TODreamer

Just came back from visiting my girl in the U.S. While I was down there she suggested we go to a Mazda dealershipto go check out htis Mazda RX8 I can't chut up about. While we were there looking at some floor models a salesman approached us (no really???) and got to talking. I was honest with him and told him I wasn't ready to buy just yet and he was like "don't worry, its cool.....wanna take one out for a spin?".... ding ding ding ding went the bells in my head. lol

Two things:

1) Canadian salespeople/dealerships SUCK.... don't even think about test driving unless you practically bought the car already.

2) I LOVE this car..... I mean I always did but since i got to test drive it I truly know what JOY is!!!! This car is amazing.

MUST HAVE!!!!!!! :D

mysql101

Yes - rule #1 about the RX-8, do NOT drive it unless you can afford to buy it because almost everyone who test drives it ends up wanting it.

guy321

I thought the first rule of RX-8 is you do not talk about RX-8?

Moostafa29

I can testify to that...but I'm just glad I can afford it.

Feras

iTrader: (1)

seriously i test drove this car first (great dealer let me go 2 hours in it) and then test drove a bunch of other sports cars, all i could think about was this car and i settled on it.

PaulieWalnuts

Yep. Because of a job change and saving to buy a house I won't be getting an 8 until late this year or next year. I made the mistake of driving one recently. Bad, bad, bad idea. Withdrawl is rough.

HeelnToe

NOW you tell me. It really should be a big warning sticker on the windshield.

I've test driven darn near everything in the last few weeks. I never even considered the 8, because I wanted a 4-door car, and figured the 8's rear seats were the usual 2+2 joke.

I actually went to the dealer to drive a 3 an 6... and just on a whim, more outa curiousity then any intention to buy... made the mistake of driving the 8.

Great. Now every car I get in feels crude, clumsy and heavy with noisy engines. GOD the car is smooth... in everything it does, feels, sounds. It's EXACTLY what I was looking for: a true "driver's car" that you put on, rather than get into. 10 seconds into my first drive, any passenger woulda thought I'd owned it for 20 years already... it was just so easy, so delightful.

And whadaya know... those rear seats ARE useable after all.

And now I see the side impact ratings are actually quite good.

Come on, there HAS to be a flaw somewhere... don't make me spend 27K on a dang car...

mysql101

The flaw is the mileage. But it isn't that bad when compared to other cars like the 350Z.

f1michel

Just put 450 km on 50 L of gaz...21.3 MPG... it's not that bad. (but i was driving like a Granny )

HeelnToe

The Z is WORSE???

Yea, I've been reading through those reads... 20mpg isn't TOO bad for a 238(?)hp car... not good, but not horrific.

Just bad timing for poor milage, considering the prices these days...

TODreamer

Paulie... it looks like our situations are identical.

Oh yeah...the 8 even has the Fiance approval and she was only sitting in the back seat...she loved it. Even she was like.."we have to own this car!!!!......you're just not allowed to get yellow" lol..which is fine because i want the Titanium.

When i drove that car I don't know what happened to me.... I was possesed and i drove that car HARD with huge grin on my face sales person didn't mind either, he was just chill'n.

TODreamer

I know what you mean..... I love my car, its been very good to me and its not too shabby at all. But after driving the 8, I wanted to kick my car. lol

northern-8

northern-8

I don't agree with the last statement. I've never had any trouble arranging test drives for any of the many cars I've owned, this includes Audi and Mercedez. But then again I'm pretty clean cut looking.

crumpmd

Are you calling the guy a scuz?

Rupes

I couldn't afford an RX-8, but I bought one anyway. Was the best thing I've ever done (I think).

-Rupes

noahprtlnd

Look at his picture. Would you let a dirty bird like that take a test-drive?

TODreamer

If only our Avatars were an acurate reflection of our true selves, there would be a lot of explaining to do by many on this board.

northern-8

NOPE! It's just that some car salesmen see someone under 30 and think that they're just there to kick tires. I've allways had decent cars, so when I drive in, I look like someone who's actually got the resources to buy.

Of course looks are deceiving. My buddy sells Mercedez and he was telling me of the time that a scuzzy looking guy came in and none of the other salesmen wanted to waste their time. My friend came up in line and ended up not only having the guy buy a S600, he ends up buying a car every years since he only likes the newest models. For not being an a$$hole, my friend makes a nice commission every year without having to do any work.

The moral of the story for car salesmen is treat everyone like a potenial customer, not only the clean cut 40 year olds.

psionic1

Yeah, well I was looking at so many other cars than the 8. I didn't think that I could afford it, plus, I didn't think it was practical because I have a kid that is not bigg enough for the front seat of any car that has airbags.

So I was looking at the Honda Accord, the Mazda 6, wagon and sedan.

After test driving a Mazda 6 wagon one day, we parked back in the lot next to an 8. I just happenned to look at the sticker and saw that it was not much more than the other cars I was looking at. I opened the doors and had my son get in the back. And once I saw that he did so with ease, that was all she wrote.

I drove it and loved it. Everything else looked like crap from that point on. It was just out of the price range that I wanted to spend, but I couldn't see myself spending almost as much money on anything else that looked like **** in comparison.

Things I love about this car:

The sound of the engine, I rarely turn on the stereo.

The handling.

The looks.

The fact that with other cars, one might have to sacrifice power for luxury or gizmos. The base 8 has the same power as the top O' the line 8. I want the top O' the line power BEFORE I look at gizmos and luxury. To get the most powerfull Honda, you have to buy all the other crap (that I really don't care about).

Every day I want to drive it. I am sad when the journey is over. I always look back over my shoulder at it after having parked.

It is a very solid car, fast with supurb handling and is completely unique compared to anything else being offered. You should see the people gape when I say that the engine has 3 moving parts.

I love the car just the way it is, and would only consider very few mods, and execute them in the way that I think Mazda would.

After market leather would be nice.

A slight drop to fix the gap that I think is a little too much on the front.

Clear side markers.

Better speakers.

And because I drive it FAST in the hills, maybe stiffer suspension. But it's hard to complain about the stock suspension.

Ok, I gotta go for a drive...

HeelnToe

When my last car was failing, I went to a local dealer, explained I needed a new car NOW, and wanted a test drive.

I had just come home from work, kinda had a bad day, getting worse, and probably didn't look so spiffy.

He refused the test drive, making up lame excuses about not knowing where the keys were... then it changed to didnt have a temp tag... then to couldnt get a good one out of the lot...

We went to another dealership the next night, drove one, and bought it that evening.

mysql101

I had much the same thing.. went to a dealership, they would not let up with the pressure tactics. I eventually left never to return, and bought the car elsewhere.

Synistyr

yea i agree canadian dealerships do suck, before i bought my 8 i went to a dealership and asked if i could have a test drive... (by the way im 17).. and they gave me some crap about having to put a depoisit on the car before they can let me take it for a ride.

so i went to another dealership ( with my parents mind you) and bought it a week later

TODreamer

Well this dude that helped me was cool.......no doubt.

I was honest and told him I wasn't ready to buy and I didn't want to waste his time.... he was like "no problem.....its here, wanna just take her out for a spin so you know what you want when you are ready?".... my jaw dropped!

jeezus.... back here in TO I wanted to test drive and the damn sales person was like "uuuhhh .....uhhhhhh........"... geez. Yeah I'm not ready to buy now but I am very serious about purchasing this car in a year and if that guy up here were cool with me, I'd never forget him and make sure that when it was time to buy he WILL get my sale/commission.... oh well bud....your loss

Spazm

I'm 20...did my research on the '8 through edmunds. Got the e-mail quotes from 2 of 3 dealers, the 1 exception being the local one. Only other dealers were 1 hour and 1 1/2 hour away.

So I go to the local one, and I will say I took a test drive w/o a problem (I did take a parent w/me.) However once I said that I would be going for the loan myself, the salesperson just turned dead on me. Wouldn't even give me a quote...his words were "We can talk about that after you get approved."

Basically, don't waste my time you won't get approved.

1 week later he calls me on my cell phone as I'm driving to pick up my new '8 I got from another dealership...the sound of "OH! You went to another dealer, huh?!" was like music to my ears...