Page 9 of 10 FirstFirst ... 78910 LastLast
Results 81 to 90 of 93

Thread: Phil_SS Unified Fleet Thread

  1. #81
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Posts
    6,265
    Quote Originally Posted by Phil_SS View Post
    Hook a brother up with a link!
    Looks like it sold over the weekend

  2. #82
    I'm gooder. Phil_SS's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Pittsburgh
    Posts
    2,042
    TLR: We bought a 2023 Mazda CX-50 Premium Plus in Polymetal Grey.

    These are the vehicles we looked at:

    Honda CR-V Hybrid:

    We went to the local dealer, and they didn't have one to test drive. They had a couple that were sold and, in the lot, so we got a chance to look at them. But they wouldn't even open the doors and let us look inside or to sit in them. That is completely annoying and a huge disadvantage to the salesperson but the salesman rubbed my wife the wrong way. Just looking at them, Ana didn't like the styling. She thought it just looked like a big box and didn't have much style. So, cross that one off the list. They did have a 2023 CTR that I was oogling. I explained that only a few thousand more than she was looking to spend would get us one. And she has gave me one of these. We love you Fud.

    Toyota RAV-4 Hybrid:

    Again, the local dealer had no new models to drive. Great salesman though. Really nice younger kid who was great to talk too. They did have a 2021 RAV-4 Hybrid on the lot so it is the newish model and we took it for a test drive. Unfortunately, the previous owner must have been a smoker because it reeked. We almost didn't even take it for a test drive because of it but I wanted Ana to drive one. It is the class of the Hybrid SUV segment and driving a Prius everyday really gave me an appreciation for the Toyota way.

    Ana thought she would hate it, but she really liked it. I think the hybrid drivetrain really helps to give the vehicle a decent dynamic. She even commented that if that particular car didn't smell of bigfoot's dick, she may have wanted to talk numbers. But I think a key reason for not buying used right now is that interest rates are so ridiculous for used cars. For new cars you can find some deals through the manufacturers. So, while I did look for a used RAV-4, she said she isn't interested, and some of that comes from she doesn't want to be driving the same car as everyone else. RAV4s are everywhere. Which I can understand, She has gone from a Mazda 3 to a Forester XT Turbo to a Jetta "Golf" Sportswagen. I get not wanting to have something everybody else does even if it has shortcomings compared to other vehicles in its class. Emotions are real, you want to like the vehicle you are driving.

    Volkswagen Tiguan:

    Rejoice, there are Tiguan's on the lot. We looked at the Atlas and she though it was a bit too big. The salesman was pretty good at least at first but then he got kinda snippy by the end of our visit. Which turned my wife off from dealing with that dealer. Hey, we are gonna ask a ton of questions and we want to see examples of the features. We are not going to buy a vehicle without seeing the interior color.

    Anyways, we took a FWD Tiguan out for a drive. It drove very nicely, and the VW aesthetic is very familiar to us by now. The engine was the most powerful of the vehicles we had driven. The Turbo really adds in that low end grunt for acceleration from a start.
    They didn’t have the color combo we wanted but I did peruse the internet and another local dealer has it. But, in the end, it’s a nice vehicle, but Ana says it’s not really her. They are kinda plain looking.
    We checked out the ID.4 when we were there, and it is a good-looking vehicle, but I couldn’t convince her to go full electric. She has anxiety issues as it is, and she stated she is not ready for it.

    Mazda CX-50:

    This is the first vehicle that we checked out. The dealer we went to is under construction and they are part of a large conglomerate dealer here in Pittsburgh. Thus, we had to go across the road to a small place they had set aside for Mazda amongst the plethora of other dealer buildings. It was right next to the Subie dealer. So, I of course checked out a new WRX on the way in. If only they made a WRX wagon, or even a hatchback. But nooooooo…..jerks.

    They didn’t have any CX-50’s in the tiny showroom but they did have a CX-90 PHEV. And man, is it nice. We got to ride in one later when driving to a storage lot to check out a Black CX-50 Premium Plus and they did a great job with it. Extremely comfortable and Ana’s reaction was, this is reaaaally nice maybe I could get one of these? But she decided she doesn’t want to spend quite that much. I think another strike though is the electric range is only 26 miles. That is not very much, and I’m always highly skeptical of EV range in Pittsburgh due to the hills.
    Ok, back to the subject at hand, the CX-50. We went into the dealership asking for a certain salesman as my wife’s friend recently bought a car (used CX-5) from them. But that guy was away at lunch so another guy said he would help. And he was great, great to talk to, younger guy, understood cars etc. So, he went and got a CX-50 Preferred for us to look at. It is the second from bottom trim but the cars come with a host of features even at the base level. I’m figuring the insurance companies have pushed the manufacturers to include all the safety features at even the base level cars. One of the must haves for my wife is heated seats. Thus, the Preferred trim would be the bottom for us.

    I love the style of it and so does Ana. It’s like a modern interpretation of a Volvo P1800, if a P1800 had 4 doors. It is muscular and stylish at the same time. Getting into it, the interior is very very sheek and stylish and the materials are very nice to look at and touch. You can tell Mazda is pushing to be a luxury brand. Minimalist but with function. The center console and heat controls are especially nice. The heat controls have buttons and knobs. How novel! I want that tactile feedback. Looks like a stereo from a 60’s automobile. It has a small display in the center of the dash for the stereo and information center which is controlled by a nob on the center console. But it is not overwhelming.

    We took it for a test drive, both of us drove about 50% of the time and it rode very nice. It was pretty quiet, and it handled well. I would say it is a little stiffer than her current car. The steering is especially nice, great feedback. Car didn’t have a ton of power, felt like her current car which makes sense as her Jetta has 170HP and the CX-50 has 187 HP. I’m sure the CX-50 is a bit heavier due to added safety measures. Had enough to be safe but I think we should try the Turbozen model. Ana said she doesn’t want too but I think that is because she thinks she will like it and want it instead, aka higher price. The nice thing is you can run regular gas in the Turbo model. Less HP but it is nice that the car can handle either one.

    The CX-50 has three driving modes; Normal, Sport and Off-road. Normal is for everyday driving, better fuel economy. Sport allows the engine to rev higher and I could feel the difference compared to Normal mode. Definitely provides more oomph. I could see using it to merge onto a highway and then changing to Normal. I didn’t try Off-road.
    My wife is leaning towards the Premium Plus trim package, but it doesn’t have that much over the Preferred trim. The Preferred trim is nice looking but not quite as nice as the Premium Plus. Which has nicer looking 20” wheels, ventilated leather seats with a nicer looking and feeling interior, HUD, folding mirrors and 12 speaker Bose Audio. Below Premium Plus it has leather trimmed leatherette seats without ventilation, 17” black painted wheels, 8 speaker audio, no HUD and a little bit more standard looking interior.

    Mazda currently has a special offer for the 2023 CX-50 of 2.9% APR for 36 months. Payment ends up a little high** but we think it would be fine because we have no other current car payments or debt, and our mortgage is very reasonable. Plus, it would allow us to pay off the car right before our daughter starts college. If she goes that route. We leave the dealer with an offer on a Black Premium Plus. I feel we need to see and drive the other models in the category before making a decision.

    **High for me. The last time I bought a car the loan payment was like $370 for five years. So when I see like $800 it makes me . But that is the cost of new cars nowadays where the average is 50k and the interest rates are massive. Longer term loans have interest rates, like 7-9%.
    Last edited by Phil_SS; August 17th, 2023 at 05:31 PM.

  3. #83
    I'm gooder. Phil_SS's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Pittsburgh
    Posts
    2,042
    Tuesday night we went out to a different Mazda dealer that had a bit more selection from a color standpoint. I wanted Ana to be able to see most of the colors, especially the ones that she was interested in to make an informed decision. We parked and they had a line of CX-50s right in front of the dealer. The color she liked on the computer screen was a dark blue (Ingot Blue) but she also likes a medium blue grey color (Polymetal Grey). They had several of them with those two colors sitting side by side. Sun was out, late in the afternoon and thus she got a good look at them. Ana made the determination that she liked the Polymetal Grey the best.

    After a few minutes, a saleslady came out and asked if we needed any help. We told her we had been at other dealers and looking at CX-50s. But we came there because they had a wide variety of models and colors on their internet inventory. She asked if there was a particular car or cars that we wanted to drive. So, we took a Polymetal Grey Premium Plus for a drive. I had done a little research since we had driven the Preferred trim on Friday that some people didn’t like the ride comfort of the cars with the 20” wheels that come on the Premium Plus and some of the Turbo trims. Thus, I wanted to make sure we drove a trim with the 20” wheels.

    It drove pretty much the same as the Preferred Trim, and the wheels do add a bit of stiffness to the ride but Ana said that she still didn’t think it was too stiff. It is definitely something that will take time to know if it has a long term affect. But Ana really wanted the other features of the Premium Plus. The test drive went well, and I have to say that it was the best test drive route I think I have ever seen or taken before. Decently long with good chances to check out the power of the car, the handling and the overall feel. I told the Saleslady that and she thanked me for commenting on it. I firmly believe in positive reinforcement, and when a person is doing something right they should be provided with that feedback.

    After we brought the car back and understood the test drive route. I asked the saleslady if they had a turbo model. I thought it was important to drive the Turbozen version. And she said they did; they had a 2023 Meridian Edition. This trim has a special paint treatment and specific 18” wheels. This car had the sand color paint and the Terracotta colored interior. I got the keys and started the test drive, the saleslady said we could take it out ourselves.

    The turbo makes a difference. Especially once you get it spooled up. There was a decent sized hill right out of the dealership, and it pulled hard up that hill. I haven’t driven a car with much power in a long time and it brought a smile to my face. About halfway through the test drive route I pulled over so Ana could try the car. She enjoyed the turbo but she didn’t feel it was necessary.

    Before we head into the dealership, I inspect the car she wants (Polymetal Premium Plus) and see on the opposite side back window of the car that they have a sticker that shows the dealership has added like $1800 dollars in additional features; Lojack, Etched Glass and Caltex Appearance Protection. My “That ain’t gonna fly meter goes to the red”. But we’ll see how bad they wanna sell this car.

    The dance begins, this is how it goes:

    Dealer: Full MSRP with full cost of the addons.
    Me: We don’t want or need any of the addons.
    Dealer: We’ll cut the addon cost in half to $800. How does that sound?
    Me: We don’t need any of the addons, we show them the deal we were going to get from a different dealer that had none of the addons.
    Dealer: We will eliminate the cost of the addons, how does that look?
    Me: I had looked earlier in the day that the dealership online had reduced the price of the car and was stating a price $1k below MSRP. I had that plugged into a loan calculator that figured all the costs at that price, taxes and what they were quoting for normal additional fees (Title, Registration etc). So I told them If they come back with the car at the advertised price of 1k below MSRP and no charge for the addons we will take the deal. They accepted.

    So yeah. We now own a 2023 Mazda CX-50 Premium Plus in Polymetal Grey. It’s pretty ballin so far. Can't wait to take it on road trip.

    Attachment 4146Attachment 4147Attachment 4148Attachment 4149
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by Phil_SS; August 17th, 2023 at 05:34 PM.

  4. #84
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Posts
    6,265

  5. #85
    mAdminstrator Random's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Davis, CA, USA
    Posts
    3,611
    Whoomah!

  6. #86
    Ask me about my bottom br FaultyMario's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    ox.mx
    Posts
    8,233
    Noice.
    acket.

  7. #87
    Corvette Enthusiast Kchrpm's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Cincinnati, OH
    Posts
    8,697
    Zoom zoom!

  8. #88
    Administrator dodint's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2016
    Location
    'Trep
    Posts
    5,619
    Congrats on getting a deal. That's no small feat in this market.

  9. #89

  10. #90
    High Plains Luddite George's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Posts
    5,101
    Congratulations!

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •