DoomWolf

Hi all,

I've been reading this forum for the past couple of weeks after seeing pictures of the RX-8 for the first time and immediately falling in love with it. This forum is a great source of info and it's great to see such enthusiasm about the car.

I've decided to take the plunge and order one next week (it was a close call between the RX-8 and the 6 Sport).

I spoke to my local dealer (Wolverhampton) earlier today and he said that there are 3000 this year with 1000 of them allocated to pre-orders. Apparently the 1000 figure would rise if there are more than 1000 pre-orders as Mazda are committed to fulfilling all pre-orders first. He said there are currently around 800 pre-orders.

What I want to know is, from your experience, is it better to pre-order through the dealer, or directly via the Mazda website? Does it have any bearing on how quickly the order goes in?

I want to get a 189bhp one (better on insurance) in red with the leather and sunroof options. Do any of you think this spec will be in the first batch? I want the car on 1st Spetember for the 53 registration and because it's when my current car (Seat Toledo) reaches three years old and will need it's first MOT. I want to avoid paying out for the servicing and getting it through the MOT.

Any help from you guys will be gratefully appreciated.

Lensman

Well if what you say about order numbers is true then I'm a happy man because I've just changed my colour and effectively ordered yesterday. I might get a car this year after all!

Secondly, the website is a mess and I would recommend that you order through your dealer. A third party company built the website and it is somewhat buggy. It's being repaired but your dealer will order through the main ordering system which is more reliable.

Lastly: I would urge you to change your mind about the power of your car. I doubt there'll be much difference in insurance terms between the versions and the benefits exceed the negatives. A rotary engine needs all the power it can get (more torque across the range) and that's especially true of the Renesis. I suspect the lo-power car will be a lot harder to resell too if that has any bearing on your choice.

Welcome to the community!

lurcher

According to Mazda there will be very few of the low power model in the first batch.

As for how to order, if you read some more posts here you'll see people have had a lot of trouble with the web site - as per usual it's been farmed out to some anonymous external web developer with inevitable communication problems, delays and confusion. It's nearly a month now since I put my deposit down and the only indication I have that anything has happened is that my order status changed from "Submitted" to "Accepted" on the web site about a week ago. No e-mails, no letters, no nothing.

There also seem to be conflicting reports on how many pre-orders have been taken. My dealer said that all 1000 had gone already when I spoke to him earlier in the week, but yours is saying 800, WTF?

Anyway, rather than walk the website tightrope I think your best bet is to go through a dealer who knows the ins and outs of the Mazda system, and let them chase it all up for you (with regular nagging phone calls so they don't slack off

DoomWolf

The dealer said he'd spoken to Mazda on Monday. He also didn't seem to think the 1000 pre-order allocation would be a problem as they would increase the number if they get more than 1000 pre-orders.

I only hope there aren't too many orders in the next week as I can't get back to the dealer until next Saturday. Why don't the Mazda dealers around here open on Sundays? Is it just the ones near me, or is it the same for all of them?

Lensman, I wish I could go for the hi-power version, but I don't think I could afford the extra £2000. I was also looking on some earlier threads about insurance and there's a mention of the xenon headlights pushing up the insurance for the hi-power.

lurcher

On depreciation, look at Parkers' numbers for the Audi TT coupe, which is probably the RX-8's nearest equivalent on the road at the moment

2000X TT 1.8T (180 bhp) Quattro 6-speed 2d Coupe IG 18
2000X TT 1.8T (225 bhp) Quattro 6-speed 2d Coupe IG 18

new/a1/good/fair 24100/18930/18090/14575
new/a1/good/fair 26800/21775/20790/16750

So absolute loss after three years is

0/5170/6010/9525
0/5025/6010/10050

Near as dammit the low power version holds its value just as well as the high power, significantly better for "fair" cars that haven't been well looked-after. (The high power models are more likely to have been thrashed I suppose).

That said, for the RX-8 the price difference is smaller and the power difference larger, plus the high power has more gears and other gadgets, so it may fare better than the TT equivalent.

Lensman

DoomWolf, it's a great car whichever version we end up with and it's the styling that counts as much as anything. Best of luck with the process.

DoomWolf

Lensman, I agree entirely. People watching enviously as you drive past them aren't going to know which version it is, they're just going to love the look of the car.

RotaryXTypeSH

I got mine ordered at the dealer, its a pretty fun experience. At first the dealer wanted 4000deposit for the car, which i will get it on Oct.mad: which i don't want. Then later i talked them into getting me in the front of the waiting list and i will be getting my car in July:D then i talked them into lowering my deposit to only $500. Then later i made them ORDER my RX8 right from Japan!! Which i think it's very cool. I think u should give it a try