Hi All;

I have had my RX8 GT for 7 days now and both my rear tail lights are cracked. They seem to be cracking at the point where the tail lights curve around from rear to the side. I will post pix soon. I called Mazda Canada and they gave me the excuse that the suspension is too stiff for the body and that the body is torquing - thus causing the cracks. I have been told by my dealership that the lights are on back order and they have no clue how long they will take to get here.....so I order 4 of them because they will just keep cracking.

Let me know if your having the same problem.

Cheers
Andrew

That's a strange answer from Mazda Canada or any car manufacturer. According to the person you talk to, all RX-8 owners would have to bear the additional costs of new tail lights every so often. If I may exaggerate a bit...The chassis is so stiff, all windows, windscreed, gauges, mirrors will crack under torsion. What kind of design is that? You might want to call Mazda and talk to someone else. If this condition is true, I would think this is bigger that the missing hp issue.

Just my 0.02

I've had my Canadian RX-8 for 5 weeks now, and have 7600 km on it from a road trip to California and back, over all sorts of roads (read several rough ones included). Neither tail light cover has cracked. I think that person's excuse is downright stupid - the RX-8 has an extremely stiff chassis, and the GT suspension is not that stiff, so there's no way that any suspension harmonics are making their way to the taillights as significant structural movements via torsion. Maybe your dealer stressed or cracked them during dealer prep?

Regards,
Gordon

Search for the thread SUV 1 - RX8 - 0

The guy was rear ended and his tailights are FINE!

The reason they are cracked doesn't matter. It's a warranty item and they get to replace them for the next 50,000 miles as long as they keep cracking. Yeah, that's a lame answer. When you say you have 4 on order it almost sounds like you're paying for them. Don't!! Make them pay.

Am I the only person who'd really like to see the pictures? ...

Originally posted by 8_wannabe
Yeah, that's a lame answer. When you say you have 4 on order it almost sounds like you're paying for them. Don't!! Make them pay.


absolutely Andrew, whoever said that was just making up a BS answer off the top of his or her head. the tail light units installed on your car were somehow faulty, and certainly items that should be claimed under warranty.

as i said before, get to that dealer, make them fix it for you today. this is a very unique problem. the pictures would be interesting to see, at the very least. hopefully it's simply a quality control fluke.

There is a casting line that runs near but not along the corner of the light. THis is not a crack. It is the same on both lights. It is inside.

Here is left Tailight Crack

Right Taillight Crack..in almost same spot as left crack

oooh. Sorry. They KEEP cracking??? wow. ?????????

Sorry for the miscall

Why do you believe this will recur? As far as I know, you are the only person here to have reported this problem. I'd be far more likely to suspect that someone backed into your car and that bumper flex caused the cracks, for example...

Regards,
Gordon

Gordon;

Firstly, No one has backed into my car, because my car hasn't left my sight and I know I haven't backed into anything. Secondly, the taillights cracked 2 days apart from each other in roughly the same place. It's some kind of flaw in the design either that the car can't handle the Canadian Pavement. Anyway, once the next 2 go on I will see how long they last. Keep you all posted.

Cheers
Andrew

Wow. That is an unusual phenomenon. Good luck with the replacement tail lights. Hopefully, the new lights eliminate the problem. Please do keep us informed if you can.

This is very bad luck and thanks for illustrating it for us. Obviously I hope it's not a generic fault and as no one else seems to be suffering I assume it isn't but then why are BOTH your lights affected. Very odd.

Maybe you are using the wrong gas, or shifting at the wrong rpm?

I have what will eventually be a crack. The left side if the trunk door comes right down on top of the tail light cover. It rests about 3/16 to 1/4 inch off of the cover, same as the other side, but it closes so firmly it actually bounces of the top of the lens. I have a bit of chipped paint on that corner of the trunk lid, and a perforation of a line on the lens right now. Maybe it is the trunk when closing pushing down on the top, and your crack are where the weak points are on the covers.

Or maybe not your problem at all, yours could caused by over torqueing when they were initially installed. Or maybe hairline cracks initially until the trunck hit it a couple of times. Look for a rub up on the top where the truck would impact it when closed.

Originally posted by BRealistic
Maybe you are using the wrong gas, or shifting at the wrong rpm? ROFL!

I was just installing my new License plate, when my neighbor pointed it out to me. On the Right taillight I also have a craze that has developed. On the left side, it is a mini-craze. I have had no "bumps" or accidents. I will have to call my dealer and see what their response will be.
This is not good!!:mad: I only have 900 miles on the car.

Originally posted by BRealistic
Maybe you are using the wrong gas, or shifting at the wrong rpm?

Now that's just dumb. use some common sense. Anyone can see the cracking is from overheating due to cycling a/c.

I dont have any cracks
but at the bolsa chica bbq in ca, someone pointed out a have a bug in my taillight

I think my bug was port installed

I expect Mazda NA to understand if you have a crack in your tail. This will probably be a problem with a certain number of first end-run RX-8s. Why would I say this? Am I speaking out my anus? Well, yes. But, after reading this thread I started looking at the RX-8s at the local dealer. The tails all had a little divot in the bottom edge of the plastic tail covers, not really obvious unless you are looking for crack- but they were there. They weren't exposed, nothing the moon would show, but you could see the flash through the tail. I would flatuate that these are first run mold problems that stool with time into cracks if they are deep enough. I know I am behind in providing this tail end information after smelling the 8 backs for clues several weeks ago, but I forgot about this thread.;)

Took the car to Gunther Mazda in Ft.Lauderdale to show them the crazes that had developed on both the taillights. Last night we had a torrential downpour, so moisture had gotten inside.
There was ZERO hassles. From the Sales manager to the Service dept. I spoke to the asst. service manager who told me Mazda was aware of the problem on some cars. He had some in stock, 1,2,3...new ones put on...I was out of there. Great job. Warranty took care of the replacement.

Sorry to ressurrect an old thread, but I just noticed this exact thing on my 2.5 week old car (also bought from Gunther, so good news about the warranty). I washed it the other day and noticed they appeared to fog up from inside, which I thought odd, but didn't see the cracks. Today however...I have the same cracking problem in the pictures here. They still owe me an appearance package install, so when I go over there I'll point out the lights as well.

jds

mine were fine until someone smashed into them !:mad:

I washed mine last weekend and noticed water inside the rear, passenger side tailight lense...I can see (I think) where the lense to body weld (plastic) has failed. Will have to see what Mazda thinks.

I bought mine in Oct. and had to have the right tailight replaced because it clouded up from moisture after about two washes. Haven't had any problems since.

Mazda has found a possible reason for the cracks: New TSB:Solvent Cracks Appear on Rear Combination Light Lens and/or Front Side Marker Light Lens (http://www.finishlineperformance.com/rx8/docs/09-021-04.html).

rx8cited

There is a service bulletin about tail light cracks but I'm not sure it applies to your problem or not. See:

http://www.finishlineperformance.com/rx8/docs/09-021-04.html

Hi everyone, this is a defect that I finally got Mazda to admit. The tail Lights are defective.

2 Major Issues are happening nationwide:

1. The gasket b/w the tail light and the body of the RX is defective. Condensation will form inside as a result.

2. I just got my tail light replaced and the brand new tail light has a micro hole in the clear lens. It seems they are coming from the factory in this manner. That micro hole (in the same place you guys have mentioned) will eventually become a crack.


RENE

Question, when you finally get you new tail lights, can I buy your old ones. How cracked are they,anyways?

I think I need to stop reading these threads. I'm afraid to look at my car because it may have cracked tail lights. :) Can the rx8 have any more service bulletins? I'm worried enough about buy this first year car with all it's flaws, but it seems like they are adding up, and will continue to add up over time. It's a good thing this site onbly makes up a small percentage of owners and potential buyers, because no one would buy this car if a majority of rx8 owners or future owners were on here. Just the two recalls for me so far. I just hope I am lucky, and don't have all these little problems everyone is experiencing.

Maybe Canada should put more money into their roads?

I am thinking roads with jumps in them like Dukes of Hazard! THough I think jumping in 8 might cause more damage than just cracked tail lights!