I Selkiies

A lot of people seem to be really skeptical when buying an RX8 for several reasons. Without going into listing, everyone knows the reasons. This thread is for people who know they want an 8, but are just looking for the right one. I bought my 8 about a month ago and as I was looking for the right one, I picked up little tips to looks for specifically on the rx-8 that I was hoping would help other people when looking to buy one. Of course you want to go through your normal checklist, but I had a couple other points to look for.


1. Re-calls- If it was an 04-05, make sure the re-calls were done. If not, walk away. Pointless buying this one if the person can't even take care of the car enough to bring it in for an important re-call.

2. Exhaust tips- My favorite was looking at the exhaust tips. It usually will separate the people who wash their car on a sunday evening, from a person who goes into the dirt and grime. Carbon will build up and it's just something I liked to check to get a better feel for how well the car was taken care of. And it's easy to tell too....Black? or Shiny?

3. Defroster buttons- Maybe not a reason to walk away, but a good bargaining tip. I've seen several RX-8s where the defroster button has cracked. Common, but a good bargaining tip, and just another thing to keep an eye out for.

4. Oil in the trunk?- Any proper owner of the rx8 will keep some oil in the trunk. If you are one to take care of the car, you know you have to be adding oil to the rx8 every two fill ups or so. That's just the way the rotary works, and if you don't understand that, check out the forum a little more. Also, its a good way to check what type of oil they use. 5W20! NON SYNTHETIC! People might argue with that, but that is the only oil you should use.

5. Lift the Covers! - Even the bolted ones under the hood. Can't tell you how many times I looked at them, and the person had a pound of sand under the cover(Usually the Battery one). Just shows laziness. You can determine how bad it is and if it's worth walking away or not, but non the less, something to look for.

Feel free to add your own tips to the thread. These are just a few things I picked up that I noticed while looking at RX8s. DO YOUR RESEARCH! There are a ton of other things to look for in the rx8, such as how to care for your rx8. (Flooding and such)

For Care, check out the forum, but also look at this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBzMT_VPLg0
It will let you know what you are getting into.

Huey52

iTrader: (2)

Concur with the cleanliness of the exhaust tips, which we surfaced here of late. If they're very dirty the car in general probably hasn't received the care that one would like.

Same goes for brake dust, front wheels especially.

Also concur on the Recalls/TSB's.

A full service history with receipts, etc. is a big plus as it shows attention to detail and proper care.

Oil in the trunk? Not so much. I don't carry any as it's readily available in the garage when I do my bi-weekly check.

If a car cover is included in the sale that would be another plus, potentially indicating care.

Of course any fluid leaks and/or any unusual exhaust.

Hidef1080

I don't if this is a tip or if I should post it here but for the non-mechanically inclined such as myself -
I would find a good mechanic that I trusted and ask them to look over the car before I buy it.
There's the rotary engine and then there is the car itself.


Cars can have frame damage and body damage that you won't see and it may not show up on car-facts either.
With all of the flooding we've had here in Atlanta, flooded cars can be a real problem but you may not see it or feel it in a test drive.


All points listed above are good [don't know about the oil in trunk however] and the more you know the better off you'll be
BUT
if you have doubts, find a shop and pay them to check it out for you.


I've saved myself some time and money but having a few cars checked that I thought were in good shape until I asked someone who knew.


When you buy a house you have it inspected. I believe dropping thousands of dollars on a used car should be no different.

Lunacy

Yes! Thank you so much for this thread. Sticky now!

I Selkiies

Of course you want to make sure it actually runs....These are just little tips that I thought would be interesting other then your regular checking of brakes and wheels and stuff...

Hidef1080

It's a good thread.
Don't get me wrong here.....

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Yeah, oil tip isn't all that great. I carried it in the passenger seat back pocket for a long time, then with a tip, switch it to carrying the quart between the windshield washer reservoir and the side of the engine bay. Fits securely really well there.

And seriously, the drop the specific nature of the weight. Change it to "the weight you prefer". Because if you are a fanatic about 5w20, and you see 20w50, or are a fanatic about 10w40 and see 0w20, etc...

I would also add a check on the ignition with specific attention to how long it takes to crank up, the idle smoothness, the smoothness of the top of the RPM range, etc...

ferg

first of all the Exhaust tips are always get dirty very very fast its the rotary that builds up carbon faster then you can clean them. if your looking to get a rotary engine i would not go look at the tips and hope its clean

and you can add to the list for iinterior parts falling apart lol like visors, if its cracked then they didnt keep up with the car maybe?

I Selkiies

Yea I agree with how long it cranks for when you turn the engine. It doesn't necessarily mean its going to die, but the rx8 has a newer ignition upgrade. See if they added that in? For the most part I wanted to have this thread for tips just check and see how much they care about the car. Just because the exhaust tips are dirty, doesn't mean they didn't take care of it, but it does mean that they didn't put that extra effort into it. Or...recently knew they were going to sell it so stopped taking care of it so much.

Razz1

You can't get rid of the soot unless you clean it every two days. The car is made to run rich.

Huey52

iTrader: (2)

Doesn't everyone?

I only get [to the point of] soot in the lower interior of the tips. Some of the tips shown in the other thread were completely black inside and out, indicating very little maintenance care.

Lunacy

I just got a carfax report on an RX8 im looking at. I've never looked at a carfax report before, so what should i look for on it?

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

The original registration date is a good indication of if it sat on the lot for a long time, as well as how much warranty time is left. If the rest is all green and checkmarks, chances are it tells you very little. The longer it is, the more likely you can dig out interesting things. Remember that Carfax is only going to show reported stuff, so anything that went unreported (like more and more fender benders are these days), then it wouldn't show up there.

Still good for verification more than anything else.

Lunacy

I went to look an 04 8 today. Some things i noticed.

It was a very pretty BB with red and black leather seats. The owner took care of the appearance of the car as it was very clean and the leather was flawless. One thing that threw me off (and correct me if im wrong). After running for about 1 minute in an open garage, it the exhaust smelled terrible. It was like our garage smelled when my dad has his 454 Chevelle running. My dad asked the guy (not knowing anything about rotarys) if it burned a lot of oil, and the guy said no. That all he did was change the oil every 3000 miles. It was owned by a high school kid so im guessing he didn't know how to take care of the rotary engines.

Was it a good idea to walk away from this deal?

Also, what is a good way to tell if the owner did routine oil fill ups (besides asking)

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Yeah, walking away is probably a good thing. Either
A) He didn't know it was burning oil, and could have run it severely low more than once,
B) he is lying to you telling you what he thinks you want to hear,
or C) his actually isn't burning any oil, which means his OMP isn't working properly, and his apex seals haven't been getting the lubrication they need.

Maybe he disconnected it and premixes heavily, but he probably would have told you that if he did.

No way to know if an RX-8 was topped off other than what the owner says. I would approach the question each time the same way though: "does it burn oil?" People that know what they are doing will give a response along the lines of "yeah, I burns X quarts every 3,000 miles, I keep it topped off." Anyone who doesn't will have a response that clearly shows their ignorance or lack of attention. Like that guy.

I Selkiies

Yea good idea to walk away. I think the best way to walk into buying a RX8 is pretend like you have no idea what a rotary engine even is. See how knowledgeable they are on the rx8. Let them do most of the talking, and then play dumb. But oil is key to this engine. If it runs too low too many times or the wrong oil is used (5W-20 non-synthetic) then it will severely shorten the life of the engine.

laythor

I've found, after looking inside of dozens if not hundreds of rx8's, the easiest way to tell how well someone cares for their car is to look at the dead pedal.
That thing does nothing but suck up junk from the bottom of your shoe, and once there it only comes off if you take the time to wipe it off from every nook and cranny. This takes time and a certain level of OCD that usually translates into someone who loves their car.