California Mercury Car Dealers

After exhaustive reviews and analysis of various Hybrids, I finally ordered a FFH yesterday from a local dealer. I was very fortunate to have secured an X-Plan PIN from the Blueoval forum (Thanks milkman!) and emailed about 5 dealers around the area whether they will accept this pricing program. 3 responded positively, and I went to the local dealer and ordered an Ice Blue with 502A option. It was the cleanest and quickest car buying experience I've had, so now comes the wait. Before I got the X-plan, many dealers wanted MSRP, while some also had markups. Here in Northern California, Hybrids are very popular. Thus, just finding one after the C4C program was difficult at best. I should be able to get the full $1700 tax credit, but will need to get the order verified by Ford next week to be sure.

We like the hybrid Tribute Grand Touring because it has all the options on it you could want including navigation and roof venting . The Mazda hybrid Tribute is much nicer than the Escape hybrid or the hybrid Mariner in terms of interior appointments. We bought in Feb, 2008 in California when a limited inventory of this new SUV was sold only in California. We put it on a car carrier (DAS auto transport) and had it transported to Florida where we registered and licensed it. I don't know if this car was sold on such a limited inventory in 2009 (350 or fewer in 2006) in CA or other states and would like to hear about this. I can't speak accurately about fuel economy because I never drive it and it is usually in another city where my grand-daughter "owns" it. I paid $29,000 approx without CA tax with 0% interest on a three year Mazda loan. The only thing I don't really like are the small wheels/tires.

Before I purchased my recent 2008 Quest SE (see above post), I sent three other Request For Quote to three other dealers, 1 is Universal Studio Nissan (Studio City), 1 is in Thousand Oak City, and another one in El Monte (near downtown.) Two responded with two offers: Studio dealer offers a SE (no Navig. and no DVD) with a total discount (including $3,500 rebate from Nissan) of $8795 (MRSP $36,595); the Thousand Oak offers a SE with a total discount of $7684 from the MSRP of $38720 (with Dual DVD). So based on the offers from the other two dealers, I thought the discount I got ($10,200) from the dealer (Keyes Nissan in Woodland Hills) I purchased the van from was relatively not bad at all. But I just want to echo the opinion from another poster, that Southern California (or maybe the whole state of California) consumers do not get the $12,000 or more discounts like those from Kentucky or midwest states.

I just purchased the above vehicle with Dual DVD Package + Navigation + Seat Package (it is pretty much a gimmick since nobody buys a van with 2 seats), with mats (another gimmick, a $35,000 van with no mats), cross bar, with MSRP @ $40,650 (including destination charge.) I purchased it for $30,500 (without CA sale tax @ 7.25% in Ventura County, California + registration.) In all, the purchased price is roughly $10,000 lower than MSRP (this discount includes the $3500 Rebate from Nissan,) which might seem to suggest that I got a "really good deal," when in fact it was not. Based on many comments posted here, the discounts some other people got were even greater (both in absolute $ and % term.) However, I would not say that I overpaid for this van because I have researched long and hard before and after I made the purchase. For example, Carmax list the same van with same feature (except the Crossbars) with no-haggle pricing @ $30,250. However, they have none in Los Angeles (or in southern California). However, I think I could have made the dealer cut another $500 or so (because someone in earlier post got an offer of $12,000 off MSRP.) Now, the only issue is the reliability (short and long term) of this van which only time will tell how it will hold up in comparision with other vans.

thanks for sharing. can't believe this thread went the entire month of December without one post! do ford explorer buyers use the net?