Here is our latest update on the fire and availability of vehicles.

http://rotarynews.com/node/view/496

Cheers,

-Bern

 

Thanks, Bern!

Regards,
Gordon

 

Thank you for the update....
Hope production can resume in a timely manner.

Christian

 

Thanks for the update Bern. You may have just bought me an RX8. There are only 2 Red with Red/Black interrior in Colorado left right now. I may borrow some money from family so I can ****** one up before it all hits the fan. I was planning on buying in about 2-3 months time (March). So I would be screwed by then...Thanks again for keep us up to date. I'll let you know the outcome!

 

I hope they just stop making the rx8 so our cars can be rare and sold at 3times the price we bought them for :D

 

Well I was planning on March but I will now have to wait till I guess June maybe As you can tell nothing about this is happy

 

Definitely sad. But now I know what happens when a large group of employees at the factory tries to start a whole bunch of flooded 8s at the same time

 

The cars that are going to be in really short supply are the 2005 Miatas. The few black and orange 2005 MS Miatas on the lots are probably the only ones that will be made, since Mazda is likely to commence building the new Miata when they get the Miata line running again.

 

I was planning to buy in march too, but got it last month! Whew, i wish all the people luck that are getting one soon.

 

Thanks Bern. I just hope they'll be ready with my 2006 "SMG" transmission RX8 by september.

 

Just a quick update...

http://mazdanews.com/?q=node/view/141

-Bern

 

I ordered my RX-8 on the 16th of December, and they have already built it... but shipping will take 2 months..... anyways... if you ordered one before that date.... you should be safe.....

 

Heh, amen to that, resale value is in the toilet these days. KBB says my 8 is worth like 17-18k trade-in

 

If production ended because sales were so poor that nobody was buying them... resale value would tank like a lead balloon, and your car would be worth far less. Instead, look at the Miata - resale price for any year Miata is far better than for other cars that were similarly priced when new. If it's popular, it holds it's value better.

Regards,
Gordon

 

Totally true. The RX-8 is pretty popular, at least here in So Cal - so I was really cheering for just like a few month's shortage to drive up prices of used models. I got a really bad financing deal on mine so I am looking to get out, either into a new RX8 or a G35.

N

 

Here's the latest update!

http://mazdanews.com/?q=node/view/144

-Bern

 

Bern, you scooped me:


Fire-damaged Mazda plant ready for full production


By James B. Treece
Automotive News / January 27, 2005


TOKYO -- Mazda Motor Corp. now expects to lose only 30,000 vehicles due to a late-December fire at its Ujina No. 1 factory. That is well below the initial loss estimates of 70,000.

Mazda says it will resume full production in April, four months after the fire. The Hiroshima, Japan-based company earlier said production wouldn't resume for six months.

Production of the Miata roadster and RX-8 sports car, as well as the Bongo and Bongo Brawny vans, will resume in mid-February.

Mazda already has begun building the Demio compact, known in Europe as the Mazda2, and the Japan-market Verisa minivan at the factory. Production of the MPV minivan will begin at the end of January.

Initially, the nearby Ujina No. 2 factory's paint shop will paint all vehicles except the Brawny and Bongo Brawny vans. Mazda will outsource painting of those vans to Mitsubishi Motors Corp.'s Mizushima plant and Press Kogyo Co.

 

This is often true, but sometimes not. The 3rd Gen RX-7 was an interesting case. I had one when it was new, and I recall seeing used '93s selling for as low as $18K in 1995/96 when production ended due to poor sales. But in the following years prices started to rise due to the rarity of the car and a growing cult status. Now 10 years later, a good condition relatively low miles example can still command a $18K asking price, or even higher. Go figure.

 

I think alot of this is related, unfortunately, to the Fast and the Furious, and other things that have popularized our niche...

before F&F, a decent late model turbo supra could be had around 20 grand. Right after that movie, i saw them SELL for as high as $40k, avg miles and bone stock...same thing with rx7's

unfortunately there's alot of rich retards out there bidding cars up to insane prices.

 

IMHO, unless you are buying limited edition models, cars are poor investments. After you figure in insurance, maintenance and time value of money, 99+% of all cars are losers or breakeven at best. In any type of investing, diversification is the best way to make money with the least amount of risk. Since few of us can afford to buy a diversified portfolio of cars, this is risky investing at best.

Find a car for the long haul. Drive, love and maintain your car. Own it a long time so you can overcome the depreciation. Take the extra money that you would have spent on buying a new car every few years and conservatively invest it. Be patient with your investments and you will have the money to buy another car you are passionate about.

Just my 2 cents for what it is worth....

PaulyG

 

PaulyG--- Good sound advice.That's what i (TRY) to do with all my vehicles.

 

cars are about as good investments as homes are...terrible ones. cars are a certain expense, even once they're paid off (unless you ***** it out on the street or something)

the only way to really make a profit on a car is to buy it, trailer it to your garage, drain the fluids and put it on blocks for 25+ years. then take it to barrett jackson.

 

...and if you need any further convincing about cars as risky investments: if you put your $30,000 RX-8 on blocks for 25 years and then sent it to auction in 2030, you need to receive at least $95,000 (not even including the auction fee that is probably in the range of 10%-20%) just to equal the return on an investment of $30,000 in a US government bond, which is less risky and a heck of a lot more portable when you move during the next 25 years than schleping some car on blocks.

PaulyG

 

I don't have the link handy, but I think the MSN auto site ranked the RX-8 among the top ten in retained value.

 

Well in anticipation of the re-start of production in mid-February, I ordered my RX-8 in early February.

Just checked with the dealer, NO rx-8's on his order list have had a VIN number assigned yet. I wonder if they ever did resume production in mid-Feb? They assign a VIN number to the vehicles when they get scheduled for production.

I doubt this is a result of any backlog, as these vehicles were in the queue before the fire happened.

Anyone else hear any status/update on whether production actually resumed last month? I've been keeping tabs on vehicle inventory, there still seem to be a lot of RX-8's in stock however specific option combinations seem to be dwindling fast, ie. NAV-equipped vehicles, and specifically the Black-exterior vehicles have virtually disappeared from my market area.