CORenesis

Hey everyone, thanks for all your help on previous threads. All of the responses have helped me decide on what I am looking for in an RX8. Now the bad news. I went with my parents to the Mazda dealership today to look at a few cars for my mom and the RX8 for me. Unfortunately, the sales guy was very harsh on the 8 and may have killed my chances of getting one. As of now, the major problems my parents have with the car are the following:

Lack of Practicality: Not a lot of cargo space and they don't think the rear seats do anything.

Safety: I know its a sports car but how unsafe is it actually?

Insurance: I'm 19, good grades, in college, took drivers courses and no tickets so will it cost me an arm and a leg?

Reliability: This is what killed the deal for me. The car is ment to be driven hard and as a result the used ones aren't always in the best shape. I was looking at Manuals with under 20k miles.

If you guys have any feedback or any counterarguments please help me out.

Finally, this is the first car I have ever been involved with the actual buying so I had a few questions. First, should I buy from a dealer or an individual? If I buy from an individual and the car is under warranty, does it remain under warranty when I own it? Can I buy an extended warranty on a used Rx8?

Thanks for the help and I'm sure I'll come up with a few more questions.

kersh4w

iTrader: (3)

it has 4 doors. it has a 1.3 liter engine.

it has side impact airbags, as well as the standard driver and passenger side airbags. it has child seat safety locks. it has .... seatbelts! thats always a plus. seriously, its very safe. i think it has a 5 star roll over rating. which is the highest.

its very practical. i dont know what you are talking about. i have a really big friend, about 220lbs, 6'3" or so. he hits nicely in the back seat. little cramped getting, but he said he was comfortable once he was in. i've had my car (bought with just a smidge under 20k miles) for 10k miles so far. no problems whatsoever. its been really nice.

reliability: its as reliable as your maintenence of it. if you reliably take good care of it, it will take good care of you. expo (forum member) has over 100,000 miles on his car with no major problems i believe.

insurance. uh.. well you're on your buddy. im 21, no points on my license, in college, took drivers courses, have a 3.5+ gpa, and uh.. my insurance is like 4600/year i think. or 4200/year. somewhere around there. but my mom has really high premiums and a really low deductible. dont expect it to be lower than 3500/year unless you are part of the military.

hope this helps.

and the warranty is transferable. and yes you can buy extended warranties for it.

DarkBrew

Good luck

Groundrush

This car is quite safe. Airbags everywhere, stability control, traction control, antilock brakes, and as already mentioned, excellent rollover protection. They take hits well...just peruse the forums here for cars that have been in accidents.

Being 19, just about ANY car will have ridiculous insurance for you, and expect that to be amplified with a sports car...but since it has 4 doors and a 1.3L engine, reportedly insurance is quite affordable for younger drivers.

I have two kids and I have ALL the space I need. The trunk holds more than you'd think. If I can get by, with two kids, a wife, a carseat, and all kinds of paraphenalia, you should be fine.

As DarkBrew mentioned, consider gas mileage. If you're a broke college student, fueling this car might get pricey, and gas prices aren't going down anytime soon.

chancejat

iTrader: (2)

take them to look at one then show them all the air bags there everywhere like 8 or 9.........then let you dad take a test drive in it.......hell want you to buy it just so he can drive it every now and then

CORenesis

I'm looking up all sorts of statistics online and am finding some interesting stuff. Currently I have (Family Car) a 2007 A3. I can't bet Audi in safety but they are a lot closer then I thought. The Audi has better side impact ratings but worse roll over ratings. Also what is a curtain airbag? I always thought side and curtain were the same thing. Luckily gas is not a factor since I won't be commuting everyday. It is a good think the parents aren't looking for good gas millage or else I'd be screwed from the start.

velociti

iTrader: (1)

word. i just graduated from college and got my used 8 midway through my junior year. now i have a dope car, but i also live at home in order to pay it off. and in taking trips from philly to dc for new years and pittsburgh last weekend ill tell you that i can't get more than about 21 mpg, and that's driving conservatively. if i had to do it over again, i'd see if i could get a used civic or high mileage civic si...something a hell of a lot better on gas and a lot nicer on the pocketbook. take it from someone who bought an 8 in college: don't. i could be living with my best friend from college out in chicago trading stocks. instead i have a waxed silver eight sitting out front of my parents house. just think about it.

chancejat

iTrader: (2)

side air bags on the 8 on located on the seat the curtain bags are located on the upper trim area around the window

OSducky

Show them the top gear article and tell them that it handles really awesome, and then tell them show them a mustang forum or something where everyone calls the rx-8 "slow" and they won't go, also some fibs might be nice, like you heard theres a governer on it so it cant go over 124 MPH and most cars like this can, and that insurance wont be so expensive cause some places consider it a sedan. I didn't have to convince anyone though, I almost bought a Cobalt LT1, I was just looking for a car to "help build credit" and come to find out he was charging me $18,1 for a cobalt with 10,000 milies, and i was like, well if im paying that much i want a car that i REALLY like.

CORenesis

Thanks for all the feedback so far. I know what I'm getting myself into in regards to fuel/oil/and all the other rotary problems. I live in Colorado but go to school in Portland so this is a good time to own a car which may not be the greatest in the snow :P Also, can anyone explain to me how the extended warranty works? Can any RX8, regardless of where I got it, get an extended warranty? Also, any idea how much it costs? Thanks.

DonP

I think your going to have to pay for a car like that yourself.

987HYS

iTrader: (1)

Get a Job, and buy it yourself.

Thats what i did, im 22 in college and work 2 jobs for this car; YES its worth it! I bought mine new 2 years ago so if I can do it, i'm sure you can.

Good luck

KoDeD

My insurance is $1100 every 6 months, so $2200 a year. I have a red Rx-8 2004. I'm 18 in College, excellent grades. No accidents or tickets either. If that helps the insurance question.. it's not to bad. As for safety it's pretty highly rated. Reliability depends completely on how you take care of it. Drive the car hard, but keep the maintenance up to date.

YaXMaNGTO

Hey man, I know what you're trying to do... It would have been fun to have an RX8 while in college, but it's just not a good car to drive when youre 19 going to school.

Hell, you get your car beat to hell in the university parking lots and garages. Dumb *** kids who cant drive backing into you, and door dings galore. Your immature friends fart in your car as a joke. Pigeons crapping all over it, monster speed bumps ripping off parts. Y ou scratch up the paint on the driver side with your book bag. when you go to a party, *** hats sit all over your car, dent the hood, spill beer and barf all over it. Then you or your buddy barf in your car. youre 19 and you can't drive worth a shxt yet, so you end up rashing your wheels, bending the suspension costing thousands. You've run out of cash and you just want a pizza, so you fill up on crappy 87 octance gas and it runs like shxt. You drive to the opposing team's football stadium, and you forget to take off your university license plate bracket. your team wins and they flip your car over and set it on fire.

See? Get a pickup truck and wait until you graduate to get a decent car.

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

No problem, Thanks for intesting in Mazda's Rx-8, I'll try to help to answer some of your question.

If one wants cargo space, I'll tell that person to buy a truck.
If one wants to hold ppl, I'll tell that person to buy a bus.

Seriously, whats wrong with the car? it sits 4 comfty (assume that you're not all overweight), the trunk is a bit small, but it should be enough to hold stuff. What kind of space do you need? to be able to hold 10 bodies ?

It has all the safety features you can think of. all around airbags (optional), high crash ratings, almost impossible to roll over. Dynamic Stability control, Traction control, ABS. Low center of gravity. You can get a Honda Fit for 1/2 the price, but you will not have Stability control, Traction control, nor low center of gravity

It really depends on where you live, try to get the vin number, and run a check on geico.com. it might not be the lowest in your state. but at least it will give you a *better idea* on what it would be.

depends on your luck, some cars can fail the same day it was delivered. some can run for ages w/o any issues. you dont really have to drive it like you stole it, just rev and keep it @ high rpm for maybe 5 minutes every 2-3 days should be good. Trust me if you have this car, you WILL LOVE revving the **** out of it (ppl think u're trying to show off or crazy)

Dealer or individual, again, depends on your luck.

It will be better if you can go with someone who *knows* inside out of the car you're planning to buy, or at least he/she is a *car person* who knows all the tricks on car conditions.

If you buy from dealer, tell them to throw some sort of extra warranty in it for free. or at least tell them to check and see how much warranty it has left on the car. Run a copy of the report from carfax, then get a copy of the warranty history from Mazda using the VIN from dealer.

For individual, do the same except for the warranty part. make SURE you bring the car to the shop, just to see if it has been thru an accident. cuz you cant really tell from the outside, you can tell from the *inside* tho.

Tell us where u live, maybe someone can help u more.

zoom44

when my 3 year old was born he came home from the hospital in the 8. it was bought as my family car. to this day he and i do the grocery shopping together in it. just 2 days ago we did the weeks grocery shopping and i put all the groceries in the trunk with his stroller in there. thats practical.

when my in laws come over my 6'2 inch father in law sits in the back.

i live in portland oregon and drive the car year round- i dont drive it to the mountain for skiing- ive got an outback now for that. i would but i don't feel like buying chains.

airbags every where- come by my house and my son will show you where they are- he likes pointing them out and saying "srs airbag"

the stig

go to your mom and look in to her face seriously, and ask for a Ferrari F430. tell her its 2 seat and its fast. its a V8 that waste gas, and insurence will cost more than a leg and arm.

then you mom will reject you like any other parents out there (normal family), then you compare how much cheaper the rx8 cost and how good is that extra 2 seats.

she will get it for you right away!

reddevilwarrior

Lambo FTW!

enforcer

I'd question the salesman integrity after giving you negative comments to kill the sale....

laythor

go back to the dealership without your mother. talk to the manager. point out the salesman who soured the deal and explain that you're trying to talk your mother into the 8 otherwise you'll be going to a different manufacture.

Sit back and lawl as the manager rips the salesman a new a-hole, sip a soda as the manager makes the salesman come over and apologize to you. Smile inside when you come back with your mother and a new salesman goes on and on about all the great things the 8 can do.

23109VC

you are 19 and your parents are buying it for you. make your best pitch and if you don't get it, be happy you get anything.

NOW.... I was 17 and convinced my parents to get me an old RX7...back in the late 80s...and when the motor blew I CONVINCED them NOT ONLY to rebuild it..but to PORT THE MOTOR. now I'm a lawyer. go figure.

if you can con them into buying you the 8, maybe you have a future in the law.

daisuke

wow... 4400 a year?? I pay only 950 for the lowest possible deductible (that's with 2 cars on the policy), but then again I am 29...

the 8 is practical and safe by any car's means, the only downside it has is that you can't knock down the back seats to make more space and the trunk opening is laughably inadequate. when they ask at the insurance company how many airbags it has, they never believe me when I tell them, I think their system only goes up to 4.

The engine is powerful but not terribly so, and the power is all in the high revs so it's kinda hard to just go crazy right off the go.

The rx-8 is very much the enthusiast's car tho, you have to love it and take care of it in ways that no other car requires. Warm it up a bit before moving, top off the oil, rev it up often and so on.

I still maintain that no one should get a sports car as their first car, but as they come, the 8 is one of the tamer and more practical ones you can get.

Design1stCode2nd

Safety: I transport my two kids in the 8 and I wouldn’t have bought it if it weren’t safe.

Practical: It isn’t but then it’s more practical than most cars in this segment. It is a sports car not sports sedan or hot hatch.

Reliable: Not as much as a Honda or Toyota but it does pretty well. It does require additional maintenance such as adding oil and no cold shut-off’s. The first time you flood this car and have it towed to a dealer you parents are going to be pissed.

To be honest I wouldn’t let my son drive it, at 19 at best you have 3 years of experience in driving which isn’t much. Its’ also RWD and even with DSC that can get you into trouble. If you take a turn too fast or give it too much juice coming out of a corner the back end is going to kick out. You have to instinctually know how to handle that. In a FWD car it will understeer before it oversteers usually and your instinct is to let off the gas when you go in too hot. For a FWD car that is exactly what you would want to do.

Also while the car isn’t fast its quick and no matter how straight A student and reliable you are you are going to use that power, probably with other people in the car.

My suggestion would be to get a Mazdaspeed 3. Plenty of speed to get you into trouble, probably too much but your parents will go for it, it’s practical, can carry your **** and friends around in and will have good resale value when you step up to something else after college.

Socket7

practicality: 250 pound men can comfortably sit in the rear seats of the 8. You can fit a set of golf clubs in the trunk. it's no honda pilot, but its spacious compared to a S2000 or a 350Z.

Safety: The 8 is exactly as safe as you are good at driving. At 19, I have my doubts about your driving skills (not because you seem like an idiot, but because you haven't been driving long enough to know about all the other idiots). From a technology standpoint, it has side impact airbags, and a very strong frame. Not to mention the touring and grand touring have traction control, which makes a BIG difference when your wheels start skidding. I've seen a bunch of pretty bad wrecks here, I've yet to hear of someone going to the hospital after one of them.

Insurance: well, it will cost less then a 350z, but insurance companies know that its a sports car not a 1.3l 4 door econo box these days. It will be cheap, for a sports car.

Reliability: You pretty much pegged the nail on the head with this one unfortunately. If you dont buy new, find a local qualified rotary shop and have them give the car a complete inspection before buying. They can tell you if somethings wrong with it that the dealer missed. It's a sports car though, and an exotic too, so repairs will be expensive compared to a honda.

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

I think you should warm any car up a bit before moving, its common sense.

Even piston engine requires oil checking, I know my brother's SE-R does, and its a VQ35DE.

the revving part, well, you dont really have to rev it up that often, just once maybe every 2-3 days is enough. You have to rev piston engines once in a while too. you think Theres no carbon build up on pistons ?