Quite possibly traveling to Portland, OR, soon.

[Wiregeek]

The _one_ Mazda dealer in state has no interest in selling me a car, so I called Ron Tonkin Mazda in Portland.

Less than an hour later they've got a quote in my hand, and we've gone over how the procedure should work.  I'm going to talk to the boss about time off and look at tickets tomorrow.

I may be flying down Friday, overnighting in Portland or nearby, and leaving for Alaska Saturday morning..  In a new 2019 Mazda3 Premium in Deep Crystal Blue Mica with a freaking HUD.

Anyone in the area care to do a dinner?

[Wiregeek]

Update, I'm flying down 9/6/2019, picking the car up. Hosting dinner that PM (6pm, number pulled out of hat) and then leaving for Alaska!

[Black Aeronaut]

*Blinks* Why on earth would the local dealer refuse to sell you a car!?

[LynnInDenver]

I'm thinking, being the only dealer of the brand in the state, means they can pick the people they want to sell the cars to. Read: cherry picking for the highest credit scores and cash in hand sales, or have really odious terms for the privilege of buying a Mazda if you're NOT in that group they prefer to sell to.

[classicdrogn]

No need to be go twirling their mustache over it, it could be as simple as having been five minutes from the end of that guy's shift when contacted, and being more interested in getting home to watch the game than upselling when they'd already been on their feet and/or talked themselves sore that day.

[robkelk]

Or maybe it's just more expensive to put a Mazda 3 on a boat to Alaska than it is to go to the lower 48 and drive it back, so the dealer doesn't bother. (Nobody wants a new car with more than a dozen miles on the odometer, and nobody wants to pay freight on shipping a car around British Columbia... but they'll drive the car themselves.)

[Wiregeek]

I was cash in hand. They seemed to be just completely put off that I wasn't willing to sign paper and buy a car right that minute.

but, fuck 'em!

[Black Aeronaut]

Yeah, not the best way to go about things. More often than not, people visiting a dealership are still in the process of settling on what they want and, at the very least, need a day or two.

[Dartz]

Mazda's are good cars. I've one. Fuel consumption's a bit iffy and there's rust getting into it but it screams around like a skinned badger rolled in salt. Mazda's are always good to drive though.

[robkelk]

That's the thing about Mazdas. They tend to be better at any given thing except for one other car - and that other car changes depending on the thing they're good at. Everybody else gets a gold medal while Mazda gets all the silvers.

[hazard]

Not a bad thing for a car or anything else you only want to use.

It may not be fancy or excellent, but it's good, and it needs not be more.

[robkelk]

Getting back to the original post... No, I'm three time zones away.

Why Portland? Aren't there any Mazda dealers in Seattle? (Or, for that matter, in Canada? EDIT: Scratch that part - immediately after I hit save, I remembered the tax difference between the USA and Canada on cars.)

[Wiregeek]

Cheaper to fly into Portland, I have friends in Portland, I like it more than Seattle.

[robkelk]

Three good reasons.