I'm still trying to decide if I want an RX8. Part of this will come down to what it would cost to maintain the car (and if competent rotary mechanics are available). Can anyone recommend shops in central Texas (I live in Austin) that do good work on rotaries?

I'm sure you want something closer, but Rotary Performance in Garland [Dallas] is great; they have a website; they may be able to refer you to someone closer.

There are plenty of good rotary shops in TX, but since the car is under warranty and Mazda will have a large training program for dealer mechanics, you probably won't need to go to any of those shops until about 2007. Also, even if you abuse the car, you still probably won't need a rebuild until well after 2013. :)

Great response... and yeah... unless you plan on doing some heavy-duty mods to the car I wouldn't sweat it too much...

In Austin you have PROTECH and MZM, in San Antonio you have Alamo Rotary. I think it's safe to say that none of the "shops" are going to have as good information about the engine for quite a while, at least til the car is out of warranty...

:) good luck

PS.. there are tons more shops in Dallas and near Houston.

rx7.com is the shop in dallas. rotary performance is the name of it.