I was watching the news and saw the storm roaming Texas. That was a big storm.

 

On the plus side, that golf ball like dimpling should improve the airflow over the car. Maybe you'll get better mileage?

 

That's insane. Could have been much worse tho.

 

Totaled. The adjuster declared it totaled from half way across the parking lot. He said it was at least 15k in exterior and interior damage just from a quick once over. They're crunching numbers and we'll settle next week. This sucks.

 

Awww, sorry to hear about this!

 

Insurance is there for these sort of things, life will go on and I'm sure you will find a nice new car!

 

That sucks!

Too bad nobody is looking to build a Race car. !!

 

Yeah, at least I had full coverage. Some of my coworkers were only carrying liability so they're double screwed right now. The adjuster who looked at my car could tell that other than the hail damage, it had been pristine inside and out so that should help a little with the valuation. As much as I'd like another RX-8, I think I'm going to go with the new Mazda CX-5. Now that I know exactly how much work goes into keeping an RX-8 happy and healthy, I'm not sure I'm willing to take a risk on trying to find a used one and I have to buy a new car this week so I can't wait for the perfect one to hit the market like I did last time.

 

That stinks. Hope you can get another 8.

 

Wow that sucks; I'm sorry to hear that. We just had a huge storm today in Iowa, and I raced out to switch cars around to get my 8 in the garage as soon as I heard the hail. Good luck on the new car search. I know it'll be hard to find an 8 again in such a short time. It took me months to find mine. Those CX-5s are nice though. The girlfriend and I are thinking about either that or a 3 for her to drive.

 

Did they offered you a buy back? How was their offer?

 

America is a very hazardous place to live; SW = desert and 130 degrees in the sun, dehydration, dust storms; West coast = quakes and thus possible tsunami's, landslides, wildfires... Plains and mid country = tornadoes, hail; Gulf coast and SE and mid Atlantic coast = hurricanes and occasional tornadoes; NE = noreasters and ice storms. Net result amidst 3.5 million sq miles theres only 3.5 sq miles in mid south Montana where its safe to live... nope scratch that because if the Yellowstone super-volcanoes ever pops, that'll be gone too. That's it then 315 million people better start looking for somewhere new to live. Shipping cars abroad is expensive so price of RX8's will be coming down!

 

The offer was decent. I had looked around to see what similar ones were going for, KBB, NADA, and all that in advance and had a minimum price I was wanting. They came out $1300 above that number so I took it. The adjuster gave me a little extra because he could tell it had been in perfect condition inside and out before the hail damage. They didn't allow a buy back so I went out and bought a CX-5. I would have loved to find another RX-8 but I didn't have the time to shop around and find a good one. It took me four or five months to find the last one and I couldn't wait this time.

I've had the CX-5 for about a week. People ask me how I like it and it's ok...but I have to drive like a grown up in it. I could drive like a lot more aggressively in the RX-8 because the car could handle fast corners, squeezing through small spaces, and had the engine power to get away from idiot drivers.

 

At least you stuck with Mazda
glad you got a good settlement
pics of the CX-5?

 

Which version of the CX-5 did you pick up?
Manual or auto?

I test drove both the touring AWD and the Sport Manual, and preferred the power of the manual Sport a bit more than the AWD auto. Unfortunately, Mazda USA screwed us over here in the US, and refuses to offer the manual in all the colors, unlike in any other country.

Plus, I would really prefer the Touring Package with a manual, but again, Mazda simply refuses to offer that combination here in the States.

Its a great car, in my opinion.
I'm just not going to be able to buy one because Mazda refuses to sell what I want here in the US.

BC.

 

I got the Sport Manual in silver. I was torn between the Sport Manual and the Touring but it was really coming down to manual vs sunroof. I decided the transmission was more important than the sunroof. I also wanted to keep the cost down. Since this wasn't a planned car purchase, I didn't have quite as much of a budget to play with.

It is a very nice car and I know I'll be happy to drive it for many years...but nothing compares to an RX-8.

I suspect there will be more options available on the CX-5 in the next couple of model years. They are selling well. But you have to keep in mind that since very few Americans want manual transmissions, you usually only see them on the very base models and on performance models...hard to find on the mid grade offering like the Touring level.