Thought I'd share my mods!
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Joined: Oct 2007
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From: Owings Mills, near Baltimore MD
Except realistically neither... he added MUCH weight back to the base car, and I see no mention of heated seats... Though, aftermarket leather is a softer, more durable alternative to factory in most circumstnaces.
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Joined: Sep 2005
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From: Mineola, TX
Well, I like it. I've always kinda been a fan of upgrading a base car to a higher trim level piece by piece. Perhaps it doesn't make any sense to some but there is a certain satisfaction to be had from doing it. Everything fits perfectly, everything works right, the styling is spot on... Just feels nice.
he already said he got an insane deal for it. He can prob sell it as a base and still make all his money back, not to mention he owns it outright removing the chance of inequity (which is nice in these cars)
Toyo Kogyo => Mazda
Joined: Jun 2006
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From: Los Angeles - Arcadia - Monterey Park - La Jolla
I had the leather done at an upholstery shop that I have been using for over ten years down in San Diego. I didn't car to go aftermarket on this car, I really like the factory look of the appearance package. Its subtle but sporty. I work for Mazda and this car was a One Owner lease return. Due to my position, I bought the car (cash) for well below its normal selling price. Looking at the book value on the car the worth of it is still way above the combined cost of me buying the car and all the money I put into it. So, I am still way ahead of the game here and have a better looking car out of the deal!
which upholstery shop in san diego? i live around there so i'm interested in doing a black/white leather conversion haha. and how much was it if you dont mind me asking?
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Joined: Feb 2008
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From: Bay Area, CA
I did in fact add heated seats! I added virtually no weight to the car, save for the light weight plastic pieces of the Apperance Package. Other then that, no weight added. I use Jim's Auto Upholstery on Armor street in San Diego. Ask for Brenda and tell her Dustin sent you in. The price I pay is not what regular customers would, so Im not sure how much it would be to replicate what I had done. Since everyone seems so curious, I bought the car for 7K. I added 4K worth of mods and I have a mint condition RX8 with only 20K miles, fully loaded for a total of 11K invested. The KBB Private Party Value of my car is currently $16,255 - 17,210. So at the worst I am $5,255 a head of the game and NO car payment what so ever! Like what I did to the car or not, I came out a winner here.
dude, nice ******* job. holy crap. congrats. i paid 20k for essentially the same car. except i have DSC/TC. i have a GT with the red/black, all options but nav. if i could have, i definitely would have gone your route. im impressed.
i dont like the heavy power seat the driver has. i also dont like the factory leather. i've been in bmws for a good section of my life and going to mazda leather is horrible.
i dont like the heavy power seat the driver has. i also dont like the factory leather. i've been in bmws for a good section of my life and going to mazda leather is horrible.
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Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 614
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From: Owings Mills, near Baltimore MD
I did in fact add heated seats! I added virtually no weight to the car, save for the light weight plastic pieces of the Apperance Package. Other then that, no weight added. I use Jim's Auto Upholstery on Armor street in San Diego. Ask for Brenda and tell her Dustin sent you in. The price I pay is not what regular customers would, so Im not sure how much it would be to replicate what I had done. Since everyone seems so curious, I bought the car for 7K. I added 4K worth of mods and I have a mint condition RX8 with only 20K miles, fully loaded for a total of 11K invested. The KBB Private Party Value of my car is currently $16,255 - 17,210. So at the worst I am $5,255 a head of the game and NO car payment what so ever! Like what I did to the car or not, I came out a winner here.
Sometimes people need that hammerred home. This would have been a poor decision had you paid retail for a base, retail for mods, and then you still got tired of it in a year. The final conclusion as you have it, includes very sound reasoning.
I thought about it like I think of people that want to change the color of their cars... 9 times out of 10 its better to trade and buy again for a color change or an AUTO/Manual swap... You are one of the 1 in 10 crowd with this creation. Congrats.
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Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 125
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From: Australia
I had the leather done at an upholstery shop that I have been using for over ten years down in San Diego. I didn't car to go aftermarket on this car, I really like the factory look of the appearance package. Its subtle but sporty. I work for Mazda and this car was a One Owner lease return. Due to my position, I bought the car (cash) for well below its normal selling price. Looking at the book value on the car the worth of it is still way above the combined cost of me buying the car and all the money I put into it. So, I am still way ahead of the game here and have a better looking car out of the deal!
You are wrong. Steering wheel, shifter and seat facia is leather, door trim and optional handbrake are vinyl.
Flip the back seat cushion out and look at the edges - leather. (and made in Italy tag!)
S
Flip the back seat cushion out and look at the edges - leather. (and made in Italy tag!)
S
