Okay, so, I'm looking at trading in my '06 Mustang for a similar year RX-8, and there's one by my house I really like, but I went to test drive it today, and it had a check engine light. The dealer said that it was due to a tune, and mentioned that the rev limiter was taken off. Also, the red display at the top of the console flashes with weird symbols. He said it was due to battery drain. My question is: is he bullshitting me?

 

Sounds like the car is going to have more issues than what is worth going through. Also sounds like he has no idea what he is talking about (no surprise there). Steer clear and keep looking

 

He probably has no idea. In most states it is illegal for a dealer to sell a car with an emissions problem, and the entire set of codes behind the CEL system are all emissions related. If the dealer doesn't have a code reader to plug in and get the exact code(s) and deal with the fixes, then he probably doesn't have a lot of other stuff that he needs, like honesty and sound business practices. Avoid on that basis alone.

Additionally, I'd be rather bothered by how he "knows" about the tune and rev limiter. It isn't likely to actually be true. He wouldn't be able to detect a tune without a flashing device (Which would also solve his "unknown CEL" problem), and he can't detect a missing rev limiter without over-revving the engine...which is scary.

The display symbols COULD be battery drain, but it's more likely to be a grounding problem somewhere.



Just avoid that car.