So, I have been looking for an 8 for a couple of weeks now, and every time I go to a dealer to see what they have on the lot, I end up talking to some sales guy that gives me a whole host of horror stories on me. I mean, do these people want to sell the cars or not?

How does Mazda expect to change people's opinions on the rotary engine if their sales people are scaring all the customers that actually WANT the car?

 

Lol....nice

 

I'm almost scared to ask, but what did the salespeople say?

 

don't tell me, i already know...

"yah, it's got a v6 that can rev to 1500rpms"

 

This particular guy lead off with how unreliable they are, and that if you don't rev them to 4K each time you shut them off you are going to flood them, and then you are looking at $600 for taking it to the dealer to get fixed. Then he followed that up with how inefficient the engine is, how it burns oil and is horrible for the environment, (mostly true, the oil part...) etc.

It's funny because he then said something about how they can't keep them in when new, and then never seem to have used ones in. I guess that would mean that people are happy with their purchases? Maybe?

 

If a salesman knew something,, would he be a salesman?

 

rofl.

600 taking it to the dealer to get it fix? Hmm, if its under bumper to bumper warranty is free.

I never rev my car 4K each time I shut it off. About a 2 months ago I did that for a 3-4 weeks. then I stopped. Cuz I dont see the point anymore. I never flood, and I think I never will.

This engine is pretty efficient for its size. Try to find a 1.3 engine can do 230 hp. inefficient in terms of heat? maybe. Rotary engine should not burn engine oil in the first place, Mazda made it like that so it can sell. It should run 2 Stroke oil in the first place.

That salesman should really get fired. He cant even get his facts straight. Dont tell me u gonna buy anything from him.

 

Its probably a 350z saleman with a mazda shirt on.

 

i never rev to 4k before I shut it off. I might start now that the winter is comming, but my engine has only flooded TWICE or so I would assume it flooded the one time, I drove it for a bit, stopped in my drive way so my girl could get her car to bring be able to bring me home from the body shop (had to fix my 8). She needed oil, I had some (being I keep some in my trunk for my 8) gave her some, got in the car went to reverse (left it running) and stalled. I had a noob moment. Then it wouldn't start. Throttle to the floor, cranked about 5 seconds. Let sit for about 30 seconds and it cranked right over. Then the body shop either moving it to the paint shop, or what not flooded it. I called there wondering if the car was done, he said its done but won't start. Now I wasn't mad cause its a guy I know and got my Scuba cert with, thats why I went to him, told him one way to try and clear the engine, he got it running and presto, no trip to mazda. ironically, he had another 8 sitting in the body shop that one a WB, I wonder if they flooded that one too.

If you know anything about the car you should be able to fix a flooded engine in no time.

 

Probably because he wouldnt make any money off of an rx8 and was trying to switch you to a different car. The salesperson is probably well informed an trying to make money (I sold cars for a few years).

 

His comment that they couldn't keep the 8's on the lot suggests that he may've been trying to steer you toward some other vehicle - maybe something they had lots of on the lot or he could make more of a commission on.

There's no getting around the fact that some of these guys are just knuckle heads. Two years ago at the Cleveland Auto Show, just before buying my car, I tried to get information on the RX 8 from the two dopes they had manning the Mazda area. They knew nothing about the car, had no interest in even pretending that they did, and then stood by passively when some random 13 year old climbed into the passenger seat of the VR 8 they had on display and began forcefully jamming the gear shift up and down. If this is the kind of individual they allow to represent the company at an auto show, you can only imagine the rank and file selling cars on their lots.

 

Came in to say this. But I think the guy probably worked for some competing dealership the week before (and another one the week before that - jobs are fleeting in auto sales), so he really honestly has no idea what he's looking at.

 

LOL, I just said that.

 

+1,000,000

 

elaborate on that? I know a lot of well informed salesman, I want to understand your comment.

 

One thing I've found about salesmen is that there's always one, maybe two, that you'll see around the same dealership for a few years. These are the guys who understand sales and therefore are the guys who understand their product line. They're the guys you want to try and talk to. The rest are usually the guys who don't give a crap and will tell you anything if they think they can make a couple more bucks off of you.

I'll never forget the guy at the Honda dealership who lectured me for about a half hour about how hard the Civic SI can be to control with "all that power" as if I've never driven before (I was 22 at the time...and came in driving an 8). I can clearly remember driving it, and there was this little fizzle of power if you really wound it out; certainly not enough power to get you in any trouble unless you're a complete idiot. He then started trying to talk me into a new regular Civic (the SI was used). I really didn't mind the SI, it was nice enough, and I was willing to talk numbers before that stunt. After that, I just wanted to get out of there. It's guys like that who give salesmen a bad name.

(PS - Immediately after that I decided to stop at the Mazda dealership, where I drove the Mazdaspeed 3 on a whim. I think you can put the rest together.)

 

Some salesman actually do know what comes out from their mouth, its just that these kind of salesmen are pretty rare.

 

It was funny how his demeanor changed when I told him I was buying it to race. He is apparently the guy that buys cars wholesale for the dealer and reasonably high up because when we walked into the showroom people started jumping to do what he asked.

We'll see if he comes up with anything and any kind of deal.

 

Ill agree with that. The problem is that salesman are commissioned, and people get greedy when their income is based on sales. So you get the salespeople that have little to no morals or feelings about lying as long as they meet their quotas.

But there are also salespeople who embrace their produce line, learn it, and sell off of diligence, follow up, and use the attributes of the vehicle to mesh with the customers wants and needs. (thats the salesman I like to think I was)

 

Yeh, it really depends on the salesman. I've had some really good experiences and some really bad ones too. One of the worst and most uninformed was a guy at a Ford dealership. I just stopped in on a whim when I noticed a pretty nice looking used Civic Si in their used car lot and wanted to check it out. (This was before I got my 8) So I park and get out of the car and immediately the salesman approaches me before I make it over to the Si. He asks me "so what brings you out here today?" and I reply "Oh I was driving by and I noticed that Civic Si in your lot and wanted to have a look at it." He just stared at me blankly, then says "What?" So I repeat myself. Still more blank stares. Then I said "It's a Honda." Then he say something along the lines of "I don't think we have any of those right now." So I say "Yes it's that blue car sitting next to the used lot entrance." He looks around confused then asks me to show him what I was talking about. So I lead him over to the car and then he's like "Oh yeah, the Honda." Then as I am looking at the car he starts trying to sell me a new focus telling me about how super fast they are. So I just left.

 

LMAO AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH AHAHAH
funniest thing ever, lmao

 

yeah when I was looking for my 8, the guy at my local Mazda dealer basically blew me off. Stereotyped me as a dumb kid who was wasting his time. He also gave me the it floods and has terrible gas mileage. (mine has never flooded and I get around 20mpg's)

When the 09 8's came out I stopped there to look at it, and just had to drive right past the sales room windows so he would see me (In an 8 he basically said I wouldn't get). Hope he kicked himself because he blew me off and lost a sale.

 

My girlfriend gets that treatment every time she looks at cars - I think a lot of car salesmen think all women are idiots when it comes to cars.

When she went to buy her 3, we had one all set to go and suddenly it had magically disappeared between closing time the day before and the next morning. But no worries, they had this awful gold one for the same price! Lucky her! So, being the non-idiot she is, when the guy ran off to do some paperwork she walked outside and SURPRISE! Her car is sitting there, right next to the awful gold one. What a coincidence! They must have gotten a new one in that morning! Fed up with that guy, we just left, came back another day, got a different salesman, told him about the deal and got her the right car.

 

Likely wants to steer you to some leftover mazdaspeed6. Or maybe he owns a miata and he's insecure?

 

We all have tales like that, don't we? I was thinking of a BMW Z4 before buying my RX-8, but the BMW salesman put me off ever dealing with them.

Funniest encounter was some years ago when my wife was shopping for a car. The salesman at an Audi dealer just talked to me, ignoring her. Except when he demoed the remote mirror control, pointing out that I wouldn't need my wife to adjust the right side mirror.

I don't think we ever got to the point of whether or not my wife liked the car before she moved us toward the door.

Ken