Going to buy an RX* Today, What should I check for??
 

I am going to purchase an RX8 this evening and want to get an Idea of car specific things to look for.

I have owned quite a few other cars including an MX5 but this is my first rotary.

I pulled the carfax/auto-check and its clean (well at least in regards to what has been reported) But it was repo'ed for delinquent payment and auctioned last year, so i am buying with most likely no disclosures.

Its a 2004 with 86k on the dash. Besides the basics, like body damage, tire life, clutch and breaks etc. Is there anything specifically I should be checking for that may be a regular problem or symptom to look out for with theses rx8's?

Thanks in advance, and sorry for the less than one day notice.

You're not going to buy a RX-8 tonight, unless you're willing to deal with the consequences of not following the most import piece of information we will ever give: Get a rotary specific compression test by a Mazda dealer.

Additionally this link: https://www.rx8club.com/new-member-f...t-here-202454/ has all the information you need.

Thank you, had no idea about this.

Calling the seller and the dealer now to see if I can schedule this for this afternoon.

Okay, contacted Mazda. This is apparently a 2 hour operation for Mazda with and i quote "if we can knock it out with no interruptions" or apparently it will take longer. Doubtful this gentleman will let me take the car for what may end up taking half the day including wait time. So i will most likely have to do this on my own time and find out the good or bad news after the investment.

I am going to contact the seller now and see if he will let me do this... However, if it was me in his shoes I doubt i would let someone take my car I didn't know for a few hours.... Well see

I can do a compression test on my zrx in 15 minutes, yes its a complexly different animal... but still the time line seems a bit extreme.

Just to minimize my gamble here...

If start up revs pull normal, and everything starts and runs fine, should i still have much concern on compression before buying? Just to reconfirm .... I know very little about rotary engines, but inline engines I know a great deal about, and low compression is very noticeable when "feeling" start up and acceleration.

Is the notability still prominent on rotary's? Or is low compression only determined by the full test?

If you've driven a few healthy RX-8s, you'd probably be able to feel the difference in performance and how the engine starts, especially when hot. However a rotary specific compression test is the only way to know for sure.

Start the car up when cold. Then after fully warming it up, shut it down, wait a half hour and restart it. Does it take a bit of cranking before it starts? That's a good sign of low compression.

Don't get attached to a single car. If the seller isn't willing to deal, move on. The cost of a new engine is far higher than whatever he has to offer.

Also it's not a 2-hour operation. Call another dealer

Thanks! I will do that, if anything seems a bit off I'll skip the investment and go with another.

It is a good deal, but you are absolutely right, the price hes selling it for pluss the cost of an engine and install is a horrible deal of a price...lol

2+ hours for a comp test? Is that just the comp test itself or did they say you were in like a service line?

Mine took an hour, at a Mazda dealership, maybe a 5 minute wait for her to go back. 2+ is excessive to me.

When I went and bought mine, I told them I wasn't going to sign the paperwork unless they agreed to a comp test, as well as agreeing to replace the engine should it fail. Engine failed, engine was replaced at no cost to me. Definitely definitely biggest thing.

Also, mine failed with almost no symptoms, she only showed one. Like mentioned previously, don't get too attached to just one. Find the one that 'talks' to you, and is at a place willing to take the steps to ensure it is in acceptable condition before you sign the papers.

Good luck ^.^

2+hrs is crazy but it is a stealership. travis probably did at least 6 comp tests at my last meeting in about an hour

2 hours is bullshit. The job has a specific labor time attached to it, they can't just make up whatever they want. If they do, report them to Mazda North America.

As Loki suggested, don;t get attached to one car and its not like you are buying an skyline or FD for that matter. it's an Rx8 you'll always find another good deal.

Meanwhile, read as much as you can espe the new owner thread mentioned by love hound.

DOn't get me wrong, rx8 is one hell of a beast of its own kind but again not worth buying one from auction esp without a compression test. Engine rebuild can easily cost a $4-6 k depending on where you get it done.

All the best in your search and if you have any questions shoot away :-)

Okay just called multiple stealerships in DC and Maryland and the only places that even have openings to do it are saying 1-1/2 to 2 hours.

The rest asked me to schedule for next week. :pat:

Asked the guy selling and no dice there.

Like I said, if i even get a hint of start up issues I'm dropping this deal because I don't want to make this chance. 5000 for a car and then 5000 for an engine is not what I want to budget for.

Do not base engine health on how the car starts.

Like 9K said dont base your decision based on how the car starts.

I had an 04 with low compression and I had classic hot start sysmptoms.

Swapped my coils, plugs and wires along with upgraded starter and it masked the issue like hot starts didn't exists for next 7 months (24k kms)
low compression only gets worse with time and after 7 months the engine was done.

You cant rule its a perfect engine from the cold and hot start up... but you sure as hell can rule its a shot engine.

I am working with the seller now. He just gave me the go ahead. So now i need to schedule

Rotaries are completely different animals from Pistons.
engine can be flooded and may sound like its shot.
Ignition components may be shot and cause it to not start instantly.
There are quite a few factors that could play a role here.
Hence, why we strongly advise every new owner/buyer to get a compression test before buying an rx8. Because that's the only sure way of telling engine's actual health

Compression test takes 15-30 mins but dealerships charges 2 hours of labour therefore, they call it 2 hr job.. talk to them they may expedite it and charge you 2hrs labour.

Cheers,

All scheduled for 3pm today. Ill let you guys know this evening if i got an rx8... or if you guys just saved me from a bad investment...lol

I would start here when you are asking about buying an 8 from any dealership. If they aren't able to do 1 of 3 things I would decline and go find another one.

1. Do the test themselves (which depending on the dealership I might still want my own)
2. Allow it to be take somewhere to get done prior to the purchase
3. Give you a few days, 3-5 to get a test done on your own after the purchase if you are just in love with the car, then if it fails repair/replace the car/engine.

I would also look at the test itself as a pass or fail, and not barely failing so it's ok to buy. If one face is failing here then the whole thing fails.

When you get the compression score, you shall receive something like this

Front Rotor - 7.0, 8.1, 8.1
Rear Rotor - 7.7, 7.7, 7.8
@ 250 RPMs

match it with this chart to determine the health of your engine;


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...4f163ea3d2.png

Allow me to jump in here.

You are receiving a lot of good advice from reputable people here in this thread. DON'T throw it in their face. Take their advice, or you will perhaps regret the purchase. We have been RX8 enthusiasts for a number of years and we've seen it all. You have already made a good impression by asking questions PRIOR to your purchase. Just don't step in your own shit by not heeding the advice/ responses to those very questions you have inquired about.
Take your time with this purchase. Have the engine compression tested by an AUTHORIZED ROTARY COMPRESSION TESTER.

This puts into question your future for me. Not taking advice is a sure way to get yourself stomped all over. If you can handle that- great. But don't expect people to roll over for you when you ignore them. Get back to the stable platform you STARTED with and do the right thing.

Good luck

You did read the part where I said I have scheduled a compression test with Mazda, and wont be buying unless it passes right? :scratchhe

Thank you!
Printed and am bringing to the dealer with me! You rock!

I know it kinda sounds like we're beating on you, but we really just don't want you to have a fail purchase. The community cares, we're not all assholes I promise :P

Again, good luck.

:beer05:

I didn'[t catch the part where you actually scheduled the appointment. All I saw was that you were going to purchased based on how it starts. I digress.

i was on here for about 6 months before i bought my 8! do some research before you buy it!

6.3 looks like I will not be buying....

Update:

Talked with the mechanic at mazda... he actually completely changed my mind on the car ...more to follow.

You loved it, if you would have bought it, you would have ended up hating it.
You'll love the right one more.:)

Okay so the mechanic like I said just changed my mind on it...

Heres what happened. ..

The rx8 gT was for sale by the guy from an auction, I originally talked him down to 5700 even before comming out.

Went out to meet him but told him I would not buy till after the inspection.

Went to mazda and the inspector pulled me in to look at the car.

He said the stats on the compression were in the 6s with one being as low as 6.3... he told me the engine is on the way out but may be 3 month or 3 years. He also said hes been working on the RX8s since their initial release and said he has had some luck getting the compression up as much as a point when they were at he level mine is at now.

So...

What he said was he'ld write up that it had below average compression and print two copies so I could present the seller/auction guy with the results. Then see if I could get him to a price a felt comfortable to gamble on.

Went back to him and told him the news...well the guy worked with me and he was willing to take a loss on it and sold it to me for a price I feel comfortable with....

So i decided to by the 2004 with the leather and exterior in perfect condition clear car-fax and running great... new clutch new tires... everything working and jusr take the risk on the lower compression.

Car is going back to the mechanic on monday and hes gonna see what he can do for me... fingers crossed he gets it to the 7s

We will see how it goes... the way I feel is even if I only get 12 months out of it... at the price I paid its still only a car payment.

Ill keep posted ... and thank you everyone for the advice.

What rpm was that 6.3 at?
I mean I wouldn't have advised this course of action, but let us know how it works out.

How does one bring up compression. I mean besides a rebuild.

You can't fix mechanical wear without a rebuild. Now if carbon build up is preventing the seals from sealing correctly, decarbonizing can help. Most of the time it's just mechanical wear.

If you think it's worth what you paid, even with a failing engine, then there's not much left to say.
At least you know where you stand, and you should start saving for an eventual rebuild.
If your guy can actually improve your compression numbers, then please update us on how he did it.
In fact, if he is successful, please ask him to join our forum and share his information with us.
Don't be put off by skepticism here, we've seen enough to be doubtful.
Good luck!

Yes, he belives it may be carbon build up and wants to do a flush. Yes its a risk... it could very well not do any thing... but he said he has had some good luck on after cleaning at those numbers its allowed it to at least partially reseal and bring the compression up a bit.

He also said that the rx forum could recommend a aftermarket seperate oil res which uses 2 stroke oil instead of cycling the cars oil and said that has helped also and hes had several of his rx regualrs get it installed.... any one know where to stear me on that part as id like to try it... maybe I should push this half into another forum section...

Dont knkw what rpms it was at but can ask him when I take it back in on monday.

Oh and yes the savings for the new motor is going to begin now...

Lastly, for the record.. I could not feel anything wrong either at cold start up, warm start up or driving... so to all the guys that said you cant feel it going oum.. you are correct. Thing drives (at least to the untrained guy) exactly as I would think it should.

The oil mod you are talking about is the Sohn adapter.
Google search Epitroch Sohn adapter.

Thank you for the quickness on the response... definitely think im going to go that route... really appreciate it.

At the dmv now.... so looking at the line... in 423 hours I should have a title...

Dang I hate waiting.

Well.. good luck.

But when you do need a motor, since you're in DC, hit up Ray Whitney. He's in Fredericksburg.

Good luck to you Cinko!
Good job listening to the forum and making an informed, calculated decision.

Congrats!!

He may perform the seafoam or zoom zoom clean procedure.
Beaware! that could either do something in your favour by cleaning up carbon and bump up the compression a little bit or cause more damage as in, the seals my be stuck in their place holding the left over compression but once carbon is removed seals become free the rest of the compression goes down the drain.

Now what I gather from your post is, in my opinion obviously the tech saw an opportunity to make some quick buck off you. My advice, go to another Mazda dealer and get a compression test done to be on safe side and if it comes low then you can always go back to this guy and get him to magically bump your compression back up :-)

But do share with us what he did and all so the rotary community can be benefitted :-)

Cheers,

Tagged titled and registered....

No the DMV didn't actually take 3 days... I am just slow with responding...

Wont actually be able to get to the shop this week.. Just moved into my new house and the wife has established that the unpacking must be done before I start playing =( to bad... but will update later with the car.

Its nice to have a fun car back.. Cant wait for it to warm up a little so I can play a bit on some of these back roads out in Maryland... with the temps at 30-32 it ain't worth the chance yet with random ice patches all over.

Come on spring!