Mazda rx8 insurance

massivemagumbos

hi,

I'm looking at buying a 2004 mazda rx8 and i've only got a provisional licence. I'll be insured on my dad's insurance but the companies seem to be totally confused as to what to do with the car.

Hibernian say to go by the official engine cc as per the engine bay (beside the chassis). Which is 1744cc. Which they say they won't insure (cuz its a high performance vehicle), but they will insure a 1.3 litre, for 1800 (a price which surely takes into account the power of the car! Cuz the 1.3 mazda3 wud cost about 1000)

Totally confused and looking for a bit of advise?

Online quotes are between 2100 and 2400 for the low powered model,

Thanks!

colm_mcm

I don't follow the "but they will insure a 1.3 litre" bit. what does that mean?

tuxy

Just get your full licence first. A rx-8 is hardly a car for a learner, this is the way insurance companies see it.

colm_mcm

cue the "oh you're just jealous" brigade...

C_Breeze

Op, can I ask how old you are?

No offence but I dont think this would really be an appropriate car and too right insurance companies are not insuring you on a playschool, sorry, provisional licence


On a sidenote, Have you even reaserached these cars?.. Do you even know anything about them and rotary engines (its more than just a mere 1.3 you know) or did you just see one on the road yesterday and decide to go for one ? :rolleyes:

Henry Ford III

The actual cc of the engine is 1300, but the govt somehow managed to screw VRT, VAT, and road tax out of us by assessing it as a 1800cc.

To me that's all wrong.

In any event it's a high performance turbocharged car, and insurance will be expensive.

C_Breeze

Henry Ford III wrote:

The actual cc of the engine is 1300, but the govt somehow managed to screw VRT, VAT, and road tax out of us by assessing it as a 1800cc.

To me that's all wrong.

In any event it's a high performance turbocharged car, and insurance will be expensive.

Its not turbocharged. engine capacity is 2x654cc. It is taxed as 1.8 and it is insured as 2.7.

yop

Best of luck with the motor, just be wary of fuel and oil consumption, they love oil

http://www.autoblog.com/2005/01/21/thirsty-little-rx-8/

rowanh

C_Breeze wrote:

Op, can I ask how old you are?

No offence but I dont think this would really be an appropriate car and too right insurance companies are not insuring you on a playschool, sorry, provisional licence


On a sidenote, Have you even reaserached these cars?.. Do you even know anything about them and rotary engines (its more than just a mere 1.3 you know) or did you just see one on the road yesterday and decide to go for one ? :rolleyes:

Bit unnessesary..

Henry Ford III

C_Breeze wrote:

Its not turbocharged. engine capacity is 2x654cc. It is taxed as 1.8 and it is insured as 2.7.

1/. Agreed. It's not a turbo engine!

2/. It's not insured as a 2.7 btw. It's insured as a Mazda RX8 1300cc, and rated for it's relatively high performance.

BostonB

massivemagumbos wrote:

....

Totally confused and looking for a bit of advise? ...

Shop around for prices. Make sure you insure it as a RX8 and not a Mazda 3! Its going to be expensive. Somewhere 2000~4000. If you get your full licence that will drop a good bit. So getting your license is a priority. That said someone who wanted to spend 20~30k on a RX8 on a provisional licence can't be worried about cost, especially as you are likely to damage it, and run up repair costs and load your insurance.

C_Breeze

Henry Ford III wrote:

1/. Agreed. It's not a turbo engine!

2/. It's not insured as a 2.7 btw. It's insured as a Mazda RX8 1300cc, and rated for it's relatively high performance.

!t is insured as 2616cc! so 2.7 .. see quinn direct's online quoting system

galwaytt

Henry Ford III wrote:

2/. It's not insured as a 2.7 btw. It's insured as a Mazda RX8 1300cc, and rated for it's relatively high performance.

tomatoes/tomatoes. For insurance purpose, risk wise, Hibernian have it ranked equivalent to a 2.6.

Henry Ford III

Maybe it's splitting hairs, and yes it's premiums are comparable to a larger engined vehicle, but it's still insured as a 1.3, albeit a rated one.

C_Breeze

Eh, are you completely ignoring my post and glwaytt's post?

Quinn direct and Hibernian BOTH insure them as 2616cc (thats 2.6 or 2.7)

where are you getting 1.3 insurance from

Henry Ford III

I read those posts. 1.3 is the engine size. Insurance premiums are worked out using a large number of different criteria.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

I had an 2004 RX8 for a couple of years. The engine capicity is 1.3L its taxed as a 1.7 and insured as a 2.7. It drinks petrol like a 3.7. The oil is not really a problem but does need checking more reguarly than a regular engine. Performance is 192 BHP or 232 BHP depending on the number of side ports on the engine however this is not taken into consideration by the insurers. I had this car on a provisional licence (those were the days...sigh) and the insurance on 123.ie was 1300 euro approx. Thats with a 4000euro excess fully comp..

This is not an easy car to drive espically around town. The ride is jerky at low speeds and the ride is not espically comfortable however when opened up it is terrific handling (LSD, 50:50 weight distribution, RWD). It revs really easily and the acceleration when in the rev zone (5000+) is great. Torque is low for the BHP so you will be changing gears often, buts that half the fun.

Make sure the technicial reaclls on the starter motor, spark plugs (the flooding issue) and break disks (nosie when breaking) has been done. Curb damage on the alloys is common cause they stick out beyone the side walls (but look lovely).

One word of caution though as somebody who sold theirs...the depreciation is appalling, really really bad. I part exed a 2004 exclusive and got 21500 euro for it, a drop of 12000 euro from when it was bought (18 months previously) (oh how I cried like a girl).

I got rid of it because the fuel consumption is not commensurate with the performance and because of some reliability issues (sorted by the recalls but it put me off).

If you can afford it, and like petrol stations, go for it. They are more common now but still a great looking car with above average performance.

P.S You should not take your test in an rx8, the clutch is a bit jerky at low speed and will make you look like a rubbish driver for test purposes. And no its not that my clutch control is poor, its a common problem with sports clutches like in the M3 and 350z. You can learn to control it well but when nervious on test day you will bunnyhop the car and get a fault.

Good Luck

C_Breeze

HenryFord, well we are not talking about different criteria .. we are talking about what engine size it is insured under - and the answer is 2.7 not 1.3.

Fitzgeme, Good post. I have been keeping an eye on them for a while now. Will hopefully be getting a 04 Black 231, with R&B leather (mmmmmm) next year. (I love depriciation )

The oil on them is not as bad as the journalists make it out to be from what i have heard by other owners. Petrol consuption is really bad i have heard though .. on average , what consumption did you get l/100km ?

Also what age where you insured on??

And is it an easy enoguh car tp live with day by day?? (because of the starter motor issue and flooding if its not warmed up etc, or is this just scaremonegring by the journalists again??)

Henry Ford III

My last post on this. This car is a powerful 1.3.

The basis of it's assessment for insurance purposes is as a powerful 1.3. That may well equate to a 2.7 litre "normal" engine, but it has no basis in fact. Quinn and Hib. can do whatever they wish, but to say it's "insured as a 2.7" is clearly incorrect.

That is all.

um7y1h83ge06nx

Seems a strange car to get when you're on a provisional.

I'd be terrified of scraping or scratching it, and when you're on a provisional there is quite high odds of something happening.

Running costs would be high too. The total bill for insurance, tax and petrol for a year would be a lot higher than the typical cars people on provisional licences get.

But if you can afford it, go for it.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Day to day - not so bad to live with if you realise that it is a special car that requires special attention.

The recalls have fixed the flooding issues (but the fact that MSL service center made a complete hash of this for me and I had the car for only 3 days in one month and had to take many half days from work to get it done put me off the car.). It can carry 4 people but only for short journeys comfortablly. The oil issue is a fallacy. I put 2 bottles of oil in the car in 18 months, more than a ford focus yes, but the same as some other high performance cars. I got 19mpg around town tops...maybe 25 on long journey:eek: . I knew this when I got the car but knowing something and living with it are two different things. I was not the cost that bothered me it was the constant watching of the fuel gauge.

Boot space is fine no probs there....no spare wheel to save weight so you need a can of tyre seal and a portable pump in the boot. I was 26 when i was insured (I hung around on a provisional for quite some time to my shame). Hibernian refused to quote me, Quinn refused only 123 would insure me.

I have to say that while the performance is good if driven correctly....the lack of low down torque can compromise acceleration if you are in the incorrect gear. However about half way through owning the car I really got the hang of keeping the car in the high revs and taking off quickly. It just keeps accelerating and the high rev limit means it makes a terrific sound.

It tends to fishtail in cold conditions...so be careful. The traction control is set to allow some over-steer which is fun but can get you into trouble at the start. The grip is good in dry warm conditions. Tyres are relatively expensive and the rears need replacing/rotating often.

The initial costs are low for a car like this but the running costs are indeed high. Depreciation means nothing looking forward but is a kick in the nuts looking back.

MarkN

Off topic but whoever said 12,000 depreciation is a lot in 18 months, for a car like that, it's normal. I've an Audi S3 and it's lost almost €10,000 since Jan - you can't have it all I'm afraid!

Back ON topic.. it's not really a car I would like to witness any provisional licence driver behind the wheel of and perhaps the insurance companies view it the same?

I was just like you a few years ago, dying to get a fast car and I did but my condition to myself, of ordering that car was that I would pass my test first and one of the reasons for this was insurance - it was just going to be too much.

If you reckon you are big/bold/good enough to own a car like an RX8 then you are big enough to hold a full licence IMO.

FOGOFUNK

On the engine size/insurance debate....

Yes it is a 1.3l engine, but insurance companies know its a 232BHP RWD sports coupe(ok, cue the "its not a coupe, it has rear doors!"debate!!)

So in turn, the insurance companies charge premiums in comparison to other 232BHP RWD sports coupes.

massivemagumbos

Hi, OP here.

Just to clear up the insurance confusion.

Hibernian say (on the phone), that, in their books, there are 1.3, 1.8 and 2.6 litre versions of the car. which is lunacy, I'm a petrolhead myself and know all their is to know about the car and its engine. (1308cc but 2616cc performance). The car is taxed as a 1744cc, but this is because of the emissions.

Basically, hibernian gave me a quote, lowest quote so car, classifying it as a RX8 1.3. Now, just to make this clear, this quote was 600euro dearer than quote on a Mazda3 1.3 (if you see what i'm getting at here, obviously the 600euro must be taking into account that the RX8 engine isnt a normal 1.3). Hibernian have told me to go by the log book (which says 1744cc) but surely this is only for tax purposes??! i can give them a bibles worth of information saying that this car is 1308cc, and if they have a 1308cc RX8 on their books for insurance, surely the 190ps version is fulfilling this?

Forgive me for the ignorance, but if i ring up hibernian, saying i want insurance on the lowest power MazdaRx8 they have on their books, and they say thats the 1.3, then thats a valid quote? no? surely i'd be covered?

PS: i'm not a gob****e driver, i dont drive fast or recklessly, will do less than 5000miles a year, my full license test is a few months away (not all provisional licence drivers have pink dice hanging from their rear view) i'm buying a cool car that I'll want to keep for 2-3 years, i've been driving for 2 years, driving super safe but responsibly speedy, never had so much as a ding, and more importantly (not to sound like a prick) the running costs wont be an issue for me, i just dont wanna be screwed by insurers.

BostonB

If you get RX8 and 1.3 in the written quote then you have to be covered. because that what it is. If you want to make it iron clad reply to their written quote, quoting it, outlining that its a 1.3 with 1.7 on the logbook for tax purposes. They would need to clarify to they insure based on manufacturers specified capacity or whats on the logbook.

massivemagumbos

hibernian will give me a quote online for 1.3 litre engine, but also have a 1.8 Rx8 and 2.6 rx8. Madness this is! surely a quote for a 2.6 litre is just as invalid as a quote for 1.3 litre?

mazda have told me the car shud be taxed and insured as a 1.8 - but hibernian say "if its a 1.8 litre then its a high performance vehicle and we cant quote you"

anybody got any ideas at all? i've got my car picked out and all, this is really p*ssing me off!

Biro

massivemagumbos wrote:

hibernian will give me a quote online for 1.3 litre engine, but also have a 1.8 Rx8 and 2.6 rx8. Madness this is! surely a quote for a 2.6 litre is just as invalid as a quote for 1.3 litre?

mazda have told me the car shud be taxed and insured as a 1.8 - but hibernian say "if its a 1.8 litre then its a high performance vehicle and we cant quote you"

anybody got any ideas at all? i've got my car picked out and all, this is really p*ssing me off!

Why not give them the reg of the car you've picked, ask them to look up the details and ask what they class that particular car as, then go from there. Tell them you really don't know how their system works as there are only 2 versions of the RX8, both are 1.3 twin rotor engined, but with different power specs.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

123.ie

BostonB

massivemagumbos wrote:

hibernian will give me a quote online for 1.3 litre engine, but also have a 1.8 Rx8 and 2.6 rx8. Madness this is! surely a quote for a 2.6 litre is just as invalid as a quote for 1.3 litre?

mazda have told me the car shud be taxed and insured as a 1.8 - but hibernian say "if its a 1.8 litre then its a high performance vehicle and we cant quote you"

anybody got any ideas at all? i've got my car picked out and all, this is really p*ssing me off!

Why are you limiting yourself to hibernian. If they don't know what they are doing use a different company?