Mazda

And then there were three (maybe four)

Published by G

I’ve been putting a lot of thought into the final 5 cars on my list and decided to scratch out the Acura TL. The car is a fairly common ride in SoCal. I like them like prime rib, medium-RARE, the TL is more like medium-well around these parts. Another reason is the rate hike, making the lease less attractive than it was back in March. So long, farewell, Auf wiedersehen Good Night!

Here are the remaining candidates in order of preference:

Infiniti G37 base – I’m working on perhaps getting this at $200 under invoice price…still waiting on some quotes. I’m shooting for around $1350 drive-off (1st payment, tags, bank fee, doc fee, etc…) and $414 a month. This car is stock though, so i don’t get all the fancy technology stuff the Journey offers. Its not to say that this comes poorly equipped, the standard list of features isn’t too bad actually. My main reason for lusting after this ride? the styling and the 330hp V-6 engine, which by the way, gets slightly better MPG than the Mazda CX7’s 4cyl Turbo.

Infiniti G35 Journey – Same as the G37 in terms of pricing. Working on $200 under invoice for ideal price. It should be around the same drive-off, but about $2 less per month (wooo-freaking-hoo), $412.

Mazda CX-7 GT – I like this car so far because its got potential to become a better deal. I know I can probably work it some more and get it under $400 a month with no more than $1000 drive-off. Plus this puppy is fully loaded, with the exception of RES (rear entertainment system), which is fine since I don’t have kids…yet. But everything else is there, including the poor gas mileage.

Afterthoughts

I’m keeping the Accord V6 coupe in the back burner right now…the money factor kills me, but I think if they are willing to sell for invoice it would really help offset the bad rate. This is more like the worst, worst, worst case scenario. It’s a long shot, but it’s still a shot since I really like the overall aspects of this car.

How do they drive you ask? No freaking clue, I haven’t even taken the time to go test drive them, but I am planning to go this coming weekend. It would be a good opportunity to get a feel for what I can get for my trade-in as well. I could probably wait another month to see if the rates improve too, but I’m getting rather antsy…which is not a good thing.

New Quotes Are In. The List Narrows.

Published by G

First things first. I got quotes for the Mazda CX-7 GT and the Honda Accord V6 Coupe. Here is the quick breakdown:

CX-7 GT FWD

Term- 36mo/12k miles/yr
MSRP – $31,740
Cap Cost- $29,064 ($30 bucks over invoice, nice)
Residual- 54%
MF- 0.00094
Other- $750 rebate (altho I’m now told is $700, fiiiisshhhy)

Honda Accord V6 Coupe

Term- 36mo/12k miles/yr
MSRP- $28,945
Cap Cost- $26970 ($700 over invoice, I think they could do better, this ain’t no BMW after all)
Residual- 58%
MF- 0.00245 (5.88%, oh that hurts so bad)

You can see the drive-off and the monthly numbers on the “Recent Quotes” panel on the right hand side of this page.

My thoughts…I would have pulled off the deal for the Accord Coupe TODAY if the MF was lower (around 2-2.5%) and if they would get a bit closer to invoice (maybe no more than $200 over). But alas, you can’t have it all and I have no intention to negotiate at the moment. The thing is, even if I pushed for invoice on the Accord, I’d still be paying $399 after taxes. The Acura TL is still looking mighty fine right about now.

As far as narrowing the list, I’ve canned the Lexus IS250 because all local Lexus dealer sites don’t show inventory online, so I can’t get a “realistic” quote for a specific car they have on their lot. Plus, its sorta underpowered in my opinion.

My goal is to get the best ride for $400 a month after tax. Right now, pretty much all quotes I’ve gotten, except for the TL, are WAY over. I got some wiggle room though, I don’t need a 12k mile lease, I can do 10k since I live pretty close to work (12 mile round trip), I am willing to pay all fees upfront (1st month, tags, doc, bank fee, tires, etc…) as long as it doesn’t exceed $1200. So with a little help from the Money Factor and Residual faeries, I think I can pull this off.

Who’s In:
G37
G35
TL
Accord Cpe (still in, for now, I really dig the looks)
CX-7 GT (I might opt for the Touring or Sport to cut costs if necessary)
Who’s Out:
G8
IS250
Altima Cpe
Camry SE

The Infiniti EX35 looks sort of lease worth right now, so I might inquire about it.
Stay tuned!

May 2008 Lease Rate for 08 Mazda CX-7 GT

Published by G

36mo/12k miles/yr – residual 54% – 0.00094 MF.
plus a $750 rebate.

My Thoughts: Not a bad time to pull the trigger on this ride, the interest rate is low, the residual is acceptable plus the $750 rebate helps bump up the residual a cool 2%. One thing to note, this puppy gets pretty crummy MPG, 17/23. Then again, it is an SUV after all.

I had originally posted the March numbers HERE on my old blog. They look improved. The MF dropped and the rebate went up $500 bucks.

Another thing, I’m told this lasts until June 30th.