Being built on the same platform hardly makes them the exact same car. The Ford we drove had wires hanging down from under the dash, a roof mounted sunglass holder thats quality reminded me of something found in a dollar store. Ugly styling etc. etc. etc. I should also mention that it was 2 years ago so that was the original Focus on a different platform.

i imagine those guys live a pressure cooker life. i couldnt do it. i would starve. having said that, i had a crappy experience at a toyota dealership. I hate when they ask, "how much are you willing to pay a month?" i think who the hell cares? i also hate that technique where the "sales manager" takes over the negotiations half way through. it pisses me off. last time at the toyota dealership, we couldnt come to a $$ agreement. the manager, told me, "i am not supposed to do this, but let me show you what we paid for the car..." i asked him if he thought i was stupid. they ALWAYS pull that sheet out with their "invoice" price. anyways he ended up slamming his book and leaving in a huff. he definately lost his cool, and me as a customer. bummer is i still drive my POS. i hate buying cars.

I worked at a Suzuki dealership in Montreal for about a year. What a fantastic learning experience... it was a great little dealership and the sales manager was a class act. He had no patience for funny business or oily tactics. He had people coming in for their 3rd, 4th, 5th cars from the dealer so he valued the dealership's reputation over ANY sale.

It took about a month to get rolling, but after that it was pretty steady. I'd pull $135 base on every Swift, but could get as much as $1200-1400 on a Grand Vitara. I think when all the sales were factored in together, the average commission at that dealership was $5-600.

Here's the kind of dealership he ran:
- I once miscalculated the tax on an out-of-province sale. The car was ~26k, my error was about $12. As soon as it was noticed, I was told to get a certified cheque out to the customer by priority mail.

- Once I made enough money to go back to school, I quit; you can't really sell cars part-time. Well, if any customer I has spoken with came in and closed a deal, they still gave me 1/2 commission! 4 months after I left, I was stil getting the odd commission cheque.

Imagine if every dealership was run like that?

I just went through this routine -

One liner / closer team refused to discount the car, kept extending the payments although I specifically said I'm not going to 6 years - they came back over and over again as if I was mute.

Literally got up and walked after the 2nd warning

Another one refused to run any #'s until they pulled my credit - which I know perfectly. WOuldn't work with the data I was willing to give. I was so pissed when the salesman started insisting they couldn't do a thing with my "beacon score" - nonsense. I told the guy "you do this all day, every day and YOU can't figure out if YOU can make my FICO work?"

Which of course he could, I have what they call "auto-beacon" - no proof of income needed once the score is high enough.

Third lot started doing the same damn thing as the 1st. Even after explaining my last two experiences

Slightly off rant - salespeople take note! When the customer comes in and starts telling you WHY they walked, if you can avoid going that route with them, don't go there. Approach it from a different angle. If you do the same thing it's going to give you the same end result.

Anyhow, they did the same thing, trying to scare me into paying full price and going to 6 and 7 year terms as if I would just get desperate and roll over. I actually told this sales guy that his sales manager (mysterious guy at the desk) is a "dickhead who doesn't listen" since I clearly explained why I walked from the other two lots and the guy is doing the same damn thing.

Walked.

Finally found my truck on AD at a price I could live with, called the sales guy, told him my specifics and he goes "no problem"

Sure enough, go up there put my $$$ down I declared and got BETTER than the terms I wanted. 3 hours, in and out and no fight.

I went back to dealership #3 I walked from, sales guy comes out (didn't see my truck) and goes: "so, did you come up with anything" at which I pointed at my new truck and I told him that it isn't his fault his "sales manager is a dickhead who doesn't listen.....3 hours in and out. Want to see the paperwork?"

A bad salesman is one who only knows one trick and insists on using it despite the fact the customer knows the game...

rjp

Go drive both, then see if you feel this way. Chris nailed it, the Mazda 3 is based on the euro Focus, which is a great car. American Focus is not. For some unknown reason, Ford feels the need to sell better cars in Europe. Mazda 3 is an excellent car, especially for the money.

Next time I buy a new car? I think I'll use the service offered to COSTCO members. Baiscs are that you figure out the car you want, they arrange the low price for you. No dickering, no sales manager or salesman BS...

it is ALL car dealers now adays..i was shopping for a car recently (I decided not to buy anything..) I emailed a few dealers and i am now gettinf 25 + emails a day ..phone calls and all kinds of junk mail(that is fine i have a wood stove ) i am now to the point of anger...i call the GM and ream them out immediately when i get a spam email from their internet person

For my wife's accord, we called the dealership after leaving and got the salesman on the line. TOld him what we would pay. He said he couldn't do it. We said "here's our phone number. If it turns out that you can meet our terms before we get them elsewhere, call us back and we can take it immediately".

About an hour later, the phone rang and we got the price. When we got there, they shockingly tried to add like $5/mo for the mudflaps. Seriously. I told them to take them off the car if they were gonna get stupid with me about it. They left them on.

All this being said, I think I am buying used from now on. Directly from the PO.

I see NO point in buying a new car. Used only.

+1

This is what I intend to do unless I win the lottery.

We looked at new before finding our BMW online. I just couldn't see paying $XXX a month for 5-6 years when I could find an older car for a lot less. I can do my own maintenance so that make it even easier. We got extremely lucky with our recent purchase as we have the records from day one an the PO had it serviced at the dealer for everything.

as a rule, i don't buy used cars. Sorry i am not as cool as all you other guys here and have the cash lying about to just buy a used car. I buy new because i like warranties..i like being the first owner..
but even still, i don't think that right now is the time to have a payment...i sold my boxster and have old jettas as cars right now

It all depends on the deal, miles on the car, maintenance records, what my families needs (how many miles a year) are and how long I plan on keeping the car.

Both my trucks I bought new...the rest of the fleet I bought used.

These days, you can buy used as easily as new. Just less money.SmileWavy

yes. last truck i bought i got it new. well, it was the only car i bought new. got it in 96, and i am still driving the snot out of it. i tend to own things forever. buying new is even worse if you change cars every 3-4 years.
i will probably buy a used truck next time. hopefully from some soccer mom, and not a truck owner like me. i use the thing.

I grew up in Bay City and for some reason I find it hilarious that there is a car salesman in Bay City named Leviu ...... times have changed I guess. :D