dreadedmonkeygod . net

I've been doing my homework for the last couple of weeks, and I've narrowed the field to one: the Mazda3 hatchback. Style, utility, and price. Recommended by Consumer Reports. I also got two "New Car Price Reports" from Consumer Reports: one for the 5-door Mazda3, one for the sedan. Highly recommended. Not the easiest things to read (particularly when it comes to groups of bundled features), but incredibly helpful in determining target prices.

Last night around 8:00 PM, I started calling dealerships. I found 6 within about 50 miles of where I live, and just ran down the list.

One is out of business. Three never picked up. One took a message and never called back, and one dropped me into the general voicemail box. Not exactly stellar.

So I went to Mazda's website, and requested quotes from five dealerships. This morning, I have five reply emails, all saying the same thing: We'll call you to offer you an exciting deal! Evidently, the "request a quote" feature of Mazda's website is really just a lead generator for their salesmen. I feel so comforted.

I'm going to call around at lunchtime, and see what I can find. I'm really hoping that I don't have to actually drive around to different dealerships to get this done.