LiTTleRX-8

I traded in my 2005 Winning Blue RX-8 recently...

I thought I'd do a goodbye (WARNING: long story) experience...=*(

I've had the RX-8 since October 18th 2005. I was originally shopping for a Winning Blue Mazda 3, but had a chance to jump in a Nordic Green RX-8 for a test drive...and well...I was hooked. Ordered the car in July 2005 and waited nearly 3 months for it to be built and shipped from Japan. I called the dealer every 1-2 weeks about it...

The car was a 2-year lease, and at the end of 2-years I could not let go...So I re-financed the car at a whopping 8% interest... It was a bad move and I have been trying to trade it in every single summer since then, but every summer the same thing would happen. I could not do it, I could not find a reasonable replacement that I loved as much...

The RX-8 was my very first car...I learnt manual on it, and it still has the original clutch with no signs of slippage after 84k km! It was my first RWD car, and I live in a pretty crappy winter location. Snow was fun and not fun...Another reason why I wanted to trade in was RWD+Manual+snow+hill+traffic = hell...

I did not have big issues with my RX-8 in terms of reliability. It showed CEL once with massive powerloss at ~40k km. Threw in a bottle of Redline SI-2 cleaner and went on a redline spree...The problem never came back.

So enter this summer...I decided that as attached as I (still) am to the RX-8, it had to go...The depreciation was huge, and if I kept it any longer it would be worth probably half of what I did get in a year or more. I remember checking the trade-value in summer 2008 was 14k, summer 2010 11-12k, and I got $10k this year. My car had a minor fender bender 3 months after I got it!!! Which is on the Carproof so that affects my value as well...

Anyways, continuing...The search for a new car this summer began sourly...I decided I wanted a 2011 Audi TT, so off to the dealer I went. They had the exact car I wanted, white, nav, bose and $5k off...but they decided to sell it to their business manager instead of me. They were not custom ordering 2011s anymore, just 2012s with a brutal interest. Just a note...BOTH Calgary Audis are full of snobby sales. Long story short...I tested CT200h, Acura TL shawd, Lexus IS250 awd, Mazda 3 GT, Audi TT-S convertible, Mercedes c300 4matic, Honda CR-Z, Buick Regal CXL Turbo as you can see that's a messy random *** list I tested...

I didn't really know what I wanted after the Audi TT and because I still liked my RX-8 so much...

So this month after seeing an ad for $7000 off 2011 328xi coupe I went to test it...I ended up purchasing a 2011 335xi coupe in Le Mans Blue with Exec pack, Nav pack, M-sport pack in Automatic. Yes, again, I test a base 328xi and ended up with a fully loaded 335xi because I just didn't KNOW what I wanted, I am quite indecisive and random. Let me tell you...when the e90 and e92 first came out I thought they were brutally ugly. I still think the e90 is nasty. I think the e92 is acceptable now...because mine has the LCI update...(new front bumper+headlights and taillights, new iDrive). I chose auto so I can lend the car to my parents (whom got rid of their car recently) and so I can be lazy in rush hour. I got AWD for obvious purposes...I live in a shithole winter location, plus xDrive is rear biased anyways.

I selected October 18th 2011 for pickup date...yeah...exactly 6 yrs after I picked up my RX-8...I was more eager to take final pics of my RX-8 than I was to take pics of my new Bimmer.

Anyways time to end the story...I had lots of fun in the RX-8, the manual was so much fun and I miss it, the handling and versatility of the suicide doors are dearly missed also. I have taken the RX-8 on many 1000km(one-way) trips and even taken it with full 4 person load to the unpaved boonies in a random location. Did I mention NOTHING sounds as good as a rotary at 9000rpm.

I am growing on my new-found douchemobile, it is not flashy as my 8 in terms of styling or coloring. It is helluvah faster and more comfy. Lots of creature comforts and although the rear seats are a PAIN to access, there is TONS of room back there. I reckon a 6fter would be comfy in the rear of an e92. It is far more stable than the RX-8 and my senses tell me with the right tires it can out handle the RX-8. Run-flats are fail =[

I am still thinking about my RX-8, and how amazed my sales guy was when he appraised it for trade-in. He could not believe it was a 2005 car with 80k km. He did not know what a rotary engine was either. I just polished/sealed the paint in July, put new tires on last summer, did the brakes/coils/plugs this June...So I didn't really think I could find a new car this summer that's why I did these services...

Finally...I will stick around here and I will probably get the SkyActiv rotary if it does not get canned...after 4 yrs of trying to rid myself of the RX-8, I have done it...I am relieved, but I DO miss it...


P.S. Winning Blue > Le Mans Blue

monchie

Nice upgrade. Lately, most ex-owners upgrade to BMW's...i wonder why.

SlowLude

Sad to you see go buddy. BMWs are nice cars. Only problem is that it's more common than Civics here in Calgary. Sometimes I feel that I have to get either a BMW or an Audi just to fit in!

As you can tell, I'm still holding on to my car. I've got a 2nd kid coming so I really don't know what to do with it. Its really my recreational car so I guess don't really need to replace it now. The cool thing is that even after 6 years of ownership, I'm still gettng stares! Give me a wave if you see my car on the road during the summer months...

Mr.ThunderMakeR

While BMW's are generally the better-handlers of the sedan segment, nothing can substitute for light weight, something an AWD BMW will never have. I'm having trouble understanding your decision to get rid of the RX-8. From your post it seemed you loved it. You cite depreciation, well you were already way past the bad part of the depreciation. It sounds like your two main reasons were depreciation and winter-driving. Was your car paid off? I have a hard time seing the financial justification of trading in a paid-off (or almost paid-off) car for a new one. Your new BMW is gonna depreciate a lot more than your old 8 which had reached the tail-end of its depreciation. As far as the winter driving, did you ever use a set of winter wheels and tires? I've heard those make a huge difference in winter driving. Don't get me wrong I'm not saying you made a bad decision, I just don't understand it.

Edit: Also your post formatting sucks, you need to put line breaks after each picture.

dynamho

Thanks for sharing that story.
I'm glad you finally found a car you can move on to.

Atilla

iTrader: (1)

sorry to hear about your loss but glad you found a replacement that works for you.

Roidz

Sad to hear but nice bimmer.