Stenobeth

This past Wednesday my daughter and I both commented on how hot the car was after sitting in the (January) sun for a couple hours. The next morning there were two splits in the dash! One was a straight, vertical line near the passenger window, and the other a C shape to the left of the passenger's side. WTH?!?!? I can't imagine fixing this somehow, but it's also super drastic to replace that whole piece... right? I mean, I have no clue how to address this.

RX8Soldier

iTrader: (24)

It's a common issue. Search for threads that can walk you through the process

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

it's a very common issue, replacement is costly (it's a piece of plastic!) but it can be done in LESS than 15 minutes , and that's taking my sweet time

ZoomEricZoom

I have never seen anything like this..

But seriously, it's pretty common for the older 8's. Your's doesn't look nearly as bad as some others I've seen!

HighKing17

Ive got the same problem. Cropped up after the last time i dropped my car off at the mechanic. Passenger side dash right?

Stenobeth

Yep, passenger side dash, overnight, like magic - bad magic.

My 8 and myself, although we're getting older, we don't like to show it. haha So thanks to you guys for letting me know I can replace that part. I'll have to do a search. I'm not a "typical" girl when it comes to cars because I drive a stick and can do a hella donut, but I can't do repairs and such myself. I'll make some calls and get this fixed because I'm not lookin at those cracks every day.

FunRun8

iTrader: (5)

If you're having it done, in spite of it being relatively easy it ain't gonna be cheap as the part is ridiculously expensive from Mazda on top of the labor charge so get ready for some sticker shock.

Nisaja

It's fairly cheap when buying it off eBay. You get a good used one without the airbag. If it comes with the airbag, you can message the seller and tell him to sell you just the cover. RX-8 parts don't sell like hot cake, so, I'm sure he'll oblige.

Stenobeth

Well, I'm a whole lot more educated on the subject now, after reading about a gazillion posts on this. I had no idea this was such a common problem.

What you said, ZoomEricZoom, is really true, that mine doesn't look as bad as many others -- and mine is definitely way older than a lot of those, too, being an '06 with 117,000 miles. That doesn't make me feel any better, though, now that I know it's likely to spread.

It's really sad that Mazda just blows this off as no big deal because it's "just" cosmetic. The 8, to me, has always been a super sexy car for its price range. Most 8 owners I know pride themselves on keeping their cars gorgeous, and the thought of just leaving these visible cracks hanging out there because they're "just cosmetic" is not just unacceptable, it's pretty much crazy talk. Would you walk around with, like, one of the arms of your shirt torn and hanging off?

I saw pics of some repairs with the high temp black silicone that actually looked pretty good, so I'll probably try that first, then head to eBay when it spreads too much for the silicone to do the job.

FunRun8

iTrader: (5)

For the first few years Mazda didn't even offer a replacement part #. The only problem with Ebay is that you're buying a used one and as you noticed, today they're good and tomorrow................................... So given that they have to remove it in order to send it to you and that process can cause unseen damage with any twisting etc. even in shipping it, it could leave them in good condition and by the time it gets to you? I'd not want to take the risk of buying one used and then in few weeks or even months have to do it all over again. To me, in spite of cost, it's not worth the risk and most of the solutions noted can have potentially dangerous consequences if the airbag needs to deploy, again not something I'd want to fool with we're I in your position.

In my case I'm going to fill in the cracks with some plasti-dip and then see about flocking it and the drivers side gauge cover to match so it looks OEM but can still function properly if the airbag deploys, just haven't gotten the cover to experiment on yet and so don't have a really good idea on how it'll work out but think it'll be a pretty good alternative.

Stenobeth

All true. I'll probably buy the new OEM part once the silicone isn't doing the trick.

Once I hit the Powerball on Wednesday I'll be buying an 8 in every color, all in perfect shape with low mileage, so I won't have to worry about it anymore. lol

Williard

iTrader: (18)

Steno,

where in PA are you from? I live in Coal Township.

Also, if i hit the powerball, very few on here will even know..


Travis

Stenobeth

I'm in Doylestown, Bucks County. Shamokin... is that around Hazleton? My mom is from McAdoo. I still have some coal in my knee from when I was six and fell on a blueberry-picking trip in the "strippins."

Williard

iTrader: (18)

Pretty far out from there yet.

Shamokin, coal township, selinsgrove, Mt Carmel all around where I am CT. I have coal in my knees and elbows from wrecking dirt bikes when I was a kid.

Born and raised in the coal region bud.

Travis

FunRun8

iTrader: (5)

No you're not because I'm winning it, but for that kind of money I might be generous of you ask nicely!

Stenobeth

Hey, Fun, you and me and Williard - if we win, we'll buy each other a car and take them on a run! Woo! lol

Williard

iTrader: (18)

I'm down lol.


Travis

FunRun8

iTrader: (5)

Not to be greedy or anything but mine has to be made into a real race car though, maybe some sort of sponsorship would be best eh? Cause that's what I'm doing with it without a doubt, to be able to finally race without having budget limitations like all of those I usually run against and still out do who never have to (even though I did it all the time anyway it sucks quite frankly) I can only imagine what that'd be like? I'd be happy to take riders on test days though. Be kinda cool to have a slew of 8's present as well .

I was watching an SCCA vid last night with an ITC Honda Civic that was 4 sale and there was a T2 Rx8 in there and who ever was driving this poor car was pathetic and quite embarrassing, I could tell the poor thing wanted to hide it's face with that driver in it. They were getting their *** kicked by ITC cars! There was an MX-5 in the same race in a full race ITA trim also doing the same thing and there is no way that either of those cars, with half a driver in them, should be even anywhere near the ITC group let alone getting their asses handed to them, it was pitiful, even though the ITC drvier was in the front of his group he wasn't even all that good, he didn't pass anyone that was on pace but got passed several times dropping back without any sort resistance, he as just not taking the positions away from anyone in spite of open doors all over the place, waaayy too passive.

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

So, I thought this was fitting to post here. I was watching a custom car show on Velocity and they wanted to wrap an air bag cover but were worried about it affecting the function of the air bag. So they got an extra air bag and wrapped it in leather and then tested it out side. It blew right thru the leather like it wasn't even there.

So, I would say having it wrapped would be safe. We have a local who did it and you could not really tell it was wrapped but it start to bubble after a while in the heat. But that could have been due top the products used and who did it.

FunRun8

iTrader: (5)

Out of curiosity, did they time an unwrapped one against a wrapped one? And could they guarantee it in EVERY case? Could they also guarantee that the materials used would not themselves cause injuries when they went flying off the airbag at such violent velocities? If the Mazda air bag does anyone else harm it's their liability just as it is with the current recall but if I modify it then they have no liability and all of it is on me.

Me personally, I'm not willing to take that chance even if it has nothing to do with the modification you can still be on the hook for it having been modified and your insurance company is going to walk away from you too. Besides it's mostly my son who sits there and I'm not willing to chance him getting injured either, and what about resale? If something were to happen even after you sell it on you've opened yourself up to someone coming back down the road even (pardon the unintended pun).