My brother-in-law just bought an RX-8 in New York. The NY motor vehicle department is telling him it's a two-door, which, apparently, costs more to register in New York than a four-door. Has anyone been through this before, in New York? Is there a simple way to give these guys a clue? Thanks in advance.

 

It is a two door. The two half doors don't count for anything as there is currently no class of vehicles listed as two + two half. The Saturn Ion is also a two door when it comes to insurance and whatnot. My insurance lists the car as a two door. I highly doubt that anyone will let you say this is a 4 door sedan.

 

My insurance company regards the RX8 as a four door and consequently it is MUCH cheaper to insure than a 350Z for example. This was one of my many deciding factors...

 

In CA it's classified as a 4 door (at least that's what it says on my registration). That sucks elsewhere if they're classifying it as 2.

 

I just checked the NY State motor vehicle website and it says the registration fee depends on weight and doesn't mention the number of doors unless I missed it on thier webpage !?

Here is the link

http://www.nysdmv.com/regfee.htm

 

In FL it's a 4 door luxury sedan (due to cost).

 

TownDrunk's right about CA, it is a 4-door. The actual class is "subcompact", which is what the Corolla falls into. Nice to know I'm paying the same insurance rate as a Corolla owner, even though I'm driving my 8.

 

Weird. My insurance still isn't that bad (on a two door RX-8) due to all the safety features that are on the car.

It really isn't a 4 door vehicle since you must open the two front doors to access the rear doors.

 

Georgia (State Farm) classified my RX-8 as a 4 door sedan...My insurance is $5.00 extra dollars over my Nissan Altima.

 

Ohio is classified as a 4 door also. Thank god!

 

Mine is a 4-door sports sedan or something.

 

MTCD01 said:

It really isn't a 4 door vehicle since you must open the two front doors to access the rear doors.

Funny ... oxymoron I'm thinking

 

IL is a 4-door

 

If it only had two sets of hinges, it'd be two door, but it has four sets. A door is a door, it swings open, it lets people through.

and as I recall, my car is listed as a subcompact 4 door, but my previous insurance had it listed differently.

 

my registration says it a 4 door coupe too. looks like your brother-in-law's insurance company is smoking crack.

 

It's similar in nature to the classification of a Bedroom in real estate. A Bedroom must have an egress point other than the door (read window large enough to escape a fire). Many houses have finished basements with a room that has a bed, however, this room cannot officialy be listed as a bedroom unless it meets all the criteria. A 4 door car has 4 doors that can operate indepently of each other. The 8 is a two door + two half doors (similar to an extended cab truck with access doors vs. a crew cab with 4 doors). If they are letting it be insured as a 4 door that's cool but they don't have to and many companies won't.

 

In Texas it's a 4 door. Insurance is low, much less than the Z, the G35 or the Maxima. Only a little more than my Sebring was.

 

Obviously you're wrong, as many people have now posted that their vehicles are registered (not insured, the original question is vehicle registration) as 4 door vehicles. In Alberta, Canada, my RX-8 is registered as a 4 door coupe.

Regards,
Gordon

 

Thanks for all the replies. I have forwarded this thread to my brother-in-law. I'm gathering that the employees in the NY motor vehicle department are not treating the RX-8 consistently. (You'd think they'd have a database that treated the issue the same way for each given car model, but I guess not.)

(I let this thread percolate for awhile, and it was nice to see how many people defended my opinion that it is a four-door car. I have nothing to add except that, if it's a portal that opens for the specific purpose of human ingress or egress, in my mind it's a door, regardless of any interlock function.)

 

Bingo - it's a door, whether it has hinges at the front or the rear. In fact, it's the government regulations for rear-hinged doors that require some sort of interlock function to prevent the rear-hinged door from opening independently. Those regulatory requirements do not disqualify it from being a door!

Regards,
Gordon

 

bungle--

where are you in GA? Im in Loganville (near Stn Mtn) and have a black MT also. same thing here -- State Farm, $75 less per MONTH than 350Z -- defiintely MY deciding factor.

 

I'm with Gord on this one. The DMV told me that it was a 4 door. The insurance company told me it was a 4 door. Neither of them ever asked my opinion. If they did, I'd have told them it was a six door to see if I got an even bigger discount.

 

My insurance company says it's a 4 door, 4 seat, FAMILY car. I love it... and since I'm 27.. even better. Lower the better. I'd hope Ferraris and Porsches are going to be built with this in mind... Family Ferrai Modenas, and Family Porsche 911 Turbos... cool.

 

Confirmed.

 

mercury took mine as a four door