Just wondering. If at the time you bought your car and the RX-8 was not available, what would you have purchased instead (assuming you really needed to buy a vehicle)?

For me, I got my RX-8 this past December. I looked at all the other sports cars but really needed a rear seat for the baby so I went to my Mazda dealership to test drive a RX-8 and Mazdaspeed 6. I didn't even get to the MS6 'cause I was sold on the 8 after the drive. So I guess I'd be a MS6 owner now if the RX-8 didn't exist or if the test drive on the MS6 was bad I might have spent up to $10k more for an Infiniti G35. I'm glad to have the 8 .

 

The list was (in order I wanted)

- Saturn Sky Redline
- Porsche Boxster S
- RX8
- 350Z

So glad I ended up with the 8, proves my wife knows me better than I know myself.

 

I liked the RX8 but I was trying to decide in my head what I want more. Fun/power/gas mileage/life.

I was between GT/GTO/SI/GTI/WRX/RX8 and a few others.

Price of gas and insurance took the v8's out of the picture. GTI is nice but I hear lots of bad about VW's so I skipped on that. WRX had really high insurance also.

I test drove them all, but was pretty happy with the Rx8 and picked it.

I could afford any of the cars but I like to, have money go into my back accounts every month, not just to bills.
Unless the Rx8 just turns into a total pc a crap in the future I plan to keep it forever.

 

BMW 330i

After test driving the RX-8, I could not justify the $15,ooo extra the Beemer was going to cost.

They are different cars. One is aluminum. One is lead.

 

In order of what i wanted first (not by the best car IMO, but by just what i was in the mood for before really researching that particular car)

-G35 (turned out wayy too expensive for what it is)
-350z (way to cramped for me)
-IS300 (great car, but post 2002 is expensive for what it is)
-rx8 (justt right)


on further note, im deciding my next car..heh i love the 8, but gas is ridiculous

 

s2000, s2000, s2000

Even with the 8s existance I almost got one, the price difference between my gt and the s2k was around $8k so I went with the little rotary

 

Not sure...since I needed 4 seats. G35s are everywhere, too heavy, too expensive. STis were killers on insurance. If I went with 2 seats, the S2000 is killer on insurance anyway. Mustang - ugh, no.

Maybe an RSX Type-S...wow, that would of been boring.

 

CROSSFIRE!

 

WTF? No one has even mentioned the Crossfire yet!

I was looking at Jags, Beamers, Mercedes, etc. Then I happen to remember how much I liked my '88 turbo 626 and I decided to look at the RX line(I didn't want the 6 this time). I always like the look of the RX8 and once I got in and drove one.........I was hooked! It's like a drug!

 

350z

 

I would more than likely be stuck in the Mitsubishi Montero Limited. Like the wife likes.
But no I am a MAN and I put my foot down (for a year and a half) and got my RX-8.
Never had to lobby so hard in my life. Sheeeesh.

 

Was looking at the GTO, WRX, Cobalt SS S/c, 330i, Wrangler, CTS, and the Trans am...only reason I ended up with the 8 is cuz they lowballed the price so much that I really couldn't say no

 

540i m package 6 speed or a E36 M3

 

Probably a GTO or a 350z. That's about all I was looking at when I first saw the 8 was coming out.

 

g35, mustang, bmw 3 series

 

Toyota Corolla . . . . . yep, I work for a Toyota store, and I was gonna get the XRS model. But my employee cost on one was $5000 more than my RX8. So . . . .

 

Ha Ha.......look at the times of our two posts Ike! We must have been typing at the same time!

 

here are the cars that i was considering (with slightly optimistic prices via edmunds tmv)



oddly enough, my final choice came down between the Volvo S40 and the RX-8. two TOTALLY different cars. i'm glad that i didn't break down and make the "sensible" choice. i still am quite fond of the new-gen S40s, however. they feel well sorted, and yes, i know they're the same platform as the mazda3.

 

It came down to an 2002 e46 M3 or an 06 RX8. If the 8 wasn't around then I'd have ponied up the extra cash for the M3.

 

Funny thing is...when I bought my 8, I was on my way to Jeep to pick up a new Wrangler Rubicon 4 door. On our way to the Jeep dealership, my wife was online and found the RX8 (destined to be her car)! I've always considered it as a fine sports car but was put under the impression (by my wife) that sports cars were "off-limits" and that my sport driving days were over. Her argument was usually, "you still have the bike."

Then she surprised me! So we called my local Mazda dealer, looking for a used model, and they told us about the rebates. We bought it that night.

But, if I would've been looking for a sports car, at the time, my choices would have been:
a) RX8--$10k in rebates were too good to turn away from! Phantom Blue is the bestest color in the UNIVERSE!
b) Satrun Sky Redline--no matter how cool and fast it is...it's still a Saturn
c) S2k--no matter how cool and fast it is...it's still a Honda
d) 350Z--I was getting out of a 300ZX TT and was looking for something "different"
e) G35--proved NOT to be a 2+2 350Z, but a heavy, expensive, and overrated two door "luxury" car.
f) Miata--no matter how cool and fast it may be...it's a chick car


When considering the Jeep Wrangler, I also considered:
a) Hummer H3--overrated and expensive "ego" infation machine
b) Toyota FJ Cruiser--mucho blind spots, big, and heavy
c) Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Unlimited--drinks more gas than any sports car I could ever afford, I'll probably never forge a river or climb up the side of a mountain

 

well, I actually ordered a loaded Mazda3. The thing is with the ordering, they of course build it to your spec in factory and ship it over from Japan. I ordered the thing in late September, hoping for a Christmas delivery. During the wait, I would drop by the dealership just to look at the cars and talk to the salesman.

December came by and it looked liked my 3 wasn't going to make it in time before the end of the year. I saw the RX-8, and asked to test drive it and it was awesome... yadda, yadda, yadda, but figured I couldn't afford it.

Over the holidays in SA, my friend came into town and I he was looking for a car. He makes more money than I do, so I said "test drive an RX-8". We did. Funniest test drive of my life, all three of us (sales guy too) were over 6 feet tall, yet we managed to scrunch inside the 8. He loved it but decided against it.

At the new year, I was looking at the newspaper and the discount on a base RX-8 in San Antonio was only $1.5K more than my loaded Mazda3. So I said, "Why the hell not." And I got back my deposit and bought the RX-8 at the beginning of the year. The Mazda3 arrived a week later and went to someone else.

 

I test drove the GTO and GT before picking the 8. The other two cars just didn't feel as tight. The funny thing is 2 years later I'm now itching for the very HP and Tq I passed up. Been looking at used Ram SRT10's and thinking about getting one.

 

Yeah me too.

 

I was really looking at used m3's mid to late 90s models or a newer 330i . The beamers were fast - very fast . But I could not get over the plain looks .
I think it was then that I saw the top gear review of the 8 . I took one for a test drive & was not that impressed with the power but loved the looks .
Actually bought mine off Tademe (like Ebay here in NZ) & had to drive it about 800 miles to get home through some of the most awesome twisty roads on the planet . I think that during that drive home I became totally hooked .

 

This or an '04 WRX. They were both in the same car lot too, but the Rotary won my heart.

-Cody