Dad cars - what else should be on my list?

[altiain]

Yes, my wife has the family car so the 8 would do random kid duty.

Are you selling the 8 to get something with 4 doors? Or are you just moving to a different track/auto-x car? If so what?

If I get an 8 I'd be looking for an '06+ with ~40k miles or less but overall condition is more important than mileage obviously. I think Carmax has an '07 with 8k miles on it for $18.5k and an '06 Shinka with 33k miles for $17.9k

Selling for several reasons. First and foremost, I've had the car for 4.5 years, which is about half a year too long for my car ADD. I'm just ready for something else. Second, we're buying my wife a new SUV in the spring, so I think I'm going to turn her current CR-V into my daily driver and buy another two-seater for weekend/track duty. I miss having a convertible.

Mine is an '04 Sport with 72k miles, but I'd be looking for about half of what the two you listed are asking.

[CosmosMpower]

As someone who actually puts a kid with a rear facing child seat into an RX-8 every day, I heartily disagree. Having the rear suicide door makes getting the kid in and out of the backseat a breeze.

Of course, we have an SUV for primary family vehicle duty, so most of the time I'm taking him in or out of the car either in my driveway or the driveway of the day care. If you're constantly having to take him in and out of the car somwhere with a car parked right next to the passenger side it's going to be a PITA... but still less than a 2-door coupe, imho.

I'm assuming your wife has the primary family car, and you're looking for a daily driver that can do kid duty, not the primary family car, right? In that case an RX-8 isn't a bad choice. FWIW, mine will be back to stock and for sale in the next month or two.

I can't speak for the carseat thing (hopefully that's a LONG way off for me) but even with a passenger on the same side I often found it to be PITA getting out with a big truck parked next to you. Couldn't imagine trying to wrangle a child seat out without smacking one of the doors with my elbow into the car next to me. Not saying it couldn't be done but just saying it might suck vs some of the alternatives.

Just my 2 cents.

Mine is an '04 Sport with 72k miles, but I'd be looking for about half of what the two you listed are asking.

Hell I'd expect a good discount with the 3rd transmission being in the car

[MoonieGT]

From the research I've done, Mazda made various changes from 04 to 06. That's why I thought I should look for an '06+. I may even be able to lease a '10-'11 sport model within my budget, but I think I'd probably enjoy an 06-08 just as much for $6-10k less. I see a fair amount of low mileage 8's out there...

[cwisenheimer]

What about a Mazdaspeed 3?

[MoonieGT]

I guess I should drive one, but my brain keeps saying no FWD...

[miataspeedracer]

Acura TSX (previous gen). Put a bigger rear sway on it, and you'll never know it was FWD. Trust me on this one. Awesome car!