[QUOTE=124Spider,Dec 11 2007, 06:55 PM] This is the so-called "flooding" problem, which is real.

 

I just bought mine on that deal.

1. Get a Costco membership. Call the local dealer and tell them you want the Costco deal. A manager will call back and schedule a sit down. Don't talk to any salesmen...people and ask him what the current costco price is....then tell the manager that there are several people getting 28 in the bay area. The local clubs have the costs up and there are several posted here. I got mine lowered by going with a color that they had in stock, -500. Start soon, as I have no idea when the holdback expires.

 

My wife had an RX8 for a few months when she worked for Mazda. It was a great handling car and the interior was functional and rather stylish. We had it at the same time as my S2000. The RX8 wasn't as fast and didn't feel nearly as "raw" but the engine was smoooooooth at 9000rpm, more than I can say about my S2000 haha. If you need more than 2 seats it's a nice alternative but I'd take an S2000 over an RX8 any day. The one we had didn't burn oil but it did only get about 15 mpg in mixed driving.

 

Mazda got in a bit of trouble in the early days of the RX-8 for overrating the horsepower by a pretty good margin. IIRC, they're still overrating it by a bit.

 

I'm referring to used resale, an 04 rx8 vs an 04 s2k is considerably lower, even with leather NAV, and everything else.... even with really low miles. I'll look on ebay and see if I can find some examples.

 

I picked up my s2000, 07 with 3300 miles on it and with an alarm, window tinting, and front/rear spoilers for significantly less than the RX-8 would have cost. There is something special about driving a 2-seater convertible on a nice day that just makes the soul happy. The s2000 is also a car that you can keep longer, as it has both a better reputation for quality and a more grown-up appearance than the Mazda. Would you rather drive the RX-8 or the s2000 to meet a business client at lunch? You also see many more RX-8s driving than s2000s, at least in my area, which lowers the appeal. All of this while boosting performance, even if just by a little bit. Both are great cars, but I would rather take the s2000 for all of those reasons if buying both cars at base price, and I would much much rather take the s2000 for thousands cheaper than an equiped RX-8.

 

My thoughts exactly. It's pretty much a drivers race when it's that close. The fanbois here still aren't as bad as the ones on clubrsx. Those guys have it the worst.

 

because mazda and "good resale" do not belong in the same breath. They are fun little cars, but Mazda has not earned the street cred for resale that Honda's have. It is what it is, and its my job to know it. When you sell a car at 0% at 5-10k under invoice because sales are slow or Mazda overproduced, this effects the resale values. It does not mean it is not a good car, but it is worth less due to low general public appeal and or poor marketing by Mazda. zoom zoom
MAtt

 

Obviously, if Cavaliers are any where near competitive, these cars are far from stock.

The Rx-8 can be a decent tuning platform, and I agree there are some similarities in spirit with the S2k, but the question was why are the Rx-8's cheap.

They are cheap because, in stock form, they are substandard to the competition on the track, strip, and street.

 

As far as the cost:

Burns oil on purpose

Horrible gas mileage

Imitation gasoline engine

Awful dashboard design