Hey,

So I just got my 06, Galaxy Grey, Manual, Sport RX8 today and I'm super excited. I spent a lot of time reading all of the sticky's and it's really helping me get used to this rotary madness. Long story short, I found a seller who let me test drive the car, and he seemed very straight forward and genuine about everything he could help me with. He was a dad who originally bought it for his teen who wasn't really into it and never learned stick, so the dad ended up driving it occasionally himself but took pretty good care of it and seemed to know his stuff about rotary issues. I followed the guidelines of the 'potential new owners' thread and asked the seller all of the suggested questions you guys came up with. Keep in mind this guy was the 4th owner, but only the 2nd if you count since the engine was replaced. He had no idea what the services/maintenance/replacements the car went through for those first two owners, so his answers were based on the maintenance receipts that the one previous owner gave him and the services he had done himself. Then, I had the 8 taken to the nearest Mazda dealership to get the compression checked along with a pre-buy check.

Here's my results of all that:
- Engine ever replaced: yes at 40,000 miles. 60,000 miles now.
- Mileage on current engine: 20,000
- Engine Compression: 6.6, 6.5, 6.4 at 263 RPM and 6.9, 6.6, 7.0 at 256 RPM at 5280FT ALT. Or 8.2, 8.3, 8.1 and 8.8, 8.4, 8.9 NORMALIZED to SEA LEVEL and 255 RPM
- Catalytic converter replaced: Not that he knows of
- Mileage of last coil change: 2000 miles ago.
- Has it ever had one or more coils fail on it with the current cat?: No
- Mileage of last plug change: He didn't know
- Mileage of last plug wire change: He didn't know
- Has it ever been flooded? (cat life remaining info): No, always started right up and never felt any power loss or experienced high temps. Confirmed this myself on the test drive.
- Oil consumption (ask in how many miles between adding a quart or half a quart, and have them tell you which it was): He didn't know.
- Gas mileage typically seen: 18ish
- Number of miles typically on the trip odometer when the low gas light comes on: He didn't know
- Cranking time before starting when cold: Instant
- Cranking time before starting when hot: Instant

PreBuy check results from Mazda dealership and other notes:
Tires approaching the end of their life, but other than that no other issues.
New clutch.
New transmission.
New Brakes.
Cosmetically beautiful inside and out.

So here's my question and concern: Initially after seeing the compression results my heart sank a little. The car seemed otherwise amazing, but I felt like I couldn't buy it after the dealership told me it was just over the "Imminent Failure" range. However then I saw in a sticky that the altitude of the test makes a difference and to convert your results using Mazda's conversion tool. Living in the Mile-High City I thought it might be a good idea to check the conversion. I ended up with drastically different results in the 'excellent' range. Going from high 6's to high 8's. I double checked with the dealership to make sure they hadn't already converted for that, but the guys said that they didn't convert for altitude, and they even seemed surprised and kind of embarrassed for not knowing about it. Considering this one factor led me to change my mind from not buying it to ending up with it, and considering it was a surprise at the dealership I thought I would check back here for more info on that conversion outcome, and how trustworthy it is. I want to fall in love with this car but it's the only thing holding me back now. You guys are great and any tips are appreciated.

Cheers

 

I wouldn't have a problem buying an RX-8 with those readings. Being embarassed that they didn't correct for it tells the story really.

I'd hesitate if the hot start time wasn't instant as you say, but since it is, especially at that altitude and not even a super high cranking RPM... it's a good engine.

 

That's good to hear!