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Prices Paid: Buying & Leasing Experiences Mazda RX-8 Prices Paid and Buying Experience
899 messages, Last post on May 01, 2007 at 1:09 PM
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I got a grey RX-8 (six speed, medium touring pacakge - I don't like leather seats) a month ago, ended up paying $28,100 for it. Had to order the MP3 player from trussvillee, and had the dealer install it as part of the deal. I live in-between Baltimore, MD, and Washington, DC. I ended up getting it from a Mazda dealer in lancaster, PA. Found the invoice price on the net and got my financing from lending tree. I sent emails to all the dealers within about 100 miles. Visited the nearest Mazda dealer, who tried to sell me a Grey with the GT package and 250 miles on it! I decided to myself that I'd pay about a grand under invoice for what amounted to a used car (to me, atleast. it had a delaware mazda dealerships stickers on it), but he wouldn't take it. So, off to lancaster. I don't know why the dealers are unwilling to deal on RX-8s. I have seen one other on the road. My friends have seen two in our area. The dealers have literally dozens on the lots, and afaik its the same ones. In the case of my local dealership I know their stock level never changed over the six week period I was shopping. I love the car, but the gas mileage sucks (15mpg!) hopefully it will get better once I get past 2000 miles. Oh, yeah, the tires suck in the snow. And ice. And wet. I gotta get Pirelli snowsports real soon. Budget another $1000 for tires for this car if you live somewhere with weather. |
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gixxer2go says "even though it's a great car, it's still just a car"......just a car?!?!?...excuse me?!?...hello?.....and then GGuy has to go and agree with him?!?...did the Cubs just win the World Series?...did hell just freeze over?....oh no!! "just a car"....."just a car"....oh, the inhumanity.... this car is the closest I'll ever get to having a super model as a girlfriend...... scary eh?.......LOLOL!!!......now, to paraphrase Mini, "Let's all go Rotor!"...... |
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And I thought I was the only one who had to get out more. Cheese, do you sleep inside your vehicle at night and smoke cigarettes together the next morning? As remarkable as cars are, I understand what gixxer was saying. It does irritate me though when people say a car is just there to get you from point A to point B. I feel like slugging them. First, these people usually can't afford more than or have the imagination for anything but a Ford Taurus. Second, they are inconsiderate since they usually say stupid things like this around or to a car enthusiast. I wonder if anyone has driven up at work in their RX-8, felt proud of it, and a co-worker who drives a Geo (or equivalent) responds with a "hey, yeah, I was thinking about getting one of those, but I just can't rationalize spending that much money on a car. My Geo does the job I need it to...gets me from point A to point B. Plus, cars are bad investments. They depreciate, don't you know?" This is when the RX-8 owner just sighs and shakes his or her head like when you see a person wearing black dress socks while wearing shorts. Cars DO represent a part of the person riding in them. Obviously, it shouldn't be the most important thing, but it does tell people a lot about you. With the RX-8, you have fun, it's practical, it's a great value, and of course, it gets you from point A to point B ---in style! |
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LOL...!!!!! While the RX8 is probably the most significant high volume car announced over the last 5 years or so, it is, after all.....a car. That said, as carliker said, there are those who view a car as basic transportation and don't understand the fascination we have with them. Those are the same folks who wouldn't even think of doing any "heel and toe" or understand the visceral thrill of running a car to 9K RPMs or taking a corner 20 MPH above the rated speed limit (and shooting out the other end like a slingshot), or "snicking through" 6 speeds of a light, precise transmission, or steering that's almost "telepathic". The folks that view cars the same way they do their refrigerators, tend to buy Malibus, Accords, Camrys, Tauruses. They couldn't care less about driving dynamics. They just want to get from point A to point B. Those of us who view getting to the mall or the grocery store an adventure will drive the RX8, S2000, 350Z, Cobra, Corvette (OK, I know most Corvette drivers will never, ever exploit the car's potential, but they do want to look like they can), etc. Those that want to look like they are excited about driving, but don't want to put out the effort will drive the Celica, Tiburon, Monte Carlo, Grand Prix, Mustang (6 cyl), etc. Nothing wrong with that, either. I'm sure I will have "ticked" someone off with those assessments. No harm, no foul. |
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I think it all comes down to an appliance vs. extension-of-self view of cars. I think all RX-8 owners are part of the latter. Carliker - That Geo story was pretty funny. You can have the same conversation about watches! Also, I think the concept of value is in the eye of the beholder. I personally value certain intangibles my RX-8 provides me that increases the "value" of the car above quantitative metrics ($/hp, etc). I consider any extra level of payment for an RX-8 over the payment for a basic Geo as part of my discretionary/recreational spend and compare accordingly. So you could argue that, if a Geo monthly payment is $200, then your (RX-8 payment - $200) is the premium you place on the non-appliance/emotional/intangibles you place on the car. |
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I had a similar conversation with a colleague last week. He was "chiding" me for keeping the RX8 in the garage and driving it only in "fair" weather. He also got on me about driving the Civic as a 2nd car. His point was, I'm a walking contradiction. I don't know that I can disagree with him. If I could find a car that offers me the thrill of driving and style of the RX8 in a $5,000 package (what I shelled out for the Civic), I would jump all over it. Unfortunately, that would mean I'd have to go to the used sports car market. That's something I've been burned by many times in the past. People just don't seem to take care of sports cars as well as they do the more mundane wheels out there. Every used sports car I've ever bought has brought me grief. After I'm done running the wheels off of the Civic (while the RX8 continues to receive a lot of TLC), I'll probably look at a used Prius (5 years old, or so) to carry on service as the "taken for granted" stepchild in my automotive family. |
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You don't go out and save money by buying a house for yourself to live in that was built poorly, in an unsafe neighborhood, if you can afford Bel-aire. In most places we live we can't just stop by our homes in the middle of our day. It would be too far to travel. Our cars are like a home away from home for us. It's the only space that is ours that we can have access to at all times. You want that space to be nice, or even enjoyable. Let all those thrifty folk get pleasure from their "intelligent purchases," while holding the gas pedal to the floor to merge onto the highway. Let them smell the gas fumes coming from their old beater and think about how much they are saving while laughing at us for "throwing our money away." I swear these sort of people get enjoyment from driving/dealing with their beaters in a sadomasochistic sort of way. |
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I like this discussion. I basically twisted with this very issue for a few months before I got my car. I had been driving my second car (V6 Mercury Mystique) and thought to myself the amount of money I could save if I just drove that. Though I got to thinking what I was actually saving that money for (whether short or long term). I feel as long as you don't blow all your money on a car (like you shouldn't on any hobby), it's a true valued source of entertainment. Those very people like the guy who remarked to Graphic about why he doesn't drive his RX-8 will go out and shell over $3500 for a flat plasma screen television. At least, you can have an exhilarating time driving and still get a fair amount of the money back you paid to have that much fun. Can't say the same about the television. The same goes for expensive vacations as well. Graphic, I had the same experience with someone in my office. They wondered why I drove the Mercury and didn't drive the RX-8. I have to drive through roads full of construction dirt on my way to work and the weather doesn't help either. If you are going to put a lot of money into something...whatever it is, of course you are going to do what it takes to care for it. What are you going to do, drive the RX-8, put wear and tear on it, and keep the civic in the garage for a sunny day. These people who make remarks like that don't have an RX-8 waiting for them at home. They have nothing to preserve so they can't understand why you'd get a second car that's equal or better than their first car. One more thing, you said "people who view going to the mall or grocery store as an adventure..." want to drive something exciting. Well, I'd never drive and park at a mall or grocery store. Too many careless people parking minivans. Don't have to tell you about their attitudes about vehicles. dtran1249 - Nicely put. You are right about reconizing and including the value of pleasure driving gives you. That's exactly what Mr. Geo Driver doesn't consider. revdrluv - These people don't have any money to "throw away" so why should they laugh. I've observed that people who just decide to save more money and aren't car people don't bother commenting to enthusiasts at all. If they aren't into cars, they drive their basic vehicle and don't make chide remarks to those that are. It's usually the jealous types that open their mouths. |
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Another factor I try to consider is ownership term. I figure if I buy a car I love (especially if it has styling that will not become dated and the technology is ahead of its time), I will hold the car that much longer. Personal Example: My first "nice" car was a 1992 Mitsubishi 3000GT. I drove that car for 7+ years and 100k miles. I paid $28,465 (drive-out price including tax) at the time, and I got $8000 when I sold the car in late 1998. That puts the depreciation part of ownership at $20,465. Divide by 84 months (7 yrs * 12 mths) and I get a whopping $244 a month cost of ownership! I think that's a pretty reasonable ownership cost level. I'm hoping for the same from the RX-8. As a matter of fact, if I adjust the 3000GT price for inflation over 11 years, the price of that same 3000GT would be about $37k today! So I feel I am getting a better car at a lower cost in real dollars today than in 1992 as well. But back on the concept of ownership term, I think people can get a much nicer car with higher overall satisfaction if they get what they want and hold it over 5 years vs. selling in 3-4 years. I think buying an RX-8 for $5k over a Honda Accord initially equates to a similar cost of ownership if you can hold it 1-2 years longer. Personal Example 2: My own Waterloo was buying a Jeep Liberty. Originally bought it to try the family thing, and I only kept it 1 1/2 years! It just felt hard making payments on a car that you didn't love! So I had to let her go. . . I probably paid $5500 over that time period for a monthly cost of $306. Expensive mistake, but now I'm even more convinced you should get what you like and also "be true to yourself" in terms of what makes you satisfied with a car! |
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Also, regarding the long-term, let's face it: If someone is on track to retire w/ $1-2 M dollars, I'm not sure how much difference $5k makes today. At an assumed 6% return over 30 years, $5k will be $29k. A nice chunk of money, but only representing 2% of a $1.5 M level retirement goal. Of course, people will argue you should save all you can, but then again, retiring with slightly more money does not equal a step change in quality of life. I think if you reach upper-middle class status, you can afford 99% of the goods and services available for retail purchase that theoretically contributes to your personal happiness. You would need to be at the $50M level to afford the next 0.5% and even then it would not be a big difference in your personal happiness. Just ask J.Lo! |
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