Hey guys, just started car shopping over the past week and I stumbled upon a 2004 RX-8 with a meager 2,600 miles on it. I took a closer look and realized the thing has really had some work done: turbocharged, carbon fiber hood, spoiler, body kit, wheels & tires, chipped, etc.
I never expected to be looking at such a car, but it's priced at only about $20,000 and I think I could have a lot of fun with it. Only major downside I see is that it's going to be my daily driver, but I'm expecting to move to southern Cali or Florida soon, so seasons shouldn't be a problem.
Any advice would really help, I put a deposit down to mark the car as sold but want to make sure I'm not getting in over my head. Thanks gang!:beer05:

This is one of those, "too good to be true" deals...idk...lol...be careful...

Link to ad for said car please ....

Sure thing, didn't know if it was allowed, and a tiny part of me was worried about someone trying to pounce on it but I already put down a deposit, thanks for the help guys this is a tough decision:

http://www.pugi.com/details/used/2004/Mazda/RX-8/6538

hmmmm very sketchy. It is definitely turbocharged. But the mileage is very sketchy. Think about it. I doubt someone would buy a brand new 2004 rx8 and turbocharge it right away voiding the warranty. I persoanally wouldnt go for it.

I will admit,
that car looks exceptionally clean, the seats look barely used as well... but that still doesn't justify that the car actually has only 2,500 miles on it. If you look closely at the gauge cluster, it looks as if there are water marks inside or if it's been messed with before

Picture: https://content.homenetiol.com/883/38441/640x480/84518470966041509ee92601239ec247.jpg

Also, that is not an authentic Mazdaspeed front bumper.

Yeah :( I'm a bit worried about this. Man the thing was incredible to drive though! They said the previous owner was kind of a weird dude, also had a Mustang completely decked out but only 4k miles on it. Maybe he just likes working on cars? The price doesn't seem too ridiculous all things considered, but I am a bit weary of there being no warranty on this thing.

Yeah :( I'm a bit worried about this. Man the thing was incredible to drive though! They said the previous owner was kind of a weird dude, also had a Mustang completely decked out but only 4k miles on it. Maybe he just likes working on cars? The price doesn't seem too ridiculous all things considered, but I am a bit weary of there being no warranty on this thing.

There are plenty of Rx-8's that drive great. I've seen brand new Rx-8 R3's sell for $24,000.... just gotta check autotrader when dealerships are trying to get rid of them. It's not worth paying over $20,000 on an 8 year old car, even if it has extremely low miles, it has no warranty what so ever, especially with that turbo.

Even if this guy was "a weird dude" and decided to waste all his money on cars and never drive them, that still doesn't seem like a fair price. I've seen a completely stock yellow Rx-8 with less than 3,000 miles try to sell for the passed 2 1/2 years on eBay... and the gauge cluster didn't look all funky like that.

There's a possibility his old cluster broke and he purchased a new one from the dealership, and from what I was told, you cannot change the miles on the cluster as it's stored in the ecu. If this is a legit mazda dealership, they can check the accurate miles on the ecu... if that hasn't been replaced as well...

(Reason I know this is because my tachometer used to idle under 0 and I was looking to purchase a new gauge cluster and the dealership recommended I just had it adjusted so my miles doesn't get affected as I'd have a hard time selling the car in the future)

I checked out the car fax on this car and it seems legit. BUt to be honest nowadays people will do whatever to scam you. Sometimes people roll back the odometer. Although its harder on digital ones but people still have ways. i was searching for my cars i picked up a few tips on how to avoid scams.


For example .. check the tires. Check if they are oem and when they were manufactured. And see how much mileage is on the car and compare that with the tread wear and see if they match. However in your case its tough cause its aftermarket wheels.

Another thing is brake pads. The brake pads on that car should have alot of life left on them.

Check the condition of the car. The car should look and smell brand new with 2000 miles on it.

THeres lots more to look for.

That carfax looks sketchy,
http://www.carfax.com/VehicleHistory/p/Report.cfx?partner=DVW_1&vin=JM1FE173140116766

Car shows no signs of service history besides in 2004 from the same dealership who inspected it right before it was sold, and since then only 1,300 miles have been put on the car?

that does look strange wouldnt it have gone to the dealership for the recalls and stuff on it like the flashes on the ecu. If it ever went into the dealership wouldnt it show up on the carfax?

buy it and go vroom vroom.

It goes vroom vroom then PPSSSHHHH!!!!!! Then vroom vroom again.


(sorry... little drunk)

that does look strange wouldnt it have gone to the dealership for the recalls and stuff on it like the flashes on the ecu. If it ever went into the dealership wouldnt it show up on the carfax?

Yeah, exactly. When I purchased my car, all of my dealership service history records were on the carfax including recalls, flashes, oil changes, clutch replaced, motor mounts... even when the original owner had the sun visor replaced back in 2004...

doesnt carfax guarantee the car to be as they say it is if not you get your money back?

doesnt carfax guarantee the car to be as they say it is if not you get your money back?

On some vehicles they offer a carfax certified money back guarantee, but on the bottom of every carfax it says not all information is supplied to carfax and that they are not held responsible.

If an accident is never reported then it will not show up on Carfax. How many times have you heard someone you know say they will pay out of pocket so their insurance company never finds out?

How do you guys feel about my plans to pay for the car to be checked out? I know there's a couple of nationwide services such as AiM, I feel like they could pretty easily determine if the mileage is accurate. I can say that this car was absolutely immaculate when I checked it out today, they said it had never seen rain and it seemed like a pretty believable statement all around.

My biggest fear is the lack of any warranty.

How do you guys feel about my plans to pay for the car to be checked out? I know there's a couple of nationwide services such as AiM, I feel like they could pretty easily determine if the mileage is accurate. I can say that this car was absolutely immaculate when I checked it out today, they said it had never seen rain and it seemed like a pretty believable statement all around.

My biggest fear is the lack of any warranty.

Even if it has 2,600 miles on it, you're going to drive it and eventually it will get a ton of miles and that will cost money. For that price you can get a newer Rx-8 with a warranty.

The title of the thread is "MX-8"? Does it still have the rotary engine or a boinger transplant.

You also have no idea what kind of tune the turbo has. Was the tune placed in the OEM PCM or does it have a piggyback ECU.
If it was serviced at a Mazda Dealer, any one of them can call up it's service records.

Argh, its an RX I just screwed up the title

Wonder if it's worth mentioning that the car is currently running on 105 octane, but can be tuned back to run regular fuel, premium I assume.

I'm going to see if I can get previous owner's info to get a better understanding of this car's peculiar history.

105 octane...hmmmm, idk.

As others have said I just cant see paying 20k for a 2004, even with those miles. You could easily get a 2010 maybe 2011 r3 with low or no miles for very close to that price.

Hey guys, any chance I could get a little more wise input on this one? I really appreciate your thoughts thus far, but would like to focus more on the upgrades this car has and whether they justify the price more than a stock 2004 would.

I called today and got more info on the previous owner. The guy is a collector, has maybe 20 cars and this was just one of his projects. He didn't do the work himself, but took it to a nearby track a few times, hence the mileage. Honestly, I'm pretty confident the mileage is accurate, I'm just concerned with the risk I'm taking with no warranty and possible (large?) maintenance/repair bills. I have no qualms about maintaining and pampering this car as much as the rotary needs it, I just don't want to end up sinking another 10k in the hole due to a bad gamble. I'm planning on paying a local mechanic to go take a look at it for me tomorrow and hopefully make a decision based off that, see also if I can get them to drop it another grand or two.

I've never had such a smile on my face from driving a car, which is why it's hard to just let this one go. I'd like to look at a nearby 2009 with 5k miles but the turbo was just so fun, thanks so much for the help!

if you look in the for sale forum there is a supercharged 8 with 28k in New jersey for like 16k or something i dont remember and am to lazy to look but it was just posted yesterday.... saves you 4k to get an authentic mazdaspeed kit if you want.

You have alot on your plate with this one. ALright lets say the mileage is indeed accurate. BUt what about that turbo. As you mentioned yourself, NO WARRANTY !!! You dont know how this car was tuned. Whether it was tuned professionally or by some half ass tuner.

I was in your same boat when i was shopping some my 8. I turned down about 9 rx8s that i was considering. And some of them were perfect. Everything i wanted but sometimes YOU WANT SOMETHING SO BAD THAT YOU IGNORE THE THINGS THAT CAN POSSIBLY GO WRONG.

I dig what you're saying Rotary but I guess my hang up is that despite the turbo, the warranty on any 04 is going to be burned up by now, and that's almost the case for any used car that's not certified (therefore costing more) regardless of the brand (i.e. the 08 GTI i drove last week has 4k miles left on original warranty, and maybe 15k left on powertrain). This is the first time I'm solo shopping for a car, so I'm looking for any help I can get.

I realize the 04's had their fair share of problems, but if I'm willing to fanatically check the oil and follow all the other advice i've gleaned from this forum the past couple days, aren't I minimizing my risk? Honest questions, not trying to argue it's just tough to pass this beauty up :(

Doesn't help I leave for Naval Officer Training in 4 days and was hoping to buy myself a toy to look forward to!

look in the cars for sale here.... there are cars that amazing and you know they have been maintained well.. included turbocharged and super charged and some with full mazdaspeed kits it just depends what you want. If you are stuck on that one I would try to talk to the previous owner to get more info about the turbo and maintenance

^ lol im telling you. You know how many "beauties" i had to pass up. Its just not worth it. If something goes wrong itll cost you big money. Keep on shopping and find one that has a bit more information about it.

Better to be safe than sorry

I'm sure that you would agree that when something is too good to be true, it probably is.

The mileage could be real. The proposed watermarks around the console could simply be dust built up around the edges. The car will have signs showing the low mileage even if it has been stored. A friend of mine has a 1996 Mystic Cobra w/ 2,000 miles on it and even in 2003 when I last saw it, it still smelled new.

There are many things to consider if you were to purchase an RX8 with these modifications. First off, there are a lot of things you'll need to check. If the car is tuned with anything other than an AP you'll want to ditch it. Either way, you'll want to get the car re-tuned to ensure it was done properly. You might need other parts such as a radiator, ignition upgrade, fuel pump upgrade, gauges to monitor the car etc.

Then overall you're stuck making sure the install job is done correctly.

The problem is when you buy a car this modified there are a lot of variables. The last thing you want is to be stuck with a paperweight you just paid a lot of money for.

My advise? Buy yourself a low mileage 2004 for next to nothing, rebuild the engine and piece a turbo kit together yourself with all the right parts. You might spend a bit more but you'll know who did the work and that it was done right.

Hey guys, any chance I could get a little more wise input on this one? I really appreciate your thoughts thus far, but would like to focus more on the upgrades this car has and whether they justify the price more than a stock 2004 would.

I called today and got more info on the previous owner. The guy is a collector, has maybe 20 cars and this was just one of his projects. He didn't do the work himself, but took it to a nearby track a few times, hence the mileage. Honestly, I'm pretty confident the mileage is accurate, I'm just concerned with the risk I'm taking with no warranty and possible (large?) maintenance/repair bills. I have no qualms about maintaining and pampering this car as much as the rotary needs it, I just don't want to end up sinking another 10k in the hole due to a bad gamble. I'm planning on paying a local mechanic to go take a look at it for me tomorrow and hopefully make a decision based off that, see also if I can get them to drop it another grand or two.

I've never had such a smile on my face from driving a car, which is why it's hard to just let this one go. I'd like to look at a nearby 2009 with 5k miles but the turbo was just so fun, thanks so much for the help!

Dude not to sound rude or anything but this should be a no brainer. My 1 year old would know what decision to make lol. 2004 car with 2600 for 20k (only core warranty) or a new 2011 with same mileage for 19k or ever lower w/ warranty. This isnt a cheap car to maintain; not saying you cant afford it but I didnt realize that before I purchased mine. Once shit starts going wrong since its already turbo charged and tuned be ready to lose serious dinero. Low mileage doesn't mean anything, warranty means EVERYTHING with an rx8. Investing 20k in a car with no warranty is and could be the worst decision in your life. Those upgrades wont mean anything when your car it stuck at the dealership. Just my two cents

Pause and think here before you leap. Yes it is a good idea to have a ROTARY qualified mechanic look at the car, check all the hoses ,electrical,manifolds,exhaust, suspension parts etc. But no matter if the mileage is correct and the car IS as advertised, you WILL HAVE wear issues with any RX8 that has sat that long, especially with fluids in it. You need to research what turbo kit it has in it, who did it, and check with that mechanic on when that was put it , and was everything tuned properly. You need a compression test of the engine, even with it being a turbo, you need to know the condition of the engine.

Looking at the carfax, It does not look like any Mazda updates (that were done to other 2004s) were ever done. Without a warranty, any of these you might need, will have to be paid for yourself. Some items may be redundant or unnecessary if changed in the turbo conversion. But you need to quickly become a RX8 FI expert (check the threads here on the subject and connect with Rx8 owners of similar turbo systems) .

I have owned seven rotary Mazdas since 1973 (street and race),a RX3, two RX4s, and all three generations of RX7, and bought both a 2008 40th anniversary Edition RX8 and 2008 Mazdaspeed3 GT. I easily have a million miles driven in rotaries. I have had NA rotaries and heavily modified street and race turbocharged RXs too. I am a guy that has spent countless tens of thousands of dollars over 38 yrs on modifying these cars. Everything that will need to be replaced or adjusted on the car WILL come out of your pocket. That rush and thrill you are feeling now after driving this car could quickly fade to angst and sorrow if ANYTHING breaks and you have to fix or replace it going forward. I hope you have deep pockets.

I personally would NOT buy any 2004 RX8 this heavily modified with so little documented history on it. As many other posters have suggested, a wiser move is to buy a newer RX8 with a warranty and documented history for the good prices that can be found now around the country on used RX8s.

Yes the car looks great on the outside, but for a rotary it is whats going on in the inside that matters most, and WILL cost you the most!!


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2008 40th Anniversary Edition RX8

I owe thanks to all you guys, I'm going to pass it up. I thought about telling them I'd take it at 17,000, but it's still just too many unknowns. I don't know if it's their inability or unwillingness to provide info, but it's a giant red flag and not worth it!

Thanks for bringin me down from the clouds fellas, hope to keep looking at RXs though (p.s. what's the thought on a 2009 Touring with 5,5k miles going for $21,000)?

(p.s. what's the thought on a 2009 Touring with 5,5k miles going for $21,000)?

You should be able to do WAAYYY better than that, price wise.
Dig up the trade in value of that car for your area, and start with that as you beginning offer.

BC.

Edmunds says $18,372 trade in value on that car, so I should offer $19,290? I'm only looking at purchasing through a dealer since I have 2 cars to trade in.

Edmunds isn't bad for finding a cars value. KBB is way too high. NADAGuides is close to what the dealers use. However, a car is only worth what someone will pay for it.

If your going to have it looked at by a rotary mechanic, don't use the same place your buying it from (Pugi). You can never be sure if they will give you a true evaluation. The local club has a good relationship with Continental Mazda in Naperville which isn't too far away. Their service department requires a reservation.