Road trip!

I test drove the RX8 before I bought my 1st MazdaSpeed3 (2007, I sold it to buy the 2010 Mazdaspeed3) but I wasn't impressed by the interior. The interior turned me off so much I couldn't get past it... I bought the MazdaSpeed3, which fits my lifestyle much better and I've got 63k trouble-free miles on my 2010. I sold the 2007 to a coworker for a tidy profit and I loved that one, too...

I think I'm going to wait a few more months and save some more money. I'll let you know if Matt and I strike a deal.

Early RX-8s had some sort of major maintenance problem and it tainted the whole line. (IIRC, it was something like the dealers being told to put the wrong kind of oil in them or something weird like that.) The newest ones are great cars, and are great deals.

I'm surprised there aren't more Mazda owners around here, actually. In a way, they're as close to Porsche as a mainstream manufacturer gets, especially if only talking about Japanese cars. Sportiness engineered into everything, tons of motorsport activity and heritage, and good-looking if relatively conservative styling.

Different strokes I guess, I considered replacing my RX8 with a Mazdaspeed3 until I drove it. It definitely didn't do it for me, too much on/off power delivery and the 4-cylinder is pretty coarse. It also didn't handle nearly as well as I expected.

I'm curious what you disliked about the interior? The RX8 and Mazda3 share many interior components and most materials used are identical. In my opinion both are top notch for their price point.

Just chiming in as a Mazda owner -- even their small fwd cars are lovely to drive.

I found exactly what I was looking for. A 2005 RX-8 with 22,000 miles for $12k. It looked pristine from the pictures. I called the dealership and made an appointment. I drove 2 hours to Frankfort, IL. Upon my arrival, I was told that it just sold. This seemed suspicious to me.

They had two other RX-8s on the lot, neither of which I was interested in. One was a VERY rough 2004 for $8k, and the other was a very nice 2009 for $18k.

On my way out, I mentioned to a different sales guy that it was too bad that the Silver RX-8 sold that morning. He replied that it sold on Monday. :mad:

When I car shop I don't even look at dealerships. Stuff like above is exactly why. When dealing with an individual you might get someone dishonest. When dealing with a car salesman you will get someone dishonest. What does he care if you waste two hours driving?

Shoulda test drove the 09, then smoked the tires of it or something....

Women driving it.

Chris, you know Matt just decided to put his '05 up for sale, right? 22K miles on it when he got it... looks pristine from the pics, too. :eek:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/669082-new-daily-driver-2.html#post7072044