At 3:15pm today, my dealer called and told me that my RX-8 has made it on the "On Water" report. He said that based on his experience with Miata's coming from the same port to expect delivery within the next 3-4 weeks.

 

one dealer i contacted today also said that those vehivcles are now showing up on their inventory reports. if you are not sure if your car is on the water have the dealer check his inventory reports.

 

My dealer's report shows my car and five others "on water" with EST arrival of July Week 3.:D

 

Week 3 of july!!! Are those 1st allocation cars or 2nd allocation? Or non-preorder cars?

 

I had to supress my laughter when my dealer told me that based on a 28 May build date, they estimate another 10 days for delivery, and my car will arrive June 10th! I want some of whatever he's smoking :D

 

That is interesting that we are being told the third week of July whether we are on the west coast or east. If it only takes 10 days for the ship to get from Japan to the west coast, why would it take 6 weeks to get anywhere in the U.S.?

 

my dealer is so stupid... i really hope that my car is "on water"
i have one of the cars in the first shipment (to my dealer, which is hopefully first allocation), so it should be.
________
FIX PS3

 

My car was a 2nd allocation pre-order. However, it was bumped up by Mazda to first allocation in place of 'dealer ordered' cars. His non pre-orders in first allocation still do not have VIN#.

The estimated July 3rd week is to the Dealer's door. First, it is supposed to take 30 days for ship to get to the East Coast. (So that would make port call around 29 JUN.) Next, they have to add emmissions gear and port options. Third, the cars then have to be trucked to dealerships. Unless there is some sort of glitch, I would figure these two steps may only require 2 weeks. Either way we are fairly on-track with the Mid-July delivery Mazda put out to the dealers in the email I posted here.

 

Ahh. I see. I didn't realize you were on the east cost. I'm smack in the middle of the country (ark) so I'm HOPING that mine will come in on the west coast. My dealer is still telling me end of june.

 

As in 'Arkansas'? What part? I'm originally from NW Arkansas.

 

Well, I am still hoping for the 3-4 week delivery timeframe when compared with the Miata. Either way, I ordered NO port options so I would guess that they only have to install the emissions equipment you speak of and then send it on its way. It also doesn't hurt being only 1.5 hours from Jacksonville.

 

Little Rock. Went to school in fayetteville though.

 

My salesman has been giving me vague and optimistic build / arrival dates, which were contridicting the dates on this board, so I never believed him. I finally gave up on him and emailed rx8orders@mazdausa.com. I mailed them on Saturday, and suprisingly they replied at 2pm today.

I ordered my car on 02/13/2003, but they had an RX-8 just like I wanted unspoken for on the first allocation. So the dealer put my name and email on the order. Rx8orders said that my name wasn't on the pre-order system even though my salesman said he'd do it. But the rx8orders guy called my dealer's sales manager and informed him to do so This is really confusing since I got the book but my name is not on the system.

Well, I just called the sales manager (not my clueless salesman), and he pulled up the inventory. All of those bad experiences just disappeared when he told me the good news, "ON WATER" (!) Estimated Arrival is 3rd week of July.

To sum up:
VIN JM1FE173740101155
Lightning Yellow GT 6spd NAV
First Allocation
ON WATER
Arrives: 3rd week of July

Finally!!! My car is on its way!

 

waiting for paint to dry
vessel scheulding congestion (out bound from japan)
customs broker not doing their job
rail congestion
and of course, dealer general stupidity

i've seen schedule up to 90 days from factory to dealership

 

My dealer says: "Your vehicle's status is showing On Water- June 30th. When it hits port they will add all of the accessories then ship it on.
It is looking like the first RX8's aren't going to hit the dealerships until mid-July."

Does anyone know if "on-water June 30" means that it goes on the boat on June 30, or that it is on the boat now and will be at port June 30?

 

What I don't understand about the Mid-July delivery is... why would it take only 3-4 weeks to get a Miata and 4-6 weeks to get an RX-8. I mean they are both produded in Hiroshima. This is even more true if NO port options are to be installed. Any thoughts?

 

I was told port installed options don't really hold a car up. The car has to spend time in port anyway. Also they aren't going to load a truck up with 2-3 cars that may not have any port options and then a couple days later put 2-3 more on another truck. So they will wait until they have enough "ready" cars that go to the same area.

Anyway I have had a VIN since the 23rd and still no updates as of yet. I also don't have the dang book either.

 

ETD 6/30
ETA 7/9-10

 

Unions. Remember the dock workers strike in California a year or so ago, backed up everything imported into the US West Coast ports by weeks? Damn unions. They unload the ships, move the cars to storage lots, then eventually load the cars for transport. Depending on port options installation, customs paperwork, arranging ready cars according to common destinations, loading rail cars, it's pretty normal for cars to spend anywhere from 2 weeks to 4 weeks in port. THEN you've got rail transport to local freight terminals, then more Unions unloading into local storage lots, then grouping cars for truck transport to local dealer destinations. Add another week minimum!

Regards,
Gordon

 

All of this is well and good but that still does not explain how a Miata coming from the same port arrives in 3-4 weeks to the dealer and an RX-8 will take 4-6 weeks. Luckily, my car only has to make a pit stop on the West Coast and then continue on to Jacksonville, FL.

Anyway, a watched pot never boils. We'll get them when we get them.

 

The Miata that takes 3-4 weeks may have already been in country. Since the car has an on-going production schedule, the cars show up every so often. And would have nearly every concievable color/factory option combination. And the dealers can check the inventory of any other dealer to locate a specific match. In the case of the RX-8, this IS all of them, for now So we are experiencing the REAL WORLD shipping/transportation time. And if you are on the East Coast your car probably will not be stopping in California. It will take the scenic route through the Panama Canal. At least that's the route for Northeast deliveries. I would think Southeast is the same.

Comparing the delivery times of Miatas to RX-8s is like...
comparing pistons to rotaries:D (Sorry, it just came to me an I had to say it:p)

 

It could be related to customs. The Miata's have been entering the country for sale for many years but the RX-8 is entering for the first time. Their maybe a more rigourous inspection of the RX-8 for a little while. Its just a guess.

 

north east delivery will come thru LA or seatle

the logistics of the vessel coming thru LA and then rail thru the US is cheaper

Baltimal/NY/norfolk has strike going on against one particular steamship company.
just for reference, it takes the vessel 10 days from Jap to LA, and 35-45 days to pass the panama canal. not to mantion the congestion in panama and peak season of shipping had begun.

trust me, i deal with it everyday 3-4 wks delivery time after the vessel arrives is GOOD

6-8 wks delivery is normal

it will not be hold up by customs, all emission related testing was done about a month before mass production arrival. the emission test for EPA/DOT/CARB is certified with "specs" MAZDA submit the specs of the rotary and the government does their calculation to approve. All customs has to do when the units arrive is to submit which vin is coming into the US, and it's all eletronics, total process takes about 24 hours

i'll find out what's the procedures for "port install option" are. but i've always think of it as BS for delay and to jack up the price

i work for one of the maufacture but i don't do Auto, i do logistics of other products

 

How could it possibly be cheaper to rail them from the West coast than ship them from Jacksonville??

 

distribution net work and all in rate with the steam ship lines

big volume discount

you know the destination charge we pay? that's proabably 3/4 of what mazda pays to ship the car to you nearest dealership