I've only been in the Rotary world for past 6 months, not sure if my opinion will help you much. I came from 5 yrs of owning and modding an 99 and 02 Cougars, alot more troublesome than Rx8s but not as maintenance hungry. I've enjoyed every single bit of my 8 in past 6 months put on 45k on it. Right now its at 230K on the odometer, Original MOTOR and TRANNY Even ORIGINAL CAT. ARE These cars Reliable??? 230K and still pulling strong is the answer :-)

What you might wana do is, definately read the newbies thread compiled by RIWP over and over and over again, thats what I did for 2 years before buying my 8, this way when the right car comes along you know it. Most importantly, observe the seller analyse how sincere and genuine they are.

This car is awesome, it handles like a dream, accelerates farily quick, and is reliable if looked after. It's not a civic so dont look for fuel economy, and its not an evo or sti so dont expect it to fly off the line. A note: it can get you in alota trouble with cops, as you dont feel the speed it travells at that's the beauty of the rotary. I can easily be going at 100 khon 60 km zone and not feel it becuase the way it handles and how smoothly rotary delivers the power.

Dont rush, take your sweet time, read everything you possibly can about the car. Make sure you read all the bad stuff too so that you know what you are stepping into and that way you can enjoy every bit of owning an 8 ;-) hope this helps