Advise "A FIRST TIME BUYER"
 

Hey guys,
I am about to buy my first-ever car and I am hell bent towards the idea of buying an RX8 due to various reasons including low-initial cost.

I have identified a used RX8 which has a 1GFE 2000 cc (toyota supra 3rd gen) engine swapped with the original rotary engine.

So, what does this swap really mean? Is it an upgrade or downgrade and what are the other factors that I should take in account while examining the car?

Any assistance will be profusely appreciated. Thanks

If you want an RX8, this isn't one, imo.
The rotary is the heart of an RX8, the car is engineered around it.
Anything else is less than an RX8.
My 2 cents.

Thanks man. I will definitely look into other options then.

If you are very determined, read the links in my signature and make sure you read them 10+ times.

My advice? Drive some other cars and try them out. When I bought my first car, I was that close to buying a MINI Cooper, but my friends convinced me to give other cars a look.

- If you like something else, well you will be glad you bought something better.

- If you don't like anything else, you will be happy that nothing else matches that car you want badly.

And I ended up with an Accord Coupe, which looks better IMO is also a lot cheaper.

RX-8 is not for the faint of heart. Yeah, they are cheap, but there are reasons for that. You have to be on the top of maintenance, and gas mileage is abysmal. It's a rewarding car, but as someone's first car? No way I am recommending it, hence my advice of trying something else.

And a swap... Well, adding to BigCajun's point, these swaps are usually not made to DD, and even if they are, you might be missing stuff like traction control, ABS, A/C, etc. If you want a 4-banger then just get a Miata.

Thanks for your response man. Totally appreciate it.
If Rx8 is out of my league, then what are my options other than a miata?

Don't get me wrong, I'm saying a SWAPPED RX8 is not worth it.

I would never discourage anyone from buying one, even for a first car, IF (VERY BIG IF) they do their research and go into it knowing what to expect.
They are great cars, imo.

Read this thread I'm linking.
This was a young man who did it the right way, did his research, and got a really nice RX8 GT.
There is a ton of helpful information in it, and could be very enlightening.

https://www.rx8club.com/new-member-f...ve-rx8-259334/

Gt86 would do it. Similar formular but smaller and with less usable space. Pretty quick though.

That 8 with a 1GFE depends entirely on how the swap was done. The engine is probably as power as the original engine, but if it's hacked in there and half of your electronics don't work, that's no fun.

I suggest you go out and test drive a few cars. I wouldn't buy any car without having first compared the feel of the alternatives.

I would never buy a swapped car unless it is very well documented and proven to reliably run for a daily drive vehicle and all the work was done by a reputable shop. All high end parts, a very clean install with no wires hanging around out of looms or a mess of vacuum lines. Usually for something like that though you are talking about +$10,000-$15,000 car (or easily more), and this car you speak of does not sound like that kind of car.

I guess you just haven't seen the amount of neglect these cars can see. There was a Reddit post a while back where a dude went to buy an RX-8 and had to see 50 of them to find one that's okay. All the other ones are messed up in all sorts of ways.

So yeah, I would never recommend an RX-8. And it's not a weird thing to say. Lots of BMW owners will say their cars are good, but they can't recommend it because there is basically no room for error.

Loki: 86 is a good recommendation if that's within OP's budget, though calling it quick... I guess that depends on your definition of the word. Also, the interior is pretty terrible, so keep that in mind.

Otherwise, if you aren't picky about FWD, a Civic Si or an Accord Coupe V6 Manual can do nicely. Reliable and easy to work on.

Ugh the boxer 2.0l is so uncouth compared to the silky rotary 13b.
If you have spent anytime time driving the rx8 youll find the brz/86 while good it is not sophisticated sublime handling in comparison. And the interior is disturbingly clunky.
If the rotary engine is intimidating then buy a Miata. Having owned various BMW's, WRX the rotary engine isnt that hard to maintain. It's quite easy even.

Yes, I know there are many trashed 8s out there.
It doesn't mean there are no healthy ones left, they're just harder to find than toaster oven Hondas.
I've been checking out sites like CarGurus and CarMax for 2 years.
CarMax offers buyback guarantees.
Just because some guy on Reddit claims he went through '50' doesn't mean much to me.
I've looked at many more than that, I could say I've looked at 200.
The ones that met my specific criteria (Loaded S1 GT MT Non red or silver) have been at least 4 hours away, and have either sold before I could go look at them, or didn't have test numbers.

If you owned a BMW or a Subaru before then yeah, rotary isn't that bad. For example, spark plugs don't require you to remove ten million parts or have baby hands to get to, but still more work than a Miata.

But remember OP has NO previous experience on cars before.

I am not talking about a normal I4 'toaster oven Honda' Sedan here. A V6 Accord Coupe 6-speed is not shabby at all. Oh and these are actually also not very common. I would imagine a Civic Si can at least keep up with us in a straight-line. About the only bad things are just anything associated with FWD platform, but that will depend on the individual. For a first car? It's pretty solid.

Does the CarMax warranty say they will cover a rotary? You can never be too careful with the fine prints.

Just saying that OP could explore other options. Drive around a bit and see what they like. Each cars have their pros and cons, just depends on what you want and what you think you can live with.