msrecant

All good things must come to an end ...

My 8 was a pre-order that I got on 7/18/2003. I sold it exactly six years and 30K miles later on 7/18/2009 in preparation to moving back to a roadster. With the exception of a coil/cat failure last June, the car ran perfectly for me the entire time I had it. The last drive (on the way to Carmax) was as impressive as as my first drive when I picked it up from the dealer. The 8 is an amazing driving machine. Despite having four seats/doors there was NEVER any question that it is a true sports car.

My daughter is older now so she can sit up front with me. Two weeks ago I finally found my ride, a 2008 Miata GT 6-speed with power hard top and only 4,500 on the odo (see attached). Not quite the performance level of the 8 but I have missed having a convertible ever since I sold my 1993 Miata to buy the RX-8. The PRHT is the best of both worlds ... coupe and convertible.

I will miss the room, comfort, power and handling that I had in the RX-8. I will also miss all the help from the people on this forum.

Kane

iTrader: (1)

Props for keeping it Mazda; don't worry the MX5 can be made nice and fast with a little work.

Gr8Bullet

iTrader: (5)

mazda all the way!!! god luck man!

CyberPitz

Nice switch! The only one I would make if I wanted a roadster. You don't have to say goodbye to us, though! There are plenty of people who don't own an 8 and still frequent the boards.

pcs

iTrader: (2)

GL with the miata... I'm surprised you went through carmax though. I would think you could get a better deal going private party...

Leonardo Rosas

wait i thought the miata was faster than the RX8?
nice car btw ... mazda power

ipb

mscamp02

iTrader: (3)

at least you stuck with a good looking car

kvndoom

There ya go- keep it in the family!

msrecant

You are absolutely correct, a private party sale would have been much better.

Unfortunately, while I love the 8, the RX-8 is not a car that I would sell to a friend (or a stranger who might have a gun at home). It has too many idiosyncrasies. I had no trouble living with it but I was always careful and I was happy to live with the risks (like a coil failure taking out the Cat). It's not a car for a "regular driver". I have met too many "regular drivers" who bought the 8 for its looks/performance and ended up hating the car.

My RX-8 was in great shape but even I knew it may have run to 150K mile or it may have needed a new engine in 2K miles. You just don't know. For an RX-8 enthusiast this is not a problem, but I didn't know any enthusiasts who were looking when I was selling.

Hence I decided to trade it in. Carmax gave me the best price ($2K over what the Mazda dealer was offering).

kersh4w

iTrader: (3)

for that extra oomph.

http://www.good-win-racing.com/Mazda.../61-0214B.html

:D

Shoafb

Nice choice.

Convinced my wife to make the change a couple of years ago and have been very happy with the car. PRHT is awesome.

CarAndDriver

Congrats and best of luck! We'll miss a regular poster. Hope you go and find a good MX-5 board to call home!

blackenedwings

No reason to leave the board just because you got an MX-5... there are quite a few folks around who formerly owned 8s or just enjoy the board. Some even have MX-5s now. Congrats on the new car, the MX-5 is a great car.

renesisgenesis

I am actually considering getting an 06 or newer miata, or an 03 or older s2000. Does your miata have an LSD? and how much extra do you think it is for that nifty electric hard top? nice car by the way and i love the interior color choice.

msrecant

Thanks!

I was specifically looking for a 2008 with the suspension kit so the car does have the bilstein shocks and the LSD. This was a bear because the only way to tell if a used Miata has the suspension kit is to look in the wheel well for the yellow bilsteins. I was constantly phoning salesmen asking them to go out and look under the car for me.

Typically the power hard top will add $2K to a Miata (new or used). 2007 was the first year they offered it. You can also always add the old-style removable hard top to any softtop Miata after the fact, again for an additional $2-$2.5K.

I was also looking at S2000s. There are a lot of them out there for pretty good prices. I can't explain why I chose the Miata over the S2K, just something about the Miata suited me better. Speaking of roadsters, I would love to have a Boxster, which is much more comparable to the RX-8 performance level, but they are just plain expensive. Let's see ... a one year old pristine Miata with 4.5K miles for the same price as a 9 year old pristine Boxster S with 40K miles. Not much of a choice.

alz0rz

iTrader: (41)

Au revoir.

loco4rx8

You did the same thing I did. I had my 8 for six years, too (but it had 124,000 miles!). If you haven't already, check out the miata.net board. Nice folks there, too.

Good luck with your Miata!

msrecant

Yeah, I found it about a year ago. Good people. Don't seem quite as technical as the people here.

TQCuong3th

iTrader: (1)

that was sad what i just read i about to cry man lol

StealthTL

iTrader: (1)

We will miss you, long time active member......

Good luck!

S

Huey52

iTrader: (2)

Enjoy msrecant. I sometimes contemplate going this pure 2-seater hybrid roadster-coupe route myself.

I'm sure you know you can throw a nice Cosworth on your MX-5 and get significant performance.

Alternatively there are some 2005 MazdaSpeed MX-5's out there with add-on hard tops.

edit: oops, I see the Cosworth SC was already linked. I'd definitely consider it.

Shijin-Kun

iTrader: (1)

good luck with the miata, your old rotary engine is crying somewhere missing its old master.

rodjonathan

iTrader: (6)

nice switch maybe some day youll be back in the 8