longer works there.

However, Eric, Tony and Marlene have been doing this for 10+ each years, so that doesn't add up. Also, I called Redlands Mazda and they ALL still work there. What should I do? They are not telling the truth to the BBB. Can someone call them for me?

bob teatow

Frank, re-read my memo just above, particularly the first and last lines! :shrug:

swamp

Good idea Frank. I've had great success using BBB when I had problems with my mobile home dealer. No matter how much they want to brush off your call, they do not want to get bad marks from them. Contact BBB again and tell them exactly what you just told us.

I live in South Carolina and had good experences with all but one of the dealers I spoke with and I spoke with 6 of them. Ironically, things worked out exactly how Rod described. The first dealer tried to soak me though I had done lots of research and knew my game. The last dealer gave me a nice quote which I took to dealer "A" and showed them. This first guy tried and tried to get me to stay...even offered to get the car from the other dealer and sell it to me at the same price. I told him, "no, because I want the car today and I like the trip to Spartanburg" I got to Vic Bailey Mazda in Spartanburg and they were very polite and helpful and let me run the show...no hard *** sale. They would not budge any more on the price of the 3, but I didn't expect they would. The car I got has been selling for more than I paid for mine, about 100 bucks over invoice, so hey.... I know they made good money off the deal, but from what I've been seeing no one has gotten below invoice on their 3 yet....correct? When it came time for the trade, they low balled me and we talked them up another $300 bringing us to within $100 of KBB trade value. Not good, but not terrible either. Anyway, I feel like we all went away happy which is the idea when car dealing.

I guess the moral of my story is....if you want good Mazda dealers in the USA, come to the South

Femgearhead

Sorry to hear of your bad experience with Redlands. The worst thing that can happen to any dealer is bad word of mouth. I was having a sort of similar experience when I bought my 3. I went thru a broker, but when I originally was quotted the price by him, I thought I would do some checking on my own. I contacted Almaden Mazda in San Jose and spoke with the fleet mgr. I told her how much I would spend out the door and if she could match the price, I'd be there in an hour to buy. She basically told me she dosent waste time on non serious buyers and hung up on me.

I did get my 3 for a good price, but I'm still pissed at how I was treated.

I've found some ok dealers locally in the Bay Area, but for the most part I can't stand dealers.

igator210

I've had several different experiences buying a new car.

Two years ago when I was in the market for a new car, it took me 6 months to buy a Protege. I did my homework. I built my own virtual one to figure out the MSRP. Then I tried to figure out invoice. I calculated how much my trade-in was worth. I figured out how much my down payment could be. I looked up various interest rates to figure out what my monthly payment would be. Then I prepared for my fight. I contacted 3 local dealers. I was ready to play the game "what will you do for me" where I see what the dealer was willing to offer. One dealer only wanted to talk if I came in to the showroom. Another seemed disinterested. But the third one that called was a buyers dream. He gave the MSRP, the dealer discount, the interest rate and everything else I could want. So, I went to him. I get there, start filling out the paperwork, then asked about a trade in. Gave me a higher price for the trade in I expected, and continued filling out the paperwork, then decided on the car. I liked the blue color, but they didn't have one on the lot, so they got one from another dealer. I didn't get screwed anywhere in the process. I was extremely happy.

Most dealers want to know "all the information" before dealing. They used your trade-in and down payment against you. If you tell them how much you want to pay a month, they might not have to discount the price as much. They try to make you think you are getting a deal, then find ways to make that money back.

Jump forward two years, and my Protege is now in a salvage yard due to a driver that tried to defy physic and pass his car through mine. It was a total loss, and now I have to buy a car in less then a month. Of course I wanted a Mazda3, but there were hardly and 2004 around and 2005 hadn't come in yet. And, I had a totally different experience. I went to my dealer and they seemed vary indifferent. Even the same sales guy didn't seem willing to help me. The other two dealers still acted the same. So, I expanded my search. One dealer about 90 miles west was very rude, and I could not get a straight answer as to what they had in stock or what they could get in short order.

Another dealer about 80 miles east was much more helpful, giving me what they had or what was coming in. So, I went to them to talk in person. I got a very nice sales guy. We got talking and went on a 15 mile test drive. They had cars on the lot close to what I wanted but not exact. They had a car perfect except for it had a more then what I wanted. We went in, sat down, and took some information. He asked what my down payment was, I told him. Then he asked the question that people shouldn't answer - how much a month I wanted to pay. Well, I gave him a figure that was much lower then what I calculated,, just to see what he would do. He disappeared. When he came back. I was shocked. He came back with a price that I signed 5 minutes later - they subtracted the price of the package I didn't want, then the standard industry discount of $500 and then another "special" 2004 discount. I got the car for under invoice. Then, I got an interest rate lower then Mazda Credit - I got my monthly payment.

And I'm loving my 2004 Mazda3s.

I'll still go to my normal dealer for service, but it just illustrates how difficult it is to buy a car. You have to do research. Talk to different dealers. See what different people will do for you. They will try to manipulate you, be prepared. And don't let one jerk of a sales person spoil the whole thing.

Sorry for the long ramble. Just giving my story.

BIG FISH

He Is My Story Of A Bad Buying Experience. Well Not Bad Really. It Was The Best Experience I Had Buying A Car Without Getting The Car, Well My Family Has Grown And I Needed To Sell My Porsche 944 And Get A 4 Door Car.well For The Last 6 Months I've Been Doing Research On The Mazda 3 5 Door. Checking Prices With Options On The Mazda Usa Site And Calling Around To Dealers. Well I Got A Hold Of Royal Moore Mazda's Finance Department Because I Wanted To Ask About The 4.9 Financing Mazda Was Offering. Well The Guy And I Talked For A While And He Was Great And Trnafered Me To His Fleet Manager So I Didn'y Have To Deal With The Sales People. Well The Fleet Manager Gave A Sweet Price On A 'o5 Loaded With Everything Except For The Navagation. But I Wanted The '04 Because Well It Still Is '04. So He Found The Same Car For Me With A $20,100 Sticker Price. Well Here Is Where The Story Gets Fun. At This Time I Still Have Not Test Drove One So I Went To Premier Mazda Which Is About 10 Miles Closer To Me And Saw One That Only Had The 6 Disc/power Moon Roof And Leather Option. So I Took A Test Drive And Was Blown Away How Quick The Thing Was (way Quicker Than My '83 944) And How Great The Thing Handled (on Par With The 944) .well When We Got Back To The Lot The Salesperson Said "let's Talk Price" And I Told Him "no Thanks All I Wanted Was The Test Drive" And He Said "come On You Got 5 Minutes Don't You" And I Said "sure Why Not". Well He Wrote Down $24,500 And I Just Started To Laugh And He Asked What Was So Funny. Well I Told Him I Will Pay Nothing Over $19,100 With 0 Down And Nothing Over $330. A Month. We Wrangled For A Bit And I Wouldn't Budge So He Said He Would Have To Talk To His Boss. Well He Came Back With The "finance Manager" And The Said That Was Way Below Invoice And I Told The They Should Fire Their Buyer Because He Is Buying Their Cars Badly. He Said They Could Only Do 21,450 And I Told Them About The Other Car At The Other Lot And He Asked Why I Didn't Buy It There And I Told Him That I Wanted To Stop In Here First To See What They Can Do. Well He Said He Was Going To Get The Invoice And I Told Him That He Had 10 Minutes To Get It . Well I Waited The 10 Minutes Went Into The Office And Told Them Thank You For The Test Drive But I Am Leaving And The Guy Said To Wait Because He Was Getting The Invoice And At That Time I Told Him You Got 1 Minute And Then I Turned Around And Was Walking Back Into The Show Romm And He Cam Running To Me Saying , And This Is The Kicker. "sir We Do Enough Volume At This Place That We Do Not Need Customers Like You" I Looked Around The Empty Showroom To See 5 Salespeople With Astonished Looks On Their Faces And Turned Back To Them And Said "thank You" Then Left. While I Was Getting Back Into My Car The Salesperson Came Running Up To It Hallering Something But I Just Turned Up The Tunes And Drove Off.
Well I Got The Car I Wanted 2 Days Later From A Good Friend Of Mine Who Is A Car Broker And All I Paid With A 7 Year\125,000 Mile Warranty Was 19,100 Which Also Included Title\tax\and Regestration.
Side Note. The Sales Person Called Me Last Week At Work And Asked Me This Question- If You Are At A Supermarket And They Are Busy Do You Go Up To The Checker And Demand Them To Check Your Stuff Or You Will Leave. I Said No. He Said Well That Is What You Did To Us And That It Usually Takes Him 3 To 4 Hours To Do A Car Deal So Told Him That This Is A Different Situation And He Said No It Wasn't But Why Do You Think It Is. I Said 1st Of All I Can't Control The Checkers But I Do Control You And 2nd Of All They Are Busy And You Were Not And Lastly It Only Took Me 1-1\2 Hours To Get The Financing And Drive Off The Car I Bought. He Then Started Yammering About Something And I Just Said Good-bye And Hung Up.

Sorry About The Rambling But I Thought Everyone Should Here This. One Good Customer Tells A Few People, One Bad Customer Tells The World!

bob teatow

Big, good think you left. That "let me show you the invoice" is usually a line of BS. You don't need to see it. Before you walk in you should decide how much you're willing to pay. Just go to kbb.com and you can get the "invoice" price for the car with whatever options it's got. You'll also see what the "average" buyer can expect to pay at retail, both at kbb.com and edmunds.com. Work from there. Depending on supply and demand and incentives you may pay more or less than invoice. In my area a couple months ago the 3 was "hot" and I ended up paying 500 over what the dealer said was his invoice. And maybe 800 over the kbb.com invoice. The difference was chalked up to "regional" advertizing fees. This was after blowing off a few of those crazy dealers who will quote you what seems a reasonable price but then when you ask for the bottom line somehow they tack on another $300 or more....

Oh well... I really like the car so far ... Best handling car I ever owned.

BIG FISH

Hey Bob I Researched The Car For Months Before I Bought It So When I Went Into Premier I Had The Kbb And Edmunds Paperwork With Me So I Knew What It Was Worth. I Also Had Another Dealer Already Quote Me And Already Knew What I Could Get For Financing So I Guess I Really Went In There For A Test Drive And To Mess With The Sales Peoples Heads. Felt Great. One Other Thing Is That My Buddie Who Is A Car Broker Gave Me The Killer Deal On The 3 5 Door That I Bought. About 2 Grand Under Invoice With The Title\lic\reg. And A Way Better Than Mazda Extended Warranty. You Are Right- Do Your Research People And Have Your Own Financing In Hand So You Control The Dealership Not Them Controlling You!

Yes Bob I Love The Car!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

bob teatow

2000 under the kbb.com invoice number with options?
Wow.

What would be his "cash" price?
I think some dealers have some of their profit built into the financing...

Please introduce me to your friend!

BIG FISH

Well Not 2 Grand Under Invoice But 2 Grand Under Msrp. I Payed About 500 Over Invoice But That Was With The Extended Warranty.

bob teatow

Big, okay that's more believable. And still a good deal. Even the best of friends who work at a dealership would be extremely reluctant to sell at a loss

BIG FISH

Hey Bob.Yeah just got kind of confused with msrp and invoice.