ok, another option has come up:
rather than buying a beater, i could go to a dealership now and get a titanium 3s hatchback (manual, 6 disc, moonroof, abs, xenon headlights, etc) and absorb the loss of the rx-8 to be reflected in the payments of the 3. then i would upgrade the suspension and turbo it at some point instead of buying the ms3. this will help me get rid of the rx-8 asap.
the only problem with this is that the dealer would have to give me at least $24K for the rx-8, then give me an outstanding deal on the 3 (around $17500), then i would have to get a very good interest rate.
i went to 3 dealerships yesterday to look at 3's. and here is what i found:
lake villa - about 15 3's - 0 manuals
waukegan - about 20 3's - 0 manuals
racine - about 10 3's - 2 black manuals (one of which was an 04, which could possibly mean HUGE discounts)
i emailed the dealership and asked if they had a titanium manual 3s hatchback with all of the options i want, or a manual sp23 hatchback so we'll see how it goes. more than likely it wont work so ill just go through with the original plan. the only hard part of that will be to privately sell the rx-8 come spring.