ZoomZoom

Anyone in Canada want to comment on what their dealer is telling them as to when their car is due to arrive. I for one do not believe anything now until they hand me my keys. I just thought that it would be interesting to hear what BS the other dealerships are telling their customers.

Gord96BRG

I stopped by my dealer in Calgary last night to pick up the brochure (he claimed it just arrived that morning) - he says the believe they're receiving 15 RX-8s (I'm supposedly #5 on their list), but have no details as to any specifics on the cars (ie colours, options, manual/auto, etc) nor as to when they'll arrive.

I hate this random crap - ie I want the Titanium Gray, but if they get 4 Titanium Grays of their 15 car allocation, and the 4 people ahead of me want Gray, then I'm out of luck. Or, if they get 4 Gray cars, but 2 are automatics or don't have the GT package... I suspect that the Gray will be the most popular colour in Canada, so I'm not at all sure that my odds are great on getting the car I want!! I have no idea why Canada could not have done a pre-order program like MNAO did in the US.

Regards,
Gordon

dying_here

hey may i ask which dealer this is?

ZoomZoom

This is very typical of what most dealers are telling their customers; apparently Mazda Canada is not keeping the dealers in the loop. If any dates are being given out it is only speculation on their part or they are trying to get you to put a deposit down with them.

15 cars! That sounds too high from what I am hearing, how large is that dealership? It sounds like most dealerships are getting 3 to 5 cars, if any at all.

It's been said that about half the cars in Canada are requested with Titanium Gray.

I fully agree!

Gord96BRG

North Hill Mazda in Calgary.

15 cars does sound like a lot for them - they're the smallest of the 3 dealers here. I know the Sales Manager of Kramer Mazda (the largest dealer in town) very well from my days as president of the local Miata Club, and in March he told me they had deposits for 15 cars but were only expecting 10 RX-8s. In April, he said they were hoping for a second batch of deliveries in September... I ordered from North Hill instead of Kramer in March because they said their allocation wasn't sold out yet - at the time, I was #5 and they were expecting 8 cars. Since then, they said they bought an extra allocation of Proteges from Mazda Canada and earned the right to a few extra RX-8 allocations. I don't believe any of it, and am waiting to see how many actually show up.

The whole limited allocation of 700 cars nationwide seems pretty silly, since sales are wide open in the US - if the demand is present here, why wouldn't they want to meet it also? Maybe that's where the rumour of a second batch for September delivery (following the first set of 700 in June) is coming from... sigh!

Regards,
Gordon

ZoomZoom

There is probably a limited number of 8s going to the US also but I am not sure what their allocation is. Typically a country will allocate to a number that they believe they can sell, at least that's the theory.

Take a look at the mess that Nissan got themselves into in both in the US and Canada with the oversupply of the 350Z. Nissan Canada for example had planned for 1,000 units but after what seemed to be tremendous demand pleaded for more cars and they got it. Their allocation was raised to 1,500 units and now many dealers have 5 to 9 units sitting on their lots waiting for buyers. Nissan learned that there is a big difference between a customer who thinks they want the car and one who will put down the cash and drive off the lot with it.

Mazda Canada has seen what happened the 350Z and has wisely not fallen into that same trap. They may be able to sell more an 700 cars this year, but how many real buyers are there?

rotorian

Hi Guys,
Just joined this forum. I had an RX 4 (some of you probably never heard of it?) in 1976? (dating myself) and one of the first Miatas in 1990. I just odered a blue 6 speed GT, it was still available at a small out of town dealer in SW Ontario. Should have it in late June. This dealer was very informative, he called Mazda distribution today. Here's the latest scoop. The first shipment (April build) is still in Japan. It will be going to sea next week and should arrive in Halifax the 1st week in June. These are all the initial cars.It's ridiculous what other dealers are saying, Mazda corporate should get a handle on this!Some told me that all the GS cars were 210 hp and the GT was 250. When only the auto is 210 hp. Some said thet were getting 10 or 20 cars and could still take my name. It would then be first car offered to first on the list etc. Some said they could only get sold orders. Some were sold out for the year, some had June or July build availability. Most said give a deposit and we'll see what we can do.
If anyone is interested, there are still a few cars available in smaller dealers in Ontario. Only GS models or automatics though, contact me for dealer names.

Vancouver

How long is the sea voyage from Japan to Halifax, and what about Vancouver?

thanks

rotorian

The dealer said the shipping time was about a week at sea, sounds reasonable. I'd assume cars for Vancouver would go by rail from Halifax.
Do you have a car on order?

ZoomZoom

Welcome to the forum!

Sorry to burst your bubble but North American production had just began on May 12th, so there is no April build. Also, to the best of my knowledge all of the Ontario cars (if not all of Canada) will be coming through the Vancouver port. I am not 100% positive about this, but this is what I have been told in the past.

This is a good time to meet some of the GTA forum members, just click here for further details. Basically we will be meeting this Tuesday at 8:00pm.

I hope to see you there!!!

Vancouver

Yeah, it surprises me that Mazda would ship directly to Halifax. Presumably the cars come to Vancouver and are shipped by rail.

gord boyd

I also notice that US cars offer Heated Mirrors on GT
but I could not find that anywhere I've looked on Mazda.ca site.

FritzMan

Got my brochure mail to me from my local dealer. I asked last night when they were expect and I was told that he heard one would be showing up end of May (but he wasn't holding his breath) and the others sometime in June/July. I trust this salesman whom I've dealt with for several years, and believe that the first model might be in fact the "demo" only model we've read about on some US postings but it will probably appear in mid-June instead. While the May 12th batch is the official North America pre-sales batch, it by no means indicats that they were the first LHD production models produced.

In terms of number allocation, apparently Mazda required sales receipts to place an order, hence surprisingly several "Mr. Smiths" ended up ordering from this dealership... How many Mazda actually sends is a unknown, but August delivery is definitely later than what they're expecting.

I was also told that Canada is the first country besides Japan to be receiving the RX-8. While that may seem doubtful, I previously owned model #70 FD (Dec '91 build) and my buddy own #56 CMY FD - so there some kind of early batch delivery habbit to Canada from Mazda.

TJRX8

I'm sure somebody on this forum knows the projected total. My local dealer (1 of 3 in the Tampa, FL area) has an allocation of 23 for the first year with 22 of them sold already. I just talked to the manager and he said they are the 17th largest Mazda dealer in the US and largest in this area.

Got my VIN today too

Good luck guys! Bring those 8's when you snow birds fly south for the winter!

N1-R

i'm like number 18 or 19 on the list in vancouver. They won't expect the first several cars to arrive until june and I won't get mine until end of the year

Ron_Jeremy

fellow canucks,

i just spoke to my dealer today -- he said (with a good degree of confidence) that the Production Date for first batch for Canada is to begin on June 2nd. .....

Does anyone have a VIN number yet?

rotorian

My deaer says he has the serial number, I don't actually have it yet.
I'll try and get it on Friday.
June 2nd date concerns me, my dealer said Mazda distribution told him the initial cars were built and being shipped this week.

What a cluster this all is.

I've read some of the other posts, the U.S. doesn't seem much better. Although one today said their cars were shipping Friday and Saturday this week.

ZoomZoom

There could be some truth to this, my dealer is expecting a couple of additional cars that they did not order. These cars were configured by Mazda Canada and they should be delivered prior to any of the customer ordered vehicles - the basic timing sounds about right.

Ron_Jeremy

Looks like everyone in the US are getting Books sent to them (along with emails) from Mazdausa. Anyone know is we're getting this as well?

TiRX8

I think we get nothing!

Ron_Jeremy

Mazda Canada Customer Service

I sent an email to rxorders@mazdausa.com for status and/or an email address for canadian order correspondence. Reply I got:

Thank you for contacting Mazda North American Operations. I appreciate the opportunity to respond to you.

In regards to inquiries about the Canadian RX-8, I would recommend contacting Mazda Canada. You may reach their offices at (800)263-4680.

**I called Mazda Canada -- they are totally clueless! I asked about sending an email (no canadian email address?). They never heard of the "Books" that the people in the US are getting...

Ron Jeremy is gettting frustrated!

73JPS

Hey, this got snuck into the Discussion section, and I didn't notice it before...

RX8s land June 17th....