'lo all.

I'm looking into buying a 2006 RX8, I think Touring with 87k. It has what I guess is called Alcantara seats(but I'm not positive since that's a new material to me), a DSC off button (I assume that means it has DSC) and Bose on every speaker grill I saw (but no sound comes out the speakers).

I owned a 1st gen RX7 about 15 years ago and had to swap the engine once due to getting it hot one day so I'm not worried about having the change the engine as much as the cost to do so.

It seemed to drive nice on the first test drive, but I thought I noticed a little wiggle from the rear whenever I let off the acceleration abruptly. I didn't see anything major aside from ripples in front of the passenger rear wheel at the bottom of the wheel arch. It looks like someone tried to pull out a dent back there by hand.

I'll take it for a second drive later this week to futz with the cruise control (I've never had that in a manual transmission vehicle before) and to see what all I missed on the first test drive. There are other small issues that I've either read about how to fix here or are simple enough to fix if a bit fiddly to do so.

I was going to get it into the shop for a compression test until I talked to Mazda NA and found that they have a warranty record of a new engine block a couple years ago at 72k and a May 2006 in-service date. Since it has 11 months to go on the 8 yr/100k extended warranty, I was thinking of skipping the compression test for now and having it checked in 9 months or so in case I win the free engine lottery. Sound reasonable?

I saw a thread recommending a check of the synchros for 3rd as they take a beating. I did grind once upshifting into 3rd and 4th, but it didn't happen the next time, so I'm not sure of is a problem with the transmission or with my rusty shifting skills. If the synchros were out, should grinding happen pretty much every time or should good synchros prevent the grinding no matter what semi trained monkey has a grip on the shift ****?

 

The engine should last for a while if its only 15,000 miles on it. They are easy to change im my opinion. They aren't too expensive either. $2001 for a new engine. I would wait on the compression check, but don't wait to long. 9 more months sounds good. As for the synchros, if they were toast it would grind everytime, but if its just worn, it may not except certain circumstances. It shouldn't grind though. Could be that the clutch wasn't engaged all the way? No sure about the speakers.

 

Could be the clutch. That would be the most likely issue considering how rusty my skills are. And this would be my first 6 speed. I've only driven 4 & 5 speeds previously and thus have to reprogram my muscles for the extra gate.

I am most worried about the wiggle when the rear suspension unloads when I lift off the gas. Could just be worn suspension, or could be something bent from whatever happened to the bottom of the wheel arch.

 

After I looked at this RX8, the dealer sent it to a mechanic to check things out. They found about $2000 in damage to the right rear, which explains the wiggle I felt, and the car has been repainted to try and hide the damage. The dealer returned the car to his wholesaler but offered to find out for me where the wholesaler sold it on in case I wanted to go buy it from the other dealer.

I guess I'll keep looking.