Jpsquire

Howdy guys, I recently bought an RX8 at 98000 miles from a used car dealer. I know, that's terrible, but I got a steal. I am finding out why I got a steal though, and I'm wondering if they're sold it to me under false pretenses or are doing something shady and illegal. So it starts out with me buying it and needing it immediately, before it had taken emissions. They told me to take emissions and bring back the paperwork as soon as possible. I did so, and it failed emissions due to multiple misfires and a catalytic converter being inefficient. So I demanded that they pass the emissions and they complied because legally they have to. So I come back 2 days later and they said they replaced the Cat. Converter and it had passed emissions. I got the paperwork and confirmed, they did pass emissions. 3 minutes into driving it off the lot, the check engine light comes on. As you should all know, a car cannot pass emissions with the check engine light on. The codes were for misfires still, so I replaced the spark plugs myself to prevent having to back to those terrible people. After doing so, I expected the CEL to go away. It did not, and it read another misfire in "cylinder 2". While that would be simple in a normal car, there are no dang cylinders in these cars so it's reasonably impossible to tell exactly which ignition coil it was. At this point, I am calling the Used Dealership back but I don't want them to touch the car again, as they have no idea what they're doing with a rotary. I'm no genius, but it seems like they did something shady to get the CEL off and get the misfires to not register. Can anyone give me some advice on what to do and how to go about getting the repairs done by a Mazda Dealership and paid for by the used car place? Thank you

boricua13

Look for the lemon law based in your state and walk away.

Steve Dallas

May states have a law that dictates any dealership must take a car back within a certain amount of time. I think it is 72 hours in Texas. This is different than a lemon law, which requires multiple documented failures.

gwilliams6

It all depends if your purchase was "AS IS' or you have some king of warranty in force. If you bought it "AS IS", then you are on the hook for any fixes and costs. You may have many issues, including ignition issues , and/or a failing/failed rotary engine, especially at that mileage. Do you have any maintenance records on the car?.

If you can't make them take it back and give your money back, then you will have to diagnose the problem yourself or pay a reliable rotary mechanic or reliable Mazda dealership to diagnose the car.


https://www.rx8club.com/new-member-f...t-here-202454/

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tec...t-here-222280/

mazdaverx7

iTrader: (6)

Did you replace the spark plugs with NGK plugs? You will also want to replace all of the coils as well as the spark plug wire set. Rock Auto has NGK wires for like $17 and they're fantastic! Confirm that the converter is new..which I don't believe that it will be, but look under the car anyways. If you are in doubt, take pics and post them here. We will help you. It would benefit you to replace the parts yourself and learn about your car in the process. However if you are hell bent on making the used car dealer pay for the repairs, read the contract that you signed. Read the fine print, especially if its an as is car. These shady dealerships have a way of wording things that will remove any liability from themselves and put it all on you so be careful.

Next step is a compression test. A misfire can sometimes be caused by low compression.

The last question I have is is the car in good condition overall? Little to no rust, all options and accessories work, tires and brakes are decent? If so, its worth putting some money into if you like the car and got a good deal on it.

elford_tim

Does the maintenance history show that it's had the coils replaced fairly recently? Those, plugs and leads would be my first guess. I also assume that when you replaced the plugs, you put in the correct rotary specific spark plugs (should be easy to determine, if you didn't pay around $100 minimum for four plugs, chances are high you didn't put the correct plugs in ).

Also, did the dealership replace the cat with an OEM cat or a random aftermarket one?

If it's the latter, good luck - most of them don't last very long in the exhaust heat a rotary produces.