Should I? S2000 to MS3...

[Jason C]

I'm in the same situation, but with a different car.
http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123740132
I'm with you on the practicality side.

 

[Design]

I've thought about keeping S2k and picking up a hatch in addition, but:
1. I'd 'spend' about ~$4k if I sold my S and bought an MS3; I've thought instead about keeping the S and buying a '05-06 CRV, for around 18k. So cost differential is 14kish. Again, might now seem like much when looking at housing (esp in SoCal, unfortunately), but the more I save...

2. If I have both the S and the CRV, I won't be able to take the S out as much as I'd like - mostly in the CRV with the kid and wife. Before I sold my daily driver (civic hatch), we would take it on trips, and I'd often think "I wish I could be driving my S". Same would apply now; we're thinking about heading out to Yosemite, but it wouldn't be in the S (no space for camping gear, let alone my climbing gear. Oh, and room for food would be nice to have too). So.... maybe the MS3 is just more (shudder) practical and (shudder) good enough - no offence meant. I could easily fit all our stuff in there, and I'd be fun to drive in the twisties.


btw, anyone out babyseats/carseats in here, and how well does that work? I haven't searched the forums yet, but thought I'd ask.

As you all can see, right now the practicality of the MS3 most likely will win out over the pure rawness of the S - for now. Ask me in a few years....

I hear you on that. I too love the S, but a family means spending most of your time in a car with 4 doors. There's no need to punish yourself during the week just to love what you drive on the weekend. Taking a small (and I mean small) step down towards practicality is a win-win situation.

I have a 16 month old and used a Graco Snug-ride, and now a Graco Nautilus 3-in-1. Both fit great as long as you don't need space for 3 kids. The snug-ride fit perfectly in the middle. Plenty of room for me (I'm 5-11) and my wife up front.

For larger forward-facing seats like the Nautilus 3-in-1, the latch system is best utilized on the left or right rear seat. You can use the middle, but the latch for the top connector is located behind the seat on the trunk floor near the tailgate. That means no stroller in the back if you do the center latch.

I can easily carry a day's supplies, the family, the stroller, and the pack & play without a problem. It would be cozy with 2 kids, but doable so long as you aren't packing the kitchen sink.

If you ever want to see this stuff in person just send me a PM. I'm about 15 miles South of you, lol.

 

[psychophd]

Thanks, Design!

Sounds like I'll be fine in an MS3 with one kid - at least until we have the second kid, and maybe even then it'll be ok as long as we have a (gasp) SUV or (GASP) minivan as the main family vehicle - but that's a few years off.

Now I gotta start shopping around a bit more seriously. I still don't want to, but....anyone want an S2000?

Thanks again, all - I'll keep you all upated during my search...

 

[08cosmic3]

Pit each dealer against the other on the price, they will drop the price fast on an 08 or 08.5. Don't deal with the salesmen, get quotes online or over the phone and lie if you have to about the other offers from other dealers. You will be suprised at the price you can get right now if you are patient and play your cards. I never went to a dealership until I had made the deal over the phone. The dealers would give me one price and after turning it down they would call back 30 mins later with a better offer. I would then call the other dealers and tell them what the best offer was so far and ask if they wanted to beat that deal. Now, they will get pissed if you take it too far but in the end they want to make the sale. Deal with the internet sales guy, he useually works on salary not commission. I paid $500 under invoice 14 months ago and I have read people buying them for $1500 under invoice now. Go to edmunds.com to get the invoice price because the dealers will lie to on the invoice price. Save some money for modding and get the Sport model. The $1500 you save will get many go faster goodies.

 

[shaftwagon]

Indeed- the '08 MS3 is going VERY cheap these days. I bought one 2 months ago for over 2k UNDER invoice. Mazda is offering incentives to buy these now. Go to mazdausa.com and check out the incentives- there is $2500 customer cash on the '08 models. This is likely because the 2010's are coming out shortly and the economy blows. You can only get the silver in the '08 which IMHO is the best color.

As the previous poster mentioned, if you are buying use the internet sales people to get a price and match the dealers against each other. The cool thing is that using Mazda's website you can search all the dealers in your area for the car you want, get a price, and then use it against the other dealers. It works like a charm. You absolutely can't beat getting one of these cars for $19k new.

 

[psychophd]

Thanks for the hints! I like the white, but the only 08.5s I can find are red or black in my area (SoCal). There's a silver one in Las Vegas... might have to go with an '09, or choose one based on cost vs. color.

Any recs for dealerships in SoCal?

 

[evilmonkeyMSP]

what color is your S? lol

Thanks, Design!

Sounds like I'll be fine in an MS3 with one kid - at least until we have the second kid, and maybe even then it'll be ok as long as we have a (gasp) SUV or (GASP) minivan as the main family vehicle - but that's a few years off.

Now I gotta start shopping around a bit more seriously. I still don't want to, but....anyone want an S2000?

Thanks again, all - I'll keep you all upated during my search...

 

[psychophd]

what color is your S? lol

It's "silverstone" - the darker of the two silvers (the other is "sebring"). I really like the color esp for socal where darker colors get really hot. Doesn't show too much dirt when I let it go for a few weeks. I may try to get away from silver for now, just for a change in pace. I really like the cosmic blue, but no longer offered, so I might settle for white, which would be ok.

 

[08cosmic3]

Cosmic Blue is the only color option that is exclusive to the Speed 3.

 

[psychophd]

Cosmic Blue is the only color option that is exclusive to the Speed 3.

was this only for '08, or also for '08.5? My understanding is that the color was no longer available as of 08.5... is this correct?

 

[evilmonkeyMSP]

Bah every damn s2000 is silver. We don't want silver when we get ours lol

 

[Hank3]

was this only for '08, or also for '08.5? My understanding is that the color was no longer available as of 08.5... is this correct?

It was only available as an '07 and '08 model.

 

[psychophd]

Just posted in the Cars FS forum as a wtb/wtt.... kinda unsure about selling my S... we'll see what happens as I also start emailing dealers in the next 2 wks... thanks for all the help guys!

 

[Hank3]

Kinda unsure because you're afraid you won't get what you want for the S2K? Or you don't want to give up the S2K?

 

[psychophd]

Kinda unsure because you're afraid you won't get what you want for the S2K? Or you don't want to give up the S2K?

More so that I don't want to give it up... I really enjoy it. Car prices in general are depressed, so I'd guess that s2k prices might even be lower (kind of a luxury to have a 2 seater with a small trunk), but with summer coming up many people want verts. Might be a wash...

 

[Metro Gray]

Our kids (5 & 1) love going out in the MS3. The rear doors allow easy entry/exit for the kids and there is plenty of room for the baby seat and booster with room to spare. The hatch space is large enough for a trip to costco or ikea although we still bring the Pilot if we are buying bigger items.

The MS3 is plenty fast to get your adrenaline pumping in a straight line or around corners. Probably not nearly as refined as the S2K but you get what you pay for.

 

[psychophd]

Metro Gray - thanks for the additional info - it's good to know! ON the short term I'm thinking about a camping trip locally, and later a road trip to Lake Tahoe for some mtn biking - I think the MS3 might do better than my S... kinda sad about that...

 

[psychophd]

btw, here's an update:

I called some dealerships. There's 3 '08s left in the local area; two are at Galpin, and everyone says they have bad service and aren't solid. There's also one in Palm Springs, about 80 miles from me. It's a red gt with nav (all the ones at galpin are red too), and I don't want nav.

There's a guy who posted at s2ki.com about switching from an ms3 to an s2k, and he's local with a black '08. I'm not big on black (too hot in the summers here in SoCal, shows dirt and any scratches, plus the swirl marks later), but we might be able to work out a trade, so I'm thinking about it, despite my reservation about black... we might try to meet up next week. I'll definitely let you guys know as things progress - thanks again for all the help.

 

[Design]

btw, here's an update:

I called some dealerships. There's 3 '08s left in the local area; two are at Galpin, and everyone says they have bad service and aren't solid. There's also one in Palm Springs, about 80 miles from me. It's a red gt with nav (all the ones at galpin are red too), and I don't want nav.

There's a guy who posted at s2ki.com about switching from an ms3 to an s2k, and he's local with a black '08. I'm not big on black (too hot in the summers here in SoCal, shows dirt and any scratches, plus the swirl marks later), but we might be able to work out a trade, so I'm thinking about it, despite my reservation about black... we might try to meet up next week. I'll definitely let you guys know as things progress - thanks again for all the help.

I'm a big fan of relationships, but sometimes you have to buy a car at a great rate from one dealer and then go to another for your service. My So Cal dealers knew this since I live close to one and work next to another.

It's definitely worth the wait to get the color you want. And it sounds like an 08 Cosmic Blue GT would fit the bill. You have a couple months left to search and still get a great rate on the sale of your S2K. Good luck.

 

[psychophd]

It's definitely worth the wait to get the color you want. And it sounds like an 08 Cosmic Blue GT would fit the bill. You have a couple months left to search and still get a great rate on the sale of your S2K. Good luck.

Thanks! Yeah, the guy who is selling his black '08 MS3 GT has decided to keep it, so I'm back to looking around. While not my choice of colors, it might have worked out money-wise, with a nearly straight trade, saving on sales tax, negotiations and such. I might end up with a blue MS3, or a new white one. Guess I'll take my time and see what I can find.