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Well I ordered my car today....and its not a Mazda product. After repeated calls to my dealer and even a stop at a bigger dealer in the NYC area, their total lack of info and help on the subject totally turned me off to the idea of purchasing an RX8?
Why you ask? Why did I make such a decision? Because quite frankly, hearing the words, "I dont know" spatted at you in every politically correct and friendly way are enough to make your head spin and look the other way...at another car company. The car comany I looked at was MINI. And they got my business. I went to my Mazda dealer requested my 500 Dollar check and they did so after a little bit of a hassle. And I made the phone call to the mini dealer asking where it is I should drop off my check and for how much to make it out for. I then placed a $1,000 dollar check in the hands of the man in charge of the mini's in Northern New Jersey. He answered all my questions and told me like it is. He even went so far as to tell what options will be available when and how the cars are coming over....not just "I dunno."
Is the car an FD RX7? Nope. Is it an RX8? Nope. Is it something that I am getting more bang for the buck? Most likely. Will it be fun to drive? I'll let you know. And rumors are flying that the Mini on all season tires scored rather well on the Slalom test that Road and Track threw at it. Beating all of the cars that Road and track has ever tested (street legal cars mind you) except for two Turbo AWD Porsches. Truth to that? Possible...but i need confirmation.
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lol, velo... RX-8 is going to be sold NEXT year... you cant expect them to have the details... if you asked Mini dealers in UK 1.5 yrs ago about mini and how will it drive, etc, they will tell you the same thing ;-)
however, Mini is a nice choice, what did you get? when are you getting it?
I ordered a MINI Cooper S with Chili Red Paint a white roof.
It comes with an extremely tight suspension package (to stiff for Edmunds.com, pussies). Mine will have Heated front seats, heated side mirrors, heated washer jets, Dynamnic Stability Control, 17" Performance Run Flats, Xenon Headlights, Front Fog Lamps, Panther Black Leatherette, Cruise Multifunction Wheel, AM/FM CD Player(Pre-Wired for the Factory Six Disc) and the on board computer. Not to mention all the built in safety features and other features. Final Tally....23,550 dollars. Not bad for what i am getting, not bad at all.
And it was not questions like, how fast is it, its more like do you plan to have parts for it? Do you have rotary trained techs here? Plus my father who manages a Mazda parts department says that its like pulling teeth to get to see a rep. Do I wanna go through all that? do YOU wanna go through all that?
this is the other car I have been thinking about...and the S model, of course. But in the end, even though it handles nicely and all, I just can't put myself in another FWD car. I promised myself that 2 years ago, and dammit, I need to hold true to it
Like I've mention in another thread, I don't blame you veloracing. Mazda is not quick to release this vehicle. I think it's b/c of their effort to make the chassis & rotary internationaly legal, hence the time it takes to implement adjustments to all the different standards. Part of the global platform process I guess.
Like you I've shopped around due to the release delay. The Mini is a nice package which I took a seriously look at as well. However, for my needs, the RX-8 keeps coming back into the picture due to it's performance potential, engineering, and passenger capacbilities.
Originally posted by veloceracing And it was not questions like, how fast is it, its more like do you plan to have parts for it? Do you have rotary trained techs here? Plus my father who manages a Mazda parts department says that its like pulling teeth to get to see a rep. Do I wanna go through all that? do YOU wanna go through all that?
Hmmm...that doesn't bode well for Mazda in general. But I still have faith.
I kind of don't understand why you'd go with a Mini. It's a pretty different car in the first place (much smaller) and it's a new company so you have no idea what the service/parts is like. It could be just as crappy as with Mazda. Still a cool car.
I know we're all biting at the bit, but the RX-8 is not scheduled for retail until March 2003. Glad and yet sorry to hear you went with the mini, but I'm sure you'll be happy, and that's all that matters.
Hope the Mini's first-year depreciation doesn't price you out of the RX-8 you're going to want to trade it for. :D
And how can they put all those features (supercharger, Xenon, heated seats, mirrors, nozzles, DSC, etc) on a car and still have it cost only 23,550? Thats nutty, and an awful lot of content for that price. It seems there has to be something there to make it that cheap. A car with those features now-a-days should cost you just about 30K. Even the 30K Lexus/Acura's I don't even think have all that stuff available.
We bought a 23,650 RSX Type S last summer, and felt we got a lot of car for the money. Perhaps a lot in that car is for the absolutely AMAZING engine, whereas the MINI's I don't think is nearly as sophisticated, but still, we have no LSD, no DSC, no Xenons, no heated seats/mirrors).
How in the world can the MINI be that cheap?
Good choice tho. We thought about waiting for a MINI over the RSX, but in the end we felt the MINI's styling wasn't something we really enjoyed. I'm sure it will be a BLAST to drive !! Congrats!
man thats sad...but i hope u enjoy your mini...but for me...i'd rather wait and see what i want for a car...because by next year, there should be alot more choices in the market...ie the rx-8 and the 350z...i guess we will just have to see what floats to the top in the market... :::still waiting:::
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Well rumor has it that BMW isnt all that much money elsewhere, and because MINI is actually another company is BMW. They can make it into the country without a super high tarrif. Also they are exported from England, not germany, i dont know if that has anything to do with it. Unsophisticated? hardly its prety much supsension wise a 3 Series, and you know what that means, and yes it is even a 3 series in the back end of the car a RWD Suspension on a FWD car. Also the motor has been used before, its a joint project between Chrysler and BMW. The supercharger, same one that Mercedes Benz uses on the KOMPRESSOR cars, also when you just sell one type of car, and you get good at it, it keeps costs down...thats why its not that its unsophiticated, it has all the things the 3 series has, minus the motors and the excess sheet metal :P
Not being a Mazda owner, I couldn't tell you about part reps or whatever. However, I do agree with spwolf regarding expectations of concrete information on a brand new car that is 12 - 18 months away from release. The RX-8, for all we know, has not even been finalized.
I doubt there will be a parts issue. Were there parts issues with RX-7s? The biggest issue I have is a good rotary tech at the dealer, but wasn't that also an issue with the RX-7's as well? Lack of good techs would put me off before unknowns such as parts availablity.
Velo, weren't you looking to heavily modify the car once you got it? I 'm pretty sure that work you were talking about fell outside Mazda parts and dealer techs.
The Mini and "future" RX-8 are two completely different cars. Anyway, enjoy your Mini. I just saw that color combo, red with white top, at the BMW dealer yesterday. Nice.
Here are a couple of very good BMW forums. Many of the members are regulars on both boards. There are many hardcore, well-informed enthusiasts on either and both get heavy traffic.
Jon Shafer is one of the moderators at bimmerfest and is also the Sales Manager at Cutter Motors (BMW, Audi, etc.) in Santa Barbara - a very helpful guy. He never fails to post the latest info regarding BMW models.
Enjoy your new Mini (great car) and I hope to see you around.
The car HAS been out a while, just not in the US, i have seen all of those problems, and most have been resolved for what is known as the "march build" the cars that are headed to the United States of America and that other country...cana..something or other. Oh well whats it matter, just another cold place.
Any car will have problems with the firts line, its inevitable, even Mazdas get it.
I just got back from the forum on Mini2.com and I’m now having second thoughts about buying the rx8 and canceling my order.
Looking at all of the problems listed in the mini forum made me sick. I’m starting to question why I’m buying a newly designed car with a new engine? I guess what is keeping me from canceling my order is that the car is Japanese built and not English.
Don't get me wrong, I love the mini and I was seriously considering purchasing the Copper S when it became available in Canada, but the $37,000.00 CDN turned me off. For the additional two to three thousand dollars I just thought that the rx8 was a much better buy. Besides, I always swore that I would NEVER buy an English car.
I guess I’ll spend my money and take my chances...
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Try German. The car is MADE physically in England, but it is owned and designed by BMW. The suspension is a tweaked version of the 3 Series suspension, all the electronics (look at that radio, is bimmer) so your buying an english made, german designed car.
And based on the fact that much of todays car building is done mechanichally, the machines are probably the same from place to place, country to country.
Try German. The car is MADE physically in England, but it is owned and designed by BMW. The suspension is a tweaked version of the 3 Series suspension, all the electronics (look at that radio, is bimmer) so your buying an english made, german designed car. The Xenon Headlights, the navigation system, the leather, the speakers (Harmon Kardon is an option just like BMW )
And based on the fact that much of todays car building is done mechanichally, the machines are probably the same from place to place, country to country.
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