I think another reason this car has taken such a hit is because it never caught on to the mainstream like Mazda had hoped. All the "general" carbuyer needed to hear was of the fact that some people were getting engine replacements very early on (hence scaring everyone away from the rotary) and they found out what the "real" gas mileage of these things was. I remember when I bought mine in 2004 there were literally 30 or 40 of them on the lot to choose from. Since then all the dealers around here might only get 10 of them for the whole year if that.