I've been looking at this car for a long time and lurking somewhat around here. I was looking for an RX-8 to buy used in the Chicagoland area...and I was having no luck....until yesterday.

I called one dealer out in Naperville (the BACK OF BEYOND from where I live) and lo and behold - someone had just that hour traded in their Shinka that day because they were starting a family and needed two cars (they ended up with a hatchback). Not to mention that it happened to be in my preferred color (gunmetal grey) with heated seats (absolutely necessary...I am very irritable when I have a cold ***) it's manual (those paddle shifters and that lever thingy in the automatic is a recipe for disaster when one of your teenage friends "accidentally" starts playing with the gears and fighting your shifting with the paddles. And honestly, doesn't an automatic transmission defeat the purpose of a rotary??) and to top it all off, he had only put 13,000 miles on it

I saw it and the black and brown leather was amazing. My 6 foot 2 father fit in the back fairly comfortably and surprisingly. Needless to say we ended up getting it.

Also needless to say I will also be posting pictures.

And thank you to anyone who just sold their beautiful Shinka in Naperville - I really got lucky, when I called you were still getting a price quote on it.

 

Sounds awesome. I love my 06 shinka - Galaxy gray w/ sand alcantra seats.

 

what is the shinka? is it a special edition or something special added on to it? theres a used 05 shinka being sold at my local dealer, and ive been looking into buying an rx8. its black cherry mica [awesome color imo] with the parchment interior. although this one has 43k miles on it.

 

yea just a special edition rx8 no hp increase or anything shinkas originaly came with a special color which was the black cherry mica but i guess they now come in almost any color and like a tan leather interior and a few different badges

 

ahh.. gotcha. would anyone suggest buying one if it has 43k miles on it? or go for a lower mileage?

 

^ The Shinka is just a trim package, basically. Unless you really love the Shinka colors or special seats (parchment leather on the '05, alcantra on later ones), I'd forget about whether it's a Shinka or not and just look for the best condition/lowest mileage RX-8 you can find in your price range.

 

Congrats on the new car and welcome to the club...

 

Thanks! I appreciate it.

As far as I know, the Shinka has the exact same engine and the only thing that would concievably effect performance is a few very minor suspension tweaks. Other than that, mine came with some really nice brown and black leather.

Mine was also a dark grey, so I don't know if it was one of the black cherry versions. I don't know if I would have bought it if it was, wine-colored cars have always made me sort of queezy and the last one my parents had was a total ticket magnet.

 

Congrats on the find. Enjoy!