For those who have not seen my many other threads

I paid $19999 for my car
The other day, after 1 year and 10 months of ownership, I was offered $19999 for my car as a trade in at a dealership.

 

When I bought the RX8 I knew nothing about the engine or any of the so called problems that it has.

I wanted a sports car that wasn't two door and found the RX8 and fell in love with the way it looked.

Everything I know is from this forum...and let me tell you I knew nothing about the RX8 before I bought it All my knowledge came after I purchased this awesome car.

 

does no one else remember THE CURSE??!!!

 

You and your curse jedi

quit putting the jinx down
silver has escaped it for a while . . . . keep it on the DL

 

Yes, the curse is very dangerous.

Ask Siver Arrow, if he is still around.

 

I was joking.... Maybe I should have put /humor at the end.

 

These cars are anything but rare out here. I see other RX-8s on a daily basis all over the bay area. The only thing rare RX-8s here is a Crystal White Pearl RX-8.

However, if compared to the S2000 and the Z cars in this area, then yes, they are rare.

 

my silver is lucky... dodging accidents left and right =D

 

They stare at car?.. or you?

 

Car not popular (in USA) because:

1. Very little advertising. To this day, 5 years after introduction, most people don't think they've ever seen one, and don't know what it is.
Solution: bigger advertising budget

2. The rotary engine which, to the Average Joe, offers no advantage over a piston engine, and has a few perceived disadvantages:
a) engine is small, but uses a lot of gas ("what's up with that?!?")
b) engine uses a lot of gas, but car is not super fast
c) engine is different ("who'll fix it if it breaks down in Wahoo, Nebraska on my cross-country trip??")
Solution: informative ad campaign that clearly conveys rotary advantages of smoothness, lower center of gravity, feel & handling, fewer parts, etc.

3. Mazda car salesmen, who don't particularly like the car and don't bother to "sell" it
Solution: teach salesmen HOW to sell the RX-8, as it's not an easy, traditional sale

4. Forums like this which, to the car shopper who drops in for some quick info, sees thread after thread with titles like "So who's a member of the new engine club?," or "Everybody must premix!," or "Engine flooded again," in numbers disproportionate to how prevalent the problem is in the real world.
Solution: no solution to this problem, unless mods actively funnel all threads with problem-sounding titles into a "Problems" section

 

when was the last time you saw a add for the rx8? i have never seen one

 

IMHO, two reasons :

1) Gimmicky styling that is too "out there" for most people. People like bmw's because they look like a well designed german car, the rx-8, well... It has rotary accents -everywhere- and cheap looking painted grey plastics in the head and taillights.

2) Price/performance ratio is in between much cheaper cars and much better cars. By "better" I mean straight-line, which (lets face it) is the most important thing to most American car buyers.

If either one of the above was not true, I would own one by now. Instead I drive my 93 rx-7.

 

Well lately Mazda has been running this ad about "Every given weekend there are more Mazdas being raced than any other mfg". It featured a few scenes of the RX-8, Miata and some sort of Rotary powered LMP thing.

 

BRAVO!!!!!

 

They ran an ad for a while where the guy was in his garage and the car closed the front and back doors to "hug" him, then his wife walked in and smirked. The rx-8 is also featured heavily in events like the speedtv touring car/gt championship even though it isn't a participant.

The car is out there, people know about it, but its the odd-man out and american's don't shop for the odd-man out. They want the bimmer that their neighbor has as long as it is numerically higher.

If Mazda wanted to sell more cars they would have to make it a more traditional sale, both the style of the car and sales channels (like the guy said above). The big question is, "if". As far as I can tell rx-8's aren't wildly popular because Mazda doesn't want it to be their flagship car and therefore buries it under their other models.

 

The fewer 8's, the better I like it. I like having an uncommon car. Not especially rare, but not common as dirt.
And to think I almost bought a Mustang...now every grandma on the road drives a Mustang. You see one literally every 40 seconds on the road.

 

I tell ya what. This is actually very true. They certainly don't overproduce the car now, but when I got mine in 2004, my dealership literally had 90 of them, and they took forever to sell, with some sitting at dealership for an entire year +. They introduced the 2004 model,and produced it at a very insane rate, and the demand could not come anywhere close to the supply, not even come remotely close. Who remembers people buying leftover 04 models in late 2005 for like 10k off msrp? I certainly do.
T

They finally realized it and lowered production, but most of what people said is true. I'd still own mine if it wasn't so problematic, but I was one of the unlucky ones sadly.

Still though, for the diehards who buy this car and have stuck by it, I'd imagine they are damn glad it has failed in the market. It certainly doesn't have the rarity of the FD RX7, but after 2004 production ihas dropped. It appears Mazda wanted to flood the roads with the RX8, and they sure tried for the 04 MY, but all in all it didn't work, and that benefits the enthusiasts. There are far far more 350z on the road, so you have more uniqueness and exculsivity.

 

Needs more of these TV ads.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEWo8QqsDc4

*edit* I love this song, for some reason...

 

For some odd reason, 8's hold their value quite well in CA. You certainly wouldn't be offered that in this area.

 

That was a GREAT ad that hardly ran and that hardly anyone saw.

It was memorable, funny, and it also picked one feature of the 8 that's unusual, cool, appealing and - very important - highly visual. Using hardly a word, that ad managed to say a) there's a new car that's like nothing you've ever seen before (i.e. doors), b) "hey husbands out there... this sports car has a back seat!" and - with a wink - c) this is a car you can love (and well... one that will love you back.) All without saying hardly a word!

Now... I know some of you gearheads out there may think it wasn't a very good ad because it didn't rattle off the car's features or fill the screen with auto **** shots of an 8 racing down a twisty mountain road overlooking the ocean, but that's NOT how you get the attention and curiosity of non-gearheads sitting on the couch watching TV. That ad was a great example of how to create awareness. Like Nike saying "just do it". Of course, you can't create awareness if the ad doesn't run. The Mazda "hug" ad ran, what... 11 times?? Had that ad run heavily for a few weeks, everyone in this country would know what an RX-8 is, and would be curious to learn more.

Then the fact-filled ads would follow.

Oh well. It is nice having a car that seems rare and exotic to most people.

 

+1

My thoughts exactly.

I like this ad as well http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3-rg2lSvCY&NR=1

 

+1!!

 

Whats this curse you speak of? Knocking on wood here but my SS is doing just fine.

 

Mazda cannot be blame for ignorant people.

But the discerning drivers know a good thing when they see one...

1) 10 Best Engine - Ward's Auto World and Ward's Engine and Vehicle Technology Update Magazine --- Dec. 2003

2) 10 BEST CARS 2006 (BEST SPORTS COUPE) - CAR AND DRIVER Magazine --- Dec. 2005

3) 10 BEST CARS 2005 (BEST SPORTS COUPE) - CAR AND DRIVER Magazine --- Dec. 2004

4) Consumers' Most Wanted Vehicles 2004:Most Significant Vehicle of the Year (2nd Place) - Edmunds.com Website --- Jun. 2004

5) All Star, Best Coupe - Automobile Magazine --- Feb. 2004

6) Best Sports Car - CNN money Website --- Feb. 2004

7) 10 Best Cars 2004 - CAR AND DRIVER Magazine --- Dec. 2003

UK...
1) International Engine of the Year 2004: 2.5-litre to 3.0-litre - Engine Technology International Magazine --- May. 2004

2) International Engine of the Year 2003: Best New Engine - Engine Technology International Magazine --- May. 2003

3) International Engine of the Year 2003: 2.5-litre to 3.0-litre - Engine Technology International Magazine --- May. 2003

4) International Engine of the Year 2003 - Engine Technology International Magazine --- May. 2003

5) Car of the Year 2006 - Best coupe - What Car ? Magazine --- Jan. 2006

6) New Car Honours 2005 Coupe Winner - Auto Express Magazine --- July. 2005

7) Best Sporting Car - Fleet Magazine --- Jan. 2005

8) Car of the Year 2005 (Best Coupe) - What Car ? Magazine --- Jan. 2005

9) New Car Honours 2004 Coupe Winner - Auto Express Magazine --- July. 2004

10) Coupe Car of the Year - BBC Top Gear Magazine --- Apr. 2004

11) "Good Car, Bad Car" Best Coupe - Sunday Times Newspaper --- Mar. 2004

12) Car of the Year 2004 (Best Coupe) - What Car ? Magazine --- Jan. 2004

 

Fail. Try again. Do you even know what a flagship model is?

http://media.ford.com/mazda/article_...57&make_id=227

"....The MX-Crossport was designed at Mazda’s main design studio in Hiroshima, Japan, and is a crossover-type vehicle – a very Mazda crossover combining strong styling cues from the company’s flagship RX-8 sports car with the more practical packaging of sport-utility vehicle...."