Local Mazda dealer has a whitewater pearl RX8 Grand Touring.
Fully loaded. Navigation and homelink as well as the appearance package and spoiler.

only thing I do not like is it has some aftermarket 19" wheels..but it has brand new Pole Position S03 tires. size is 245-35-19. wheels look ok but they are chrome..kinda blingy if you ask me. salesguy said they could put stockers on or do "something" to swap wheels if i hated them.

car has 39000 miles on it. They are asking $19999.

they claim it was a lease turn it they bought. it has both keys, the manuals, the former owner even left the window sticker folded up in the little black book that houses the manual. MSRP back then was $35300.

car is very clean. minor blemishes on the exterior but nothing major.

took it for a test drive, it was nice. the suspension felt a tad floaty when i got it up to speed on some uneven pavement, and the wheels might have been rubbing on some tight turns..

other than that I like it. it is the color I would have picked if i were buyinjg/ordering brand new.

my big question is whether this price is good. given the economy, the stinky gas mileage of rotaries..and the dismal car market in general, i was thinking of offering them $15000 and if they don't take it, walking.

my gut says they might do it...or come DARN close.

anyone know what the factory warranty is on an 05? is it over? i know i'd have the 8 yr 100k mazda extension on the motor... but what about the rest of the factory bumper/bumper warranty?

otherwise, it was a nice car. very heavily optioned which i haven't seen a lot of .; and not in taht color, which to me is my favorite..and for some reason, most of the whitewater pearl cars i've seen have been automatics...i have not seen a lot of loaded up GTs, with nav, and the appearnace package in a manual..

 

I think your offer is more in line with it's value then their sale price, but I have a feeling you won't get a serious response if you ask for that much of a discount. A real value for that car is $16k or so... I have a feelign they have too much invested in it judging by their sale price... I'd throw an offer, assure them it is serious, btu that you will keep searching. Make sure they have your phone number, and do jsut that. I'm sure you willl find a better deal, particularly if you don't liek the wheels, which they appear to have built into the price as a positive.

 

They should probably let it go for 16K. Don't pay anymore then that for it tho.

 

Sounds like they are fishing for that one person that will be foolish enough to bite, who hasn't priced around or done their research.

 

I looked up the wheels. they are a brand called MRR design. the style is HR 2. they are 19" and in chrome. they look ok...it would look better if the car is lowered....

given the 245-35-19 size - not sure if there are the same width as stock or if they are the wrong size for the car.

the rest of the car is very clean and bone stock looking. the corner lenses are not cleared out, exhaust, suspension, all looks stock..so no idea why the dealer would put aftermarket wheels on it unless the stock units were all scrapedup or bent up??

the dealer specifically said they added these wheels. the tires are brand spankin new S03 pole positions.obviously brand new tires..deep deep tread..you can tell they are new.

http://superbuytires.com/MRR%20Desig...?finish=Chrome

these are the wheels. they sell retail for almost $300 each.. so they aren't crap. i wonder if they are too heavy and are slowing the car down?

i went to tire rack and for an rx8 the site says if you go 19" the tires should be staggered front/rear
225/40/19 front
255/35/19 rear

the size on the car is 245-35-19. so did the dealer goof?

discount tire lists these tires for $300 each. so they put on $2400 in wheels/tires.

i can see offering 15k as a starting point, see where they go, and then see how close i can get and if it's 16k may, maybe biting? not sure. i'm trying to stick to a 15k budget.

the other cars I was considering was an s2k and a used boxster. i had toyed with the idea of leasing an s2k. you can get one out the door for nothign down but the first months payment and about 390-395/month, tax included. not too bad for a new car.

if i got them to 16k, and put ZERO down and financed for 72 months, my payment would be 289/month. pretty cheap. the leftover money would go for upkeep/repairs and maybe adding stiffer suspension and an exhaust...

this is a third car - but i've got small kids. the s2kw oudl be a more pure "toy" as it only seats me andone other and holds nothing and can be driven top down..but an rx8 wouldf it me and three kids..or the wife and a kid or two..it would not be a "family" car but would be more functional. we have a full time new family vehicle and I have a nice sedan "beater" to drive to/from work...i just want a third toy car to have more FUN drivin to/fromw ork and something i can take to a track day once or twice a year, and then take out for a fun weekend drive once in a while, and someting fun to take out on sat night on "date" night with the wife.

an rx8 would do all that. i figure with some mazdaspeed suspension, or aftermarket stuff, it would handel like it's on rails. it's very nice now..but slightly soft.

back to my main topic - 15k is where i think it shoudl sell. i punche din my zip code and looked for rx8s w/in 100 miles and almost 100 pulled up. lots to chose from.

found some pics of the wheels on other cars from the manufacturers website.

http://www.mrrwheels.com/image_galle...N_350Z_HR2.JPG

http://www.mrrwheels.com/image_galle...h&cat=0&pos=31

they don't look bad. but i wonder if the tire size is wrong. i'll have to read up on the wheels/tires section of this board.

 

I'd see if they will tkae the wheels and tires off and put back the stockers... $2400 is a lot to pay for wheels you are not excited about.

 

my guess is that they have some hookup for wheels/tires and they paid nowhere close to 2400. i'll bet they paid wholesale for the tires and wheels..maybe more like half that..

i actually think the wheels look good...the chrome part i'm not 100% thrilled about..but the wheel style is okay. my larger concern is whether the 19" and tire sizes will slow the car down too much and/or if they have the wrong sized tires on the car.

i would think the car would handle and accelerate better with lighet / smaller 18" wheels on it. the car lacks torque/power as it is, slapping big fat chrome wheels much not help with acceleration...

245-35-19 all the way around is what it has on it. i think the wheels are 19 x 8.5

 

I'm sure htey didn't pay retail, but still, they have $1500 ish too much in the car... I think you are going to have a hard tiem getting them MUCH under $17k due to that... Good Luck.

 

72 months x $289 = $20,808

If I were you, I'd invest my money while keeping my eye out for a better deal so that eventually you won't have to pay such interest on a loan. Instead you'd be collecting interest/dividends/returns on your investment, which will also give you added confidence to make low-ball offers and walk away. In the meantime, for a fun third car, you can always buy a dirt-cheap used Miata convertible.

Sorry for the unsolicited financial advice--sometimes I just can't help myself.

 

ask for 15. see if u can work it through that i got mycar for a way better deal. and its a shinka with less miles.

soo id ask for 15 and see if they'll be like "what about 16"

 

only downside is those wheels. i've done homework on this site, and I don't want 19"s. too heavy.

i want stock or light weight 18s. i may see if they will take them off, and put on something else. that would get the price down as well.

otherwise, it was a cool little car.

 

If you have to finance a car for 72 months you can't afford the car

 

That price is way too high, new wheels/tires not withstanding. Also, they may not have as much in the car as you think. I recently traded my 8 in (no flaming) for a decent value...pretty much what is was worth in trade. I checked on the car after they put it up for sale and they had jacked the price up $6K over my trade, well above what it is worth.

Just because I was curious on what they were trying to get for it, I emailed them with a different email address saying I was interested, but their price was way too high. The immediately offered to cut $2K off and to call them to negotiate more. I said I was no longer interested, as I already felt bad for wasting the internet salesman's time.

Moral of the story: Bid low, because that's what they did on trade. $15-16K sounds like a good price.

 

Agreed, never finance a car for 72 months and never finance a car out of warranty.

 

how long is the factory warranty on an 05 good until? 3 yrs or 4 yrs?

the extended warranty mazda put ont he motors would ge some peace of mind for a major ticket item... that's on any used 8.

i've seen dealers say they are willing to knock of 6000 or more off MSRP on 08s. my local dealer also has an 08 that the "manager" drove..it has like 5000 miles on it, it's black/black and has aftermarket wheels, and a mazdaspeed exhaust and intake. they had some ridiculous price on it like 31 or 32k. i figure it's worth far less.

if one can get a GT for 31-32k MSRP and then the dealer will sell a NEW 08 for another 6-7500 off your at 25k and that is new. the 08 they have is used..i figure another few grand off at least. 21-22k for that one.
so a frickin 05 with 40k ought to be near 15k.


torn between buying a used car and getting a low low payment or leasing a newer car for slightly more but having no mainteneance costs, etc...

 

05's have 5 year/60K powertrain, 4 year/50K bumper to bumper, and 8 year/100K rotary core warranty

 

i might look into what an extended warranty would cost..something tog et 100k bumper to bumper on tha car....

if mazda sells one that they back, might be worth it.

i've test driven a handful of rx8s..for some reason this one felt a bit slower. maybe it was the 19" wheels.

i doubt i could get them to put 18s on it just for me to test drive it again..unless i had a serious offer on the table...

given the deals that can be had on 08s.... i wonder if i would be better to get an 08 heavily discounted...vs a used 05 like this one. this used 05 was very heavily optioned..it's msrp was almost 35k...it's a GT wtih nav, appearance package, homelink..wwp color charge.. to get a new 08 similarly equipped, even with 6-7k off msrp, i'd be down near 26k or something like that....

i could get this car almost 10k less. i kinda think i'd rather spend `10k less and have 39k miles on the car vs have it be "brand new"

 

Buying used is generally a much better option than buying new, especially with the poor depreciation of the RX-8. However, Mazda does have some pretty enticing financing and cashback incentives on the new ones. Yuor best bet would be to buy a stock 05/06/07 used one, or find a leftover 07/08 at a huge discount. The new ones you can finance for dirt cheap, and the used ones will cost much less.

 

An extended bumper-to-bumper warranty to 100K is going to cost you $2-3K. An extended powertrain will cost about $1.5K. Not worth it really.

 

+1 A trip to Vegas is a more financially sound decision than an extended warranty.

 

i'll have to look at the differences in true total cost between a used 05/06 or a leftover 07/08.

If I can get a HUGE discount on an 08, say 7000-8000 off MSRP, and find one optioned like I want... I then need to see how great of a deal I could pull off on a used 05/06 optioned like I want.

the used 05 I found is the exact color combo option setup I wanted. I just hate the wheels they put on it. I also felt like the suspension felt worn...it only had about 39k miles on it, but it felt a little wobbly/body roll on the twisty road I took it on. I had test driven a newer one and it felt much tighter...

I'm thinking buying a cheap used RX8 for say $15k, and then putting in a nice set of shocks/springs/sway bars would make it handle very tight/corner like a beast.

I"ve done my homework here in terms of power mods and it sounds like intakes/exhausts really only make the car *sound* faster but honestly do little to nothing for actual power gains. so I will probably save my money. maybe a flywheel??

from my past experience having modified both N/A and FI cars - the turbo cars generally respond well to breathing mods, whereas the NA cars really don't get a whole lot of power except maybe at upper end RPMs and then it's minor.

suspension mods, however, can really help a car to handle better as from the factory there is generally a lot of room for improvement..

buying a nice condition used 05 would leave a bit of money leftover for suspension to make the already nice handling car hanlde like crazy.

 

If you are goign to buy a warranty, ONLY buy a mazda warranty. third party warranties suck and use junkyard pulled parts, likely to fail again shortly.

 

talked to the dealer today. they said if I want to buy the car and we agree on a price, they will pull off the 19" bling wheels and put on OEM stock wheels with tires.

still think i'll offer 15k. and tell them OUT THE DOOR. not a penny more. too many used rx8s. i searched w/in 100 miles of my zip code, for 05-07s and found almost 100 for sale.

they need to sell it a whole lot worse than i need to buy it.

stopped by another dealer. they have an 08 that has a mazdaspeed intake and exhaust on it. the sales guy told me with those mods it now has 300hp. i told him it did not have 300 hp and he said it did. what a rocket scientist. i had no idea a cat back and intake adds 75hp....

 

talked to the dealer today. they said if I want to buy the car and we agree on a price, they will pull off the 19" bling wheels and put on OEM stock wheels with tires.

still think i'll offer 15k. and tell them OUT THE DOOR. not a penny more. too many used rx8s. i searched w/in 100 miles of my zip code, for 05-07s and found almost 100 for sale.

they need to sell it a whole lot worse than i need to buy it.

stopped by another dealer. they have an 08 that has a mazdaspeed intake and exhaust on it. the sales guy told me with those mods it now has 300hp. i told him it did not have 300 hp and he said it did. what a rocket scientist. i had no idea a cat back and intake adds 75hp.... what BS..

 

rofl, 300 hp.

Tell him that if he can prove it on a dyno of your choice, you will pay him 40K.