Keep the Protege5, get an RX-8, or neither?

The Mazda RX-8 is not well suited for your needs. These vehicles require fastidious maintenance and are not particularly fun to drive in the cold and snow. You would do well to find a lightly used Ford Fiesta or a Mazda 3… both would be fun to drive and serve all your needs perfectly.

Get the RX-8 only if you want it as a toy, it obviously won't be the family transporter. If you're willing to pay the maintenance, I've been very happy with my '07 Audi A4 Avant. I would think your budget might cover one a bit newer than mine. It's a great balance of fun and practical. In a competing model, you might also look at a Volvo V50 T5 (if you can find one). Yes, these are both more wagon than hatch, but I think would fill the fun factor and still be family friendly.

I will say I also just had a VW Golf 4 door as a rental and was pretty happy with it.


My final comments, if you are getting a "steal" on the RX-8, go for it, but keep the Protege too.

I really really really want to suggest the RX-8, because you deserve the fun car as the bonus, but it really doesn't sound like it will work for your needs. Yes, you can buy a set of winter shoes for it and that will help, but your winters and ground clearance sounds like an issue. If you really could keep the RX as a weekend car (or get a car cover and store for the winter), that would be perfect but it just isn't practical enough for even a 1/4 Costco run (says the guy who has done home depot runs in a FR-S with lumber sticking out the back).

In your pro/con list, write down how many times in the past 6 months that the RX-8 would not have worked. If you have less than 3, then you probably could get away with it. If more, you probably would regret it.

I know your buddy Steve would say "keep the 5". :)

Has the RX-8 been reliable for your father? (And is he in a comparable part of the country?) If so, I'd say keep it. You mention visibility as a priority--most contemporary cars (since, I don't know, around '08) are terrible!!! With a few exceptions such as Foresters, and some SUVs, and ***maybe*** some VWs.

If the RX-8 hasn't been reliable, I'd say hang onto the Protege for a few more years and hope that this slit window fad passes quickly.

Have not heard good things about the RX-8 and cold weather. Fortunately, there are tons of fun choices in this spaceMichael: 1) Mini Cooper S 2) Subaru WRX (four doors is nice for family duty) 3) Acura RSX/TSX S-Type 4) Audi A4 2.0T (Chip FTW) 5) Saab 9-3 6) Civic Si 7) VW GTI And regardless of what you choose to do, investing in a set of dedicated winter tires (or tires and wheels) is cheap insurance. Now go and have some fun! Dave W.

For those two weeks you need a car in January, why not just rent something? You have plenty of advanced notice and can find an off-airport rental probably pretty cheap by the week. Certainly much cheaper than owning something.