rumatt

Hi guys,

I currently drive a 2003 BMW 330i, but for some reason I keep looking at (and reading about) the Rx8!!! My latest crazy idea is to monitor the used RX8 market until I see a great deal, and snag it. Then my wife can use the BMW as her daily driver and I get the 8.

The reason I want used is because I don't want to get creamed on resale too badly if I change my mind and decide to sell it again. If I get a good enough deal, then it turns the whole thing into a "relatively low cost experiment" rather than "holy cow, that was an expensive brain fart!".

So my questions are:

1) Do you think I'll be able to find any killer deals later this spring on used RX8's, or is it still too soon? (by killer, I mean several thousand below what a new one can be purchased for.) Part of my confusion is that the prices I see people asking for used RX8's seem really high... almost as much the new cars are selling for... and you don't even get the maintanence plan.

2) Are there any other non-obvious reasons why buying the RX8 used is a bad idea? If you believe the theory that some RX8's get worse gas mileage than others (or flood more easily), I could be much more likely to get one of the "bad" ones... or something along those lines, I guess.

Thanks!

xocsida

I'm thinking the same thing. The car is still so new that any one you buy is still going to be under warranty. That would satisfy me as far as any quirks go.

I've been watching traderonline and it's not unusual to see them fully loaded (including NAV) for around 28k. That's about 4-5k less then the car would cost new.

I'm not a big fan of buying cars brand new, because of the 4 to 5k depreciation you get when you drive off the lot. Being the "second owner" is not a big deal to me.

Ajax

Carmax here has one for 26k it's got like 2k miles on it.

rumatt

Are you comparing to MSRP, or what people are paying? My understanding is that they're selling for just a shade over invoice (if you get a good deal).

Plus, my problem is that wouldn't mind (and actually prefer) tif the sports package was the only option. That should cost in the $27K's new. Used with a few thousand miles, (and without a maintenance plan) I'd think they'd be worth $24K maybe? Am I nuts?

EXA4DRIVER

Buy new. A lot of dealers are willing to deal. The cheapest I've found with out even trying to deal was $300 over invoice. The car I was looking at was a Titanium Gray 6spd with appearance package, sport package and rear wing-MSRP of $29,725. They were selling it for $27,571 plus tax/lic/reg/etc............

rumatt

Nice. Sounds like a good deal. But I'd rather buy that car from you in 2 months and pay $24,000. :D

Seriously though, I would buy new if I were convinced that I'd keep the car for the long haul. But since I'm having a hard time making up my mind lately, I was hoping that my willingness to buy used could help me save some of the first year's depreciation.

I guess part of the problem is that it's too soon to have have a well established used market (just guessing here)

Ajax

btw.. that car i mentioned at carmax was sunlight silver 6 speed, w/everything except nav.

rumatt

Depends what you mean by "everything". The GT package, or more? Invoice on an RX8 with GT is $28.6K, so I guess you're right; $26K is about 3 grand below what you could buy it for.

xocsida

I'm going off the quote that the dealer gave me at the dealership when I test drove the car (this was before haggling though)

But yeah, 24ish for a sports package car sounds about right...I'm looking for a Grand Touring/Appearance Package/NAV car, so that's at the high end.

racerdave

Back to Bimmerfest with you, Guinness Boy!

:D

I'm not sure how many 8 owners are going to be willing to give their cars up.

You might actually be able to do just as well by waiting until the end of the '04 model year when dealers are trying to unload '04's that are still in stock.

Just an idea...

Ajax

what i mean by everything is the following:
6 Speed Manual
Grand Touring Package
Rear Wing Spoiler
Appearance Package
Accent package
Moon Roof wind deflector
6 disc CD player

I dont remember if it had the fender strakes or not.

Ajax

rumatt

Damn.. busted.

Yep. Waiting for the 05's (and then buying a new 04) might not be a horrible idea.

G8rboy

I originally considered waiting until this year and buying a used RX-8, but then I thought long and hard about the importance of breaking in a rotary engine correctly, and how unlikely it would be to find someone that would take the time to properly care for the car to that level, and then turn around and sell it 6 months later.

Some of this was based on input from owners of previous 7's, as well as my desire to start with that Renesis brand new... but in the end I'm very glad I can account for every mile of my motor's history, with the exception of the first 9.

rumatt

Good point. This would probably bug me, and is why I would need to get a killer deal to justify buying used.

But is there really consensus on the importance of breakin on a rotary (relative to any other engine?) For example, they haven't correlated the poor gas mileage or flooding with improper breakin. Is this even a theory?

JIM WV

You may want to see if you can get one "off lease." See if your local dealers are expecting any 1 yr. lease returns this summer. We bought our 8 new, but the last couple of SUVs that we have bought, we picked them up after they were back on 1 year leases and saved some nice $$. Just a thought.

G8rboy

I doubt you'll ever find a concensus on 'proper rotary break-in'. I personally subscribe to a pretty radical break-in theory for piston engines, in that they should be driven to as hard during break in as you plan on driving them during their life. For me, this means redlining frequently during the first 100 miles to properly seat the piston rings and wear-in the cylinder walls accordingly.

Rotary engines have such a vastly different design that I have trouble drawing any analogies between my piston ring break-in theory with a rotor and it's apex seals. Since this is my first, I have taken the advice of several sources of rotary expertise in that they should be broken carefully- keeping revs below 5 or 6k in the first 500 miles or so, no heavy loads, etc.

Regardless, I seriously doubt that any connection will be made with improper break-in and flooding. I could see improperly set seals contributing slightly to poor mileage, but for me, it was all about engine performance and longevity.

Elara

I think you were mistaken- so far, CarMax has only had a silver and a black RX-8, and one was $29,998k, and had nav and one was $29,498, without. Both 6 spd with GT packages. They both sold in a few days. I assume you mean the silver one in Greenville- was definitely not $26k. I almost had them transfer it up here for my husband, but it sold too quickly.

rumatt

They sold for that price!!!??? (isn't carmax no-haggle? or is that just when they buy?)

Why would people pay this much for a used car with no maintenance plan?

Elara

They had almost the full warranty, and few miles. And because it's less than most people can get them for new with all those options. CarMax is no haggle, but if you don't like the price, you can always go somewhere else. But since they both sold within a few days of being put on the lot, I doubt too many places are going to be selling them for much less than that for a while either.

G8rboy

I don't know anything about the exact cars in question, but a fully loaded 6MT GT (I mean really, really loaded, with appearance pkg, spoiler, rotary accents, 6CD+Tape, spare tire kit, floormats, fender strakes and Navigation) is nearly $36k MSRP, so $29k isn't ridiculous for a barely used price (not that I would pay that : ).

Ajax

Nah, this is a very recent car.
If you'd like the name of the carmax dealer, I can give it to you. I went to carmax to get a price on my intrepid and they asked what I was getting.

I told them an RX-8 and they went to check if they had any and they didnt. Then another dealer came in and said they had just bought one for 25k with the options i wanted, in the wrong color and they'd turn it around for 26k most likely. They called me on monday of this week to let me know they had the car and to ask if I was interested. I said no.
This car has just been entered into inventory in texas. I dont know what price they put on it, but they had offerred it to me for 26k.

Ajax

guy321

Buying a used RX8 is like marrying a 18 year old girl with 3 kids..

clyde

Alan and I are really getting to you aren't we, rumatt? My wife had some pregnancy related carving tonight. "Want me to go to the store and get you something, honey?" There's one stretch that lasts about a 1/8 mile...left it in second at about 8,450 (just shy of the chime)...I couldn't go back to a 330i after that (let alone my 325xiT). :p

I don't think that getting a used one is an awful idea, especially if you're afraid that you'll want to sell it relatively quickly. If you look hard enough, you should be able to find someone privately that really needs to get out for one reason or another and will be happy to let it go for anything more than a dealer would give him.

G8rboy

ROTFL....

But she's only slightly pre-owned...

Omicron

I wouldn't hold your breath to see any great depreciation until the second or third year of production. So far, it seems that even used RX-8s are selling for near invoice price of a new one.

If you want one, get it new. You won't regret it.