revhappy

Well it figures the very week the RX8 come out, I find a location to garage the car and the right deal. Anyways, I bought a rally red with no sunroof for $743 under MSRP. However, the dealer offers free maintenance for a year, so if you take that into account I came close to reaching my goal of $1,000 under sticker. I could have got a lower price if I was more flexible on colors and mileage on the car. In fact, another member on evolutionm.net offered to drive me down to Knoxville, Tennessee to purchase EVOs there for for $500 over invoice (or $2,253 under sticker). An approximate 24 hour round trip drive was a bit too much for me!

My experience was mixed with the Mitsubishi dealer. The salesman was a pretty good guy, but the Finance Manager was a different story. They initially offered me a 3.9% interest rate based on my credit score (i ran the reports myself the week before and had another dealer do it, but the deal fell through). While closing the deal, the Finance Manager has this concerned look on his face and says "we can't offer you that interest rate because your credit score is under 700" (I didn't believe this, but I neglected to bring a copy of my credit report) . He said we use Experion and Transunion had you at 718. I explained to him the negative factors impacting my credit was a credit card bill that I didn't pay on time by mistake (didn't know I had it since the bank on my Visa Card changed from First USA to Bank One) and that they were now paid off, but the payments aren't showing up on the credit report yet. I showed him the last 5 months of my bank statements that clearly showed I had funds to pay the bill (10-15:1 ratio of cash to "unpaid bill"). Coincedentally, he offered me the same rate as People First (4.99%). Luckily, my father was there to drive me down and he wrote a check for the difference between the down-payment and cost of the car. When we returned home, I promptly withdrew that amount from a fixed income mutual fund of mine to pay him back. I figure the Finance Manager cost his dealership $1,649 of interest income over the loan from his shennanigans.

The he tried to sell me a $160 window etching fee claiming it would reduce my insurance by that amount each year!!! I promptly called my insurance company on my cell phone right there and they told me itd be like $10/year!!!

I have only driven it home from the dealer so I will have to hold off on comments on the car for now.

Magnesium

Is it as ugly as all the other ones I have seen?

lefuton

aw that's not fair =( the evo is a whole different breed of car, congrats revhappy

Puppy1

mutt!

revhappy

I've always preferred mutts to purebreds!!!!!:D

Magnesium

They say mutts are smarter overall due to less inbreeding...

revhappy

Yeah, same goes for general health.

cueball

When you get a chance some driving impresions would be nice.

The Evo is a good choice, but no RX8. Congrats on the car.

TwiBlueG35

Congratulation on your new EVO. I saw a white one today when I was driving my blue G35 sedan, it was driven by a guy around the same age as me. Looks super good.

revhappy

Well...I took it for a 100 + mile ride today through the Hudson Valley and Northwest New Jersey, but am still in the break-in period..and this is after-all a mitsubishi!! Basically, I've been keeping the revs at 3,000 RPM or below so I really haven't hit the real boost zone of the EVO's rev range. However, the car was begging to go higher, but fears of being stuck in the Mitsu dealer service department held me in check! It helped my gas mileage though as I may have gotten 32 MPG, but that's not really an accurate calculation since i'm basing it off of an estimated 1/4 tank used (you can never rely on the accuracy of the fuel gauge).

I really like the shifter on the EVO. It reminds me a lot of the Integra Type R where its not "flick of the wrist", but more like pretty short, straight (no notchiness) strokes that take some force. Its kind of like you are throwing a punch, but it fits my driving style quite well. :D I imagine all of that torque flowing through the transmission requires some heavy duty parts.

The steering feel is great and the car handles very well, but I think the alignment might be off (a lot of people on evolutionm.net have found this to be the case upon taking possession of the car) and I think they left the hook underneath the car that the delivery trucks use. I'll have the dealer look into this when I pick up my permanent plates in the next week or so.

The car does get a lot of attention (bright red). While riding through Harriman State Park, an blue WRX was parked on the other side of the road by a lake...about 30 seconds later he is following me and did so for like 10 minutes. Finally, two lanes open up on the road and i slow down in the right lane to let him pass. He pulls up to my side and give me a thumbs up, I look over and the kid was like 10 years younger than me! A Valentine One radar detector will be purchased this week! (i suggest this same investment for all of the Velocity Red RX8 owners too!).

pelucidor

I have a long post in General Automotive about my test drive in an EVO and a WRX (not STi). Suffice to say the words that sum it up are " MY GOD the acceleration is like a drug". Congratulations. Get the V1 before you hit boost.

TJRX8

I drove the Evo today before picking up my RX8 (and got my $100 certificate) . It is fast no doubt!! I drove a Silver and they also had a red. The colors are both nice but I don't like the looks of the car. Congrats though and enjoy.

Revhappy
BTW I used to drive through Harriman all the time and Bear Mountain etc. nice area for that. Where do you live?

revhappy

That's cool that you got the $100, because that deal is not supposed to apply for the EVO!

I live in Bergen County, New Jersey and have probobly hiked just about every trail there (at least the marked ones). Its a beautiful area.

Superfan

So are you going to post some pics???

revhappy

I'll have my brother take some shots on his digital camera the next time he comes over and then I'll post them.

Magnesium

That's what the dealer says, but Mitsu corp. says all vehicles.

TJRX8

States "all vehicles" in the paperwork. If they don't honor it it's no big deal. I got to drive the Evo while waiting for my RX8 to get it's PDI. Not a bad way to spend 30 mins.