chopsticker

This may have been brought up before but...I was wondering what the availablity of the Rx-8 is compared to the 2003 350z. I read in another post that Mazda is planning to sell 17k Rx-8's this year, how does that compare to the number of 350Zs from last year? I curious because my friend owns a '03 350Z and my red Rx-8 w/ GT is arriving tomorrow. He says the price of his 350z will remain high because of the low availablity of the Z and was wondering if you guys think this will hold true for the 8. I would really hate to see a ton of Rx-8's on the road...I think it'll lose it's special appeal.

nk_Rx8

I think it's wishful thinking on your friend's part because I thought Nissan said that it would try to sell 30k Z's a year. And my friend who was shopping said that the dealers he went to had plenty of Z's on the lot.

aussie77

Well, assume they sell 17,000 this year... given there is a good 100 million cars in the U.S, worst case scenario your RX-8 will be 1 car in 6000 or so on the road. Doubling that number every year means maybe in 5 or 6 years your car will be 1/1000 on the road It will never be a mustang, put it to you that way.

graphicguy

When I was trying to decide between the RX8 and the Z, I found that there were plenty of '03 Zs around. Dealers also had the '04s on their lots with '03 leftovers, so there should be plenty of them around to deal on. This was a month ago, though. I would bet those '03 Zs are pretty much gone by now, but there should be plenty of '04 Zs to deal on.

Rx8s are still a bit scarce, but I expect that to change as the dealers get their orders delivered through the end of the year.

Tweety-nator

Yup going by production #'s, the RX-8 will be more scarce than the Z. At 17,000, thats barely over half of what the Z's total production is. I fully expect the RX-8 to hold its value quite well.

By the way, hi graphicguy! If you are the same person that I think you are, I am the guy at Edmunds.com getting his LeMans 350Z in November. I go under the name jaquino over there.

graphicguy

hey, jaquino....welcome! Yep, same guy. Things got pretty slow at the"other" board. So, I'm here.

Did you get your Z yet? You're getting the color I would have picked....nice car!

Elara

I think your friend is biased because he owns a Z. We've already got quite a few used Z's on my company's lots, and when we've got them on our lot already, you KNOW they aren't in the high demand they were in to begin with- or as rare. How can they be when people can now find them used for a lower price with low miles fairly easily? We've also got them sitting on our new lots (not for extended periods of time, but they are there).

For what it's worth, there were about 3,500 Z's sold in August, and 2,192 8's sold. There are still fewer 8's available than Z's, in general. I don't know how many Nissan plans to sell in a year, but I can look up how many they've sold in the past year, if you want.

chopsticker

That would definitely help settle our argument.

U. N. O.

i only wish the Z was a 4 seater, i would have gotten it in a heart beat. being a 2 seater only is what kills it for me. g35 coupe 6mt looks like a good option to replaice it...

Elara

Ok, don't quite have the complete year, but I've got how many Nissan sold in August 2002 (1,237) and the total for the past 8 months (26,351). And they sold a total of 3,775 in August of this year. So yeah, they're on track to sell about 40,000 of them this year. So there will most likely be fewer 8's than Z's available for quite some time, since Mazda is aiming at 30k every 12 months. And there will only be 15-17k sold this year, at most.

For comparison, Mazda sold 2,209 8's in August, for a grand total of 3,551 for July/August.

Take those numbers as you will.

klegg

I think 30K is worldwide sales target. Mazda has said, and it has been reported that they are aiming for, 16k-18k a year in u.s.

Tweety-nator

Thanks graphicguy. Dont have the car yet, dealer emailed me this week and said I might get the car in early December instead of late November, before the holidays

Elara

By all published reports it's 60k worldwide- the 30k may be for all of North America though, US and Canada.

Ike

That's correct, Mazda wants to make money on the car, not have it be a rare specialty car like the FD was. The only thing that will keep it from selling 30k a year in the US will be if the demand is not there. If Mazda meets it's sales goals the car will not be rare by a long shot. Kleggs's number are what Mazda expects to sell by the end of this year, which will have been less than 6 months time.

Ike

Skyline Maniac

Actually 350Z supply is not so bad these days, most dealerships would have them on the lot for immediate purchasing. The real problem is finding them 6MT G35 Coupes around the country. Most Infiniti dealerships still wouldn't give anything off MSRP for a 6MT G35C because they are so rare. Nissan originally planned to sell 12,000 G35C a year but they are selling over twice the prediction.... and I was hoping for a rare car.

On a side note: the RX-8 is selling like a hot cake in the JDM market. The last I checked, the RX-8 sales in Japan is more than the G35C + 350Z combined. Maybe Mazda can sell 30k RX-8 a year if the interest in the RX_8 remains strong.

RodsterinFL

well the Nissan dealer in town here has several to choose from. Right now the mazda dealer has about 5 RX 8's. I agree with Skyline the rare one is the G35C 6mt. My neighbor has one - the one who told me to get rid of my 8. I test drove the 350 Z and the G35C as well. I would prefer the G between those two but the back seat is just unuseable. no, the RX 8 with less HP is better to me than a car that has a back that you cannot use and another car that is noisy and rough riding. IMO. I beleive the RX 8 is a better designed car - even with a little less HP.

graphicguy

You may have already told me this, but refresh my memory. Can your dealer do a "dealer trade" and locate one for you... color/equipment level that you want?

When I was shopping, each dealer said they would locate exactly what I wanted within a week. Now, that's in the midwest and sports car sales slow as the Fall/Winter start to take hold.

Is the G35C an option? Infiniti dealer said he would do a locate, too.

monzter

I just read the other day that they have sold around 35000 350Z's already and that they made up about 25% of the current sports car sales.

Elara

Hmm..the 35,000 sound about right for this year(26,000 in the past 8 months), but the 25% doesn't. What were they qualifying as sports cars? I'll check in the next Automotive News I see.

Tweety-nator

The dealers that I talked too said there were no 2004 LeMans Enthusiast in my area and several other states, so no dealer-trades. I could get other colors though, but I really want the LeMans.

I considered the G35C, but the Infiniti dealer would not budge off of MSRP. We only got 2 Infiniti dealers in the whole of WA state, and the other dealer was several hours away. At $33k for A 6MT, I decided that I did not really need the backseat so I went ahead and ordered a 350Z for $28k.

If I really needed the backseat, I would have gone for the RX-8 instead and saved a ton of money.

As you can see, I am a cheapskate. :D

graphicguy

Not a cheapskate....just practical.

Now, I remember.

Get what you want. That LeMans is a beautiful color.

You must be "chomping at the bit" for November to roll around.

I'm surprised there are only two Infiniti dealers in the whole state.

Of course, only having two dealers in the state is good for the dealers though.

BADDCOMPLEX

We have lots of RX-8s on the Mazda lots here in houston. And alot of 350Zs, but I don't think the RX-8 is selling to well after the whole buy back thing.

Tweety-nator

Yup, the wait is killing me. Dealer e-mailed me and said I would get a VIN number by October.

Thanks for the encouragement, I needed it :D