smiles

As soon as i eventually receive my letter from Mazda telling me about the delay I am going to cancel my order and demand my full deposit back. But I wont sue them even though they have broken the contract to supply me with a 240 car in Jun/Jul!!! Not only that but I would never consider buying a Mazda in the future. A worse customer service you could not imagine.

I have been sussing out the alternatives among which is the BMW Z4. Seems like a great car although im still waiting to test the 3.0L and the residuals after 3 years are expected to be in the mid 60%s. Makes the alleged mid 40s of the RX8 seem criminal. Not sure how a Z4 will look with a RXB plate though!!!!!!

Its such a shame cause i loved the 8 from the minute i saw it at NEC but im not puting up with the shabby treatment any longer. And more importantly its not the car i ordered and i bet more bad news will be drip fed between now and the delivery date.

Smiles

ed hall

There is so much negativity about right now that I can understand why you;re cancelling.

But, and this we have seen before, is that we overcome this and survive and soon positive comments start to flood the forum again and the real reason for buying the car in the first place takes centre stage once again. I'm not buying the car for the customer service or having to wait for it. I'm buying the car coz I know its special and its exactly what I'm looking for....

For the same money I can go and buy a TT and the temptation is strong. Established residuals, established quality and reliability. Yes, there are too many of them on the raod, but who cares, it's still is a very special car.

Well, well, there you go. I'm hanging in for the car itself and the car only. I don;t mind waiting. I don;t mind the poor service. But it will arrive and I will get to drive it every day and enjoy every second of it too!

c170673

Personally, despite my earlier annoyance about the delay, I have decided to wait it out and hang on until the end of October.

Like Ed Hall mentioned, I didn't buy the car for the customer service, I ordered it beacuse it was unusual, had 4 seats etc.....

It is only 18 weeks away, my first child is due in 28 weeks so it isn't that bad.

Chris

renegade_si

I agree with both of these. I need 4 seats, not a 2+2 or else I would have a TT by now. Or at least be in the waiting list for one of them.

Remember this isn't really Mazda UKs fault, its the Japs.

However, if the tinkering with the car (lip spoiler, small decrease in power) means that our insurance is £100 a year cheaper and perhaps an extra squeak out of the mpg then thats a GOOD thing, right? ITs what a lot of the postings have been about recently (ok theres not much ELSE to talk about, but still)

I used to work in the computer games industry where stuff got released all of the time, even if it was unfinished. That COULD have happened here as they could have kept the production line as was in Japan and just said "sod it, this is what they are getting", stuff the insurance and emissions etc.

But I'd rather the car be right for the european market. If its just the Japs and the US getting their cars before us purely for pecking order then thats BAD. However, I genuinely dubt thats the case.

ON the misinformation front, then I do believe that overall there HAS been a unified voice, its just that some dealers are better than others. At the motorexpo, 90% of the things said were all in line with what others have said....

Be happy.

:D

PS What car can I get instead? Scooby, Evo, Jag? :D :D :D

smiles

What you been smoking renegade?

You must be if you think that we dont come miles down the line in the scale of importance to Mazda. They are a Japanese company so it stands to reason that they place huge importance on Japan (which is a huge new car market due to the ridiculously restrictive MOT rules): and the US is the biggest car market in the world.

I dont believe for a minute that Mazda are changing the car to make the insurance cheaper or to improve our fuel economy. They are changing it now to meet the forthcoming changes in EU emmission levels. Thats the only reason, period.

I dont mind so much about the changes but there are better cars out there, from more professionally run companies, with a proven track record, and with hugely higher residual levels.

As i said, i really wanted this car but im not a gambling man. Well, not enough to risk 24k on a company who have proved time and again that they cannot be trusted. I think they must employ ex Labour Party spin doctors!

Good luck to all you guys who are waiting.

PS. Glad i bought that RX8 plate - :p

renegade_si

Time and time again that they can't be trusted?

tell me exactly how. I dont mind a good rant and I am also peed off at the situation, but tell me exactly how. Name me a car that stayed exactly at spec from when pre-ordering started? The TT certainly didn't. The Z4 hasn't (although at least that wasn't massively delayed - but then again, BMW didn't give a release date at all at time of ordering - I know cos my mate sitting next to me is getting his tomorrow).

I have owned 3 mazdas, in total for 8 years of my 13 where I have been able to drive.

The dealerships have never been poor. Brian Gubby in Camberley and Hewitts in Loughborough were both truthful and honest with the information they had on the 323 (precursor to focus) and the mk I and Mk II mx5.

Good luck selling that plate.

renegade_si

sorry. Just still peed off and am still stuck with it being the car of choice for me. IF only the TT had bigger space in the back.

Good luck - PS smile what have you gone for now then?

MarkW

Just wondering what cars are you referring to? I still cant think of anything else with a similar spec for the money, even though I keep trawling through car magazines looking

The Z4 is in a totally different price bracket to the RX-8, its also a two seat convertable, and to 'Toni and Guy' for me to even consider. Im sure it will have good residuals though.

The TT when it was launched had major problems until they added the rear spoiler. All the early cars had to go back to the factory to have it retro fitted.

renegade_si

my point exactly about the TT Mark - I'd rather it be correct up front than rushed to meet deadlines and be wrong.

But I've already put my 2p - in fact more like £2 in already.

cw007

i to think i will probably stick with the car, however i am having a test drive in the FQ300 on Saturday. If you dont hear from me after 10am Sat 28th then its probably because i killed myself.

test driving the A4 1.8T quattro as well.


Anyone else tested the A4, comments please?

MarkW

There's a fair bit of difference between the FQ300 and an A4 1.8T.

I would have thought you would test drive the 3.0 A4, but even that doesnt come close to the FQ300 from a performance point of view.

With regard to the Evo, check the service intervals and costs. Used to be 4500 miles as you have to get the AYC fluid checked out.

ChrisW

Although of course we have no idea what the service intervals will be on the RX-8. I'm sure I read, in one of JSG's postings, that in Japan they specify an oil change every 3000 km!

cw007

Jesus,

if thats the case thats an oil change every3 weeks for me.

Titanium Grey

I think that is only for the first 6 ,9 ,12 thousand miles (cant remember exact figure).
Just to ensure any debris created by the rotor seals bedding in is removed from the oil system.

Remember one flaw in one housing is like damaging three cylinders on a V6.

I think it's just being extra cautious, after this initial period I believe the oil change interval goes up to something more realistic.

craig172

May as well tell you get all the bad news out the way, I've cancelled my order (EP1782) and this was before yesterdays delivery news.

Two main reasons for cancelling were firstly I felt the car is not the same as the one i read about eagerly last year, and feel it is now a somewhat diluted version. Secondly the severe lack of orders and the high projected depreciation means I could lose a shedload of cash maybe more than 10k in year one. Whilst depreciation is true of any car, the RX8 fall is too steep compared to others , however much I like the car I don't want to end up with a car that no-one will paya decent price for in a years time. I have waited to see if demand picks up but its virtually static even the preorder helpline seems to be unmanned the majority of the time nowadays.

However much Mazda may work with CAP to preserve residuals, at the end of the day market forces will determine the resale value and its not boding well.

Having read the report in Autocar, which was very mixed it confirmed my fears, transmission whining, lack of power, high fuel consumption etc. Would n't be so bothered about fuel if the performance was better. Hearing about the late arrival now just reconfirms I was correct to cancel last week.

Having read some of the negative posts here in the few months or so, I made a short list of cars previously in the 20-25k price bracket and went for a test drive last week of a Elise S2, Focus RS, Vauxhall VXT 220 and and another TT225 . They all had positive and negatives but in in the end I ordered a VXT with a chunky discount, which is breathtakingly different to any car I've owned before. Completely different to other coupes i've owned, TT, 200SX etc and with supercar like acceleration 0-60 in 4.7, mid engined, superb handling for £25 and it arrives sept 1st guaranteed, 33mpg and excellent servicing costs. I feel like a big weight has come of my shoulders and am now counting the days down to its arrival.

I wish you all the best for those hanging on in there. Use the waiting time to take test drives of other cars just to get a more balanced viewpoint, and then decide if its still worth it, if it is you know you've made the right choice. You've nothing to lose.

Alternatively buy a different mid 20k - 25k car now, use it for a year, then buy an RX8 next year for half price and keep the change, then you get the best of both worlds ?! I would be extremely careful if you are banking on someone paying a premium for a preorder RX8, with the current orders unfulfilled, I just can't see it.

For info, I ordered through the dealer so had to cancel thru the dealer, but you get your deposit back from Mazda UK 10 days after confirmation of your cancellation, or so they say. After ringing up unsuccessfully on half a dozen occasions throughout the day to the RX8 Preorder line, this summed up the lack of committment from mazda in my eyes.

rael

- Depreciation
- lower power
- lack of orders
- lack of torque
- MPG

All these issues need to be addressed by Mazda, even if they only offer is some spin but at least show you take an interest in us.

We don't want to loose too many orders!

rael.

ChrisW

The MPG and lack of torque issues are inherent to the rotary engine so there's nothing Mazda can do directly about this. However, this just makes it even more important not to compromise on the power - if you have enough power you can live with/justify the first two.

Mazda made a mistake when they decided to sacrifice 10 ps (and some torque) to meet the Euro emissions regulations that aren't yet in place. They compounded their mistake when they stuck to this plan even when they realised it was going to cost them another 9 ps on top of this.

In the rest of the world, the Low power RX-8 has 210 ps and the High power 250. So the Euro High power is mid way between these figures - it is really a Mid power version - although with less torque than either of the other two.

Perhaps Mazda are putting less emphasis on the European market because they are starting to realise that the Euro car just isn't as good, is going to get reviews like we saw in Autocar and as a result will not sell very well?

copperband

Who was it on here got the Golf R32 as a standin while they awaited the arrival of the 8? I am interested in the road report feedback that you may have?

Cheers,

Ed

rael

I appreciate that MPG and torque are well known but what we now need is for the manufacturere to come out with some positive comments and state that these issues are not that bad because.........

We are talking ourselves into a negative fenzy!!

rael

AnilS

As I said today was D-Day for me to cancel. Just spoke to the Dealership Manager, who has a personal order for a RX8, plus one for the director, stating they too are frustrated by the delay.
Apparently for every 5 cars made, 1 is for Europe, the rest for Japan and the States.
Spoke to him about trying to convince to keep the order in, and he maintained that the 8 is still good value for money.
He also hinted at offering a non cash incentive (Accessory voucher, value TBC) to all those delayed pre-orders. I'm not sure if this is just my dealer doing this or a Mazda UK directive.
I do know my dealer is doing an addition track day for customers, on top of whats happening at Prodrive.

This has appeased me to the extent that I will wait for a couple of days and have a rethink.

Failing that, he has offered me a full (£1000) refund.


AnilS.

ChrisW

Well there's nothing Mazda can say about performance, MPG, power and torque other than publish the figures, which is what they have done. If they're not good enough then it's too late now.

However, we have got other reviews to come, particularly from Evo and Car. In fact given the extra delay we should have time to read full road tests and comparison tests in all the magazines over the next few months. I would rather trust what they say than anything from Mazda.

rael

I don't expect them to lie about the MPG or torgue but perhaps put a positive spin on the info, compare favourably with peer cars and point out other positive benefits to make up. Any feel good info!

Maybe even a ' sorry but please wait, our new ad campagin will blow you away' we do.

rael