So in my search for winter tires/wheels, I have begun to seriously consider a winter rat car instead of exposing the 8 to the winter destruction.

I do not exactly have a ton of money to throw around, so I wanted to hear from some forum members who took a similar approach on total cost of ownership. Can you take the rx-8 "off the road" for insurance purposes? Do you often see additional costs pile up for your winter beater?

I am in NJ and PA, so I think I would only really need to have a winter vehicle for December-March?

Any thoughts would be appreciated, though "Dude, its totally worth it!" won't get me very far.

I still have a semester at school to finish, and as a result will have to convince my parents that this is a reasonable choice. Keep that in mind

 

1989 Subuara legacy awd 180k miles got it for $700 and absolutely love it. Friends dad owns a subaru repair shop in hamilton nj down the road from Hamilton fitness. I also use it on days when im late for work and dont have time to warm up the 8.

 

The trick will be how much of a hit can you afford initially under the assumption you sell the car in March(i.e. $2000 then sell in march for $1500 = $500 hit)That shoudl determine your cost assuming you can sell the car. If you can do that, the cost will be low. I ended up keping my beater car(1992 Mazda Mx-3) since it gets great gas mileage.

You can put the 8 on storage insurance which should drop your bill but quite a bit. Depending on your carrier storage insurance includes theft but check to make sure.

 

i have a 94 mazda 626 with 170+k on it and i only drive it on terrible days in the winter.....i dont truly "store" the 8 because i drive it when the streets get plowed or there is no chance of precip......i pay 34 a month for insurance on the beater and i got the car for $25!....to me its much more worth it then taking a chance with my car and allot cheaper in tires....i have had it one winter going on the 2nd one

 

Do you research.......be sure you buy below trade in. A couple of years ago I bought a 2000 Taurus (with 92,0000 miles) from a dealer lot for $3500. Trade in at the time was about $5000. I put about $700 dollars in it for wheels and tires and also maintained it religiously. I sold it 3 years later with 147,000 miles for $3400, so my cost of ownership was around $800....or $266 per year. You have to keep bugging the dealer and be patient but they do occasionally get cars in a thousands below trade in because airheads go in and do not know what there trade in is worth.