Should I care about the dealership?

[fretman@rogers.com]

Looking at getting the Mazda 3. Should I just go to the dealership that offers the best price and who has the car in stock? There are several Mazda dealerships around town and some of them have been getting bad reviews. However, they are the ones that have the car that I'm looking for in stock. If they offer a decent price should I get the car from them even if other dealerships have a better reputation. I probably won't take the car to them for service but for sales does it really matter where I get it from? Thanks.

[ken.boyer@gmail.com]

Looking at getting the Mazda 3. Should I just go to the dealership that offers the best price and who has the car in stock? There are several Mazda dealerships around town and some of them have been getting bad reviews. However, they are the ones that have the car that I'm looking for in stock. If they offer a decent price should I get the car from them even if other dealerships have a better reputation. I probably won't take the car to them for service but for sales does it really matter where I get it from? Thanks.[/b]

Contact them all by email. Ask them to email you a quote with their best price on the exact model with the options you want. Take the best quote/price to the dealer you want to do business with. Show them best quote and tell them to beat the price and they'll have your business. I saved about $2000 doing this on a Mazda 3 last Spring. Good luck!

[fretman@rogers.com]

Contact them all by email. Ask them to email you a quote with their best price on the exact model with the options you want. Take the best quote/price to the dealer you want to do business with. Show them best quote and tell them to beat the price and they'll have your business. I saved about $2000 doing this on a Mazda 3 last Spring. Good luck![/b]

Thanks for the insight. However, all quotes are coming back around the same. There's only about a $200 difference in best price quotes between 3 different dealerships. The only reason why I'm thinking about getting the car from this dealership is that they have the color I'm looking for in stock. The other dealership does not have the color in stock and I'm not sure if they'll charge me a finder's fee as well.

[icspots]

^^ If you really don't want to do business with that dealership and they have the car you want see if the other dealer can get the car through a dealer trade.

[millyowner]

Yeah, dealerships hire guys that just drive cars back and forth between other dealerships in the area (although they are usually the same guys that wash the cars too). I say go to the dealership you want to do business with, pick a salesperson (well, the salesperson will pick you actually), tell them exactly what you want and they will get it. They'll try to get you to settle for something they have in their lot at first to cash in on buyers who need instant gratification without the time to talk themselves out of it. However, if you're serious about buying, it's a phone call or computer search for the salesperson to get you what you want. If the salesperson finds the perfect one and it's 500 miles away, then yeah, you'll have to pay an extra destination charge, but if the car is fairly local, you can easily get them to waive any destination charge. If you'll also be financing through them, it's even more of an incentive for them to take your business.