I guess it's the onset of old man syndrome, but I used to enjoy shopping for the next project/toy mobile.

Not so much recently. I've given up shopping in the Challenge price range and moved my way up the price range to $5k-$10k, but it looks like the overdescribed E36 M3heaps just followed me up there.

"Runs well" seems to mean "I can almost tell which two chambers are low on compression by the way the engine jerks at idle" (yes, that one had magic spinning doritos). "Original paint" means "what's left of it between the scratches down to the primer and the dent in every panel".

And of course there the classic "swapped engine doesn't fit, let's just cut a hole in the firewall for the distributor then and throw the battery into the trunk, only secured by the battery wires".

Plus of course the "I advertised my car for sale, but why would I want to show it to someone, especially on a Saturday?".

There is some light at the end of a tunnel in the form of a car that was actually as described and is sold by a fellow SCCA member who wadded up his race car and needs the money to fix it. I have some concerns over the mileage on that car (magic spinning doritos again) but TBH I've hardly ever seen a 13B fire up this quickly when hot.

But given that I drove over 500 miles yesterday and only got to view three out of the six cars I was trying to look at, that's pretty piss poor.

My name is Grumpy and I approve this message.

Remember that the higher the mileage on magic spinning doritos, the better. My FB had 230K on it when I won an SCCA Regional autocross championship with it, and 250 when the guy I sold it to won an SCCA road racing championship with it, and 275 when the motor finally went as a Chump/LeMons car in it's 3rd season.

Yes, but...

The car with the mileage concern is an RX8 and apparently the Renesis doesn't quite season as well as the 12A or 13B.

In reply to BoxheadTim:

I'd argue it's more important on a Renesis. All the low mileage ones have the notorious hot start issue and generally turds (I know, I passed on a super cheap 04 with 30K miles for just that reason).

I'm supposed to look at an 04 Renesis with 40k on it today, it'll be interesting to compare it with yesterday's 06 with 120k.

I bet it will feel down about 30HP and have a hell of a time with hot-soak restarts.

I am going to guess that the 06 will run better

Well, the 06 felt tighter than the 04. Both would work fine, let's see if I can make a deal on the 06 once I made it home.

Pro tip, don't do a 250 mile round trip after doing your back in. Right now I can barely move.

I'd buy an E36 M3 all day long over an RX8. ALL DAY LONG. The motors on the M3 are incredibly durable plus they're easy to replace and cheap.

None of those traits describe an RX8 motor.

Eh, the RX8 isn't that bad once you upgrade the coils and then upgrade the starter to the later version. That said, the 09+ add that extra oiling port and upgraded oiling system, but for the money it's going to be hard to beat some of the early cars.

Is that the factory engine @ 120k miles???

If two chambers are down on a RENESIS, a side seal probably cut loose. Moving the exhaust ports to the side helped lots of things, but not side seal wear.

I tried another E36 M3 before I went looking for RX8s. I've looked at and drove several in the past and unfortunately they don't do that much for me, despite repeated attempts to like them. Unfortunately the last two - a pretty nice 3/4/5 and a nice Dakar Yellow coupe - didn't do anything to change that.

RWD Mazdas speak to me in a way that a lot of cars don't, and I currently can't afford the only other car that would probably speak to me more (another a/c 911).

@Slippery, yes, factory engine at 120k, current owner has had the car since it had 9k on the clock and is adamant that it's the original engine.

@Brett_Murphy - the two chambers down was on a supposedly nice, original FC Turbo. That would have been a nice original TII after banging out all the dents, a respray and an engine rebuild.

One of my hot-buttons is insincerity, which pretty much defines car salespeople. My favorite line was "I just want to be your friend."

I like turning the tables on them, like when they say during negotiations, "the difference between our price and your offer is only $400..." I immediately jump in and say, "Exactly, since it's 'only' $400, then come down to my offer."

Oh, and the kiss of death for any car ad is "I'm selling it for a friend and know nothing about it..."

kb58 wrote: Oh, and the kiss of death for any car ad is "I'm selling it for a friend and know nothing about it..."

Some people get oddly upset when they tell you that and you then ask them if said friend knows they're selling the car...

I'm trying to save you from yourself. This is a track car and while I appreciate the fact that it needs to be fun, I think you're setting yourself up for failure.

Let's review what you've posted in the past...

1 You don't have a good foreign car mechanic in town. Rotary's have specific engine issues that require a very specific mechanic to fix

2 You don't like doing lots of work yourself. (See #1)

3 You want a reliable track car so you don't have to deal with #1 or #2

4 You want something with good support/cheap parts

5 You have issues with ergonomics/seats

An E36 M3 is a fantastic track car. They talk well, they accomodate many different sized people well, they punch way over their weight performance wise on track, they have a very strong aftermarket parts support group, involved forums with tons of good info, they're durable, they're cheap to maintain and if you blow up a motor, there are tons of good, cheap options out there.

Remind me again how an RX8 competes with any of the above? Don't get me wrong, I look forward to reading all your posts on how it's not running, you can't find anyone to work on it, parts are hard to find, you don't have headroom, etc, etc...

docwyte wrote: #1 You don't have a good foreign car mechanic in town. Rotary's have specific engine issues that require a very specific mechanic to fix

I'm trying to think of the specific rotary engine issues that need a specific mechanic. Rebuilding the motor is for sure a task for someone that knows rotaries, but other than that, maybe cleanup if it floods?

docwyte wrote: you don't have headroom, etc, etc...

Oh yeah, there is that. The sunroof cars have zero headroom in them. I am 6'1" with a shorter torso and really did not fit well in mine with a helmet on.

looking for a truck i sent out 47 emails/texts and got 6 replies, im pretty sure the new thing to do is list your vehicle for sale then do everything possible too not sell it.

dropstep wrote: looking for a truck i sent out 47 emails/texts and got 6 replies, im pretty sure the new thing to do is list your vehicle for sale then do everything possible too not sell it.

Yup.

My favorite this week:

'How many miles on the truck?'

'I have no idea'

'Uh, OK. When can we come look at it?' (I probably shouldn't have bothered responding, but turns out it didn't matter anyway)

...radio silence...

...Truck gets re-listed again.

docwyte wrote: I'm trying to save you from yourself. This is a track car and while I appreciate the fact that it needs to be fun, I think you're setting yourself up for failure. Let's review what you've posted in the past... #1 You don't have a good foreign car mechanic in town. Rotary's have specific engine issues that require a very specific mechanic to fix #2 You don't like doing lots of work yourself. (See #1) #3 You want a reliable track car so you don't have to deal with #1 or #2 #4 You want something with good support/cheap parts #5 You have issues with ergonomics/seats An E36 M3 is a *fantastic* track car. They talk well, they accomodate many different sized people well, they punch way over their weight performance wise on track, they have a very strong aftermarket parts support group, involved forums with tons of good info, they're durable, they're cheap to maintain and if you blow up a motor, there are tons of good, cheap options out there. Remind me again how an RX8 competes with any of the above? Don't get me wrong, I look forward to reading all your posts on how it's not running, you can't find anyone to work on it, parts are hard to find, you don't have headroom, etc, etc...

For every person I hear saying that the RX-8 isn't that bad, I hear 4 more horror stories from people who have owned them. As much as I am not a BMW guy, the E36 M3 seems a much better option.