Swilken

Hey all, I've been eyeballing a 2007 RX8 for the last few days and am debating on purchasing it. I love the car, but after a lot of research I've heard that many 2004 and 2005 RX8s (and some 2006 models) had many issues with the engine and compression problems. I was wondering if most RX8s from 2007 on were much better? I know it's still first gen, but I haven't heard if the later gen 1 models were much better than the first ones. I know about the flooding issue caused by turning off the engine shortly after turning it on, and am well aware that that continues to be a problem.

Would a 2007 RX8 be relatively safe to purchase? The warranty is for 8 years or 100,000 miles, right?

When I parked it after the test drive, I had my foot on the brake and noticed the car was vibrating rather heavily. Once I put it into park it seemed to stop. When I put it back into drive, again with my foot on the brake and the car stationary, it started to vibrate again. Is this normal? I thought rotary engines were supposed to have very little vibration... I did a search for this and apparently, this was a problem with one of the engine mounts, but I only saw people mentioning this in 2004 and 2005, and they mentioned the old engine mounts were discontinued, so why would a 2007 model have this issue?

Also, shortly after my test drive I shut the engine off, counted to ten and started it back up again. The RPM went up a bit and dropped to just below 1 at idle. Is this normal? It didn't seem to waver up and down at all, but it seemed to be running kind of slow. After doing some searching, I've found that it idles fairly high when starting cold, but below 1 seems kind of low, even if it was hot...

The radiator warning light (at least, I think that's what it was... They didn't have the manual and google image searching "rx8 warning light radiator shows it as the first hit) also came on for a moment. I know there's supposed to be a faulty sensor with the coolant tank and only replacing the tank fixes the problem, but was this an issue on all models? Might have just been low on coolant. I noted the "FL22" on the coolant cap if that matters.

I did a search for "failure rate" and "year" and such to see if anyone else had this question. I'm sure someone has asked, but I couldn't find anything. If there is another topic where this has already been discussed, please let me know. There was a mention in the "new and potential owners" thread that 07 engine failures were relatively rare compared to 04s, but I was hoping for more of a general failure rate of the car as a whole.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer, everybody!

New Yorker

Actually that hasn't been a problem for years; was corrected with bigger battery and more powerful starter motor.

The '04 was the first year or production and, like many first year cars, had its share of problems. In '05 Mazda called all existing 8's in to reprogram the ECU; this pretty much made the car more or less as reliable as most other cars. Realize that many 8's with problems experienced them because their owners maintained them as casually as they do cars with ordinary engines. The 8 is not forgiving of owner neglect, like not keeping the oil level up and not redlining the engine regularly. I'm sure a huge percentage of owners were guilty of that.

2007? I wouldn't give reliability any more thought than I would for any other 5-year old used car. So just follow all normal precautions for purchasing any used car, plus take it to a Mazda dealer and have engine compression checked before purchasing.

Then you're good to go!

pistonhater

/\
This

Also, see if maintenance records are available for that car. That would give you an idea of what type of care the car received.

- or -

Convince New Yorker to sell you his car. Best looking 05' there is

Swilken

Thanks for the replies. Unfortunately, no maintenance records are available with the car. They don't even have the owner's manual... Right now, it belongs to a dealer who got it as a trade-in. So I don't need to worry about the vibration or anything? Nothing I mentioned seems out of the ordinary? Another thing I should have mentioned, the brakes are kind of spongy. I don't know if that's just how this car is, but applying a little pressure to the brake does very little to slow the car, adding a bit more does next to nothing, and adding a bit more dramatically slows the car. Normal? Not normal? Brakes worn? Sorry for asking so many questions, but I am rather concerned. First used car purchase for me, want to make sure I don't make a bad choice.

xexok

Failure rate is impossible to tell you. You would need to see why it failed and nobody is ever honest about that. Failure of the engine because someone owned it that had no clue how to care for it is different than just flat out failure because of bad design or whatever.

Vibration could be engine mounts, have them checked when you take it in for a compression test.

I barely have to touch my brakes to slow down, so not normal.

Idle where you stated is normal, mine idles just below 1000.

Call up mazda north america(you never mentioned where you live? unless I missed it) and see if the warranty on that vehicle is still intact. You just need the VIN.

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

all RX-8 has same type of Engine.

but 2004-2008 is considered as RX-8 S1 (Series 1)
and 2009+ is considered as S2 (Series 2)

There are quite a lot of difference in 2 series, mostly mechanical, Moderate cosmical.

Why I said Mechanical ? it's mostly reliability modifications. Mazda made some really stupid mistakes in the S1 that's so freaking obvious. I mean your car won't blow up out of nowhere. but it's just no ideal.

Don't get me wrong the S1 is still pretty reliable. It's just that if the original RX8 has all the mod (fixes) found in S2. then RX-8 would be the most reliable Rotary car ever (better than FC NA)

8 Years and 100K miles is for Engine, Short block only.

Short block means bare engine block. nothing else.

Powertrain warranty should be 60K miles and 5 years. which you it still has.

Engine mount is bad, the Left Engine mount.

Because Engine mount has and always been a wear item. It's made of rubber filled with oil in there. so after a lot of hot/cold cycle, it becomes hard and crack. fluid inside leak out. vibration happen.

Rotary is smooth like a V8. but problem is the government's idle requirement is killing it. at 850 rpm, i4, V6, V8, Boxer, all engine have idling problems, very noticeable on Rotary because even u see 850 rpm on ur tachometer. the actually rpm in the engine is really about 280-ish.

Federal requirements is around 850 rpm +/-25 rpm.

FL22 is a type of "MAZDA COOLANT" that has a 55/45 ratio. it's supposed to be a long life coolant with service life over 100K miles. but honestly, all fuxking coolant out there has the same if not longer life. not to mention 55/45 means lower cooling capacity. + FL22 cost way more than say, Prestone 50/50 mix coolant. so FL22 is just a waste of time. (and money)

No one will tell you what the failure rates are. Ask Chrysler what their engine's failure rates are and they will never tell you, even tho all the Chrysler owners out there are screaming and some older engine just seized out of nowhere EVEN when you change your oil every 3K.

Just like any other car, first year model (2004 is actually made and ship first in 2003) will always have more problems.


You are very welcome.

You are lucky I'm in such good mood today. Usually I will tell noobs like you to just SEARCH Don't believe me ? just ask everyone here.

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

it is better for you to find someone who knows Rotary that's not a hater to go with you.

For some weird reasons some FC and FD (older RX-7) owners have such hate in Rx-8 and calling it garbage left and right ... so yeah where are you located? someone local might be able to help.

I was at homedepot couple years ago. and right across from it there is this shady place that has a Red Rx-8 there. some kid was looking at it with his father, the sales was talking like how wonderful the car is blah blah blah. When it doesn't even start he said it's just dead battery. he went into to take a call I walk right over and told the father and son not to buy that because it has so many wrongs with the car (I forgot what exactly it was tho, it's been 2-3 yrs ago) , after that they left that shady place and the sales came out like wtf ?

so yeah, find someone who knows Rx-8 to go with u.

Bladecutter

You heard it here first, people...

NYCGPS says that the Series II RX-8's are COSMICALLY better than the Series I RX-8's.

I thought it was just cosmetically better, but who am I to disagree with NYCGPS if he thinks they are Cosmically better.

I do love my '11 Sport.

BC.

New Yorker

Lots of people who buy a used car have never done it before. So yes, it's best if you can find an RX-8 owner to help you - but if you can't, this is still doable.

Before agreeing to purchase, you just need to take the car to a mechanic/repair shop with a good reputation. For what – $100? – the mechanic will go over the car for you and tell you if it needs major repairs. If the car passes the compression test at Mazda, the other issues you mention are things any used car could have. So any good mechanic can go over the brakes, mounts, whatever and recommend buying – or not buying.

How do you find a good mechanic or shop? Easy. You could ask car guys you may know, or even better, go to "Good guy/bad guy" section of this website. Also, the radio show "Car Talk" has a section where listeners list good and bad mechanics from all over the country:
http://www.cartalk.com/content/mechanics-files

Good luck!

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

LOL!!!!! .... didn't noticed ...

ok, it "LOOKS" better

not only the looks, the aerodynamics and cooling has been improved (lower drag/cd, 20% better cooling, stock to stock of course)

ShinkaEvo

iTrader: (3)

Gas could explode! Don't drive a car!

monchie

Ride a bike, save gas, and its good for your health...lol

Joe-the_tattoo_artist

Use your new-found knowledge and understanding of the issues common to all Rx-8s and especially with the issues you have discovered with the one you are considering the purchase of specifically to negotiate a much lower price.

vanslam

2007 should not be a problem except for the items discussed. I just got a 2008 and its a great car but do your homework. First check the service records of the car and get a car fax search. This will tell you the history of the car and will give a better feel if the car was abused. If you can a prebuy inspection done and do compression check on the engine by a dealer or knowledgable shop. If you can get a certified pre-owned model from a dealer, this gets you a limited warranty. Most of all do not buy the first one you see unless it passes all the test, there are plenty fine examples out there. Anything in question will cost you $$$$ in the long run.