Ricey

Lexx!! If I remember rightly you (or someone with the same nick) was on the RX8 owners club forum too weren't you (one of the none grumpy members I'm probably being a bit harsh on the old girl in fairness - it was more the overall experiance. Bought it from Arnold Clark (mistake number 1!) and at 23 I thought I was was shelling out 14k on what was going to be the (realistic) car of my dreams........being young and a bit crap at driving I perhaps didn't get the best out of it. After a couple of near death exits from roundabouts (including a near 360 on my first test drive in a brand spanker - an experiance that very near turned my pubes grey with fright) I lost the confidence in its handelling and my ability to drive it. Lesson 1 learnt - treat powerful rear wheel drive cars with respect! Car before it was a 2.5v6 cougar which pulled like a train.....I found it a bit tiring to rev it to death every time you wanted to over take. So much went wrong with it too! I must of had at least 3k of warranty work done and I only had it for about 15k. We've got the Lancer for the vast majority of the daily grind driving and hopefully a Zed for some fun! Luckily we're in no rush so I'll make sure we bag up a good one rather than jumping at the first horny exhaust note we hear!

Husky/Rich - thanks for the advice. I noticed the wrinkle on the leather too but its so difficult to tell in the pics - asking the garage would no doubt illicit some sales burble so I'll investigate for myself. Good tip on the stitching - I'll check that out. Is there any real implication to the cubby being different? I was assuming it previously held a dud sat nav and had been replaced - deffo a different head unit anyway. I know its an import (reg 2005 apparently so it sneaks in with the cheaper tax)......assuming that its not got the UK rump due to any bumpercar action but I'll have to check it out. Weathers too grim this afternoon so prob nip over in the morning. Shame about the blue one really - after telling me the history was lost the bloke at the garage really nailed it by saying 'we let one of the salesmen have it for 6 months and he said it drove really well'. Loosely translated as; 'One of the sales men thrashed it for 6 months and he said it drifted really well' I think I've....errm I mean the Missus has got to expect the odd comprimise given the price we're paying - I've already talked her up to 9k instead of spending 6k on a ropey RX!!

Cheers all! I think the biggest challenge is finding one thats got a reasonable history. We're only looking to spend 9k max which only really just pokes us into Zed territory. I've not long gone all sensible and bought a new diesel Lancer so can't really push it beyond that. The one we're looking at today is at http://www.richmondcarsales.co.uk - titanium with heeeeyawge spoiler and pop charger. Apparently full service history, leather and the lower tax bracket. We did like the look of a Blue one that was a bit more local with less miles but the service history has been 'lost' which is a little concerning! Prob not the best day to be looking at a car though given the good old Northern weather!

Hi everyone, In the very near future I (well technically the missus!) will be bagging up a Zed. Based on budget in reckon it will be a JDM but there seems to be a few decent examples out there. Luckily I've managed to talk the missus out another RX8 and to get a Zed (which I shall now be referring to as 'our car' ;-) - we used to have an RX8 a couple of years back and it was probably the most dissapointing purchase of my life! Unfortunatly Zeds were a bit too expensive at the time and after the RX depreciated from £14500 to £7k in 18 months it left me with a bit of a sour taste for another car that would cost a bomb to run.......however - I didn't actually realise how comparitively cheap the Zed is! Same tax, same insurance as the MX5 (god knows why!), slightly better fuel consumption than the RX8, bullet proof mechanics and a big hairy 3.5 litre to boot. I must admit I had a little chuckle to myself reading about the problems you lot have with your Zeds 'OMG my battery has died!' 'this sat nav is in Japenese!' 'I need a new door handle' 'my alternater belt is a little squeaky'...............haha! You should read the RX8 forum for a laugh sometime....'my engine fell off - what do I do' 'I'm getting 12MPG any ideas why?' Also I just wanted to say after reading the forum for few weeks what a truly nice bunch of helpful people you lot are - I've only been a member of one forum before (the RX one) and it was like a stand off from Fast and Furious - Tokyo Drift every time you put an opinion on there! Off to go and look at one in Hyde this afternoon so might have some news! Ricey