Buying a used Mazda3

• 

  May4th on 13/07/2013 - 22:04

  i think the sales person would have put on the incredulous look regardless of what figure you gave him.. it's part of the game.

  seeing we have the 14 model released recently and the 12 rego is nearing expiry i'd say 21k for driveaway is nothing to jump up and down about unless you really care about the bigger engine and sporty feel

  if you just want something to get from A to B the 12 corolla for example is 21490 driveaway brand new

  • 

    udyz on 13/07/2013 - 22:14

    yes, the rego just expired…
    so its $21k not $20k? and not worth trying my luck haggling(not good at it)?

    • 

      May4th on 13/07/2013 - 22:24

      you could try.. but i don't think you will get very far, margins on small cars aren't that much. personally i haven't had much experience with haggling with dealers so i'll leave that to the professionals

      while the price isn't fantastic it's not bad either. it really depends on what you want.. if the extra features on the maxx sport and styling is important to you, you probably won't find a much better deal on this exact model. but if you want to stay within your budget and have reliability/low servicing cost/economy i'd look for a 2-3 year old ex-govt/corporate fleet car. there are a ton of those corollas/i30s

      • 

        udyz on 13/07/2013 - 22:54

        Thanks for ya help!!

        with ex-govt/corp fleet, do they have warranty(if it under the warranty period and if it matters)
        Where would i find them (apart from auctions), sorry about the noobness…

      • 

        May4th on 13/07/2013 - 23:05

        pickles and similar dealer/auction places have them from time to time. pickles has fixed price listings as well auctions, you can check them out on the website. warranty is 5yrs on i30s and 3 years as normal on toyotas.. make sure they have the logbook and all services up to date to satisfy warranty. if you buy from a dealer they will have their warranties too (i believe pickle offers warranty for a price, although it's rarely worth it).

• 

  nubzy on 13/07/2013 - 22:32

  pretty good looking cars, price sounds about normal to me though

• 

  MUMMY85 on 14/07/2013 - 08:45

  Which dealer was this at??

  • 

    udyz on 14/07/2013 - 15:28

    +2

    Don't even bother…

• 

  neil100 on 14/07/2013 - 21:08

  +1

  If it helps, I just brought brand new 2013 neo 3
  with floor mats, reverse park sensors, full on road costs
  and a full tank of petrol for 21k on the road.

  Cheers

• 

  smarikoe on 15/07/2013 - 11:11

  +1

  Not a good deal. Keep looking and try out private sellers as well. Every now and then, there comes along a good deal that you have to jump on really quickly. Recently bought a car with the exact same budget from a private seller. 2012 Hyundai Elantra Elite 10K kms for 15.1K + New rego and insurance = 16.5K overall. Stretched a lil bit but for the model, it was an absolute bargain. Nothing wrong, 4 years remaining warranty. Had to beat another guy to the inspection on the same day but it was totally worth it. :D

  • 

    altomic on 16/07/2013 - 15:33

    nice price.

• 

  IdBuyThat4aDollar on 15/07/2013 - 11:33

  +1

  I bought a Lancer from a Holden dealer which was still under the original new car manufacturer warranty. But the Holden dealer tried to tell me they included their own dealership warranty for free. But for me to maintain the dealership warranty I had to take it in for a service at that specific dealer (no where else) every 6 months. Manufacturer warranty through Mitsubishi is only every 12 months and I can take the car for a service at any Mitsubishi dealer, and capped price servicing as well, so I told the dealership no thanks on their "free" warranty. Just letting you know in case Honda try to pull something like this on you.

  Just make sure you check the services are up to date for the Mazda warranty to still apply.

• 

  Medrad on 15/07/2013 - 15:59

  +2

  As a Mazda owner/driver for many years and treasurer of the Mazda Car Club of Australia, I wouldn't purchase the Neo for that cost. It's the base model. You can purchase a brand new base model on sale for close to that cost or save a little more and purchase some luxury mods.

  I think the Mazda 3 Neo was down to 21k driveaway in sales recently and with the new model Mazda 3 coming out next year, there will be runout stocks of the current look 3 on sale in the next 6-12 months.

  If you know someone who is good with cars and isn't biased about branding, take them along to private sales. You can often get a car that's had any niggles sorted out, serviced regularly and in good condition for much less than a dealer's 2nd hand lot car.

  If your budget is up to $15k, look at financing the last of the purchase cost with the dealer on a brand new car. The interest rates are low at the moment, much less than a home-loan, so paying $15k and financing $5-$8k on the rest of the car won't cost as much as you'd think, and then you have a BRAND NEW CAR!!!

  As others have mentioned, check out other models and haggle tooth and nail with a dealer. Remember to take a quote and call around other dealers of the same make and make them compete. It's not like McDonalds, what one charges at one place is not the same at the others.

  As Neil100 said, a brand new Neo 3 with those options for 21k… cheap and BRAND NEW! Oh, and if you can drive a manual, it's a bit cheaper again.

  • 

    May4th on 15/07/2013 - 20:00

    21k is well into brand new car territory so yeh, not very attractive

• 

  Pratty on 15/07/2013 - 19:18

  This may not be important to you, but remember the new-look Mazda 3 is coming out soon!

  If you don't want the new model, it still may be worth holding out for it because Mazda dealers will reduce prices on brand new models with the old body. For your sake hopefully significantly.

  Good luck!

• 

  OBone on 15/07/2013 - 21:40

  I find www.redbook.com.au is a good place to check the trade-in and private price guides when buying a used car.
  It doesn't say how much a dealer will charge but gives a clue as to what he paid (or will pay) for any given model.
  It might help in your decision.