I talked to a very knowledgable dealer, said of course he knows not much, but he should have his cars soon. He said his managers bought them, so I will be able to test drive one!

He said, I'll be the FIRST person he calls when they come in!

And I'll get to touch one and DRIVE it! Woohoo!

To bad I have to wait 10 months before I can buy it....... and the wait goes on!

 

What's with the ten month wait, stuck in a lease?

 

Yup, although the nice man offered to buy my lease out... and roll the $3000 into my new car..... I'm thinking NOT!

 

That was nice of him to offer.

 

Bank street has said no test drives this year. What dealer in the area will be offering drives?

 

If nobody in Ottawa let's me test drive an RX-8, I will buy a 350z. Simple as that. I am giving the RX-8 a chance because of the reviews on this site. Otherwise, the Z would already be in my garage.

My wife called Bank Street Mazda and the fellow there said they are getting a bunch, of which most are unsold, and that they will definitely have a demo. I hope she got his name so we don't get jacked around when we show up. If we do, I am buying a Z. I've put up with enough dealership crap over the last couple of months.

Why can't all dealerships be like BMW? They toss you the keys to a Z4 the minute you walk in the door...

Elmer.

 

The worst service I had when shopping around was the BMW dealer on St. Laurent. Couldn't get a single person to even give me the time of day. The best was definitly the Bank Street Nissan though. Depending on how worse this ambiguity gets I'm going there for a Z as well

 

Guess, check out my this thread!

https://www.rx8club.com/canada-forum-35/ottawa-rx8ers-listen-up-6662/

 

I've been told at Bank Street that a test drive is fine... Talk to Bill (William) Smith - he's been very reasonable with me (ie: I've taken other Mazdas for test drives - alone!).

 

Well, having dealt with the Nissan 350Z experience, my advice is to wait for the RX-8.

I have twice ordered a 350Z, and both times they were way past the promised dates. This last time the dealer is still holding my deposit, and I had to file in small claims court to try and get it back.

Think about these facts about the 350 as well:
$10,000 more
Not really a hope of driving it in winter
No trunk to speak of
No rear seats

And lastly:
Nissan dealers, who make Mazda dealers look good!

I just sold a SE-R Spec V that I owned for about 19 months.
I would not go back to any of the Nissan dealers I have seen if you paid me to. The service was a joke.

 

Thanks for the reply canzoomer.

As for the points you've made, none of them would prevent me from getting the 350z. The cars are close enough in price that I will be comparing driving experience to driving experience.

350z is only 5000 - 5500 more, isn't it? Have I misinterpreted the prices? I am, of course, comparing GT RX-8 to Performance 350z.

My buddy at work put winter tires on an extra set of stock rims and drove all winter without any issues.

No trunk is fine with me.

No rear seats is fine with me.

I wasn't overly wowed by the 350z test drive in terms of acceleration, but I am used to a 300+ hp DSM. The 350z handled way better than my DSM. I have high hopes for the RX-8 in this category since the z will smoke it in straight line acceleration. I also like the look of the Z better compared to the titanium RX-8 I saw at the car show in Calgary this year. I am hoping the other colors (red, yellow) catch my eye.

I am giving both cars an honest chance. I will chalk up my decision to driving experience. If I don't get a driving experience in the RX-8, I will buy the Z.

Thanks for all the posts and information!

Elmer.

 

i'm shopping for a new car too...but i'm in no hurry at all...the RX8 is on top of my list, but i HAVE to test drive it first!!

there is no way i can justify buying a car without test driving it before hand...

one time a toyota dealer said this to me when i asked for a test drive in a celica..."we don't offer test drive on this car...if you want to test drive it, buy it and you can test it all you want.."

i just turned around and walked away..

 

A celica? Yeah the HIGH PERFORMANCE race car! Sheesh some dealers are useless.

Bank St. Mazda wouldn't let my g/f and myself take a miata out, we had to go one at a time with the salesman, and I was only able to go in a small pre-designated circle with right turns only.

PATHETIC!