mac

Hmm, Mazda is playing word games. The letter stated that if your contract was dated before August 26 you would be offered the buy back. However when I went to sign the papers today, I called MCI to confirm that I qualified for the buy back option. They said no, I only qualify for the $500 discount+ service if I take possession of the car TODAY. As of Monday, you get squat just the option not to take the car!!! So-o-o I was a little pissed off to say the least. My Mazda rep called him back to say that his letter says Aug 26 but MCI said that it is no longer valid and sent him an updated letter that somehow didn't make it to the dealership Anyways, I got an extension until Wednesday to decide if I want the car or not. I completed all the paperwork so that if I take it, it will be ready. Mazda is doing everything to turn me off their products. I have nothing but praise for my dealer.

Wing

Did you test drive it????? What good is another week without a test drive?

mac

I was in Vancouver, I knew that this was time critical, so I booked a return flight for today with 4 hours layover. I only had about 10 minutes to do the test drive. Unfortunately I passed 5 police cars during my test drive. We go on the 105 to open it up, my rep is telling me that there is rarely any cop cars. So just as I was about to give it a little juice, I see a cop pull over a driver up ahead. 1 km further there is another cop sitting on the side of the road. We get off in Chelsea to try our luck in the twisties. Between Chelsea and Hull I pass 3 other police cars. WTF??? I did crank it once from 100 to 150 in 4th for a very short burst. It took about 3 sec, not bad, faster then my Teg but not by much (tried it on my way to the airport). The 8 is definetly faster then my Teg once it gets going, but it isn't much better on take off. My biggest gripe with the short test drive was the lightness of the steering wheel. You do feel the road but I wish I could turn down the power assist a notch or two across the board. The test drive wasn't nearly long enough to convince me to plunk $47k and change on this car.

During my extremely limited test drive with a car with 15km on the odometer, I have to say that it is more in line with the RSX, TSX, Mazda 6v6 ie 220hp or less then cars that hover around the 250hp. Better quality but doesn't feel significantly faster. Before I get jumped on by those who say that a butt dyno can't feel the difference, I was driving an Altima 3.5s for 4 days (1000km) this week and tried an acquaintances G35c for about 200km. I don't know if it is because of the low torque. I think I'll go test drive the SooK to see how it feels since it also has low torque. The car is fast enough for me at revs higher then 4k but then what will happen to the MPG? I fear that my logical side will win, had I had the car for a couple of weeks I could have been convinced to take my chances. Now Mazda risks loosing me to a different car.

Got to go, my plane is boarding.

Ciao

Wing

Odd, I saw police out today too, must be something up.

But anywho, at least you got to drive it! Heck I didn't take the car past 100km/h on the drive, it was mostly 40km/h!

I'm taking a week off work in the middle of sept, I'm thinking of going for some test drives. TSX really is the only other car I want to look at. I drove it before, but dont' remember it enough.

Roadrunner

It would seem resonable, if you had a purchase contract before Aug 26, but are waiting for the car to arrive you get the $500 & service rebate or the option to rip up the contract with deposit returned.


I signed a contract on Aug 20, the car is on rail, actually should have arrived at the dealer this week...maybe next. The dealer told me 9 days ago that the paper work for the $500/Service rebate could be signed when I go to pick up the RX-8. I have not received a letter from MCI.

mac

Hey Roadrunner, if what the MCI guy told me is true, you may not qualify for the $500 + service if you haven't taken possession of the car yet. I hope that he was mistaken.

Roadrunner

Hello Mac
I talked to my dealer this morning, they have been invoice by MCI, and said the car will be at the dealer on Monday, plan on picking up it on Tuesday.

I will call both MCI & the dealer on Monday to ensure I still qualify for the 500/rebate offer....not my fault it took 2 weeks to get here after changing from Port to rail status.

Will post again Monday.

mac

Yeah, that was my comment to MCI. Mine was on rail before Aug 26. They didn't seem to care. Good luck! Hope you get the deal.

broose

I spoke to both my dealer and MCI this morning. I got word that my car arrived on Friday but some of the accessories that I've ordered for it are on backorder until Sept. 18th. My dealer assured me that I would still be eligible for the MCI offer as I had ordered back in March and my order was faxed to MCI at that time.

I had called MCI when I first heard about this whole compensation situation and was assured that I was on the list to receive the letter. My car was "at port" at that time. I have not received the letter yet and have been told that the letter has only been sent to people who have taken delivery and plated their car. I was advised today that the letter will be given to me by the dealer when I take delivery.

MCI told me that I shouldn't take delivery of the car if my intent is to return it. That is not my intention but since I haven't driven one yet, I'll have to see. I have an appointment to go and see it and drive it tomorrow. They also want to make up a new bill of sale adding my accessories (I'll need that for my insurance anyway to make sure I'm covered for them). I will make sure that in no way jeopardizes my eligibility to receive MCI's offer. There's no way I'm handing over my copy of the original bill of sale.

mac

The letter that you will get from the dealer is that you acknowledge that the RX-8 is 238 hp. It no longer has the option to return the car. Since I hadn't had the chance to properly test the car either, I needed the buy back option if they wanted me to sign on the dotted line. I was only offered the option of refusing the car or getting the $500. I said that it would have to wait until my return, at that point MCI said that the offer was to expire that week. Those taking possession the following week would only have the option to refuse delivery and get their deposit back. I think there is some leaway in the cutoff date since they extended mine until my return this Wednesday. So if you take possession of your car this week, you will most likely get the option to buy the car with $500 rebate or refuse it. I was not offered the buy back and would be very interested to know if they offer it to you.

broose

I'm not really that concerned with the buy back option anyway. I'll drive the car tomorrow and form my opinion of it then. I have been waiting for a car like this for a long time and am very much looking forward to getting it. It's everything I want with regards to style, functionality and I hope, performance. I'm more concerned with being eligilble for the $500 check and the free service. Having ordered it back in March, there's no reason why I should not be eligible. It's not my fault it took them 6 months less a day to get the car to my dealer.

I don't plan on taking delivery of the car until all the accessories are installed. If my backordered accessories fall back to delivery after October 1st, I'll have to take the car and the compensation and come back.

You might be wondering why I'm not taking the car now that it's in and bring it back when the balance of the accessories are in. The reason is I already have 2 cars - a 99 Contour SVT and a 96 Probe GT. I'm trying to sell the Probe. For now, I still have it and can't really have 3 cars (plus my wife's) hanging around. Not to mention that I don't wnat to fork out the insurance money for the third car. I'd much rather just pay the difference between the 8 and the Probe. If I can sell the Probe before the 18th, I might be making arrangement to pick the 8 up as is and bring it back for final installation of the accessories.

Know anyone who wants a 96 Probe GT?

Roadrunner

I picked up my Titanum yesterday, it sure is sweet.

The dealer had me sign a document that I was aware that the HP rating had been reduced from 247 to 238.

He did not have any rebate documents for me to sign, but ensured me I was qualified since I ordered/deposit on Aug 20.
Since was after 6:00 pm I was not able to phone MCI customer relations to double check.

I called MCI this morning, short hold, took my VIN & dealer name,
said they would look into it......20 minutes later they returned my call, said I was qualified, the rebate letter was mailed out yesterday.... just sign it & return with the original invoice.

I will post a picture after I Zaino it.

canzoomer

Here is the letter people are getting now:

Dear Customer:

Thank you for placing an order for a 2004 Mazda RX-8. You'll soon have a chance to experience everything the car has to offer -power, space and style -and I hope you'll find it to be one of the world's truly great sports cars.

Because we're always looking for ongoing improvement in the vehicles we produce, we have continued testing and analysis of mass-production RX-8 engines. Through this testing, we have determined that the vehicle is making approximately four-percent less horsepower than we had originally calculated. As a result, the published horsepower rating of North American-specification vehicles will change from 247 to 238 horsepower, and from 207 to 197 horsepower for automatic-transmission vehicles.

However, the revised horsepower rating has not affected the RX-8's performance. Acceleration testing of production cars has shown similar performance to pre-production cars, which were tested by independent enthusiast magazines, returning 0-60mph times in the low six-second range and mid-14-second quarter-mile times.

While four-percent is a very small difference in peak output, it is nevertheless not the number we originally published. Therefore, to ensure your complete satisfaction with Mazda and the RX-8, we're offering you two options:

. Free factory scheduled maintenance for the balance of the new vehicle comprehensive warranty (36 months/80,000 kilometres) AND a $500 cheque.

-OR-

. A full refund of the deposit you placed for the purchase of your 2004 Mazda RX-8

You have until October I, 2003 or prior to delivery of your RX-8, to respond on the attached form with your selection. We value you as a Mazda customer and if you have any concerns we invite you to call our Customer Relations Department at Mazda,Canada Inc.

Sincerely
Mike Benchimol
President
MazdaCanadaInc.

------------8<---------------------8<----------------8<----------------


PRE-SELL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This acknowledges the undersigned's agreement to accept the Offer marked below. The undersigned has been informed by Mazda-Canada Inc. about the change in horsepower rating and accepts the Offer as full and complete resolution of any claim he/she may have against MCI and any of its authorized dealers.

_ I wish to accept Offer 1, free scheduled maintenance for the balance of the factory warranty (total of 36 months/80,000 kilometres, whichever comes first). This offer is only for the original purchaser and is not transferable. In addition, I will receive a $500 cheque. I understand that the maintenance will be registered against my vehicle and my cheque will be processed once the dealer reports to Mazda that I have taken delivery of my 2004 RX-8

_ If you wish to discuss the option of having the deposit you placed for a 2004 Mazda RX-8 refunded, please contact your selling dealer.