elir-x8

I saw a 07 rx8 on craigslist with 59k miles. Does this have warranty? If not is it unwise to get? I won’t be able to afford repairs for a couple of months after I buy it . basically if the compression looks good do I need to worry?

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Unless the warranty has been voided (call MNAO to find out), yes, it would still have a warranty on the engine and cat. The other warranties are gone.

Yes, if it has good compression you don't need to worry about the engine itself.

There very well may be plenty of other parts failing on the car though, so to say that you don't need to worry about those may or may not be accurate depending on what else is wrong.

elir-x8

Im assuming any mechanic can check out car for other parts . is there anything to look out for in particular ? also if its driven for 20 min in city driving with 10-15 min break in middle (10 min each way ) will it warm up enough to have burn clean or it will clog up seals and break engine ? also whats the lowest possible offer i can make ?

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

The new owner's thread has the list of RX-8 specific stuff to check, and the list of non-standard maintenance that is pretty critical.

10 minutes of driving will be enough to get the engine fluids hot, however a substantial percentage of it's life will be spent warming up (ie, richer), so you will need to work extra to make sure it doesn't get carbon choked. The temp of the engine fluids have nothing to do with the ability to burn off carbon though. That in how you drive it and other maintenance.

No idea on an offer. There isn't enough information to go on.

elir-x8

Thanks,
this is the listing if you have any thoughts let me know.
2007 Mazda RX8 with only 59k miles $6900

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

The price isn't bad, assuming the engine is healthy and there aren't any other major problems.

The black wheels and rear doors are fugly, but that's subjective to people's tastes.

MazdaRX8Lover

Ugh, a lowered rx8 in NY, check for damage underneath as well. To many potholes and hills up north here for a lower rx8 unless they are great drivers.

bhshore1

Waited a day getting madder and I call to check again and Faulkner Mazda says the engine will not cost anything except for the fluids and IF AND IF they find any other parts that will cost me! PS (name) says that usually the Cat converter is bad and they will probably need to replace that at $1600 bucks but not sure yet. SO I can Mazda NA to complain and they authorized a NO charge rental from Ent prise for almost the two weeks short a couple of days. Dealer had to call rental office on their lot and give authorization for Free rental and that took a HALF day.
2 - RX8's - 2 engines trade-in costs about 8000 from 2004 to 2006 bank loans, interest parts labor. I surrender. NEVER BUY an RX8. Sure people love the rx8 turns heads BUT unless you are a mechanic, or can afford total cost of ownership over $10,000 bucks over 7 -8 years

DO NOT BUY a RX8 or you will regret it

TFRX8

Depends when it was first sold - my 07 wasn't sold until June 2008.....so my warranty is good until June 2016. You can call Mazda and they can tell you when the warranty period started, or get a car fax which will show the date first sold. This assumes under 100k miles and no maintenance issues (lack of).

Mysterion

OK, now that you have had your rant, how about telling the rest of the story. Did you bother to get a proper compression check before buying? Somehow, I doubt it. Engines don't just die with no warning and a compression test would have provided that warning.
How did you maintain the car? Like a Ford or GM? That won't cut it and, had you researched the car thoroughly prior to buying, you would have known that and could have probably saved yourself a lot of aggravation and us a lot of hot air.
How did you drive the car? Again, driving it like a senior citizen won't work with an 8 and researching the car would have told you that, as well.

So, how about it? You willing to do full disclosure and admit that maybe you jumped into something you knew nothing about? Or are you just going to carry on puking out complaints with no background info to back up the gripes?

It seems you are in the minority here as most posters, while not having 100% perfect cars, at least acknowledge the car's attributes rather than bashing it needlessly for what might well have been human error.

Mysterion

In order to get an accurate compression test, you will need to go either to a dealer or a rotary specialist as they are likely the only ones who will have the proper equipment to perform the test correctly. Other than that, any competent mechanic with rotary experience should be able to check out the basics for you. I specify "with rotary experience" because such a mechanic will be aware of common items to test and their locations thereby saving you labor costs as he searches for info and the items needing checked.
Also, to save guessing, try to get a CarFax on the car and, with VIN in hand, call the dealer and ask them to check the car's history for recalls outstanding and warranty claims (like engine, cat etc). Having that info will give you a better idea of the car's value to you plus ahile they are at at, a dealer can verify the balance of warranty as they will be able to pull up the car's sale date, as well.

bhshore1

Bottom line 8s are nice but money pits did all reg mantenance BUT Two engine failures no matter all done by dealers. So love the cars but not depend able so call me crazy but why did they only build them 04 to 2011 or so? Just being honest here. You and I both like the 8s but they have design flaws in engine or they would be built today. So lovem would never buy one today I did buy 2 in the past. I know what I write about.

Jay719

Well we know you arent complaining about the body but Obviously you didnt do much. Design flaw in the engine? dude what do you expect it isnt a piston engine where you can drive em to the ground naw its the rotary. You just sound like an idiot saying 2 engine failures. if you WERE keeping up the maintenance then 2 engine failures never would have happened....... what did you do start it up then drive it crazily without proper warm up and choke the engine? let the engine oil go low so that you (or none) to where basically it was just providing some chunks from the rotor housing? those are just 2 of many kind of problems that can arise if not taken care of. Any person owning an RX-8 can tell you the same information I just said. and why did they make them from 04-11 I dont know maybe mazda decided to do something differently or whatever but bottom line is the RX-8 is a real simple car to take car of and can last you a long time IF you know what you are doing in Preventative Maintenance

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Huh? Do you realize that the original MSRP of an RX-8 was $25,000-$32,000? Even a 6 year loan blows your $10k out of the water. I bought mine for $19,000, paid it off in 3.5 years, and had a LOWER cost of repairs over 113,000 miles than I did for my 2002 Corolla that I had for 92,000 miles. And yes, BOTH had an engine replaced under warranty.

I regret selling mine, does that count? Most reliable car I've ever owned.


If you only did the 'regular maintenance', but not the 'critical maintenance', then yeah, I'm not surprised you had a poor ownership experience.

And no, you don't actually know what you are talking about if you made the same set of mistakes twice. You won't believe that you did, but you did.

Perhaps you might do more research about multi-thousand dollar purchases BEFORE you make the purchases in the future. The info is all out there to find. The only one you can blame for not being properly informed is yourself. No one else has the responsibility to educate you.

It's all up to you, and you will pay the penalty or reap the reward accordingly.

bhshore1

Mysterion - perhaps rant but let me be clear.
1 Always took both RX8s to the dealer ONLY dealer Maple Shade and faulkner Mazda.
2. Love the RX8 - both of them else would not have bought 2nd one after 04 engine failure.
3.Always drove the car Hard - high RPMs each day.
4. Reg maint at dealers - Mazda dealers.
No matter what and how you care for the rx8s engine a great percentage will fail - bottom line.
So you can call me whatever I love the car the drive, looks and sound and performance but their is a flaw in the engine design whether you want to admit it or not.
Why would they be replacing engines? My 04 failed with under 19K.
My 2006 had EVERY service done at the mazda dealer and the engine still died. No one like the rx more then me but Mysterion it is what it is. Why else would they extend the warranty to 8 yrs or 96K? Love the car but but the current rx8 engine is not all that it should me, If you want to candy coat it fine - that's my opinion and the extensions on warranties and facts support my opinion. on same site -> https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discuss...bility-191727/

Gravey

iTrader: (3)

^Simple. It's not a piston engine. They fail so often because people don't pay attention to them, and treat them like a piston engine. You have to be proactive and attentive to what she needs.

Oh and I think a whole bunch of people like the RX-8 more than you... just sayin'

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

I'm not interested in arguing about it either. I know my own history, and that of hundreds of other owners on the site, including over 40 owners from the site that I have met personally.

The engine has flaws. I don't disagree with this. The part that I disagree with is that I KNOW the flaws can be solved with proper owner action. Every. single. one.

Examples of failing RX-8 engines is not proof of much more than how many owners are uneducated and ignorant about the car they drive. Yes, the engines wear out. Did you know my Corolla's engine wore out before my RX-8's engine?
My 2002 Corolla had over $4,500 in unexpected mechanical failures over 4.5 years and 92,000 miles. It's warranty engine replacement at 62,000 cost me $900 and the dealer had the car 2 months.

My 2005 RX-8 had $1,300 in unexpected mechanical failures over 5.5 years (one clutch failure, one radiator failure) and 113,000 miles. It's warranty engine replacement at 96,000 cost me $56, and the dealer had the car 3 days.

My 1999 Miata had $6,000 in unexpected mechanical failures over 2 years and 13,000 miles. Both of it's engine replacements cost me more than $1,500 each. It was undriveable for 15 of the 24 months I owned it.


If I was going to do what you are doing and apply my ownership experience to every single car of each model, I'd be screaming to the stars that the RX-8 was a hugely reliable car, cheap to own, and Miatas and Corollas are garbage.

So where do we stand? Your ownership experience vs my ownership experience. Which "facts" am I ignoring now?

If I actually look at WHY I had the problems I did with various cars, I see some interesting differences:
My Corolla's failures were related to a combination of a known sludging problem that was later recalled and subsequent dealer mistakes. Had nothing to do with the car itself.
My Miata's failures were related to hidden abuse and neglect by the prior owner, had nothing to do with the car itself.

Hmm. So by comparison, why did my RX-8 hold up so well? According to you, it didn't. According to you, I'm lying. Because according to you, every RX-8 is a mechanical disaster.

What you are failing to do is actually look into WHY things failed on your car. You aren't actually asking "why". "Because it's crap" isn't a reason for why. You say the engine is flawed, but you are apparently ignorant of what those flaws are. Until you know exactly what the flaws are, you also can't know the solution to resolving them.

Like I know exactly why my RX-8's engine failed. Exactly why. I had an ignition coil fail, that then clogged my catalytic converter, that then over-stressed the engine and damages seals. Hmm. Not something that is actually a flaw in the engine.

Yes, the Renesis wears out faster than a typical piston engine.
Yes, the rotors are too wide for the combustion flame front, so it wastes more fuel than it could have been designed for.
Yes, the housings are aluminum and the end plates are iron, and this dissimilar metal makes it harder to balance the heat within the engine, and the different heat expansion rates cause problems with maintaining a solid seal.
Yes, the factory ignition coils are really garbage, and need replacing every 20-30k (which dealers ARE NOT aware of).
Yes, the coolant temp gauge won't start moving until you are already 15 degrees hotter than it takes to damage the engine
etc...

I know the flaws. I know why they exist. And I know what to do about them.

Until you can say the same thing, your ranting isn't going to get you any traction here. We see rants like that frequently, and in every single case, the owner is simply uneducated about the car they owned. Things like "dealer did all the maintenance!" is one of the hallmark signs of someone that doesn't actually know the RX-8, because no one that actually knows the RX-8 would trust a dealer to do all the maintenance, since dealers are unaware of many maintenance needs.

Feel free to hate the car. I get it. Many other owners and prior owners get it.

Most of us knew what we were getting into, and accepted that. Any other people thinking of buying the car that didn't want to accept it just didn't purchase it. The ranting is always from people that buy it without knowing, and are then burnt by their ignorance.

You will get help and advice if you want it, but your ranting isn't a request for help, it's a request for sympathy. You aren't going to get that here.

bhshore1

RIWWP
Verbose SuperMod

Bottom line did everything right with both rxs dealer serviced ONLY. We agree engine flawed so should have been corrected prior to market intro. Also cat converter is $1500 and not covered under the 8 yr 96k extension. You know more then me on the technical aspects but you call folks ignorant and the like dude life -my life does not afford time for 14,000 posts to a website and honestly I like you, your knowledgeable and all but your a mean person. Its not about you or me its about the facts dude. The car requires a lot of extra care and you blew your own engine and you have 40 electronic friends here fine.

But dude its about the facts and not many other cars have such a high failure rate. I am risk management and deal with statistics and probability so statistically speaking having 2 rxs have engine failures with total care means something.
Not arguing with you as I have read 100s posts here related to the lousy lifespan and failures so I say to you I personally am not ignorant and know much about the care knuf said.

Ranting - dude your posts are page long with your expert advice. So I have less than 10 posts and only posted to inform potential rx8 buyers to look elsewhere for a car. Many other cars have same performance and less agg so take chip off your shoulder and put it in a cookie. have a nice one and u can reach 14,000 posts soon - mnd boggleing

bhshore1

RIWWP has exceeded their stored private messages quota and cannot accept further messages until they clear some space.

bhshore1

Educate myself - Dude what is wrong with you? I am sure your as educated as I am as i have Masters from Temple Univ so I know a bit about hard technical subject matter but what you say is UNCALLED for - ignorance - of the metals in an internal rotary engine is not something I really need to know as I have a life. i dont have time to hang here every day bit really like site - rxclub as most members have dialog and speak -write freely without being called names. Just wanted to warn of pitfalls of RX8 ownership. Since you dont own one perhaps you need to go and express yourself in other avenues. Overstock.com is great ck out pet adoption and try to be nice dude cause life too short calling me ignorant?? uncool very

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Emptied it. I get PMed alot from new members....




You have posted 6 times today. If you started with that back in 2007, you would have 15,330. Keep it up! You are doing better than I am.


I'm sorry that you only want sympathy, and I'm sorry that you feel that it's "mean" to not give it. I'll educate you if you want, but you don't want that, so ... good luck with life.

J8635621

iTrader: (10)

I hope it wasn't a master's in English. Gosh dang. I'd bold the problems for you but I don't know how to double/triple bold things.

gwilliams6

Hey bhshore1 I have a masters degree too and teach at a university ,but I know enough and researched enough to know not to let the dealer handle all my RX8 maintenance as there are many items of maintenance that occur and need to be addressed outside the "scheduled" maintenance routine and timetable performed by a dealer going "by the book". I see where you are living by your dealerships you speak of, and I also live in the metro Philadelphia area. I also bought a RX from one of the same dealers you did, but i educated myself enough to know not to leave everything to the dealer for these cars. I have owned seven rotary cars since 1973, driven easily over a million rotary miles combined on street and track in 41 years and NEVER had a single rotary engine failure, ever, including my current 2008 40th Anniversary Edition RX8 bought new in 2008. This 2008 is my daily driver, and with its Mazdaspeed CAI and BHR ignition kit and Racing Beat radiator and oil cooler screens added, has been as rock solid as I could ever ask for.

Learn to treat them right and learn to drive and maintain them correctly and they can be among the most reliable cars you have ever owned. The fun stuff goes without saying ! I have also owned numerous piston cars over the years and the rotary cars have been every bit as well engineered and tough and durable as any piston cars I have owned.

Hey love em or leave em, that is ok, but don't come crying to us about it all and then bash the car and engine years later ,after the fact, especially when this tread by the OP was to gain info on a possible pending purchase.

Jay719

ypu keep talking about the dealership, dealership this dealership that. What you fail to realize is that not all mazda dealerships have a rotary specialists so when you take it in to get serviced your getting an ordinary mechanic with probably no experience on rotaries and wasting your time and money.
From a personal experience i took my rx8 to the dealership. They told me what they thought but not long after (cause i decided to do research) that i found out a total different solution. Also you cant have the dealership service it ALL the time. take it there get it serviced but YOU HAVE to do servicing on YOUR PART in order for a longer life.


Verbose 113k keep it up

Gravey

iTrader: (3)

Yes. Educate yourself. It's not an insult, just a request for you to do some research before spreading your "knowledge" about a horrible vehicle.


What's WRONG with you? RIWWP hasn't insulted you once in this whole thread. The word you take offence to, ignorance, means a lack of knowledge, which you clearly have, so it's appropriate here. And on top of all this, you have attacked RIWWP with asinine comments about his post count.


You are clearly a victim, the RX-8 victimized you, and then poor little you came on this site and got victimized again by the "mean" old RIWWP. You have my sympathy because life sounds like it's really rough for you.