Long time reader, first time poster.

After reading all the posts on the rx-8, on Friday 10/17/2003 I traded in my 78 Ferrari 308 GTS for a Grey RX-8.

I could not be happier. The power from such a small 1.3 liter engine is awsome.

I am getting use to all the unusual noises the rotary makes.

Without this forum, the car would have been in the dealer today for the idle clutch noise. :)

So far I have logged 300 miles in 3 days. I really enjoy driving this car.

I am planning on getting the Borla exhaust soon and I have been following the engine management thread.

Thank you all for your posts on the site. Your input on the good and the bad on the rx-8 made the purchase easy.

Matt

Congrats on the car.:)

Got any pics of the Ferrari?

Here is a picture of the Ferrari and my kids from last x-mas

I love that old 308. One of my fav shows as a kid was Magnum PI with his famous 308.

Welcome to the forum!

It was a great car, don't get me wrong but I bad spent $8000 in service ($4500 new ignition, $1500 timing belts, $500 cooling lines, $500 shifter boot seal $1000 misc oil changes and what-not) and It could no longer handle the commute.

Sad to see it go but VERY happy with the rx-8

Thanks for the welcome!

The car looks great!

Nice to know that the 8 can hold its own against a Ferrari.;)

Cueball,

The one thing that I did learn with Ferrari ownership is that they really are not made well. They seem to have all sorts of bizarre things go wrong with them. There is no question in my mind that the rx-8 can hold it's own against the 308,328,348 series Ferrari's without putting up a fuss.

Matt

thats a sweet ferrari

congrats and welcome

Originally posted by Chrisbert
I love that old 308. One of my fav shows as a kid was Magnum PI with his famous 308.

Welcome to the forum!

Was Magnum's car a 308 or a 328?

-Mr. Wigggles

He had a couple

A 1980 308 GTSi (205 hp)
and a 1983 308 GTS QV (245 hp)

Matt

Here are some more pic's of the Ferrari

Welcome to the RX-8.

How long did you own your Ferrari?

more

I had it for a 3 or so years.

It had 14k miles on it. It now has 62K

It's Chassis number was 24825.

more

Is it supposed to smoke like that?

.

m477

it's was a cold morning and the choke was on.

But actully when it was not smoking, it was leaking oil. You can't win with them

Originally posted by matt
Cueball,

The one thing that I did learn with Ferrari ownership is that they really are not made well. They seem to have all sorts of bizarre things go wrong with them. There is no question in my mind that the rx-8 can hold it's own against the 308,328,348 series Ferrari's without putting up a fuss.

Matt

They aren't exactly commuter cars, what did you expect? Kind of a shame to rack up so many miles on a older Ferrari with so few miles. On the other hand cars were meant to be driven and enjoyed so you have my respect for doing just that. Grats on the new purchase of the 8 and enjoy it.

Ike

Ike,

I know that they are mainly weekend toys but as you pointed out, they are cars and should be driven. The point I was trying to make about the little things about Ferrari ownership that I found annoying. They always seem to have problems that no other can manufacture has. There customer service was horrible, The labor rates for service was robbery (AutoGallery in Woodland Hills, Ca. Authorized Ferrari Service was $125 per hour making a oil change $200). Also, Timing Belt replacement was $1500 even though it is harder and the parts are cheaper then replacing them on a Toyota Celica.

Granted you are paying for the name but when it came down to it. I could not depend on it.

You have to pay for the service regardless if the car sits or is driven.

Better to get your money's worth.

Matt

Originally posted by matt
Ike,

I know that they are mainly weekend toys but as you pointed out, they are cars and should be driven. The point I was trying to make about the little things about Ferrari ownership that I found annoying. They always seem to have problems that no other can manufacture has. There customer service was horrible, The labor rates for service was robbery (AutoGallery in Woodland Hills, Ca. Authorized Ferrari Service was $125 per hour making a oil change $200). Also, Timing Belt replacement was $1500 even though it is harder and the parts are cheaper then replacing them on a Toyota Celica.

Granted you are paying for the name but when it came down to it. I could not depend on it.

You have to pay for the service regardless if the car sits or is driven.

Better to get your money's worth.

Matt

It was a 22 year old car when you purchased it, seems kind of unfair to judge Ferrari reliability based on that. I would also imagine 90% of the people out there that drive a Ferrari could give a damn about reliability or even blink an eye at $125 for service. :D Just seems like it wasn't the right car for you from the start and I hope the 8 has everything you're looking for.

Ike

i was going to write a long-winded comment about this, but i think i can be a little more concise.

ferrari, daily-driven reliability, and practicality shouldn't really be mentioned in the same sentence.
however, if i just won $130,000 theres nothing more i would want to buy than a brand new 360 modena. its the ultimate toy, and it requires lots and lots of attention.

Ike,

Oh I agree with you. 22 years old does not make a reliable car to begin with. I have a few friends with them, even up to the new 575's and they have similar issues.

I Love the rx-8 and I am looking forward to many happy miles.

Matt

Im sorry but u traded in a Ferrari , u CRAZY man its a ferrari doesnt matter if its old , i would of just left it in the garage but thats just me, atleast you still have the other ferrari

It's very true about comparing a 22yr old Ferrari against the modern cars we have today. You can't really do it.

Although the 308 is a Ferrari, performance wise, it doesn't stack up well against an RX-8.

You have to remember that Ferrari's are still hand built. And they exsist to go around a race track very quick.

One thing is very true of any car. They are meant to be driven! If you start leaving the car as a weekend toy or a sunny day cruiser you're going to run into more problems.

You're damned if you use them, damned if you don't.

I'm surprised to hear that even the modern 360 Modena has small quirks. You think they would have solved those by now. After what I've seen this weekend a Ferrari is still a very sought after car. The F355 is a very nice car. But I wonder if they have the same if not more problems than your run of the mill sports car...

Regardless, if i had the money I would keep my FD and get an F50. The only Ferrari I would ever want! :)

Later,

I get the impression the other Ferrari belongs to a friend. If he could afford the other Ferrari I doubt he'd be driving an 8, or even trading in the 308 rather than just holding onto it, 308s can be had for under 30k in some instances. Just out of curiosity what did you get for the 308 on trade and why didn't you sell it. I would imagine it wouldn't have been difficult to sell outright.

Ike

Originally posted by djmano
however, if i just won $130,000 theres nothing more i would want to buy than a brand new 360 modena. its the ultimate toy, and it requires lots and lots of attention.

Unfortunately, you will have to win a bit more money if you want a 360 Modena, unless you find one with a lot of miles, or one that has not been particularly well cared for. They have deposits for orders longer than the car is scheduled to be in production, so you can no longer order a new one. Ferrari USA keeps the dealers toeing the line at MSRP for new models, less their allocation be cut. However, used models are fair game... so used Modenas usually sell for higher than MSRP because they are available. A 360 Spyder sells for around $70,000-$90,000 over MSRP on the used market. Many Ferrari dealers make new 360 buyers sign a "right of first refusal" before they take the car home. This contract states that if the owner wants to sell the car, they must offer it back to the dealer first.

Buying a new Ferrari is like dealing with the Mafia... a friend in thre business told me that if a relative nobody like myself ordered one, two years after I ordered would be around delivery time. If they had a more desirable customer like a celebrity, etc wanted a Modena, they would end up getting the car and I would be left holding the bag. I don't know how true the story is, but I am sure at some dealerships this is true.

Arnold Schwarzenegger had a 360 Modena Spyder. He got rid of it after it broke three times. He has a personal rule: once something breaks for the third time, he gets rid of it. He did not want to get rid of the car, but he said he has his rules and he sticks to them. Good for him, demanding good quality!

Ike,

The Red 348 Challenge in the pictures is not mine. The only Ferrari I had was the 308.

I bought it for $40k a few years ago but the market had dropped.

The 308 was my daily driver for the whole time.

Over the past couple of months, it had developed a leak at the cam belt drive, main crank seal, head and cam gaskets. Basically it needed the motor rebuilt. Cost would have been 10K.

It did not make since to keep a car valued @ 25k-30k when it needed a 10K rebuild. And when it comes to Ferrari, you fall into the "might-as-wells" and the price would have climbed well into 15k.

I know myself. If I would have kept it and planned on fixing it myself, or waiting until next year, I would not have gotten it done and sold it for more of a loss. The Mazda dealer was able to give me 20k for the car due in part to they had a wholesaler that wanted it for a lot in Sherman Oaks. I felt it was a fair deal.

The cost of the 308 as a car is not that expensive. THe cost of servicing a 308 is about the same as a 355 or 360.


Matt

Originally posted by IkeWRX
I get the impression the other Ferrari belongs to a friend. If he could afford the other Ferrari I doubt he'd be driving an 8, or even trading in the 308 rather than just holding onto it, 308s can be had for under 30k in some instances. Just out of curiosity what did you get for the 308 on trade and why didn't you sell it. I would imagine it wouldn't have been difficult to sell outright.

Ike

I elected to trade it in rather then sell it because it would have taken a couple of months to sell and I don't think, considering the work it needed, would have gotten the price I did from the dealer. I am sure I would have sold it for less then 20K

I did call Symbolic Motors to see if they wanted to sell it but they said the market is soft on exotic's and it would have to sit for a few months. I needed a car sooner then that.

I have to admit, I would be in the same shoes Matt is in. If I had a McLaren F1, I'd put 12,000+ miles on it a year. I would drive it everywhere, and do everything with it (provided it was the right car for the trip).

The only time I would avoid using it is during the snow and really bad weather, and when I need to take more than three people or some luggage.

I would not buy a one million dollar car to look at it or show it off. I'd drive it every day.

Matt, you have my utmost respect for driving your 308 on a daily basis. Every true car lover should take a page from your book of life.

Cheers.

This title made me smile :)

I bought my RX8 instead of putting a deposit down on an F360. Now the wife gets the Rx8 in a couple years after I put a deposit down on a new F-car ;)
Waiting list for a 360 Modena coupe is a bit over a year at my local dealer. They no longer accept orders for Spyders due to the long-ass wait.

Ferraris break because the majority of "people" that buy them don't drive them. Shame :(

congrats matt. thats the problem with those big name cars.. expense to maintain are crazy. good luck with the 8! What made you look at the 8 coming from a ferrari?

Originally posted by Shocka
congrats matt. thats the problem with those big name cars.. expense to maintain are crazy. good luck with the 8! What made you look at the 8 coming from a ferrari?

I wanted a reliable performance car that was not common on the road and that had a following of hard-core drivers. Porsche cars have no passion. Audi are the same. No interest in any Ford, Nissan, or Toyota.

I looked at the STI but it felt like it was on the edge of a major breakdown. The EVO felt the same. Lotus (esprit and Elise) would be in the shop longer then the Ferrari and cost about as much.

When it comes to driving excitement, it's hard to beat the rx-8. I have the same smile on my face that I had with the Ferrari when I drove it. Plus now I can seat 4 (I have two little kids), a proper trunk, and excellent gas mileage. I feel I gave nothing up in performance or looks. All I gave up was the oil slick on the garage floor and a prancing horse on the hood. My wallet is a lot thicker now too.

Matt

Originally posted by matt
and excellent gas mileage.


HAHAHA we dont hear that too much around here. Good to hear!

Originally posted by cueball1029
The car looks great!

Nice to know that the 8 can hold its own against a Ferrari.;)

Dude are you serious!? I can't believe you just said that!

NEWS FLASH!!! IT'S A 78!!!!!

dam baller...2 ferraris...looks like a hot boys video or something... just with older ferraris...congrats on the 8...