My lease is up in about 2 months and I'm trying to decide what I want to do.

I currently have an '05 Touring - White, which will have just under 41k on it. Original Engine, no major problems and since I was the only owner, i can be sure that the maintenace and recalls were all performed.

However here's my question... assuming I want to keep an RX8...
My options are:

1) Buyout my lease, for approx 13.5 I think (tax included, final price I'd pay) + Buy an Extended warranty (Anyone have any good recommendations about where to get one and approx price?? I'd rather not 'surf' for any random google found company these days)

2) Purchase a Used RX8 - I found one at a dealer that is an '08 - White - Grand Touring (I could care less about heated leather seats here in Florida), it has the same equip as mine except the appearance package. Only 4k miles. Dealer wants 26.5 + tax etc...

My biggest fear with my own car is the lack of warranty (since it was only 4 yrs bumper to bumper). With this car's trackrecord I can't help but feel that the minute I sign the buyout papers I'll have some sort of major work needed..

Ideas?? Thoughts??

 

I'm dealing with the same issue.....According to Mazda, you should be able to buy an Mazda extended warranty from any mazda dealership.....but what I've found from the dealerships in my area is that they would rather sell you their warranty packages.....Something isn't right here!!!!!......My coverage is up Dec. 23 and for a 3yr/36,000 mile warranty I'm looking at $1,600.00. A warranty is very important for this car, cause there aren't too many rotary engine mechanics.....So it will cost more to fix (dealerships overpricing maintenance).....I would maybe talk to your dealership first, then go from there......If that doesn't help call Mazda!!!!....Hope I've helped somewhat???

 

The reason why They dont sell it because they dont make much money off from it.

Even Mazda's extended warranty has different coverage. so MAKE SURE you know which one you're getting (if you can get it)

but IMO, extended warranty never really worth the cost. Mazda or whoever.

 

I ended up going with a company I have used in the past being CostGuard. It ran 1600 for four years. It is their highest end warranty. Last car I had this on was a Chevy Silverado 2500. I was jinxed on this truck. Once every three months something went out. CG covered it all without any issues or delays.

Keep in mind all levels of contracts are not the same within each company. CG had four levels. The one I picked was the most comprehensive. It won't cover the airbag inside of my seat as an example.

Not trying to cheer lead.

Brian

 

Keep it.

But never buy an exteneded warrenty.

 

Thanks I'll look it up....

 

Thanks for the advise all, I didn't realize Mazda offered an extended once you walked off the lot the first time...

As for the "Dont' buy an extended ever".. I don't get that. Perhaps you've not lived in Florida, but if the Air conditioner alone goes out it can cost easily 500-1k to fix depending on the problem. (It's usually a compressor motor that goes in my experience). Add on an Alternator, Power window motor, and one or two unexpected items and it's easily paid for itself.

My only other long term car I had was a '93 Eagle talon. I purchased the extended the day I bought the car, and it easily paid for itself, just from the stupid engine design of Mitsubishi who decided to NOT put in a shield above the alternator, which was right below the oil pump. Anytime I had a valve/gasket leak, it would almost always hit the alternator and blow out the motor. I think I put in 4 alternators alone in that car, plus a bundle of oil gaskets etc.. (Turns out there was an engine warping that they wouldn't replace, but would put in gaskets as needed).

Anyway.. I'm definately leaning on the buying Mine and a warranty at this point, the other car is nice.. but I don't think I can really afford to shell out the cash for a new one, especially since mine's working perfectly fine. (oh crap.. now I did it!)

 

i'm in a similar boat. i'm leaning towards feeling safe even though I'd bet i'll never use mine in the next 4 years.

 

Just a final followup.. I'm making my decision today but it looks like I'm buying the 8 for sure.

Here's how it works out:

Refinance lease balance from Wells Fargo: Total price after tax: 13059 + FL Stamp tax (something like 300) = 13350ish.

I'm probably going to refinance for 5 years, since Wells allows me to pay it off earlier without any penalty.. this way if economy issues come up at least I only have to make a smaller payment if needed.

Extended Warranty = Debating between 2 sources:
Nation Warranty - www.nwarranty.com = Comes to approx 1600 for a 4/48 warranty all inclusive (except normal maintance)
or
CWS (Century Warranty services) sold by Wells: about the same price $1686.

The pro is the nation seems to have slightly better coverage, especially since it's a wear&tear + mech brakedown, where CWS does not include wear&tear on any part over 50k miles of the part. (So if say an item wore down but didn't 'break' and It's been in the car 51K miles, I'm S.O.L.)

However the benefit of CWS is that Wells will roll that into my loan, they won't with an outside source so I have to come up with an alternate payment method.

Oh well..
All said and done I'll get the car + warranty for 4 more years for approx ~15k. And since it's my own car I know exactly how it was taken care of etc...

Here's to another 4 years of Driving a Rotary!

EDIT: ohh the dealer wanted over 3k for the same warranty! If anyone else is thinking about extended warrantys.. a great site to use is:http://www.carbuyingtips.com/warranty.htm I found all my info there and it helped narrow down my choices a lot.

 

hey homie,

just wanted to say that you made the right decision that was right for YOU. i know it's not common/comfortable/considered while buying a used car to pick up an extended warranty (due to fear oh getting screwed) but I think if it does work out... you'll feel a Whole lot better.

also, to tell you where i'm coming from, i debated like hell about getting my rx8... but i decided i wanted one with everything i wanted. with a 15k budget... that wasn't going to happen and i waited 2 months.

long story short; the dealership which had the exact car i wanted sprang the extended warranty to me...i had a day to think about it and ended up paying 18k after taxes.

so, i also bought into the warranty and i can tell you it's a good feeling especially being a new rx8 owner! i'm away from home right now and i miss my 8 dearly

-TH

 

Ok I wasn't going to post again, but just had to tell someone...

I just got off the phone with another agent... seems price went down after the weekend!!!

Here's how it finally worked out, paperwork is being filed as we speak:
Refinance lease balance from Wells Fargo: Total price after tax: 12500 (11792 pre-tax, not sure how they came up with that number tho)
+ FL Stamp tax + tag = 12500 + 285

Grand Total price = $12785 (This is for my own 2005 RX8 Touring, with about 41k miles, that I know is in perfect shape since I have been the only owner!)

Thier finance rate isn't the best, at 7.05.. but it's not bad, and I took a 5 year loan which has no prepayment penalty.. so if I find a better rate later or come into cash I can pay it off earlier as needed. Oh and zero down so that price above is the whole deal. They even put off payment for 45 days which means I get a month to breath without a car payment too! First payment not due till Mid Feb.

Extended Warranty = I'm going to go with Nation Warranty - www.nwarranty.com = Comes to approx 1600 for a 4/48 warranty all inclusive (except normal maintance), still have yet to finalize the exact amout but the guy was very nice on the phone and turns out the discount compared to my other choice is due to the fact I'm a 'local', they are about 20 min from my house it seems

Ok.. now to figure out what new additions I can afford

EDIT:
Grrr it seems Nation Warranty pulled a switch on my.. even though the web site and the sales person said my car was eligible for the bumper-to-bumper warranty, it seems it is not. They only provide that on cars under 36k miles now but haven't updated their webpage
Back to shopping for warranty coverage.