Jsum40

Need some buying advice. I am considering buying an RX8. I owned an '90 RX7 GTU back in the day before the kids came along, and I loved that car. I am looking for a new toy, and I saw a 2004 RX8 GT today, in black, that reminded me of that old 7. I have been surfing the web, gathering information on the 8's, and I am a bit nervous now. My experience with the 7 that I owned, and several that were owned by friends, were that of reliability if you treated it right, i.e. kept oil in it. The 04 and 05 model 8's are what's in my price range, but they all have 70 - 100k miles on them. Should I just skip these cars? Do you guys have any advice that might help me identify a good one? By that I mean condition of the engine. I can look, inspect, and get a feel for everything else, but how do I judge the health of the engine? We don't have any shops here in SW Ga that specialize that I know of. I have seen the TSBs for oil cooler lines, ECU flash, etc.. How do I tell if they have been done?

jasonrxeight

ECU flashes will have stickers under the hood.
a bad engine will be harder to start and lose power.

Jsum40

Thanks, I can look for the sticker. I have been looking for several weeks now at used 04 and 05's. Some are definitely better than others. Should the higher mileage scare me off?

Renesis07

iTrader: (1)

My car has over 10 stickers under the hood, 4 of which they started putting on my FUSE BOX! wtf. I know I shouldnt of, but I removed them; cant go to shows looking like that.

okay /threadjack

Jsum40

RENESIS07 - you list your mileage at 81k, which is about average for the cars I am looking at, any issues??

Mazurfer

If you can afford it, get a compression check done before purchasing(once you get serious about any individual car).
This may be well worth the $130.00 or so bucks. The rotary compression check is done in a special way at specific RPM's, so take it somewhere where they know what they are doing. Get all the readings and then you can post here and let us know what they are.

Do the normal stuff and see if the previous owner has taken care of it and try to find one with most of not all oil reciepts as the engine has a warranty for 8 years or 100k miles.....but.......they will require proof of oil changes! Or at least a very healthy dose of them.

One more item is that the CAT has an 8 year 80k mile warranty. So that could also make a difference..............if you buy one at 60k miles, well then you have more left on that warranty as opposed to buying one with +80k. Just food for thought.

Oh.....I still mantain that 04 Autos have more trouble than any other.
I'd actually try for an 05 whether manual or auto. <--- and don't buy an automatic, you will be crying later!


You can also get the VIN numbers and call Mazda North America, and they will tell you if there are any outstanding flashes that need to be done if you can find or read the stickers.

Jsum40

Thanks! I appreciate the help. I have also read that the automatic cars are troublesome. Why would you buy this car in an automatic anyway?? Kind of misses the point of the car don'tcha think? I drove a nice strong 07 today, but it is out of my price range. Made me want one more than ever though.

fuztupnz

iTrader: (4)

Jsum40: depending on where you live, 8's might have a higher price tag. It may be worth a couple hour drive to get one at a lower price or to make a newer one more affordable. Check the For Sale section here on the board as well. There are some good cars listed.

That said, I bought my 05 with 64k on the clock. No stickers under the hood, but all recalls and flashes had been done. I've had no problems. Call Mazda North America with the vin of any car you're interested in. They will be able to give you a service history. Get a compression check as mazurfer stated. Don't be afraid of one that has already had the engine replaced. If it was a recent replacement, there's a good chance that it will never give you problems.

Whatever you get, keep oil in it and rev the **** out of every once in a while and you will have a wonderful relationship.

Renesis07

iTrader: (1)

Transmission problems (Im on my 3rd trans).

Aside from that, not really. My issues arent very common and its uncertain whether the previous driver did something to cause it or if its truly just my car. But Ive had drivetrain gremlins all the 5 years Ive owned my car.

I bought it in April 06 and it had 20,219 miles.

04's are truly a crapshoot. Some of them will run well beyond 150K with no issues or hiccups, others are going on their 3rd/4th engine and they're at 60K miles.

All depends on the owners, I personally drive like an ******* so my engine is the healthiest thing on my car

Aside from the drivetrain gremlins, only other hiccups I can think of is a had a minor oil leak fixed under warranty at 59K miles, and my cat clogged at 60K miles.

Really, Ive had a good experience though assuming the drivetrain problems arent the cars fault.

ken-x8

My car has no stickers, but I know that it's had one recall (4206f) and two special programs (MSP13 and MSP16). My dealer spends his time working on the cars and not putting stickers under the hood. The only real way to tell what flashes have been done is to call Mazda with the VIN.

I concur with Mazurfer that it takes a compression test to really know the engine's condition. There's also a vacuum test that they used in 4206f to decide if an engine needed to be replaced.

Ken

Razz1

Your best bet is to get one from an owner on this board in the for sale section.

And if keeping oil in the car is a problem for you buy a Civic.

Jsum40

Thanks for all the input everyone. I appreciate the help. I will check out cars for sale on this site, as I don't mind traveling to get a good car.

Razz1 - Keeping oil in the car is not an issue, as I said I owned a RX7 with the 13b and loved it. Smarta--.... I just have no experience with the RX8's. I really have no issue with mileage on a car unless it has been abused, but there is my issue. I don't know of any shops in my neck of the woods that can do anything with a rotary. We have no Mazda dealer here. I will be relying on my own observations when inspecting a car. The closest dealer is at least 80 miles away, and I have not found any dealerships of any kind to be helpful in the past, and I have owned many cars in my 43 years. I had to lend the mechanic tools at my last dealership visit to get my Dodge Cummins worked on!! Yeah, it's that bad around here.

Jsum40

When I search used cars for my zip, nothing comes up. When I use an Atlanta zip(for comparison), all I see are dealership cars?? What gives?? I thought this was an enthusiast site.