mindsink

Nope, not mine. I don't have one yet.

Fairfield area here.

Dark8

I have seen only 4 different 8s in the last year. Of course with the unemployment in Oregon nobody has the money to buy new cars. :p

Rob Tomlin

Let me respectfully completely disagree.

Being happy that Mazda has brought back the Rotary does not mean that we don't want some "rarity" or uniqueness in our car of choice. Hell, the Rotary motor itself is very rare and unique itself!

To imply that wanting something exlusive means we want Mazda sales of the RX8 to fail is ridiculous. Come on, face it, if everyone in your neighborhood had an RX8 you wouldn't like it one bit.

Don't you like it when someone comes up and asks you what kind of car it is? I have a 3rd gen and I love it when that happens, and it happens A LOT! Why? Because it is a RARE, beautiful car!

Yes, I agree with you that it looks like the RX8 will be anything but "exclusive", but to say that there is no point in rarity or uniqueness just doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Why do we buy aftermarket wheels and other aftermarket appearance items? To differentiate ourselves from the rest! Why does Mazda offer 7 different colors? To give at least SOME variety.

You mention Ferrari. Why do people gawk and stare when one passes by? Because they are rare, you don't see them everyday.

So, whats wrong with wanting exlusivity or "rarity"?


Don't you think there are forums for "rare" cars too? People that have rare cars certainly appreciate the fact that others have the same taste in their cars too! What's the point here?

Nobody said you bought the car because of what anyone else thought, or because nobody else had one. But again, I'm sure you wouldn't like it if everyone in your neighborhood had one, would you?

I know I wouldn't. Otherwise I would buy a Honda Civic!

red_rx8_red_int

The rx-7 (especally the 3rd gen, and I think the 2nd gen sorta) were expensive. Priced along with the vettes of the day. I think 1st gen were more reasonable. Let's face it the 8 is a great bargain. You can't drive 10 feet without seeing a stang. With so many mustangs being sold and the low entry price of the 8 I see the 8 becoming very very common. I could be wrong the 8 does have some drawbacks--flooding, oil consumption, and a huge problem with gas mileage. But still bang for the buck, I see the neon srt4, the ion redline, the miata mazda speed, and the new vw being the next bargain performance car, and the 8, mustang, sti, 350 z, and honda s2000 being one step up, with lotus and vette as the premium 2 seater performance level cars. Don't know where to place the new beemer and caddy? I guess between the one step up cars and the premium 2 seater cars.

bdclary

So you would buy a car you enjoy driving less because of what other people in your neighborhood bought?

trendy26

I see them all over the place! The local dealership has about 30-40 on their lot.. No joke!

Rob Tomlin

Of course not. Completely missing the point.

The point is that I, or most anyone else, would prefer to have a car that they enjoy driving and that not everyone else on the planet drives too.

And yes, if there were as many RX-8's on the road as there are Honda Civics, I would NOT buy the RX-8 despite the fact that I think it is a ton of fun to drive.

I really like the C5 Corvette. I could afford to buy a used one. Probably the main reason I haven't is because you see them all over the freaking place! Dime a dozen.....

Just my opinion.

RX-Dreamer

Well, their factory can only build like 40,000-60,000 engines a year right? If you figure 15,000-25,000 US sales per year... That's not exactly rare... But it's not a civic either.

Doomcue

"... allow me to retort" - Samuel L. Jackson as Jules in "Pulp Fiction"

I'm an individualistic person, and I don't care much for superficiality. I could care less what other people think about my car. I bought it for ME, they're not driving it or paying for it. As far as exclusivity, by definition, it means that not a lot of people will own the car. If that's the case, sales fall. Sales fall, the 8 dies, just like the 7. Not exactly a tough equation to reason out. There's nothing wrong with wanting rarity, but to want it out of an RX-8 is a little unreasonable since it's not a car out of the reach of us mere mortals.

Sure I like it. If someone else likes the 8 and wants to know more about it, I'm more than happy to show him the car. I'll even tell him about this site so he can get more information if he wants to purchase one. Do I LIVE for the moment when somebody asks me about the car? Nope. Did I buy the 8 so people would ask me what kind of car it is? Nope. I bought it for me, and me only.

You've totally misunderstood my point. I never said there's anything wrong with rarity, it's just that if that's what you're looking for, you've bought the wrong car. If you want rare, go for the Ferrari or the Carrera GT, don't buy a car that 75% of the population can afford.

The point was exactly as I stated. I think it's cool that other people have the same taste in cars that I do. Rarity doesn't come into play.

Obviously, that's the way you think. You're entitled to do so. However, don't be too sure that's what I'd think, because you don't know me. I could've bought pretty much any car I wanted, and I enjoyed the 8 when I test drove it, so that's what I got. I also drove a Cobra Mustang, an S2000, and a 350Z. In my mind, the 8 was the best car. To me, that's really the only thing that matters - what I think. Rarity, popularity, my neighbors, what strangers might think, etc., were not part of my thought processes when I decided on the car.

-djb <-- I'm up to 4/100 now....

Rob Tomlin

Nice response Doomcue!

I will admit that there were some points that you were making that I, unintentionally, misunderstood.

Reading through your reply I can see that although we disagree on the importance of rarity or exslusivity, you still can understand it and there is nothing wrong with it.

Frankly I am being somewhat contradictory in my wishes here: I am ecstatic that Mazda brought back the rotary to the states! I want them to be successful with it! But I still want the rarity of my 3rd Gen RX-7.

A classic case of wanting my cake and eating it too!



BTW, test drove another 8 today. Damn, I really like that car!

Anyone want to buy a Silver '93 RX-7 thats in excellent condition?!

zoom44

lets suppose they stop production right now to keep the car exclusive. how long do you think we could get parts for them? i plan to keep this car for a loooooonngg time if not until i die. 30 years from now i would like to still be able to find a part to repair it.

Rob Tomlin

I don't think you would have a problem with parts since we are talking about a major auto manufacturer like Mazda.

Alaska8

If you want to be one of only a handfull of 8's, move to alaska. The local dealer told me their might be a bout 10 in the whole state (of 600K people). However, I saw an idential silver touring about 2 weeks ago, and one red one and a blue--as well as a parked yello. In the first year of sales, only 4 8s sighted.... Most people have no idea what kind of car it is. (Had the same issue with my old miatas and a 1979 Porshe 928, they are "exotics" up here!)

Dark8

For me it boils down to one thing: Resale value. The more that are out there, the less it will be worth in five years.

Boozehound

I'm with Doomcue. This has been beaten into the ground so many times before, but what's best for rotary enthusiasts, the aftermarket, parts supply, and Mazda is a popular RX-8.

For comparison, RX-8 sales are about even with IS300 sales. That should give you an idea of how many you'll see.

Want to know how many rustangs were made in 1966? 600,000. That's only 20x the number of RX-8s produced annually. And you don't see that many 66s around - so if you really really really want to be exclusive, put your 8 in a barn in Arizona and forget about it for 38 years...