Hey everyone, how's it going. Just like to start out by saying I'm a long time reader of these forums (especially the Canadian and DIY sections) and have finally found myself in a position to buy my first car; hopefully an 8.

Well, my name is Steven and I reside in Markham. I'm a young man (20) currently enrolled at centennial college learning automotive repair. I was planning on buying a cheap car to get me around after high school but decided to save up some more money and buy a nice car right off the bat.

Financially, I feel I'm in good shape to make the purchase. I'm hoping to get a decent 8 for around $18,000. I've been doing my research and stuff for awhile, checking out autotrader every so often and reading up a lot about the 8.

There's a few things I'd like to get done first and was hoping to get some tips here. First there's driving manual. I've done it only a few times and that was just in and out of the garage at my high school, and that was two years back. I know the basics and stuff but was wondering if anyone knows of a driving school or something of the sort just so I can get used to it. I've been asking around but no one seems to have an old car I can use to drive around a bit to get used to it. The few schools I called up said they don't do lessons for manual

Also, I'd really really really (x100) like to know of things to ask when going to look at a car at a dealership. I've been told I'm a quiet/ shy type of person, and I'm a small guy (5'7, barely 120lbs). A lot of people would guess I'm 15-17 years old, just don't want to go to a dealership and get taken advantage of or anything like that

There's a few I've seen on autotrader that caught my eye but don't know if I post links or anything yet since I'm a new user so I'll get to that part a little later I guess.

Well, thanks for reading and for the help I know I'll be receiving here. Hoping to get to know a lot of you in the near future.

 

welcome my fellow canadian! ...

as far as driving manual, i pretty much learned on my 8, sooo easy i think it was because of the low torque that made it soo easy...2 years later i feel REALLY comfortable, its just a "habit to shift"...

go in there as ask for a carfax (i dont know if canada has it)...just make sure the spark plugs are good, all the oil changes were done on time...and when you test drive it make sure you drive it like you stole it, and dont be afraid to redline it, the engine is really rev happy

 

Shifters.ca has manual driving lessons - definitely not cheap though. I took one lesson from them just to get the basics and the proper habits when driving stick.

But yeah post the links (or at least the details) and people here will let you know if it's a good deal. Though the people south of the border tend to forget that pricing is different in Canada...so only listen to Canucks (like Dozer ) for the pricing...

 

Anything you need to learn about the rx8 can be found on this forum. The more you read before you buy the better!

Find a good rotary mechanic in your area that can perform a compression test properly and when you find a used rx8 take it to him for inspection. That is the only way to be sure the engine is in good condition.

Good luck!

 

IGNORANT DOZER!!!

Yes, use Carfax to find out stuff about the car. Remember, read up all the stickies and the FAQ in the tech garage!

 

Carfax is useless.

 

clearly drunk

 

not cool...

 

I've directed many RX8 drivers to Prima Mazda.

Speak only with Danny. He'll make sure you get everything you need. He's honest, and sticks with you should you have any problems.

Tell him Peter (yellow rx8) sent you

905-850-8111

 

I suggest you go to Scarboro Mazda instead for the Rx8 since its a niche car. The GM of Scarboro Mazda, Al Balinsky (01Racing here) has been very helpful in the Canadian rx8club forum, and the service department are superb. Especially for the Rx8, its not just the initial sales experience, its the service of the car that is most important.

Get a good pre-owned one from Scarboro Mazda and I will assure you won't regret it.

Ask around the forum for feedback if you need more info...

http://scarboromazda.ca/

Scarborough Mazda - 2124 Lawrence Avenue East Scarborough, Ontario, M1R 3A3 -
Tel.: 416 752-0970 - Fax: 416 752-4573

 

if only they had a pre-owned there (or at least the online listing is not up to date)... i'd be all over it like white on rice!

 

Hey, thanks for the input. Yea, I'm sure after a few days of driving I'll get the hang of it for sure. Will look into carfax. I see that a few ads on autotrader offer a free carfax report. I'll check them out.

Yea they seem quite pricey. I got the basics down though, just need a car to drive around to get used to the different driving style from automatic. Checking autotrader regular and will post some links in the near future


I'll look into both of them. Thanks for the information on them.

**Edit: They offer carproof reports not carfax. Still better than nothing at least.

 

Your welcome?


I thought I put a smiley on the other post next to Ignorant Dozer, too late now.

 

This is actually a big question I had too.
My wife can't drive a stick, but really wants an RX-8 (and I want to get one for her). I tried teaching her on my Speed3, but with the massive amounts of torque it would lurch and scare the crap out of her. So I thought learning on a smooth RX-8 would be easier for her, but I'm worried that if she stalls it a few times on a hill, from what I've read here she'd run a risk of flooding the engine, no?

 

Im trying to teach my gf to drive stick...
what I do is I drive it first until the car warms up. If she stalls, then I'll drive around for a bit before continuing the lesson. If she stalls again, the lesson is postponed for a different day.

As long as the engine is warm it should be ok to stall. Just don't do it repeatedly in succession.

 

As long as the engine is warmed up, you can stall till kingdom come lol.

And the Rx8 is very stall resistant...I even recover from stalls numerous times during my adjustment period from a VW...where the "battery" light lit up already, and I press the clutch and recover it with no stall at all.

Summary: Its a very easy car to drive and learn on...especially when she have no experience in stick before. The extra sensitivity of the Rx8 clutch compare to most "sport" sedan will not affect her at all since she got 0 knowledge on these....

 

Well, so far from what I've been seeing on autotrader this week, only one has really stood out to me...

http://www.trader.ca/powerpage/detai...4&adid=7111509

I think the price isn't bad for the kms on it and whatnot.

From what I see, it looks like an alright choice, haven't heard a whole lot about this Auction Direct outlet, will look into some information about them. A few things kind of turn me off about this one, sadly it doesn't have leather... At least the kms on it arent to high, most I've been seeing have been like 75k+

Well, I'm not in a hurry for the purchase anyways so I guess I'll keep this one in mind but keep on searching autotrader / dealer sites.

 

Auction direct, and burlington auto park are basically the same thing. I believe auction direct only sells cars "as is" I might be wrong tho. I bought my 05 GT with 73k on it from burlington autopark 6 weeks ago for 14 900. Sales experience was effin terrible, but the car has been good. I wrote a post on it in these forums, look it up if you like.

 

That link you posted, well first things its not a shinka.

Shinka's all come with custom ineriors, and all the lights, heads, tails, have chrome instead of the silver trimming inside them.

Why don't you buy this one?

https://www.rx8club.com/canada-sale-wanted-147/fs-2007-bb-6-mt-171605/

 

Thanks for the heads up on that.

Just stumbled on that thread myself, checking it out right now.

 

Looks more like a GS to me.

 

Cloth upholstery and no TCS/DSC/whatever switches by the interior light wheel... it's a GS alright.

 

Hey! I learned to drive standard in rush hour traffic!! I bought an old Spazda 323 (Lol) to learn on as it was a friend getting rid of it. I learned!

I tried to teach my wife to drive standard on my 91 Talon ... kicked her out in the middle of an intersection as she was panicking! She was learning well too 'til then.

Only once in a while would she move my 95 Talon out of the driveway!

She says there is no hope in hell she'll sit in the driver's seat of my 8 ... GOOD!

 

Not a Shinka for sure. Shinka's have the piano black centre console instead of the silver edges that go down either side on the centre console. && Shinka's also have Tan Leather/Suede seats I think

 

Hey you're driving a Shinka, look down at the colour of your seats!!! LOL

The true 06 Shinka's only come in Copper Red