About to take the plunge...
 

Hey All,

I'm in Calgary and have been lurking for a little bit to see what I can learn about the car before I go and buy one.

I'm closing in on a 2005 GT that's about the right price for me -

2005 RX8 GT

I don't mind the high mileage (76K) and love the styling, but there are a number of rock chips out of the hood and driver door panel that the autobody shop is quoting $3k to fix.

The history is also a minor issue. The car has been auctioned twice and was moved from BC to AB (presumably because we pay more) via rail. No idea how well it was maintained and the local Mazda dealership tells me it can't track it across other provinces so I have no idea what has and hasn't been done to it.

The test drive was a lot of fun, but I did notice a performance drop mid-way up first gear. Is that normal? All the other gears went ZOOM, so that was the only blip in the drive.

Worth it to negotiate down or take a pass and find a more lovingly maintained one?

I would hold out if you can, if only so you can get something with a more certain pedigree. Mazda may not honour the (8yr / 100,000 mi) engine warranty on that car.

If your worried about mazda not honoring a warranty on a car you might be buying just give their 1-800 number a call. I've called many times, sometimes you get someone very helpful who will tell you if its had all maintenance done at a dealer or if you need to try and get receipts. Sometimes you have to kind of finagle the info out of them, one guy said he couldnt give me that kind of info on a car that I didnt own. I just asked him "without telling me specifics about the history does it appear to you that it was well cared for and the warranty would be good?" they should give you a yes or no.

Dont talk to the dealerships, call the MNAO number 1-800-222-5500 they should be better.

Thanks guys. I'll give the 1-800 number a call and see what I can find out.

Hey jrbirch do you by any chance go to Churchill or know someone who does? Because a friend of a friend of mine was planning to buy the exact same car you just posted.

Hey edwinjung,

Nope. I do live only slightly north of the city though in Carstairs. Dealer might have gotten confused.

*grin*

Seems like ZOOM ZOOM applies to the purchasing process too, eh?

Also I wouldnt worry to much about the car being auctioned. Usually that just means someone leased or financed it and couldnt make the payments so the company got it back and sold at auction to a dealer. It should make a big difference. Almost eveyr rx8 I looked at that was used had at least 1 auction under its belt.