Here it is ... just bought a protege and I have been haggling over prices. I decided to get the Protege ES with the GT package b/c the P5 is always called a wagon and it bugged me. Also, I noticed it was colder and I heard all the road noise from the back.

Anyway, here is what I got from as the pricing scheme:
(ES with GT 5spd and P5 with sunroof, a/c, and 5spd)


=========Protege ES====Protege5
msrp=======20,985======= 21,985
invoice======19,607=======20,519
met. paint==========105
frght & pdi==========925
admin fee ========150 - 185


FRGHT & PDI detail:
freight 400 (Ontario)
advertsing 175
funds(approx) 105
pdi 245
-------------
925

So what price can you get?
Fees are rediculous because it is a cost of business and it is already in the price of the car. I don't go to Banana Republic to buy a shirt expecting at the cash register to have advertising and other fees added. So get rid of these. (150 - 185 admin depending on the dealer and 175 for ads along with the funding that they use for sponsoring events (ads) )

Invoice prices:
Well this is the funniest thing. Why would a salesperson ( trying to be pc) show you what the car ****ing costs them? What are they hiding? One dealer told me by accident that they have a 5% holdback. This means Mazda charges the dealer 5% more for the car and gives it back to them when the car is sold. I am not sure if it is that high but 2% is reasonably sounding. Also, Mazda currently has dealer incentives. I am not sure what they are but I know this for sure. That is, Mazda says we'll give $500 for every protege/car sold before the end of the year. Lastly, the dealer gets bulk buying and early payment incentives. Some say this is only given to the dealer at yearend.

So now that $20,000 car is now close to $15,000 cost or less.

So what did I pay?
I got the best deal that I could bargain:
no admin fees
1600 off the msrp
wheel locks
MAProtection for $300 ($400 msrp)
graduated not too long ago so I got another 600(including taxes off)

I had a better deal with the P5 but was not comfortable with the car. (they make more from the p5)

I hope this helps but a word of caution: a dealer cannot force you to buy something that is not part of the car. It is called tied selling and it is illegal. One dealer (name left out) does this by having you pay for etching the serial number on the car and charging you $99 for it. It costs them $20 to do it. Tell them to take it off after you have negotiated a price otherwise you'll report them to the anti-trust division of the government. (make sure you tell them after so that you do not get that cost worked into the vehicle).
They will try and tell you that it benfits you. Tell them thanks but you're not paying for it.

Good luck for those who are going to be buying a car shortly.

This is the best deal that I could work out but I do not think that it is the best deal to be found by far ..... let me know what others got .... this would be interesting to find out ...

for some reason most dealers in my area were not willing to deal as much as usual ... I even went at the end of November one of the best times of the year for negotiating .... end of December is good too.


Note => taxes are 15% in Ontario

 

I went through the same train of thought when they were showing me the invoice. I believe they do this for a few reasons:

1. When they show you their cost, it only enforces the fact that they cannot sell under cost and they are showing you the numbers so you can see for yourself. Selling under cost is a big psychological arguing factor for them, that they are not making any money, so on and so forth.

2. I also firmly believe that the cost, like you hinted, is a false cost. I will never believe any salesperson that tells me the dealership only makes $500-$1000 per car sold, and this is before paying the salesperson's commission, costs for keeping the car in the lot, dealership overhead, etc. Absolutely impossible. They will say they can make it work because they work on volume. Impossible. If you do the numbers, they still don't make anywhere near as much as they should to cover their operating costs. Some people say they make more money on service, which I believe is partially true, but most dealership owners and loaded to the hilt and are making truck loads of money, and this can't possibly all be from service. So I believe that Mazda does give them percentages, bonuses or incentives back on cars sold.