LiveBlues

Don't forget the snow tires. You either need them, or need to park it for the season. Seriously.

REL_RX8

Thank you for stressing that. I know how important they are but I have been brushing it off.

I need to take serious action. Thanks.

beachdog

Don't forget to take a look in the for sale section of the forum for used snows and rims. You're only leasing for two years. A good set of used will be fine.

czr

iTrader: (3)

I'd take an 8 over a Z any day of the week... actually I did and so did most of us on here because they are the same price for the most part. I don't understand how the Z is 3x more than the 8 even in leasing sense.

And how the hell did you get it $2000 dp and $200 a month on a 6spd GT??????? Even after down that is only $283 a month. And your brother is getting a similar deal?? Are you talking UK pounds? What is your credit score and your money factor? : I'm surprised no one else is surprised at these numbers.

swoope

iTrader: (5)

i dont know how you figure that the maintenence it more than an average car. this is the lowest maintenence car i have ever owned. change oil every 5kmiles. rotate tires look at brakes. that is it till 30k miles. then they add replace brake fluid, good idea. and change oil in trans and diff. great time to go synthetic.

this car is cheap to maintan.

diy is your friend. enjoy the car.

beers

Moostafa29

Congrats on the purchase!

REL_RX8

Thanks.

Yeah, $2500 on the 2005 Mazda RX-8 Grand Touring. $2500 down (including new plate) with $200/month. It's not the Shinka but pretty damn close. It's basically fully loaded, heated leather seats, HID lights, 6 disc decent sound system, traction control, sun roof, power seats, ect.

I was actually suprised myself to not see more people saying "wow, that's an incredible deal!" Because it is an incredible deal. Leasing RX-8 is cheaper than leasing a Mazda 3 (Mazda's cheapest car) It is an amazing deal, and that's why I got it.

mkaresh

Which dealer did you go to? I'm sorry I didn't catch this thread sooner. I've visited all of the dealers around here (I'm also in Detroit), and have developed some strong preferences.

That is a killer deal. My father picked up a used 2005 a few months ago that I'll take off his hands when he's done with it, maybe next spring. He had a Z before. Both are second cars; his primary is a Lexus GS. He rarely drove the Z because the ride was so awful. With the RX-8 the Lexus rarely leaves the garage anymore.

I'm very interested in what you learn about driving this car around here in the winter. The main reason I let my dad go first is he lives in Virginia and I'm not quite ready to get two cars just for me. I have three kids, so the RX can't be my only car. Plan is to get the RX-8 in the spring, then a seven-seat something-or-other (most likely a used Ford Freestyle) a few months later.

mkaresh

Another question for people in Detroit, Minneapolis, or Cleveland currently shopping for an RX-8: The Mazda site says the $1,500+$1,000 rebates aren't available to people in these regions. Do they have a different program in these areas? Better or worse?

One thing about the Mazda Credit rebate. When I bought my Protege5 I financed with Mazda Credit to get a $250 rebate, then refinanced it ten days latter because the interest rate was about 1.5 percent above market. With the larger rebates they might require that you make a certain number of payments, but I strongly suspect that as soon as those are up it'll be worth your while to refinance the car.

REL_RX8

Got it at Cook Mazda in Farmington Hills.

REL_RX8

URGENT
Ok, I'm drove a few hundred feet with my ebrake up. OMG I have to be so much more careful. I feel like I just totally messed something up. I went up to 35MPH on the main road. After noticing gears not switching properly, I look down to see my ebrake up! :O
So I pulled over to the side of the road and put my emergency flashers on.

Just out of curiosity, how much damage do you think I have done? I know this is not an uncommon mistake made by people. The car has just under 100 miles on it now.

The RX-8 should have bells or alarms if you shift into 1st gear if the ebrake is up. Actually, all MTs should have this.

All I know is that this will NEVER happen again.

czr

iTrader: (3)

^ Pretty funny dude.. So after you put the hazards on and put down the brake, did you turn off the hazards and drive off?

Seriously, you probably wore down your rear pads a miniscule amount because if your e-brake was all the way up you wouldn't go anywhere in a MT. Don't worry about it yougin. .

REL_RX8

Mmmk... nice to know.

I still feel shakey from it. That was almost an hour ago now.

EDIT: I did just pull over to put the brake down. They I took off.

mkaresh

It gets a little easier every time you do it. Gotta habituate yourself to check for the red idiot light. Or to simply release the thing every time you start the car.

beachdog

Please come in Monday morning for your new position with the NHTSA (national highway traffic safety administration). We need more people like you to come up with more legislation to save ourselves from driver errors and omissions.

There was actually a time when all cars were MT and not one of them had a red warning light for the emergency brake.

REL_RX8

Sweet! How do I sign up? I'm willing to relocate.

Krankor

Not fair, he didn't say that cars should be *legislated* to have this.

Krankor

As for driving off with the parking brake still on: don't lose any sleep over it. I've done that a number of times on a number of cars, and its never caused a problem. Obviously it's something you want to avoid doing, but don't stress over it.

Krankor
05 Shinka 6MT

REL_RX8

Ok, thanks Krankor. Glad I learned my lesson in a less hazardous place, could have been on the freeway, ect.

Shinka huh. Beautiful.

Raptor2k

What color you get, Rel?

REL_RX8

Sunlight Silver.

SSJ 909

I learned how to drive a MT on my 98 camaro (worst manual I ever drove).
Practice hardcore for 1-2 weeks. Then when you think u r semi comfrotable, drive in the middle of the worst traffic u can find. After that day you will be an ace...

Krankor

Thanks! Man, I LOVE that black cherry!

The silver's pretty sweet too, congrats!

Astral

Congratulations! Welcome to the family! The sunroof looks cool when opened. Gla you're enjoying it and here's to many happy miles in your new 8!

BTW, it will take you more than a week (more like a month or two) to forget that you're driving MT, but you got the right idea Just keep driving and practicing first starts and you'll be good. Let us know how you progress along...

Astral

Ha, that's funny! You'll be just fine.. Just a few hundred feet--- you wore a bunch of miles off your rear brakes, but not even all that much.

On my last car, I drove 8-10 miles with the ebrake up (not quite 100% up, but still 70-80% engaged) when I just got the car... I also got scared and all (heh, here's the thread I posted back then).. but the rear brakes lasted just as long as they were supposed to.

Actually, sometimes you do want to shift into 1st gear with the e-brake up. For example, when I'm starting up a steep hill and someone is riding my rear bumper (too close for my comfort) and I don't want to roll back at all, I pull up the e-brake, then stick it in 1st, release the normal brakes and start going. As I let out the clutch and give gas, the car wants to go forward and maybe starts creeping even. Then I let out the e-brake and let out the clutch. Bam, no roll-back uphill start. I wouldn't want alarm bells or whistles here.