I really was not impressed with the service I received.
I came in to look at a used 2016 Mazda CX-3 they had listed on their site for $15,800 with 43k miles. Pretty high miles for a two year old car especially considering my three year old car was only sitting at 37k, but I knew Mazda to be pretty dependable because my friend drives Mazda and is currently in a CX-3. I figured it was already a good deal and we would be able to work something out. I was wrong.
I get there and am met by Brennan and he already had the car pulled up, ready for a test drive. Sweet! By the way, my mom was with me because her name was also on the loan of my car so if we bought this day, she would need to sign as well. We do the customary walk around and my mom notices "orange peeling" in the paint. I learned that means that there are waves in the paint beneath the clear coat, usually caused by not buffing the paint after the car is painted. This is a thing that can happen after a car has parts replaced and is painted.
Instead of simply explaining to us that this is common for the brand, he seemed to get a little offended, goes to my mother's vehicle and starts talking about the imperfections of her vehicle. First, my mother's car has nothing to do with this transaction and secondly, that is a poor look for Mazda.
After the test drive we are discussing going inside to discuss numbers when he asks something along the lines of what drew me to the CX-3. I brought up the other cars I had interest in (Nissan Rogue Sport, Hyundai Tuscon) and he immediately lost interest in the sale and me. He stopped and told me those cars are bigger than this one (I knew this and told him I liked the gas efficiency and reliability of the CX-3) and that if I didn't absolutely love this vehicle then there was no need to continue. Listen, if I didn't like this vehicle, not only would I have NOT driven from Irving to Hurst, but I sure as hell wouldn't be willing to sit down and spend my time talking numbers. It was very clear, looking back, he was not interested in selling to me at that point.
He finally took us in to his office and started talking numbers. He offered me $1500 for my trade in. Now, there is some body damage to my car, but after it was appraised for repairs, it would have cost about $1300 to fix. I needed $3600 to pay off my car. He refused to budge unless I was willing to pay almost $18,000 for a used car with pretty high miles. I said thanks, but no and we left.
A week after we left, Brennan offered $500 more for my car bringing the offer to $2,000, but I still told him I needed enough to pay it off. I told him if he could do that, he would make a guaranteed sale. He said he couldn't do it.
I kept an eye on the car for the next month and a half. They dropped the price the first time to $15,488. They couldn't sell the car and I was still hopeful they would reach out and offer me something better. Nope. The second time they dropped the price it was about $14,500 or so. At that point, I was a bit upset. They dropped the price of the car by nearly a grand but couldn't work with me on my trade in? I ended up reaching out to the GM of this location and told him that I wasn't happy about being disregarded the way I felt I was. He never responded, but Brennan did even though I requested to not deal with him anymore if I decided to come back. I didn't respond. Then, the price went back up to the $15,488 and the car ended up selling, but I think they sent it to another dealership because it said it was sold from Hiley Mazda of Fort Worth.
In the end, I am thankful for Brennan. I ended up in a situation where I was no longer looking for used and wanted new. Mazda wasn't even on my radar after this. I DID still buy from Hiley, but from Hiley Hyundai of Burleson. Randy over at that dealership was able to put me in a brand new car with MORE features and offer me 3k for my trade in for close to the same price as this used car. read more