Prospective CX-5 owner, first-time with a Mazda too

[Hippogriff]

Ah.

I was going to go back to the Dealer today, but I got to Audi about 16:00 and I spent too long there. I spent a while looking at the Q3 S line+... it's very nice, all very familiar to me, of course... but I felt it was too small.

I'm now trying to figure out whether the Q3 is smaller than the CX-5... I'm assuming it obviously is, but I could be wrong. It could be 'cos the Q3 had black headlining, I'm not sure... but the space in the rear seats was also cramped and I had trouble getting out due to the middle pillars.

All-in-all, not a great experience. But a lovely car and I fell in love with the sweeping rear LED indicators.

Sadly the Audi salesman put me off a bit (as they often do) as he must have said 3 or 4 times the exact same phrase - "you're a lovely couple, I'd love to do business with you" - I mean, of course - you're a salesman, you'd do business with Ming the Merciless and call him lovely too. Then he kept asking if I thought we could - "do a deal today" - hold your horses there.

Gutted if my hopes of a digital speedo. have been dashed. I was thinking there weren't all those buttons are the screen in the CX-5s I'd been looking at.

Am going to try and find time tomorrow.

[Caldean]

The Q3 is definitely smaller than the CX5. I and my son are 6 ft 5 so the test is to see if I can sit behind the drivers seat, set for  my driving  position,  both in comfort with plenty of leg and head room. The Audi was a bit of a squeeze and definitely smaller on both fronts, so it fell off my research list. Lovely car and interior though but a hefty price for what you get. Also, the boot is much smaller and would struggle to get two full golf bags in without removing the woods etc. The Cx is definitely better value and service costs are much better too...

[BigAl]

I test drove a Q3 about 3 1/2 years ago when they first came out before settling on the CX5. It didn't go well as the salesman took me out onto the A52 in Derby, straight into a massive traffic jam. It took 45 minutes to get back to the dealers having covered about 4 miles...    He never bothered calling me back! The problem with car salesmen now is that they aren't trained to sell cars. They are trained to sell finance and know s0d all about the cars themselves. Ask them anything remotely technical and they're lost. We looked at a Mini for my wife, and asked "what power does the engine produce?" Answer - "It depends on what you are doing with it".

To me, it was a seriously cramped car (I am 6ft 5, though), but my son who was in the back was struggling as well, he's 5ft11. Having been in both a Q3 and a Q5, the CX5 has more interior space that both. Even the Q7 felt small to me as it seems to have a very high floor, although that model has just been replaced.

[Hippogriff]

Thanks all.

Girlfriend is coming back on-side. She said the Q3 looked small when I was in it. She's not a fan of the CX-5, but she likes it a lot better than the Qashqai.

I showed her this - http://autoexpert.com.au/buying-a-car/should-i-buy-the-mazda-or-the-audi

At £32,135 list, I'm starting to wonder what Madza's approach to discounts or deposit contributions is (if I wanted to go the Conditional Sale route)... anyone willing to hint at their own success stories?

[twabrigs]

Sniff. Feeling inadequate with all these 6' 5" posters around...

[Caldean]

Mazda don't seem to be offering the CX5 on 0% finance as they are  on other models so they seem confident they can sell enough cars without it. I started off using Carwow  and 6 dealers offered a 5.4% discount. When I visited the dealer, I had also looked at some Internet brokers who were offering around 10% discount, although service and small print issues made me very wary of these offers. At least I had a good idea of what discounts were available.

When I visted the dealer, they offered a trade in figure on my car of about £1300 more than the CAP value but it was the cost to change that matters. After choosing some optional extras ( metallic paint - soul red-, spare wheel, door and boot sill protective film and folding mirrors, as well as the Autoglym package, I then started some negotiating . Eventually I ended up getting a 7.8% discount and free mats, with the extra discounts coming from the extras. Of course the salesman said he was only left with £200 on the car, so I asked him to throw in his shirt too ...

I reckon if I had gone in at the end of the month, when they were closer to volume bonus targets, some more might be had, but I do believe that, if you're developing a long term relationship with the dealer and want them to be around in future,  it's not good to totally skin them. Yes, they'll make something on the PCP finance but 5.9% is a reasonable rate.

Overall I'm  happy with the deal and the service so far. Hopefully the car will live up to my expectations!

[Caldean]

Sniff. Feeling inadequate with all these 6' 5" posters around...

 

[Hippogriff]

Almost 8% is not to be sniffed at. That would be a nice saving on what I'm thinking of.

[Caldean]

Just make sure you do your research first... and let the salesman know ... I always keep the negotiations business like, though my wife at that point cringes and goes off for a wander around the showroom. According to  What Car , if you're going for the most expensive model, their guide price shows a 6.08% discount so you won't be far away from that tasty discount.

[aljshep]

I had almost exactly the same experience as Caldean from the same dealer.
I went in knowing that I might get 11% discount on-line and very quickly settled for around 8% in the showroom - which was what I really wanted anyway.  Prior to that I had approached two other local(ish) dealers.  One offered around 6.5% and the other refused to offer a competitive quote!

[Hippogriff]

Thank you, heading back down there just to see what the lay of the land is...

[Hippogriff]

I'm back.

The Dealer has offered £30,000 dead on for:

Sport Nav 2.2 Diesel AWD
Stone trim leather (they call it White now)
Safety Pack level 1
Jet Black Mica

And that would take up to 14 weeks to get to me.

Alternatively, I can have the same car - but in Soul Red Metallic - for the same price, but could be with me in 14 days.

I asked about the auto-folding mirror kit (which they were not aware of yesterday) and whether it could be thrown-in. He has said he'll need to ask Service how much their fitting charge is and will then phone me. He didn't seem hopeful as he's claiming that this deal is the best they can go to. I'm suspecting he'll offer me the parts for free and ask me to pay for fitting. I'm also not 100% sure it's a true 8% I've been offered (he said something about VAT) but I work best in absolute numbers anyway.

So £30,000 and up to 14 weeks for Jet Black or £30,000 and 14 days for Soul Red.

Do you guys think there is more wiggle-room for the Dealer here?

Do you think the white seats will be best offset against the black paint? I do. I like the red, but it's not what I ideally wanted. I would go with it, though.

Any advice or just idle thoughts welcome.

[twabrigs]

Am I right in thinking the reg plate changes from 15 to 65 on 1st Sept?

If so then that will affect your resale value depending whether you get a car registered in the next 14 days or 14 weeks. So in essence your £30k red one is worth less to you long term than the £30k black one.

If I'm right then that could affect your decision, or you could use it as a bargaining chip if he desperately needs to make a sale pre 1 September.

[Hippogriff]

No, he was saying it could be with a new plate. Generally it's not something I think about.

[Caldean]

Personally I would  take the Soul Red . Keeping a black car clean and polished is a part time job. I should know - I have one ! If the paint is a thin as some say, you'll spot every blemish in black . You're also getting the red at a discount - it's usually £120 more than the black.

Providing  the car is registered  after 1st September,  your residual value will hold up better by about £800 or so. Anyway, isn't it better to enjoy the new car sooner rather than later ??