I was wondering do we have any loan institutions or bankers here that can explain who really owns the car on a dealership lot and how posting how to get the "best" buy really does not work?
It not how you do it it so much as more who you know and what they that is the sales manager is willing to take out of all the profits right down to removing the plastic protection wrap that vehicles shipped on cargo ships have on them.

One word to learn about is called
"flooring"

 

Once you compare the styling, features, handling and performance of a 2021 CX-5 GT Reserve or Signature model against "upscale" compact SUVs you will sell a kidney to get one of the top two models I just mentioned. They are THAT good and have so much content.
Eric B.

 

Hi guys, just wanted to update everyone that I ended up leasing a 2021 CX5 GT black/black for 24mo/15k.

A lot of people have been saying how now is the worst time to buy a car due to shortages and a few people brought up the idea to lease until this shortage hopefully blows over.

I tried to do as much research as I could into everything in about a week, which isn't much time, but here's what I ended up doing:

- I sent out an email to several dealerships in my state asking what the best OTD (out the door) price would be for the make/model I wanted. Most did not respond with any numbers.

- I then changed my strategy based on a helpful reddit post and emailed dealers directly with an offer for their vehicle. In this case, I offered to lease their vehicle if they could do $31,000 capcost for the vehicle and $0 down (MSRP is around $33,000 to $34,000 depending upon the dealer). In retrospect, perhaps I should have aimed lower but based on Edmunds, I was shooting considerably below their lower end pricing for this vehicle).

- One dealership 5 hours from me said he would do the deal. When I asked one of my local dealership to match the offer he said that it was a crazy stupid offer and the dealer was not making any money on the deal.

- Just as I was preparing to head out on a 10+ hour round trip drive.. I get a call from another dealership about 1.5 hours from me and I shoot them over the same offer and they say they'll match it!

- As I'm going over the details with this closer dealership, they change the offer in an email to 36 mo instead of 24 mo and after some back and forth they agree (again) to match the original offer.

- When I get there, the finance manager asks me to sign a contract for 36mo/10k.... (original offer was 24mo/15k). I ask what's going on and they almost give me a hard time updating the offer to 36mo/10k (she told me they don't do 24 mo leases..). I'm like, okay but where's my 15k mi/yr?! Finally, they agree to honor the original offer (again!).

They seemed like they really did not want to do it at all, which makes me hopeful that I actually got a decent deal. The fact that we went back and forth BEFORE I ever came in to iron out any misunderstandings and then when I get there they are almost acting as if we never even spoke seemed hella shady to me but in the end I got the original deal.

Truth be told, I could have held onto my rental vehicle longer (my original car was totaled) and continued shopping for a better deal but this car search was consuming me and taking up most of my days so I was just ready to be done. There is just SO much information to assimilate when you've never known a damn thing about the buying/leasing process previously.

Here is the deal I got:

2021 Mazda CX5 GT black/black
MSRP $33,135
Capitalized cost $31,740
Lease term: 24mo/15k
First month's payment ($457) and DMV fees ($220) up front = ~$770
Monthly payments = $457/mo (this includes GAP insurance otherwise it was originally $448/mo)
I did not qualify for any of the incentives this being my first Mazda, etc and I did not want to put down $4000+ plus for their current lease special.

I was confused because the original offer had the same monthly payments with a $31,000 capcost for the vehicle but the dealership I went to had the capcost listed at $31,740. But my monthly payments were the same? Why the discrepancy then?

Anyways, hoping that at the very least I didn't get screwed over. I ended up feeling more confident about the deal since one dealership told me it was a stupid deal that made no sense and the dealership I leased from seemed really not happy about giving me this deal.

Thank you to everyone who helped provide ideas, advice and support, I really appreciate it and it helped me a lot to get through this stressful process. Thank you again.

 

Yep, most dealers are like most banks, they hold out and hold out until they KNOW you will walk away and then they deal.

I've had a S&L back in the late '80s make me a % offer on a re-fi of my home. I asked,"Is that your lowest loan percentage?" whereupon they reluctantly gave me a much lower offer. I asked them why they didn't tell me that % up front and she said."Well we aren't 'allowed' to offer that rate unless we are specifically asked for our lowest rate." WTF?? But I did get that lower rate.

Then I told a surgeon friend of mine who had a LOT of private and commercial property about the % and he went there and saved TENS of thousands of dollars per year in interest.

 

Glad to hear you found your car! The hard part is done, now you can just enjoy the driving experience. Buying a car is a lot harder than it should be.