We take it all back!! Those meanies over at Mazda have withdrew their offer of a brand new Mazda RX8 192 with only £495 deposit on Motability Contract Hire.

According to the RX8 Community, dealer pressure may be the reason behind the change of heart. We must admit that it was the craziest deal we have ever seen and we just hope customers in receipt of Motability took advantage before they changed their minds.

As we reported earlier there's obviously a surplus of 192 PS models in stock and Mazda need to redress the balance. Offering the Mazda RX8 through the Motability Contact Hire scheme was definitely the best way forward.

For a start it would have avoided heavily discounting the product, helping to protect future residual values (aka Mini). Secondly, Mazda could have offered the dealer network a nice batch of second hand Mazda RX8's with a full service history three years down the line…nice! 

Nope that's too easy and instead it looks as though Mazda are just going to throw money at it and let dealers discount heavily. Which is all good and well for the customer right now, but in the fickle world of the Motor industry today's discount is tomorrow's depreciation, as anybody who has bought a Ford or Vauxhall will tell you.

Mazda's latest offering of a RX8 192 bhp on Motability Contract Hire is without doubt their craziest deal…ever!!

More suprisingly though is that Mazda's PR machine isn't exactly shouting about it, leaving its own dealer network to spread the good news. Clearly there's a surplus of RX8 192 PS in both cloth and leather in the system and this is one sure fire way of shifting the metal.

If your in receipt of the higher rate Mobility allowance and your a DLA holder, part with £495 advance deposit and away you go…quickly. For War Pensioners the deposit is NIL.

If your wanting the leather trimmed version, Mazda have subsidised the scheme allowing you to place a £1,995 advanced deposit (DLA holders) or £1,198 if your a war pensioner.

Just too see what else was on offer for a similar deposit, we had a look at the latest quarterly price guide from Motability to just put this deal from Mazda into perspective. You can also download the price guide by clicking on that link.

Here's a select few from our findings based on Advanced Payment for DLA holders under £500 using the higher rate of Motability allowance:

• Renault New Clio Expression 1.5dCi 86 5dr – £495 deposit and higher rate
• Renault Modus 1.5dCi 86 Expression AC – £395 deposit and higher rate
• Peugeot 206 1.4HDi 70 Look HB 3dr – £349 deposit and higher rate
• Peugeot 307 HB 1.6 TIP S 5dr – £449 deposit and higher rate
• Ford Focus 1.6TDCi 90 Style 5dr – £400 deposit and higher rate
• Vauxhall Astra 1.3CDTi 16v AC 90 Life Estate – £399 deposit and higher rate
• Renault Grand Scenic 1.6 111 Dynamique 5st – £495 deposit and higher rate

In the Coupe/Convertible section we found the following:

• Smart fortwo 0.7 Cab Passion – £1663
• Renault Megane CC 1.5dCi 106 6 Speed Dynamique – £1895
• Nissan Micra C+C 1.4 URBIS Cnv 2dr – £399
• Chrysler PT Cruiser 2.4 Touring 2dr Cabriolet – £999
• Mitsubishi Colt Cabriolet 1.5 CZC 2dr – £1775
• Mazda New MX-5 1.8 2dr option pack – £1995
• MINI 1.6 One 2dr – £2171

So it's easy to see just how good an offer this is and bear in mind none of the above cars come even close to an RX8 in terms of power and performance.

Of course the Mazda RX8 isn't the most practical car on the planet, does have it's restrictions and wont be everybody's cup of tea, but it is a genuine 4 seater coupe, can occupy small children in the rear and is a serious bit of motor car and a whole lot of fun. Yeehaaa!!