Frio

Hello everybody,

my name is Francesco, I am a software engineer living and working in Toronto, married and proud dad of a 6 months old baby girl

I am shopping for a car at the moment, and having a baby we need 4 seats, so... RX-8 :D

To be honest we are considering a few different cars, but both my wife and I liked the 8 very, very much since they first introduced it on the market, and it looks like now it could be a good time for us to get one, as it seems the prices for good second hand ones are ok.

How much of a stretch is it to use the 8 as a "family" car? Consider that neither of us have to drive to work, so it would be used pretty much for shopping and weekend driving, it wouldn't be a commuter car.

I tried to read as many previous posts as I could, but I just wanted a further opinion from you, as we are looking to get a car very soon and before committing we would like to understand if it is completely insane to consider the 8 on our list...

Any help is appreciated!

Thanks!

Frio

P.S. any good used 8 in/around Toronto for sale?

dozer

iTrader: (3)

WELCOME! first of all let me say, YOU WILL FALL IN LOVE WITH THIS CAR...

i HIGHLY recommend getting the manual transmission, with its 6 gears this car REALLY comes alive...

as for you little girl, you have enough room in the back to fit that baby seat of hers with no trouble...

sobamaflyer

I'm in your same boat only a few weeks ahead. I bought my used '05 with all the same situation you describe. The RX was on the short list and in my shopping won by a landslide.

Since the purchase I'm thrilled with the decision, but this is an occasional use family hauler we have an SUV for 90% of the time the baby is along. Now, if this is your ONLY car it might be a little more challenging, the trunk holds our Maclaren stroller but not much else, the infant carrier w/ base fits ok as does the convertible car seat we recently purchased but my 5'1" wife says the passenger seat is "liveable but not comfortable".

Don't get me wrong, If you and your wife are willing to sacrifice a little comfort the RX is awesome and it will be even better in a few months when you can have a front facing baby seat in there.

https://www.rx8club.com/showpost.php...8&postcount=60

That thread has lots of opinions on different car seats and I've posted my findings this week in putting the new convertible seat in the back. (that was my post, click the link at the top to see the rest of the 3 page thread).

Congratulations on the little one and good luck

czar

iTrader: (3)

ive loved mine, i am a IT guy to, but single, but i fit full size adults in the back often so i doubt a kid or two will be a issue.

set the driver seat to your driving position and get in the back ^_^ u may be surprised. though its tight

sobamaflyer

Oddly it's not the size of the human but the incredible amount of "gear" they seem to require :D. My lovely wife and I spent years travelling across the country in 2 seater convertibles but a long weekend now seems to have the Murano packed to the gills.

Again, I'm actually advocating the RX but just know what you are going to deal with

Kafka

Go to the Canadian forum man...there are many good deals out there!

Frio

Thank you very much for all your inputs guys, consider that we have had a sports car as our only car so far so yes, we are willing to sacrifice some comfort for the fun

I will most definitely go and check a few out over the next couple of weeks and if all goes well and we find a good one we might purchase it pretty soon...

I will keep you posted!

Frio

JRichter

Welcome.

Detrich

hello & welcome to our online community... i can't really answer first-hand, being that i'm not a parent. but, i have read a lot of posts on our board pertaining to this exact question. so, i will sound in on it objectively...

while most young parents with 2 or less small children are able to enjoy the rx-8 during the pre-teenage years, as their kids and/ or families grow, they do seem to eventually need to get a bigger car- either as an add-on or in some cases they trade-in the 8 altogether... pre-teens & teenage kids have band practice, soccer practice, girls scouts, boy scouts, and a laundry list of other activities etc. and, eventually, the 8 won't be big enough to accomodate all those things.

one big parent pet peeve you'll read about is the inability of the rx-8's rear doors to be opened without the front door opening first. so, if u have 2 kids- drop off one at one place, and then have to drop off the other one at another place, the one in the back seat either has to move up to the front seat, or just wait til you pull over, get out and open the door for them. of course, if the rear-seating child is in a car seat, than that will be necessary regardless.

but, don't let this discourage you about the rx-8. and, it doesn't mean that you have to ditch the 8 necessarily as your kids grow. you could keep it and buy an additional family car, such as an suv, cuv, or mini-van. it just depends on your budget. i've read both cases here. and, that is some parents decide it's not worth to keep the 8 and trade it in, and some keep it and get the 2nd family mover vehicle. the 8 is truly a remarkable vehicle- fun, versatile, and did i mention fun?

just some food for thought for you...

delhi

As I've commented in another thread about child seats in the rx-8, the rear doors are great.... for front facing seats. With infant carriers that are rear-facing, ingress & egress of the baby would be a challenge.

Frio

Thanks

One additional info please: what model of Maclaren stroller do you have?
We have a Chicco and I wanted to compare dimensions to have a vague idea whether it would fit, but anyway we are going to see a couple 8's this coming weekend and so we'll experiment with it...

Frio

Socket7

Welcome!

If you can stand having a car that needs it's oil checked religiously, and only gets 16 MPG, the RX-8 is a great family car. It's a very safe car in an accident, and it's a ton of fun to drive. The trunk may be a bit small for your groceries, but otherwise it's a fine choice of car.

Just make sure you get a manual transmission, and I recommend an 05 or later.

Frio

Socket7: thanks for the advice, I don't mind checking oil and the gas mileage, and so far my wife and I have had a sports car as our only car, so we don't mind the lack of space too much

I am looking for a 06+ at the moment, hopefully I will go check out a few over the next couple of weeks...

Frio

Frio

Gentlemen,

I have seen a couple of 8's today, could anybody help with Carfax? I have the VIN for the two I saw and I would love to have some additional info about them...

Cheers!

Frio

sobamaflyer

Sorry I missed your reply the other day. We have a XLR (The big Maclaren, although we bought it partially for it's nice compactness). I have room in the trunk towards the front of the car and on around it once it's in but I'd equate it to a small golf club bag taking up most of the space towards the back of the trunk once it's in.

I think our son loves the 8, he's got a view of the outside world going by (which is fascinating to him at the moment) that he doesn't have in the Murano, quietly giggles to himself while riding with me.