Just out of the blue, from reading a CNET article, I had an epiphany: my next car will be a Mazda; maybe a 6, but more likely a 3 (An SUV is not for me). After all, my little Infiniti is 16 years young, even if it's still south of 90K, and it's time to update, based on all the new safety features and gadgets, to which we've been exposed when we're traveling and renting.
I was introduced to Classic courtesy of Costco. Apparently, Costco works with a number of different dealerships like Classic, who give Costco members a Costco price, no haggle (supposedly) and a couple of other minor sweeteners. In exchange, you get a relatively pain-free car-shopping experience and a fair price (maybe not "best bargain", but better than average, from the information I can gather) - not a bad deal unless you're at the top 0.5% of car buyers in terms of savvy, gung-ho, and yeah, no small amount of dogged obnoxiousness.
Our contact, Gordon Pagano, has been in the business a long time. He's very low-key as car sales people go, and easy to deal with. I did a test drive, decided on the 3 in grand touring trim with the premium pkg (that's where all the fun stuff is, for a cool $1600 extra, list), soul red, parchment interior, but I wasn't 100% sure whether I wanted the stick or AT. Unfortunately for Gordon and Classic, they didn't have my vehicle! After looking around, Gordon identified a fellow dealership in JAX that had one in the dark blue. At the time, I said I wasn't sure about the color, but still put down a $500 deposit. I thought the price they gave me was pretty fair - 11% off MSRP, with the full rebate AND the dealer rebate thrown in.
In the next 24 hours, it became apparent that I could go see the kids in Atlanta, on Father's Day, AND buy a car there. This after doing some searches online and realizing...they had my car! So I told Classic to hold off bringing the car here. Not just yet, is what I thought.
What sealed it for me was that, when I got the final price for the car being brought in from JAX, the rebate was $500 lower! Is the cost higher to bring in a vehicle from a fellow dealer (nothing mentioned to me), did they simply not remember they were going to also throw in the dealership cash back, or something else...I'm not sure. But it did create an opening and the chance to explore my Georgia options. Now quite frankly, if the one in GA did not pan out (sleaziness etc.), I could have gone back to Classic and, I'm sure, gotten the $500 difference.
But it did work out. We drove it the 480 miles back home day after Father's Day. Two weeks on, I'm enjoying the car so much that I'm seriously contemplating letting my Porsche go. Never did I think I'd prefer driving an automatic Mazda3 over a stick shift Porsche. But I do. read more