Ok so I want an RX-8 but I'm not desperate. I have a crappy '93 protege that still runs great considering it's 13 years old and it's spent it's whole life in the Midwest's crappy weather.

So anyway I went to a dealer and they had 2 8's on the lot (and yes I am looking other places but this is just one specific one). One is AT so that pretty much eliminates it but the other is an '06 Grey shinka with CD changer and maybe some other minor stuff but the MSRP is about 33,000.

What I want to know is what would be a reasonable low ball offer to make?

I'm guessing 26 would be really low and I might not sound serious (which I'm kinda not) but maybe around 28? I really don't have much of an idea what the dealership would actually pay for a car like that.

Oh yeah I plan on getting a bank loan and just paying in full. Is that a mistake? Seems to me that the dealer would be more willing to go lower if they just got it all up front. I mean who doesn't like a fat check right?


On a side note:
The Shinka seats are leather under the layer of Alcantara correct? If so how do you clean/treat that leather so it doesn't get dried out and crack?

I got my 2006 shinka for 29000 (32k OTD) and her MSRP was 35K

Did you do anything special or just stick to your price?

just told him from the get go that I was just looking, and that I might think of buying, but that would depend on what kind of an offer he could make me. After I made the offer I stuck to my price. Look in edmunds.com, for advice on how to negotiate with car salesmen. They have a very good article titled "confessions of a car salesman" that should give you some good insight.