Consumer reviews and my dilemma!
 

Here's a link to consumer reviews of the RX-8 on MSN Autos. Just some reading material to any who have not read and are bored. I just love reading about how people love their 8!

http://autos.msn.com/research/userre...&ModelID=10703

It's been 4.5 months since I ordered an 05 and still don't have it. I'd like to have some time to shop for winter tires for pete's sake! Anyway they quote me 26.5k for Sport package, spare tire, mats, alarm on a '05 Ti Grey '8 way back in July, is that a good price still (with S-plan) or is that too much now that 4 months has gone? Am I eligble for current rebates even though I ordered in July? Should I ask for a bigger discount for the delay of my car? Thanks to anyone who answers!

With lots of '04's around, I think invoice or S-plan is about the best you will get on an '05 unless the dealer has a huge stock of '05's, no '04's, and its the 30th of the month.

I got mine under S plan and have been very happy with it. :) I do not under stand the delay on yours though. What is the dealers explanation? :confused:

Tell the dealer you're about to go somewhere else to get it if they don't get your car in soon, but you'll feel better if they lower the price

PS...as for the MSN autos...I've read them myself numerous times, and most of the bad reviews are from people who whine about gas mileage, I thoguht I remembered some other bad ones that said nothing but "get a civic instead" and "this car is slow" maybe MSN pulled them. I complained about a couple of those since they were not reviews of the car and did not provide any useful information

Hey Gambit:

That was me in action over at MSN.........

On those stupid MSN reviews that gave the 8 a very low rating, and just said "Buy a Honda Civic" or "Car is slow" - I clicked on the place to report an "offensive" review. I said, while not offensive, this review does not offer any helpful information and should be deleted. I got confirming email from MSN and about 8 or 10 of them got deleted.

Just took it kinda personal, I guess :p

The overall consumer rating is 9.4/10. Can't beat that!

Good work Ricco...i complained about a few myself, someone in one of the positive posts had a theory that it was competing car salesmen trying to get the car a lower rating

Well the problem is that I put a $500 deposit on it. Isn't that nonrefundable? It's a 2005 RX-8 is why the delay but they DID tell me 8-12 weeks back in July. It's been 18 weeks now, I was counting on 3 months, not 5, since Thanksgiving is certainly going to slow things down. My boss's boss told me if they didn't delivered in promised date then I should get my deposit back. The problem I see with that is they didn't put delivery date in writing, so they may get away with it by denying such a date.

What would you do if you were in my situation? I still want the 2005 year of the car, since S-plan is worthless otherwise.

Although your dealer did not put a delivery date in writing, I'm betting your dealer didn't inform you in writing that the $500 deposit was "nonrefundable." You should be able to get your deposit back if you decide not to wait on the car.

Doubtful, I signed a receipt and they mentioned it was nonrefundable. I'll just wait on the car. I'm hoping for no snow or ice for awhile so I can drive it some while I'm shopping for snow tires.

I looked in Dallas , there are 56 05's in inventory there right now ...not a whole lot since there is about 10 dealerships there . Looks like they are making their way across the ocean . go to MazdaUsa.com and you can check inventory within your zip code and how far away you want to search . Best of luck . DrR

Oh and my Consumer review is ......... Car is Awesome ! Why buy a Civic when I can drive a Mazda RX-8 ?? The bugs seem to be worked out , I have not had ONE single problem with it ... can't say that about the weather ! I waited 8 months to finally get mine and I feel your pain ! Read post after post ... I GOT MINE ... but when you drive off the lots .... best feeling in the world !

Yes, I've been looking up my dealer's inventory almost everyday using that site: mazdausa.com. I see they sold 2 of the 4 '04 RX-8s in the last 4 months I've been looking. Still waiting for that '05 to pop up in their system!

The purchase agreement? A friend told me that there are small prints on the back of the purchase agreement that says the dealer must give you a car within 3 months. I have never checked myself, and I live in Ontario, Canada.

Why are you trusting Microsoft for a car review?!
 

Why don't you read Road and Track, Car and Driver, Motor Trend, Automobile, etc; publications that have full time professional journalists with careers in both journalism, automotive enginiering, and automobile racing? Consumer reviews - go to the particular make and model's non-affiliated website, like RX-8 Club, to get owner feedback. But remember, there are plenty of folks at the consumer/owner websites who have little driving/car owning/engineering knowledge, in addition to some knowledgeable people as well. So you have to discern whether a poster really knows what they're talking about.


For the record, I'm getting 16-17mpg in no holds barred city driving. I wind the car out whenever I have room and safe conditions on both back roads in the country and deserted city areas. On the highway, I get 23.xx mpg at 65 - 70 mph and around 20-21 mpg from 75-80mph. My mileage has improved to this level as the car now has 16,000 miles on it. I have had absolutely no problems with the car. It is extremely well built. I've owned a first generation RX-7, several Honda/Acura hot hatches, a Porsche 944, 5.0 Mustang, first generation MR2, BMW 325is, among others. I've been driving since I was 12 years old- I learned on a manual shift Datsun 510. So I feel that I have a pretty decent experience level in both owning and driving enthusiast cars.

The RX-8 is a fantastic car for the money. It doesn't not have the low end torque of the competition, but it's smoother, quieter, and has more storage space. It's an easy car to live with everyday. Once it's broken in, it gets acceptable mileage for it's level of performance and uniqueness of the motor.