Kumja

Hi,

Been searching for about two weeks.. Looked at about 8 or 9.. I found two that I like, but one is insanely high on price.. The one I'm focusing on is a little black on black 05' GT with about 74000 km on it...

I've test drove this car twice now, and other than a bit of noise out of the drivers side window (makes a distictive clicking sound when going up and down), the car seems to be in good conidition. I do notice the transmission seems a bit lounder (a higher pitch whirling noise when changing gears). My guess is this is the synchros winding up and down - though I'm not sure why the pitch would be higher in this car. Any clues?

I'm taking the car into a rotary spec. tomorrow in the after noon.. Going to get a compression test done and a vehical inspection... Any "good" questions to ask while they are inspecting it?

I'm looking specifically for ignition system health, signs of flooding, damaged cat or 02 sensor... And general health of the transmission.. The dealer (mazda in this case) has told me they would honour the remander of the core warrenty if the rotory takes a dump on me..

Seems as though the car has been serviced at mazda up until the end of 06, then there is a break in the service records and back to mazda at the begining of 2011... So 4 year gap.. A bit of a bummer... But overall the car is clean, handles well.. No obvious mechanical issues other than odds and ends here and there (water in the tail lights, window clicking sound...), no obvious vibrations at idle in the wheel or in the stick... Seems like a nice car..

So the reason I'm posting is: 1.) I"m p. stoked about RX8 and 2.) WHAT AM I MISSING? Is there somethign more I could be doing to make sure this thing isn't a total lemon? So far, I"m doing full pre-sale inspection from rotory spec., buying from mazda dealer, ensuring the core warrenty on the rotory itself, I've taken it for two 10-15 min test drives, gotten all available maintance records (and related)... What else am I missing?

Thanks!

RX8Soldier

iTrader: (24)

has the engine receive all the latest flashes? (MSP-16)
See if any TSB's have been performed.

Kumja

You know I asked him for this yesterday, and he gave me "all they had on record" for this car... Most looks like mazda maint. He gave me a sheet that has "Recall SSP Information" but I don't see anythign that specifically says "TSB" or "MSP". Perhaps there is another name for it in Canada?... They are also charging me a 380.00 doc.... Not too sure I'm stoked about that...

Kumja

Oh one other thing I wanted to ask.. If I find that a TSB or MSP hasen't been preformed on the car, will the dealer still honor the repairs/ upgrades/ what ever?

sjschutz

Yes, the dealer should still perform the flash at no cost to you. My dealer didn't care much for the whole water in the taillights TSB and claimed they would have to charge me for it. So, I just fixed my myself. Just find a good, honorable dealer and you'll be fine.

Good luck and post up some pics if everything check out and you end up getting it.

Bladecutter

While the vehicle is on the lift, have them pull the transmission and differential fill ports, and see if both are filled with oil. Possible noise might be slightly low oil in one or the other.

Ask them to drop the price of the car the same $360 for the doc fee, otherwise you will keep looking for a different car.

Oh, and get it in WRITING that they will cover the engine replacement if you don't have all the oil change receipts. There have been quite a few Canadian members saying that Mazda of Canada will not cover their engine replacements even if they are missing 1 or 2 receives from a few years back.

Don't let the dealer get out of this one.

BC.

Kumja

Update: I walked away from it.. Took it to a rotary spec., and they laughed and told me to "run screaming"... They also told me the price was a bit of a joke..heh... Keep looking a I guess.. .Thank god for rotary specialists.... This will just give me more time to do research

monchie

Good decision. There are more out there and good luck searching for the right one for you.