Theextra

That would be an awesome thing... to pay off half the loan lol.. but id prefer to keep some extra cash after buying the car for anything that i might need/want to replace right away before it leads to something worse... but assuming the previous owner took good care of it.. shouldnt need that cash and it can go towards alot of oil and gas lol

DocBeech

iTrader: (1)

How many miles? I would prepare to have the starter and battery checked. Even if they tell you all the recalls were done, check the part number and make sure its been updated and not replaced with another old crappy part.

I would keep 2000 dollars to replace the engine. That can get you a clutch assembly, oil lines, coils, plugs, wires, oil injectors and injection lines. Plus the other little things.

deadphoenix52

just find one thats in good shape, and has been well maintained. its not like the engine is a timebomb set to go off at some predetermined mileage

Theextra

looking to get an 05 that has about 40-45k miles on it.. iv looked at some that were well maintained.. and then when i looked at one a few days ago i could definantly tell a difference in the throttle response, power, and just over all smoothness of the engine.. but im prolly gonna get one i looked at before that.. 05 standard, 44k miles, seems well maintained, can provide a link if you want.. but not sure what you can tell from the listing

DocBeech

iTrader: (1)

nothing, really. Since you drove it you could tell us more. Remember body damage can be fixed, pieces can be replaced but an engine is expensive. And paint doesn't make a car go zoom. :P

WTBRotary!

iTrader: (6)

an engine is not expensive if he is under warranty...

DocBeech

iTrader: (1)

Not all engines are being replaced under warranty. More and more are being denied.

Theextra

what do you mean paint doesnt make it go zoom... Red cars are way faster than white ones... we all know that >.< .. thats why cops look for red cars to point their damn radars at

WTBRotary!

iTrader: (6)

If he is buying a used RX8 the engine SHOULD be warrantied because it is USED... Mazda cannot expect their customers to buy a used RX8 from them to deny them a warranty because they didnt have oil reciepts. Its a pretty safe bet they will warranty it.

DocBeech

iTrader: (1)

Yes it should be, but I would never 100% count on it. Some dealers are making people go to extremes to get engines replaced. Others are just like "ah **** it here you go". I mean getting something replaced under warranty can be different from service writer to service writer. You can get two different answers at one shop. I used to work at a shop that had a writer that actually liked denying warranty items. Luckily he only worked there for a little over a year. I do however understand both sides of how it works. The dealership makes little to no money on the work. Mazda pays out a base price to do warranty work.

So your replacing a steering column sensor. Mazda will have a predetermined amount of hours it takes to do this. I believe its like an hour and 15 mins for this particular job. So if it takes you 30 mins to finish it or 2 hours, you get paid an hour and 15 mins labor. Now the parts guy still gets his cut. He still had to order the part so he gets his commission. The tech and service writers get their cut, and the shop gets whats left over. But heres where it hurts the shop. The big companies pay out warranty work like they do taxes. A company only pays your taxes every 3 or 4 months. You pay monthly on your half but they only have to pay quarterly. Its the same with warranty work. At least when I was working on cars in the shop. They would pay out the last 3 months warranty work in one deposit. So in the short run it does hurt dealerships. But they do eventually get their money. Up front costs can be really high though on major recalls.

KWarner04

Ignore the two fighting back and forth about getting warranty work done. They're both right, and they're both wrong. Some shops will fight it, others won't. That's just a fact of life.

As far as the car goes, those seem to be pretty good numbers. Ask the dealership what maintenance they performed on the car once they got it. If they just did the "usual" stuff like oil change and air filter, I'd recommend taking it to a dealership (Town North if you're in DFW) and having them do the 30K maintenance if it wasn't done before. Is it expensive? Yes. Will it give you a crap ton leverage down the road if you start having engine problems? You betcha!

If I have time, I'll do my own oil and fluid changes, but for the big milestones like 30/60K, I'm having the dealership do the recommended service. It shows a pattern of proper maintenance and service which makes it much harder for them to argue that you didn't keep the car up. The reason I'd do it shortly after buying the car is it will give you an opportunity to see what issues "Mazda" sees with the car. Don't necessarily let them fix everything, but let them find everything that's wrong. Again, it's all about giving yourself a leg to stand on down the road.

And then once you get it, you need to introduce yourself to the NTX crew in person! Things have been kind of slow with the holidays and stuff, but they always seem to pick up around Feb every year.

DocBeech

iTrader: (1)

You can also have blackstone test you oil for ya

Theextra

il definatly be introducing myself in person when i can.. i like about an hour and a half from Dallas.. and for right now and prolly for the next 4-5 weeks im working 6 days a week.. 9 hours a day.. not enough time to go to Dallas.. but il make some time would love meeting up and chatting with ppl that actually know what a Rotary is.. there is 1 other RX out here within 45 miles of my house lol.. very rare car here.. but we have like 2 lambo's...

Antonio

Welcome to the club everybody here is real cool and and they have a lot of knowledge about the car, I am still new to all of this.

Lord ET

iTrader: (1)

Just as long as you don't get seatown's old car. We put it back to stock in 10 hours and lets just say there are a few 'bonus bolts' as Riley would say. I may or may not have also fabricated a rear sway bar bracket from a metal pci card bracket.

deadphoenix52

classic

DocBeech

iTrader: (1)

oh lord thats gonna put it out of warranty lol.

WTBRotary!

iTrader: (6)

^^ It was already out of warranty, or close to it. Steves old car was right near 100K miles. I doubt they will even see the sway bar bracket but thats their problem because they didnt check everything.

renesisjim

iTrader: (3)

When did Steve get a different 8?

WTBRotary!

iTrader: (6)

Yup, he just got a Stormy Blue 07'

Shotamidget

Sup guys. Name is Shotamidget.. I'm friends with TheExtra. Will be getting an RX8 here soon as well. Just here to read up and learn more about this car before I make any final decisions. Been a fan of rotaries for quite a while.. Love the unique brap brap brap it does when you port them and such.

Anywho.. I'm sure I'll see you guys when TheExtra makes his trips up to Dallas.

WTBRotary!

iTrader: (6)

Sounds good man, Cant wait to meet all of you new people lol

Shotamidget

For sure man

Lord ET

iTrader: (1)

Jimmy, Steve's car was over 100k more near 110k and he was gettin nervous. So Saturday we (me, jeff, steve, joe, and Thomas) all tore apart the old 8 until about 6:30pm. Steve left and was back at the meet that night by 9pm, with his new stormy blue.

Theextra

so.. is the Cobb Access Port from mazda maniac worth the 600 bucks?
Maybe im just confussed on everything it does.. or how big of a difference it would make