Jerbear

After stalking these forums daily for nearly a year, I have finally decided to come out of the shadows and become involved in the RX8club community.

I have been looking at 8's extensively ever since I decided that I would purchase one for my next car, and I have spent many many hours looking up the engine problems and reliability issues of the 04 and early 05 rx8's.

I have been working very hard on a minimal salary job to afford an 8, my question is with all the recalls done, and proper maintenance to an 04 or early 05 Rx8, will it still encounter the same engine problems (Engines dying almost every 30-40k miles due to loss of compression), or would it be almost if not as reliable as 05's and 06's. The reason I'm asking that is because during the summer I will have earned about 12-13k, and that seems to come up short for 05's most of the time, and I just can't wait any longer to buy this car.

Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.

-Jeremy

robrecht

Engines still die with low miles on them. 2006 with 40k miles just the other day. The only potential fix was with the 2009 engines and that hasn't been proven yet. Mazda can't keep up with remans; they're sometimes on backorder and sometimes they're putting in new housings to keep the reman line moving. Sorry.

Jerbear

Thank you for responding!
So what your saying is that the issues and problems that the 04's and early 05's had have not been fixed in any of the newer years besides the 2009? So essentially as long as proper maintenance is paid careful attention to an 04 has the same chance if not very similar chance to engine failure as an 05-08?
And im sorry to hear about the engine on the 2006

robrecht

Well, a number of problems have been fixed, eg, flooding, and I think the chances for total engine failure are somewhat less with better flashes. Some are convinced that premix helps a lot but it sure isn't a guarantee of no engine failure. There's a 8-year/100k engine core warranty, which helps a lot. But the engines are still failing at an unacceptable rate and Mazda is struggling to keep enough rebuilds in stock. The rebuild quality is a lot better now that Mazda is doing this instead of outsourcing it so you don't hear of 2nd and 3rd engines failing very quickly after being installed. Personally, I would get an 09+ R3 if I didn't have a 3rd car to use while an engine is being replaced. Keeping up with maintenance certainly helps, but it's as important just to have records of maintenance so that Mazda will honor the warranty.

Jerbear

Yeah, you have good points robrecht. I've read a lot about all of these issues on the forums. Its probably a better idea to save up another thousand or two and be safe with a later 05.
Its just very hard to be patient as an 18 year old, I'm sure you remember how that is haha.

Thank you very much for your input

9291150

Nearing a 5 year anniversary on my '05 that I bought new (Aug. build date) ...most reliable car to date...and I've never kept a car this long!

DaRotary

Jerbear dont take this the wrong way, but i was very excited to get my 8. The day i got it i was so happy and drove it every where, i have had it for about 1 year now and it has givin me alot of troubles I have 04 model with 30kmiles. First of all if you are working a minimum wage job dont buy this car it will ruin you. Look more into buying a Toyota supra/or Mitsubishi Eclipse much more relaible and more customizible. Their is alot of choices you can look into.
MY clutch broke
Engine replaced at 23kmiles (had to wait 3 months for it)
Even though i drove it the way it should be drivin and maintained it regulary.

So now its your choice but my advice would be this car is not a Daily driver and if you dont have the money to pay for its Unreliability than Good luck and plus the gas mileage sucks.

Flashwing

No and for sure no.

A supra in good shape will cost you as much if not more than a brand new RX8. Since the fast and the furious the value of those cars has gone through the roof and almost all of the ones for sale have lived a very very hard life.

That means having to deal with poorly installed modifications and fix all the problems the previous owner didn't fix.

As for Eclipse, that's another car I'd run far away from. I'm a closet 2nd Gen Eclipse fan and looked heavily into the GSX prior to purchasing my RX8. As such I acquainted myself with several current and previous GSX owners some with over 400whp under the hood. Almost all of the cars are either not working or were sold because the expense of keeping them running was beyond what they could afford. A good friend of mine who is a mechanic by trade has an Eagle Talon running the 4g63 and AWD platform of the GSX and has been trying to get his car to run properly for over a year with little luck.

It's pointless to own a great car if you cannot afford to do simple things like basic repairs, gas and care. You're better off waiting until you're stable money wise before putting money into the RX8. Even more so if you want to do any modifications.

I don't think there are any real secrets to keeping an RX8 running a long time. I have a 2005 and I'm less than 1,000 miles away from 100,000 on the factory motor, tranny etc. I've done SCCA autocross and now have about 6 hours of NASA road course events as well.

I think the biggest aspects which have gotten my motor where it is stems from using the accessport, upgraded ignition, SOHN adapter using 2 cycle oil and plenty of hard driving.

rx 8speciale

iTrader: (3)

My car spec build '03 now 56,300 miles with original engine and no problems so far. ONLY HAVE DONE MAINTENANCE WORK LIKE OIL FLTER, COILS, FLUIDS, Something to think ...

Jerbear

Thank you for all the responses!
After reviewing some of these posts and other posts from different threads on this forum its clear to me that it would be at least worth it to wait a few months or half a year to purchase an 05 instead.

I would look at a supra, but like flashwing said, the cheapest of those usually cost 30k or more around my location, and an eclipse just doesnt quite do it for me you know?

I've loved this car and wanted it ever since the first day I saw it almost a year ago. No other car is gunna cut it for me that is within my budget.

And the only modifications I plan on doing within the first year would be an exhaust, intake, MS spoiler and maybe a body kit, so I feel that I will be able to have the finances available to properly take care of the car once I get it.

Bigbacon

iTrader: (4)

I think the thing to really listen to is the money aspect of it. You'll be spending a lot on gas, you'll spend a lot to get things fixed if it breaks in anyway. Thats what you really need to be prepared for. Just because you can afford the car doesn't mean you'll be able to continue to afford the car.

The mods you plan to do year 1 are not cheap mods at all.

Jerbear

I completely agree with you Bigbacon, and I understand that owning this car is not cheap whatsoever. And the mods that I mentioned are going to be very spread out most likely, as maintenance and school are my primary concerns at the moment, if I find myself to have more money than I expected, thats when I will start putting away and saving up for the mods I mentioned before.

And I'm absolutely going to buy an 05-06, I feel that it would be worth the wait and extra money

Razz1

Since your going to school keep away from the RX8.

You nedd themoney, not the headache.

adamwzl

iTrader: (3)

^^but razzzz the rx8 will help him get laid. He could even get 3 chicks at a time!

Imagine going to school with a sweet car. To bad I had a nasty pick up. Didnt help me none..



But really razz is right, school is expensive. The Rx8 takes a toll on your wallet.

JRichter

Same here w/ 67-68K miles ( I think I could of been a mid '05 build) nothing wrong except ignition coils, wires, plugs changed once. I run my car hard every day.

Other minor issues not having to do w/ engine:

6-Disc changer replaced under warranty
Heater control module replaced under warranty
Left taillight w/ condensation buildup replaced under warranty

Good Luck.

Jerbear

hahaha I wish Adam, though I have a feeling it def won't hurt my chances with the ladies in the future :].

as for the money situation and college, I'm going to a community college which grants me a decent amount of money because of a very smart accountant .
So as long as my job stays I will have plenty of money to keep up the maintenance and also to put an aftermarket part on every once in a while

adamwzl

iTrader: (3)

well at $3.00 a gallon your looking at $38 a tank, and you will get anywhere from 190-200 miles out of it. So twice a week fill up most likely.

Then oil every 3k miles which really isnt that bad at all. if you do it yourself your looking at like $20 total. Just make sure you do it every 3k and dont skip.

If you want to premix $75 for like 12 quarts I think should last you about a year.

Spark plugs, ignition coils, and wires cost around $300 should be done every 30k miles.

Tires $700; brakes $150, rotors $400

That would be basic maintenance. If anything else happens it will be expensive.

Cam

iTrader: (1)

Welcome to the forums.

My .02, I have an 04 with 68K miles on the original trans and motor. Ive done all the maintence and have only had 2 problems. I had a coil go out at 45K and my cat is dead. It covered under warranty, just havnt taken it in yet.

I dont know I if just got a good one off the assembly line or what but Im happy with it.

robrecht

According to the best information that we have (Mazda insiders and most recent poll here), most people (about 75%) have not experienced an engine failure. That's an awful lot of people whose experience is very positive. It's also an unacceptably large number of failures. But it's kind of silly for individuals to post their own anecdotal individual experience.