so the other day was probably the sadest day of my life. i had to trade my 06 rx8 (Magdalen the Mazda) in for a more fuel efficient car. she needed new plugs/coils, reverse was going bad, and with gas up to 4.15 a gallon here in Louisville KY it was a needed change. i ended up sticking with Mazda though (because they are by far the funnest cars to drive and best looking imo) and got a new 2012 mazda 3 skyactiv (Michelle the Mazda).

the skyactiv is fun and definitely more fuel efficient but nothing will ever replace Magdalen. from when i was 16 years old and saw my first rx8 in 04 i told myself i had to have one and in 2010 i ended up finding an 06 rx8 with 17,000 miles on it for only 16,000. as the story goes i purchased it and it was love lol.

to all of those that have had to get rid of their rx8s for whatever reason i understand your pain. she will be missed

 

at least you remained in the Mazda family

Gas here in this part of NY is $4.59 per gallon (for premium). My 8 is not my daily driver, so it doesn't affect me "too" much.

But I totally understand your reasoning for needing to trade the eight. At times the old saying "you gotta do what you gotta do" rings true.

 

ditto on the crazy gas prices.

Its been a fun trip for me too owning my 8 but as with many previous devoted 8 owners on this forum its time for me to pull that trigger. Its good to here your still in the realm of Mazda ownership.

 

How many miles were on your 8 and what did they give you on trade?

 

I feel your pain about gas prices this time. Anyway, nice Mazda 3 and at least you bought a Mazda again.

 

Just make sure you do the math on it. Buying a new car just for the gas mileage can take many years to actually save you money. If your 8 is paid off and your new car would be financed for whatever amount, make sure its going to actually cost you less to own the new car. You have to factor in everything, car payment, insurance, gas mileage, etc.

So if the need is to save right now, you can actually dig yourself deeper into that hole.

 

Sorry to hear about your parting, but congrats on the new mazda3. I thought ppl would just get beaters like miatas to save gas. I paid $4.67/gal and my 8 is my only dd now so I definitely understand the need for fuel efficiency.

 

I had about 40,000 when I traded it in. All together with gas, car payment, and insurance I was paying about 700 a month and that's not including oil changes and stuff like that. With the new car is equals out to be about 550 a month with gas, car payment, and insurance plus I get free oil changes lol. I was really looking for the short term not so much the long term debt. They ended up giving 12000 for the 8 and Kelly blue book value was only 9000 lol. The rx8 was also my daily driver and the 4.15 a gallon is for 87 octane. 93 octane is 4.35 lol I forgot to add the 20 cents.

 

Actually, this is very true. Another variable is the interest paid on the car loan over the life of the loan. As you said, when you do the long term math, things are not as good as they seem.

This is the main reason why I've never been convinced of buying a hybrid. They usually cost more up front (compared to similar vehicles in their class), and even with the tax rebate you get, long term I do not think you are saving that much money anyway. Plus if you decide to keep one for a really long time, nobody has really solved the issue of how expensive those batteries are when you need to replace them (again, for people who would own a hybrid long enough to need to replace the batteries when they go bad). We are talking thousands of dollars for each.

However, in this case the OP still owed money on the 8, so it seems like the deal is working on his favor. But I agree with you, had the 8 been paid off, I think it would have been wiser just to keep it - provided that it was in good mechanical shape.

 

Also, as long as the prices are not ridiculous, you should get a good warranty. Reason I say is because my best friend traded in a turbo pontiac grand prix (which he loved, and was reliable), to buy a honda civic to save on gas. It unfortunately did not work out in his favor. His car essentially fell apart, even though it had been a newer model. I deffinitely think that trying to save $$ is great, but man uncertains are tough when it comes to these types of decisions arent they!

 

Lol it was a hard decision to but I still owed on the 8 and I was able to get a really good interest rate since my credit score is excellent. If the 8 would have been paid off though I would have definitely kept it. Plus I got an extended warranty on the Mazda 3 for about 20 dollars more a month. All in all I think it was a good decision. I will miss the rotary though. Nothing like hitting 7000 rpms in a corner

 

Sorry to hear you are Eightless but the 3 is a fun ride. Good luck!

 

Both good looking rides - maybe you can find a high mileage fixer-upper RX8 and do the weekend tinkering. Personally I just purchased an 04 AT GT with a new engine and it runs great for $6,100

 

We made a similar decision. We needed a 3rd car for our kids. My 8 needs a clutch and plugs/coils, motor mount. I just can't have 2 unreliable cars. I need one I can depend on no matter what.

We bought a mazda 3 with the skyactiv, 40mpg. We'll save $180 a month on gas alone and it gives us some time to repair the 8. Luckily my wife got a raise and a promotion to cover the payment just the day before. We were able to get the car we wanted.

 

At least you did some math on it. Some people will just jump in thinking doubling their MPG is going to be a huge savings without actually checking how much they will save.

Personally I plan on just buying a ~$1500 CRX and getting 30 to 40+ mpg in that as a second car when I can. That way I can keep the rx8 and put even less miles on it.

 

So sad But probably the responsible decision. When I was your age I would have done something dumb like turbocharge it