I am looking at an Rx-8, it's maybe $500 dollars out of my budget.

It is missing the front two oil cooler shields, one of the rims are curbed causing vibration, the lip of the rear passenger fender is bent outwards for some reason and is beginning to form surface rust, the fog lights are mounted and wired but do not work and the check engine light is on.

Can I have input on whether or not this is enough reason to ask him to lower the price a bit? maybe even more than $500? I'm not trying to low ball the person, I just want to see if this is a reasonable reason to ask for a bit off since it will be coming out of my pocket to fix the problems listed above.

sure as hell yes

do you know what the CEL is for?

What is the overall price? If they are asking $25,000, then yeah, $500 is easily obtainable. If it's $7,000, then not so much.


Also, there is no OEM "oil cooler shields", only aftermarket ones, so it's not likely that you will find one with them.

The surface rust, the unknown CEL, and poor wiring of the fog lights tells me that you need to stay away from that 8.


Don't max out yourself getting one, the cost of ownership is higher than people expect, and if that's the best you can do, then you need to save up more and/or increase your income. Don't end up having to neglect the 8 from inability to afford it. It will end up like the one you are looking at. Or worse.

http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=202454


Overall cost of ownership, a baseline for starters. It goes up from here:

Cost of Ownership.
The cost of owning this car isn't low. It's not as high as some people think, but it is alot higher than people expect that aren't actually thinking it through. DO NOT MAX OUT YOUR FINANCES purchasing this car. Any car really, it's stupid. But here are the costs you should have over the first 30,000 miles:
- 1,764 gallons of gas - $5,294 (using 17mpg and $3 per gallon)
- 40 quarts of oil for oil changes - $160
- 10 oil filters - $120
- 30 quarts of oil to top off with - $150
- 4 spark plugs - $80
- 4 coils - $140
- 4 plug wires - $60
- 4 tires - $800
- 2 quarts of transmission fluid - $20
- 2 quarts of rear diff fluid - $20
= $6,844

Plus any other failures that occur, such as:
- Cat failure - $1,400 (free if within 80,000 miles, but can cause other issues)
- O2 sensor failure - $285
- Steering rack failure - $2,000+
- Lower intake manifold or SSV failure - $2,000 (dealer, I don't know the parts cost to have a self cost)

Multiply any items by 2 if you purchase them from a dealer.
Multiply any items by 3 if you purchase them from a dealer and have the dealer do the labor.

don't buy it.

RX-8's do not come with oil cooler shields. Are you referring to some type of mesh screen in FRONT of the oil coolers or the rubber shielding around them?
a curbed wheel will not cause vibration unless the wheel is bent or there is some other type of damage to the suspension.
the rear fender is bent outward? as in the fenders are pulled?
Rust is never ever a good thing
fog lights are properly connected?
CEL code is... ? Has it been pulled? Does the car have a catalytic converter on?


my opinion: way too many things going on here to warrant the car even being purchased at anything other then a smoking red hot deal.
Possibly a modified RX-8 that the owner attempted to 'return to stock'.

What is the overall price? If they are asking $25,000, then yeah, $500 is easily obtainable. If it's $7,000, then not so much.


Also, there is no OEM "oil cooler shields", only aftermarket ones, so it's not likely that you will find one with them.

The surface rust, the unknown CEL, and poor wiring of the fog lights tells me that you need to stay away from that 8.


Don't max out yourself getting one, the cost of ownership is higher than people expect, and if that's the best you can do, then you need to save up more and/or increase your income. Don't end up having to neglect the 8 from inability to afford it. It will end up like the one you are looking at. Or worse.

Agreed.

OP: You don't want to own a problem to start off with. Just not worth it, in my opinion.

Good luck with your decision.

I'd pass and look for a car in better condition. You don't want to buy someone else's problem.

Thanks for all the input guys :)
I guess I am a bit too anxious to be driving another rotary. I'm quite saddened that my Rx-7 died. I'm going to slow down a bit and look around a bit more.

And Jedi54 and RIWWP, the oil cooler shields I'm talking about are the ones inside the wheel wells : http://www.rx8club.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134805&d=1236673282

Anyone have a preference in color of the Rx-8? In my opinion, the Blue>WWP>Silver>Black>Red>Yellow. But that's probably because I love to stand out rather than blend in lol

I was also going to ask which wears faster? the leather seats or the cloths?

Thanks for all the input guys :)
I guess I am a bit too anxious to be driving another rotary. I'm quite saddened that my Rx-7 died. I'm going to slow down a bit and look around a bit more.

And Jedi54 and RIWWP, the oil cooler shields I'm talking about are the ones inside the wheel wells : http://www.rx8club.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134805&d=1236673282

Anyone have a preference in color of the Rx-8? In my opinion, the Blue>WWP>Silver>Black>Red>Yellow. But that's probably because I love to stand out rather than blend in lol

I was also going to ask which wears faster? the leather seats or the cloths?


Ah, those. Actually not really that big of a deal. Many people cut them open farther to assist in airflow through the oil coolers.

Everyone has their own color preference, so find the one you like the most and stick to that color. Don't buy a color that you will end up wishing you had held out for another.

And there are several blues in the lineup:
- Winning Blue (2004 + 2005, bright blue) http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRd3kE5kDnvdtb1YoKFNGB3kdIXfhX40 VjdrFAhxk1c-14kOCmfWA
- Stormy Blue Mica (2006 to 2008, a very deep blue) http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTOH4fiU9FKXWwEZnJIUkQaXSXngs2wn EACm58QgrFjvbLEIewz
- Phantom Blue Mica (2006 only, same as the Montego Blue of the NA Miata's and FDs) http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRGZsbiP27ZH3u1l0CwfAXYY0u1bwVMw 9ZRH7lnDneGAgtGqaPl
- Aurora? Blue (2009+ R3s only, a bright blue with a hint of ...something else in it) http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTM9z-b4M3ZBgdc6jH156HmMOthPFjPo8D3OilVfVibQLJtgQrU1g


Huh. Images disabled for some reason? Odd. Not even the button to add the code for it. Just this thread it looks like.

Cloth is better, but you find that unless it is a base model.

Hmmm I'm going to go for a winning blue or silver :) thanks for the pictures, did not know that stormy blue mica existed. I thought it was just winning blue and phantom blue, other than the r3 aurora blue lol.

My dad got the black r3, but he's regretting it cause it's so hard to keep clean :(

The only colors easy to keep clean are the colors that people let dirt build up on them....



Just sayin :)