RX-8 Questions
 

Hello everyone,

i am thinking of purchasing an RX-8 with the GT package, 6 disk cd player, and navigation system i have been quoted $32k for the car i was wondering if this seemed steep or not.

also has anyone here had any major problems with thier cars? With the engines, transmissions etc...

Is the resale value for this car good or bad?

are there any good sites to buy aftermarket parts to enhance the interior/exterior/performance.

i test drove an RX-8 today and i loved how it felt driving it. everything was smooth even when the tacometer hit 8k.

anything you can tell me about how you like your cars and what you dislike about them would be great.

thanks :)

I can't answer all of your questions but being as how I just bought one on Friday, here is what I can tell you.

I shopped mine through the internet. Dealers in my area seemed agreeable to 3% over invoice plus their "Dealer Prep" which was averaging around $600 in my area.

Keep in mind you still have taxes and any kind of title transfer fee after that.

I was able to get mine for 3% over invoice plus about $300 dealer fee. Maybe not a *great* deal but I was comfortable with it.

Your options at Invoice are:

$30,741

If you add 3% to that ($922) plus let's say a dealer prep of $600 you come to $32,263. Throw in the Taxes for your area (in mine, 6.5% 0r $2,098) and Tag Transfer ($120 or so) and I would not personally pay anything over $34,500 for that car OUT the door.

The only other fee you may consider would be Extended Warranty and GAP insurance if they have it in your area (case your car gets wrecked or stolen and insurance only pays CURRENT value and you are upside down on your loan which can really suck).

Offer them 2.5% over invoice plus $300 dealer prep, firm, promise them a quick transaction, line up your financing or whatever in advance, and work from there. Should start you around $33,500 even and be willing to pay up to $34,500.

Just my advice.

EDIT: Massive Math Errors sorry....fixed now

BTW another ploy that worked for me was to play the dealerships against each other. My opening line to the second dealership I went to was:

"This is what I have been offered by the other dealer. The problem is my particular car won't be arriving until January. If you can come in under XXX price, I'll walk off the lot right now with that car over there (obviously you have seen a car with what you want on it). It will be the quickest and easiest money you ever made."

With that approach I got absolutely no BS. They knew I was serious and they knew I'd walk. They didn't even put up a fight - the guy quickly checked with the manager and he came back smiling and agreeing. It also helps to go in late in the day when they all just want to get home - that last sale of the day for them is better than nothing.

actually the dealership told me invoice for the car i want is $31,407 there are more options in it than what i specified i just listed the major ones. i am going to be buying the car outright without financing or trade-in.

to see the actual vehicle i am talking about Click Here.

anyone that has any feedback wether this would be a good purchase or not please let me know :) I have the dealership down to the price mentioned above for this vehicle.

After correcting my terrible miscalculation on math, my answer is yes, $32k + Tax/Tag is a fair price.

Sorry for some dumb reason I put you at Sport package instead of GT when I threw out those numbers.

Here is what I did.... I recommend it as a way to bargain for a car. I acknowledge that it can be stressful, but I believe it is the right way to go with car dealers.

First, I computed the invoice cost from Consumer Reports and Edmunds (they had the same numbers) and offered that plus the destination fee and $500. I explained that I had my money with me and was ready to go and that I would not pay anything more than that. I was polite, listened to what they had to say, talked a lot about what a great car it was, but made clear that I would only be happy with the particular deal I was offering and was willing to wait for the price to drop if I had to. I walked on two dealerships that each got close, but didn't quite get there. I bought the car from the third dealership that did. I was shocked when he said "fine." He was located 60 miles from my house, but he was the first to agree, so he won the deal.

Of course, the market where you are will control whether you get the car at a given price, but picking a dollar over invoice and sticking to it seemed to work for me as I had hoped. No percentages, no MSRP. Just a particular dollar amount as "profit." That way you can add any option you want to the car and know that the deal is not changing and there is no incentive to sell you things you don't want.

Some people on this board have paid invoice or less, so don't be shy about offering $200 over invoice as an opening if you can stand it. If you can keep a straight face, offer invoice. The key is really just being serious and sticking to it. If you don't get a particular car, don't worry about it... If you take your offer to two or three dealers and they don't seem interested in you, you may need to rethink the amount you're offering... you can always go back.

I must say that I did run into problems with the "Mazda ad fee," and I ended up paying it, so you might accuse me of violating my own rules. Each of three dealerships I visited told me that there would be a $329 additional charge on the particular car I wanted. The one dealership explained that it was calculated in Chicago as a percentage of the invoice cost and that it went directly to Mazda as a cost of acquiring the car. In the end, I had to add the $329 to my $500 "profit" offer to get the deal. I could tell that once I did that, they got much more serious. Since all three dealers were consistent on the charge and would not waive it after I pushed hard, I am fairly sure they were not lying about having to pay it.

At the time I bought my car, CU reported that there were no dealer holdbacks on the RX-8. If you find that there is a dealer holdback, offer less money accordingly.

Also, please remember that you need snow tires living in Vermont. No doubt about it. My guess is that it will cost between $1200-$2000 for new rims and tires, about half if you just put on tires. Read Gordon's post top to bottom on snow tires for the necessary info! This time of year it may be difficult to find tires that fit.

Good luck.

thanks for your information so far i have a dealership that has an rx8 with everything but the apearance package and the dealership has dropped to $32,607. the local dealership wants $34k for the same car which doesnt have the apearance or the navigation system. i just emailed them telling them about the other deal i have and that i expect them to lower thier price considerably because it doesnt have the navigation system.

what is a good place to find tires and rims for the winter? i have no problems parking it for the winter but i am sure there are websites where i could get the snow tires. if after i get snow tires and rims if it drives like crap it will be parked for the winter.

thanks for everything.

Joe Crawford Jr.

Tire Rack at www.tirerack.com is a good place to start. More importantly, find and read the threads on this forum about winter tires (just search for 'winter tires', and you'll find plenty of threads in this section, the Tires and Wheels section, and in the Canada regional section). There is a wealth of information from discussions that started back in August. To sum up - the OEM summer tires are completely useless and dangerous in winter conditions; proper winter tires transform the RX-8 into a very capable winter vehicle. I've been running on winter tires for 2 1/2 months now, and have zero problems getting around in snow and ice conditions. I've taken the car skiing into the mountains a few times also, and it does extremely well. No worries about it driving like crap with winter tires.

Regards,
Gordon

idleOne,

Congratulations! You will love your new car. I agree with Megareds about negotiating but I would like to bring up another factor in your bargaining tools. It's winter!!! How many people are test driving small sporty cars in the winter? I will bet that your dealerships are struggling to get people into their RX-8's. I purchased mine on 10/20/03 and when I first walked in I told the salesperson that I wouldn't pay more than invoice and since winter was coming they wouldn't see a lot of customers for this car. They wouldn't match my request so I went to a different dealer where they did and the second dealer also gave me what I wanted for my trade. You will do better if your are polite but firm. All together I paid $33,585 which included the GT package, Nav, rear spoiler, an extended warranty, gap insurance, taxes and licensing.

I am sure that my dealer would be happy to deliver a car to you if your dealers are not interested in making an offer. They treated me quite well and are asking me to refer new business their direction. If you are curious then send me a P/M and I will give you the info.

Good Luck...

Joe -

Allow me to add one thing to Gordon's summary of snow-tire issues, although I realize I'm a bit off topic. Since it does affect the true "price" of the car, however, an argument can be made for posting on this issue in this thread...

In the U.S., the car is equipped with four pressure sensors that ride on the rims. They are approximately $89 each and cannot be fitted to all rims. If you use the stock rims and buy 18" tires for your car to swap each season, the sensors can be transferred, provided the person who mounts and balances the tires knows how to do it. (There is a service bulletin on this - you can get it on this board if you need it). The alternative is to remove the sensors when the tires are swapped or not buy them if you purchase a rim/tire package, and simply cover the tire-pressure sensor warning light on the dash.

I found the dealerships are very unhelpful when it comes to tires. One service person even told me that the car didn't need winter tires... don't believe it. If you elect not to buy winter tires, please drive the car only in ideal conditions. I tried to garage my 8 in early December, but I just didn't have the necessary self control and found myself driving from time to time in flurries. I ended up buying a 17" wheel/tire package from TireRack. It was $1492, without sensors.

Good luck again...

PS: I'd really wish I were at Killington right now...

I paid 250 over invoice yesterday. 6 speed GT with everything except nav and the appearance package.

31,900 out the door.

MEGAREDS killington is awesome... i have been there once to snowboard but never for the night life... i hear it is considered the bourbon street of the north tho.. maybe when i get my rx i will ride up there and pick up some of the hottie tourists LOL women that are in ski/board clothes are sexy hahaha...

if you ever come back to killington you will have to contact me :) we could go out or something provided you like to do that... How old are you by the way? i am 23 turning 24.

Joe

Sadly, I think my days at Killington are behind me...
when I was there last, the snow board had not been invented. ;)

LOL get back there :)P