I have a 2005 RX8 with bad seals and need an engine change or rebuild. Rebuild from reputable local racer is $4400. which is about as much as the car is worth. The take outs with 40-50,000 miles are under $2000. Advice please.

 

You have no idea what you're getting (no matter what the seller claims). Rebuild or sell, there is a list on the site here that has a bunch of builders that may be able to do it cheaper depending on the condition of internal components.

 

All RX-8 engines(and pretty much the entire car) are made in Japan. Even the new rebuilds are. With a rebuilder, all the OEM parts would also be made in Japan.

And having visited and driven in Japan, the traffic conditions aren't gonna be great for these engines. Lots of stop and go traffic in major cities.

Overall, not recommended like said above.

 

Depends what you want from the car. If you're planning to keep it for a while, get it rebuilt properly. If you just want to get it to not die, you could roll the dice on an import engine. It might be fine. It might be a $2000 paperweight. Make sure you have some kind of warranty that they will actually honour.

Shop around for rebuilds too. What does the 4400 include? It's not just price but quality of parts used, rebuilder reputation, etc.

 

Japanese spec motors have some different parts than US spec, mostly peripheral stuff. To me it makes zero sense to get a JDM spec motor unless it has some advantage over US spec. For the Renesis there is no advantage.

 

For USDM spec parts, motors etc.


Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market


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Even if it comes with a warranty, I wouldn't trust a used engine. It's a coin toss, might be good and last a couple years, or it might grenade 2 days after the warranty runs out. It's a lot of work to take the old engine out and put the new engine in. You don't want to have to keep pulling the engine every year so make sure you get a rebuilt motor from a reputable rebuilder preferably with new irons and rotors in addition to the seals. This way you'll know that engine will last a long time and you aren't risking having to rip it back out again.