I'm thinking of getting an rx8 for my first car. My limit is anywhere from 9-10k and I have about 700$ to spend on tint, system, and upgrades. I was wondering if a 2004 rx8 is not a good idea to buy as I've read it had many recalls and a lot of people seem to have problems with it. I love the style of the car, and it's pretty quick. I've just come here to hear your guys input

 

I recommend you get a car insurance quote first and foremost being it's your first car.

 

https://www.rx8club.com/new-member-forum-197/new-potential-owners-start-here-202454/

Read this entire thread.

 

Read that. Thanks.
Also did a quote and it looks like an estimated 200$ a month.
I really want an rx8 but I hope I find a reasonable good condition one.

I really like this rx8 http://southjersey.craigslist.org/cto/2885174692.html

 

Good luck with your search, and what kind of upgrades your talking about?

 

As far as tint goes you can easily get a quality job done for ~$200 with any darkness you want. The other 500 will not pay for much of anything honestly. A decent brand of exhaust will run you more than that, you could grab a mazdaspeed/aem CAI for the sound but don't expect any extra performance. Same goes for the exhaust, don't expect extra HP it is just for the sound.

If you are looking to drag race your buddies, find a different car.

 

Hopefully you will see what I did there, and take all of that as advice, and make the right decision.

But, since you sound young, and haven't learned full thought process, let me spell it out for you a bit more clearly.

With the amount of money you are going to spend on this, your very first ever car, you are pretty much limited to either an 04 or an 05, either in an automatic, or a manual (probably an auto if your parents have any say in it), and will most likely either have no warranty left, or will have high enough miles on it to either be very close to the end, or already gone.

These two years have had the highest failure rates for engines, by far.
Automatics much more so.
Lets put it this way, if you buy an automatic, and the engine needs to be replaced, and you have to pay for it out of pocket, it will cost you MORE than an engine for a 6 speed manual.

Second, and this is a question:

Are you (or your parents) going to be financing this car?
If yes, then you need to completely FORGET about taking that $700 you have for junk, and just pay off more of the loan. If you're as young as I am estimating you are, and this is going to be your very first car, the chances of it meeting a very bad end are much higher than if you were 37 years old, etc, etc.

In fact, if you did anything with that $700, it should be to pay for a compression test at you nearest Mazda dealer before you even buy the car. And if it passes with a good amount of margin, then you should spend the rest of it on New Spark Plugs, Wires, Coils, upgraded starter, Fuel Pump, and Battery, right off the bat.

Spend it on tint, and other crap before those bits are replaced, and your next thread will be "Why is my car hard to start?", or something along those lines. We see it here every single day. Then you tell us you can't afford to replace all of that stuff.

At the end of it all, if you are paying hundreds of dollars a month for the car if you are financing it, plus paying $200 more a month in insurance costs, you will also be paying several hundred more on gasoline. I'm guessing you aren't making very much money at the age I have you estimated at.

$2400 a year just for car insurance is not a good thing.
Its a very expensive car to own.
Much more so if you're young, and don't have a good, long insurance history to protect you from high insurance rates like this.

Honestly, buy a different car for your first car.
You will be better off.

BC.

 

hmmm. this has me so convinced lol. I want an rx8 tho I am in love with the car and I don't even own one. And I read that the 2004s have low failure rates if you take care and maintenance it. Hmm if not an rx8 what car?

 

If this is your first car, you want something easy on your wallet in terms of payments, insurance, and gas.

Unfortunately that doesn't usually equate to something as easy on the eyes as the RX8. My first car was a hand-me-down two tone brown 87 Bronco II. It was hideous but reliable (the engine and transmission had already been replaced before I got it) and cheap.

In retrospect, I'm glad I didn't get anything crazy because it took a long time for me to get a handle on financial responsibility and high car/insurance/maintenance payments would've been 200% counterproductive and probably effed my credit even more than it already was.

 

Yea but honestly I could afford it I would just have to start working to keep up with gas. I just like this car because its unique.

 

It certainly is that.

The best thing I could suggest would be to map out your income vs. expenses for each month. Make sure you're going to have enough for payments, insurance, gas, maintenance and then plenty of extra to kick back in case something goes wrong. If you are able to afford all of that and still have money to set aside for anything else you want to do or any bills you need to pay that aren't car related, then go for it.

The last thing you want to do is spend your every dime on this car and then have it break down or something and be SOL because you're completely tapped out.

Either way, I hope it works out for you.

 

The one and only answer: A Honda Civic.

Perfect first car for a young person. Reliable, good with gas, nice design (better looking than a Toyota Corolla IMHO) and you could probably put 300,000 miles in it without ever doing any maintenance

Also, as it was mentioned above, $200 a month for insurance is just crazy. That's a lot of money at the end of the year. If you cannot get a rate lower than that, then that means you are either under 25, or have no driving history record...or both, LOL.

So...before you buy any car, make sure you figure insurance and loan rates first. Many people forget about that, and then the big surprise comes when they sign the papers to close the deal

 

You aren't thinking clearly on this...Don't let your love for the 8 cloud your ability to think and reason...You WILL spend quite a bit of $$$ maintaining this car...My first year of ownership, I invested about 3k just on maintenance and proper upgrades.

The 8 is an amazing car, but it isn't so great when you don't have a warranty and you need a new engine...