O.K., I just came back from the Port of Tacoma. Here is the word:
The Pacific Leader SHOULD arrive on Saturday for a weekend off-load. It is slightly delayed due to rough seas on it's journey from Pot Hueneme to the Port of Tacoma. The Mazda Rep WILL be on hand this weekend to supervise the offload. They don't know the schedule yet, but invited me to check back on Friday and they will know more. I will pass them on. 342 RX-8s will be offloaded in Tacoma. Some 200 will be railed to other destinations for Port Installed Options. They expect to have the cars loaded on the rail cars by Wednesday, the 25th. They are out of their control at that point, so they couldn't give me any information beyond that - however, I believe they said they would be going to Woodhaven (I have no idea where that is). As for the cars that will have the options installed in Tacoma, Monday is some sort of inventory/customs day. The first car will roll into the contractor's bay on Tuesday. A Mazda Rep, who has been trained in Irvine, will supervise the first few cars having options installed. This will be a careful, go slow day, so do not expect to much to happen. They expect that unless there are any unforseen problems, that the first cars will be released to the trucking company on Friday, then off to the various dealers. I confirmed that they have all of the options in stock, so that will not be a delay. Project/conjecture/speculate whatever you want from this information. I have been invited to watch the cars come off the ship, but due to security it will be a last minute thing. I will keep eveyone posted.

woodhaven is in Michigan.

Originally posted by 3Rotor
. I have been invited to watch the cars come off the ship, but due to security it will be a last minute thing. I will keep eveyone posted.

Yo 3.. if you see that Mazda Rep, see if you can ask him about Hawaii bound cars.. I'm still curious as to if they were on different ships..

Many thanks!

3rotor....Do you have any idea, or can you find out, whether the cars that are not being railed to Michigan are cars that are staying on the west coast? That seems to make the most sense, but maybe there is some other logic behind it.

Being right in the middle of the country (St. Louis) I'm wondering whether my car will be one to get stuck on the train, or will be having its options installed in Tacoma. Michigan is a closer truck drive than Tacoma is to St. Louis, so I'm assuming it will be on the train.

Anybody have any idea how long the train takes to get from Tacoma to Woodhaven?

I am going to be disappointed if it is going to take even longer to get to me if it is getting railed to Michigan.

Anybody know whether the VIN status is updated in Mazda's 'puter system if it is "on rail" vs. "on truck"?

Lots of questions I know, but I am anxious!

The VIN check that was run for me by ibefubar listed two "Ports" for me. In my case Both are Tacoma. I am assuming - and it is an assumption only - that the second port is where the options are installed. So I am thinking that if your second port is Tacoma, then they install the options in Tacoma and then truck it to St Louis. If it is Woodhaven, then it is railed there, port installed options installed, then trucked to your dealer. I have only one thing to say - Thank God I live in Tacoma! I say that because I know exactly how you feel!

I'm hoping that your assumptions are correct.

Here's what my VIN details from ibfubar2000 shows:

POE TA - PORT TACOMA, WA. IP TA - PORT TACOMA, WA.

POE=Port of Entry
IP=Installation Port?

Anybody know what the IP in the VIN details stands for?

OK.....I did some digging through the "thread from hell" where ibfubar2000 posted all of the VIN details (lots of well-deserved appreciative posts to everybody's pal ibfubar2000).

All of those coming into Tacoma for members of the forum that live east of the Mississippi river look like they are going to Michigan by rail:

Members' cars going to Woodhaven on the train are:
ZOOOM - lives in MI
laferle - lives in MI
wankelmaniac - lives in IN
rx8racer - lives in OH

Members' cars trucking out of Tacoma are:
Mr.Wiggles - lives in TX
RossComer - lives in WA
me - lives in MO
IGOZMZM - lives in UT
drj400m - lives in IA
ELX13 - lives in MO

Woohoo... in less than a week my 8 will be en route to my state :)

Anyone know how long the cruise from Tacoma to Detroit is?

BTW, I believe the Woodhaven facility is in downtown Detroit... just 30 short minutes from my dealer :)

My mother-in-law won't fly so she takes the Amtrak from Chicago. That trip is just about 2 days (40 hours if I recall correctly). So I am thinking that if the train leaves Tacoma on Wednesday, it could be in Detroit by Friday, certainly over the weekend. The good news is, none of us have that much more time to wait.

That's great news, guys! :)

Address of Port Woodhaven is

22400 Vreeland Road
Flat Rock, MI 48134