Shaefer and Strohminger Mazda in Baltimore, MD had 4 2004 RX-8s they were selling for $4,500 under invoice. Yes, four thousand, five hundred, they faxed me the invoice sheet and in the margins there were some notes: $4,000 Mazda incentive, $500 dealer cash.


I bought their blue one four weeks ago today. They were all brand new and nicely loaded with options.

They are not offering additional MAC or other rebates which you may hear about for the 2005s, but I felt it was a good enough deal as is. I drove ~300 miles from Corning, NY. Best reason to take a day off I'd had in a long time.

I definitely rate that dealership as "good guys". The sales manager, salesman and finance manager were all straight-forward, no b.s. types.

I had a nearly d.o.a. trade-in. Busted out `95 Subaru with 147,000 miles which needed $3,000 in repairs and new tires to get a new NY inspection sticker for the winter. I couldn't have sold it for much so I asked the sales manager if he'd give me $500 for this trade sight unseen. He said he'd give me $500 for any car I could drive from NY to MD so we had a deal. That saved me the hassle of selling it myself and the extra $100 for a one-way rental or double-gas to get a drop off.

Watch out for scammers though. A week before I found these left-over 2004s a guy named Mark Southard called me from Shultz Sales & Leasing (716-372-1400). He said he had found a brand new 2004 RX-8 in blue, (exact same options as the one in Baltimore and same mileage) and offered to sell it to me for invoice price. In hindsight it appears he wanted to pocket $4,500 for brokering this deal for me - how nice.