FertileTurtle88

Hello everyone, been a lurker for a bit but now that I am committed to getting this car, I am seeking help and advice. I read the sticky's but as I'm about to pull the trigger and get set on this adventure, I thought it would be best to get a sanity check and talk to someone about this.

My cousin is trying to get rid of his '04 RX8 manual that has been sitting out in the sun for years on the side of his house. A terrible fate and that's why I want to restore it to it's former glory. After getting a family and whatnot he simply doesn't have time to drive it. From what it seems like, he's the original owner, accumulated 78k miles and tried his best to take care of it despite the recent years of not using it. It's always treated him well and never left him on the side of the road. I believe it has at least the touring package because it has a moon roof, could be wrong though.

As far as I have seen he's kept it bone stock , kept up the maintenance, and premixed often. The interior looks immaculate other than some cracks on the driver seat. When he started leaving it out, he took out the battery. I recently went out to see it for myself, and he told me that the only serious issue is that the coolant light is coming up but the gauge is reading it properly. I started it up myself when I was there, let it idle for a bit then started revving it to a little above 8k and it sounded perfect. I couldn't drive it because the tires are flat (like less than 10 psi lol) and I saw they were cracked so I didn't want to drive it to be safe.

The only thing that is remotely a red flag is that dealer told him to bring it in for a recall? Does anyone know about a recall for Series 1 RX8's around 2010? From what he described it sounds like the dealer not only did a rebuild of the engine, but they put in some series 2 parts or something like that. I haven't seen on this forum anyone doing something similar. Is this normal? For this recall if someone can link me to details about it that would be perfect. He also took it in for something with the tail lights. I'm guessing it's to solve the condensation problem.

He said I can take it off his hands for 3 grand, which seems reasonable to me. I'm pretty committed to getting this car at this point because I'm pretty attached to it (I mean I remember being a kid and being in this car with him a lot and thought it was the coolest thing ever). Before you ask, yes I'm a young kid, I have owned a Honda Accord for some time now and with my job I can afford a second car that I can enjoy. I'm not going to daily drive the RX8 but it will be driven often.

I'm just concerned about the things I need to do as soon as he hands me the title. I read some of the sticky's and so far I have a small list of things I need to do, however because of the circumstances I feel like I need to do a little more that I am not aware of.
What I need to do AFAIK:
Replace tires
Get a compression test
Get the cooling sensor looked at
Get all fluids replaced (brakes, coolant, power steering, oil, possibly transmission?)
Make sure the brakes are still good (got a lot of rust of them)
Get some 2 stroke oil for premix for myself
Clean the engine bay (it's really dusty)
Find a way to restore after all the sun damage
Get new sun visors (they broke on him lol)
So with this list in mind, am I missing anything?
Also, does anyone know a good rotary specialist in the San Diego area? I know any Mazda dealer can take care of most of this stuff but let's just say, for future reference. From a quick google search, I saw a few good ones in LA but I'm just looking for something a little closer.

Thanks for the taking the time to read. Here are some attached images if you guys are interested. I sure have a lot to do with the paint.

UnknownJinX

Remember that you need a rotary-specific compression test, so you need a special tool for that.

The recalls are for control A arms, fuel tank and Takata grena... I mean airbags. These are all free, and you could probably get a rotary-specific compression test at the dealer while you are there.

Let us know your results.

Loki

iTrader: (1)

I'd get that compression test done before you commit money toward the car. If it needs an engine your 3k purchase just turned into a 8k purchase. The interior definitely looks mint. If the engine checks out, this is a great find.
If you're satisfied with the comp test result and buy the car, I'd proceed in this order:

Inspect catalytic converter for internal damage. Do not drive on a broken cat.
Inspect the suspension for broken endlinks, leaking shocks, brakes, etc. Replace as required.
Get all fluids replaced (oil, trans oil, diff oil, coolant, brake fluid). There is no power steering fluid, it's electric.
Replace tires.
Replace ignition coils, wires and spark plugs if older than 30k or unknown.
Replace the coolant bottle (where the sensor is located). Be real careful, if you damage the radiator's nipple, you'll need to replace the rad.
Get the recalls done.
Restore sun damage. The hood can just be replaced with a good condition one, but the roof will need painting. That clearcoat is gone. What's with the missing plastic trim over the roof gutters :/
Restore headlights.

Premix at will.
How's the underside? I imagine not a lot of rust given the climate. How about critter damage? No nests or chewing on rubber lines?

jakejm79

All good advice above, I'd also budget for changing all the coolant hoses, just like the tires their rubber is prone to failing, the last thing you want with a rotary is overheating so the coolant system is something you want in good health.

FertileTurtle88

Thanks for the helpful responses guys! So I'm going back in a couple weeks and getting work done to the RX8 with him.

So for the recalls, I just texted my cousin (the owner) he didn't get the airbags done and he wasn't aware about anything with the control arm so we're going to look into those together. It seems like the dealer just did a rebuild and called it a "recall" around 2010 after asking him about it more. I am now wondering if he even needed to do that.

I forgot to mention I did look at the underside, nothing is living under there and from my untrained eye it didn't look like anything was serious down there. A little water spray from washing the car took out the cobwebs. Didn't actually jack up the car to see everything though so I could be wrong.

The plan so far seems that when I get there, were going to do a compression test and if it passes we're going to look into any other severe issues.

Definitely glad you guys brought up all this stuff! (now I feel stupid cause there's electric power steering haha) I'm building up a good checklist now to go over next time I'm there. I'm not very experienced on working with cars in general, I don't have a perfect tool set, and I don't even have a garage haha. So until then I have to take it to the dealer to work on most of this stuff sadly. At least the place I live at has a place I can wash the rx8.

I need a lot taken care of because the drive back to my place is 300 miles good thing I have no problems with dumping some money into this car. Once I got used to it I set a budget of about 7 grand for everything I want to do after the initial purchase. It's probably more than I need for what I want but I'm just crossing my fingers that it passes the compression test fine.