SayNoToPistons

iTrader: (8)

Today we were looking at a WHITE 2006 GT with 6spd auto at the Mazda dealer. They said the retail value is "32,000" and they're going to offer us 29k. I was stupid and did not look at the mileage but according to the salesman, it's "brand new". It has condensation in the taillights, the rainbow haze on the headlights, spotted a mark on the front bumper (looks like a scuffed, not sure if it affected the paint down to the primer/plastic). I pointed the condensation and scuffed out to the salesman, but of course he says "Well every car has the condensation and the bumper will be cleaned up when sold".... Err... I also spotted some white residue on the weather stripping and the plastic molding under the sideskirt. Since the car is white, i wonder if it's been repainted. I shouldn't even consider a 2006 car thats been sitting outside in a lot exposed to the elements "NEW", right? I think i remember seeing the car in the showroom back in the summer. They took all the RX8s out of the showroom btw so i asked and they said they had the white 06 GT auto in stock @ the lot. The car is for my mother and she can only drive auto (please don't give me teh "manual is better" "teach her how to drive manual", I know already).

I asked for a test drive and the salesman said "sure, but i don't know if it will start right up". Of course i acted stupid and asked "why not?". He gave me the typical "well its been sitting for a while, any car thats been sitting for a while might have a hard time starting up"... Sure bud. Anyways. He drove us to a somewhat empty lot a few blocks from the showroom. He got into the rx8 and started it up. It had some weird metallic noise at first. Something like a fast pace "cluck cluck cluck", didn't sound normal at all but it didn't hesitate or anything that gave off a bad sign other than the noise. Don't know whats up with that. Salesman pulled out and i got in. It was rainy and dark out so i couldn't see much. Salesman told me to follow him back to the dealer so i did. We stopped at a red light and the car seemed to shake, not violently but you can feel it. Pulled up to the dealer. They copied my license and we were on our way. Everything seems fine cept for the slight shake when it comes to a stop. I only pulled it up to 3K rpm (around 35 MPH in "D") or so because it was rainy and dark and we were in the city streets.

My mom refused to test drive because she has never driven a small sporty car like this before (she drives an Infiniti SUV). It was also dark and rainy. She said shes going to try it out another day when theres light out. Parked the RX8 outside the showroom. Me and my mother went in to discuss about the rx8. He gave us a price of 29k. Obviously i don't think its worth it for a car thats probably been sitting for over 2 years. It's probably a sample showroom/testdrive car also. They asked us to give them an offer, we refused to because my mother is paying for it and she didn't even get to experience it. They kept nagging us and wanted us to put down 200 dollars to reserve the car "just in case someone else takes it by the time we come back for another test drive". That was a no go for my mom and so she refused. They asked, "what can we do to make you put down a reserve for it? you're going to get your money back anyways no matter what". Well, that was a no go since we're not going to offer a price when the buyer didn't really takea good look and feel at the car yet. They kept going but we came to an agreement that we were going to come back saturday afternoon.

So, what do you guys think we should do? We didn't plan on buying a "new" car or spending over 20k on an RX8. We're looking for used ones that are 04 GTs (yes i know, 4 port and 4spd AT) and they go for around 14k-16k which is 15k-13k less than the 06 GT at the dealer. It was dark and rainy so we didn't get a good look at the car at all. It's not anywhere near new at all. Probably a 9.5/10 from what i could tell tonight.

jeffe19007

That a bit steep for a 2006. Check Edmunds for the value of this car, or a 2007 even, in your area.

In 2004 I picked up my 2005 for around $26,000 for a 6 speed GT. Some folks laugh at that price with the implication they did better still. List for the car was around $31k. So either get agressive on this car if you want it, or shop more.

It is not like the RX-8s are flying out the door.

And a search will bring out a couple of threads on pricing of folks RX-8s. Use RX8CLUB in a google search instead of this forums search.

Think about a manual too. A lot of regrets expressed about getting manuals in this forum. That may have been before the 6 speed auto came out though.

Gish

Yeah, I agree. Reconsider both that price (way, way too high) and also get a manual. There are many people on here who regret getting the automatic, but I haven't seen one person say they wished they had gotten a manual...

Jasonawojo

iTrader: (2)

When I was looking a month or two ago 2006's were getting close to the $20K mark slightly used. So IMO, $29K is way overpriced. If they were begging you to leave a deposit they must be having quite a rough time selling it.. so it may be worth trying to get the price down near your target as if you can all the little annoyances (glare/cond in lights, etc) will be covered under warranty versus potentially having the same issues not covered on an 04. Don't have much experience though, so wouldn't know if you'll be able to get the price down.

SayNoToPistons

iTrader: (8)

...Please, i already said manual is not an option. I know how much better than the auto it is. It's not an option for my mother.


I might shoot for $20,000 and whine about the shaking when it comes to a stop, lights, white marks, scratches, 2006, sitting for forever, etc. Think 20,000 sounds reasonable?

Jasonawojo

iTrader: (2)

Hard to say if they'll go that far, seeing as they are still oddly asking 29K, but worth the shot if it is something she likes. My 04 6sp GT 48K miles was only ~$4K less and I have all the annoying cosmetic problems, but can't get them fixed for free :P

I don't think the 06's had to deal with the engine recalls really, so may just need motor mounts or a good running to fix shaking, but either way it'd be covered. I wonder what maintenance would need to be done on a two year old car with basically no miles though, and if you could get any of it covered..

jeffe19007

I hear you. I also have a friend who got a auto G35 coupe because his wife didn't do manual. Three years later she has not driven it at all. He has a beautiful black automatic car.

Just watching out for your later regrets...