I apologize if this is a terrible newbie question but I've long loved the concept of the rotary engine and have owned a few different sports cars over the years. Now that I made the move to an Electric daily driver I am trying to find a fun weekend car to scratch the ICE itch. One thing I've always wondered given the frequency of engine rebuilds and replacements what do people think about buying an earlier production high mileage car (with decent compression numbers) and immediately putting the saved money away fully expecting that an engine rebuild or replacement could happen at any time versus buying a newer more expensive R2 or R3 model with lower mileage? It seems like mileage isn't always indicative of engine life. I am somewhat mechanically inclined and have pulled engines twice before so I wouldn't mind having to do work on the car. And is buying from an owner off of these forums much better I assume because these Renesis engines will have been cared for properly by enthusiasts?

Thank you!

 

RX8help.com is your friend. The summary of recommendations from this forum are recorded there.

The most economical way to do this is to buy a solid body with a dead engine and swapping in a freshly rebuilt engine from Mazda or one of the reputable rebuilders. Finding a car that has both a solid body and engine is going to take time/money/compromises.

Mileage, age and previous owner are not super relevant. Get a compression test before purchase.

 

Welcome.

I recommend:
1. Get used to the global and thread "Search" functions ...as in all probability the question h/b asked, and various answers provided (LOL) over time.
2. If you haven't already ...start here: https://www.rx8club.com/new-member-f...t-here-202454/

- No, there is little "direct" relationship between mileage and engine health. Get a compression test.
- Planning / saving $$ for the inevitable engine rebuild ...if you plan to keep an 8 is a good idea.
- "Caveat emptor" ANY car purchase.

All the best.

 

Thank you! Going through all the new owner threads currently and will keep searching for sure. So basically finding a solid body and sorted chassis with any type of mileage or engine etc would be fine? And just go in assuming it is effectively a dead engine regardless of compression numbers?

 

I appreciate you not flaming me too hard for the inevitable noob post, definitely been browsing the stickied things and will continue searching! I'm glad it wasn't completely idiotic to think spending a bunch of extra money on a more recent build with lower miles isn't really necessarily the best decision when that doesn't guarantee much in the way of engine life.

 

Kinda defeat the purpose of driving a climate friendly EV by owning an F-U climate killing rotary powered car. hahaha....
Well I guess you can always keep it catted for a smaller "f-u climate".

 

Ah I wouldn't say it fully defeats it since I would be doing wayyyy less driving in the 8 but I see your point 😂 cats will stay on for sure and hey I'm doing my part, masters research in new solar cell technology and such. It's all you other people who need to step up haha

 

Well. Not exactly, if it has good compression then great, you have a good car for a while assuming you don't make mistakes. But over the long haul, be financially ready for the possibility that you will need to replace the engine and/or spend on reliability mods. They don't usually up and explode one day, it's a gradual decline that gives you time to react. Helps if you do your own inspections.

If you don't know what a given car's compression is, assume it's 0 and price on that basis. A good owner should know whats up.

 

There is certainly opportunity to pickup a dirt cheap RX8 with a dead motor and use your mechanical skills to add value. Practically speaking, any car I found that the previous owner was not willing or able to keep a good motor in, was not desirable for other reasons. I never found the car that was 9-10/10 with the exception of the engine. Paint fade, interior wear, A/C failure and high mileage kept any car (I saw) too far off being worth an engine swap. The car had better value as a parts vehicle.

I ended up with a car that was 8/10 all around, with the previous owner not being knowledgeable but willing to feed the RX8 with the financial support it needs. This included a recent new reman from Mazda for $6k out of pocket.

I think you will have better luck looking at the $7k plus market as the cars overall are nicer. Get a compression test but don't go crazy fretting on the numbers. If both rotors average over 100 psi and the car runs and drives good, consider the engine a passable used example. I know what Mazda's specs are, but look at what is practically maintained in the real world.

https://rotaryresurrection.com/rx8-faq/

Read the third to last FAQ topic.

 

Great thank you for the additional info, definitely makes sense to me that avoiding some of the more beat on examples would make sense. 7k is honestly not a bad price at all with an acceptable used engine and having generally other good condition components. I'm seeing that the general areas of concern are coolant system, coils plugs etc? Would most Mazda dealers do a standard PPI and do you feel that would cover the obvious basis of concern? They are getting harder to find it seems over the years so in case I'm distance shopping it could be easier having a dealership do the inspection as opposed to me trying to do any type of checkout.

 

If you book a PPI with Mazda, make sure it includes a proper compression test. Not every dealer has a rotary trained tech nor a working rotary compression tool, and they're becoming harder to find. Depending on location you might look for local rotary performance shops for the PPI. They not exactly common but where there are cars, there are shops.

 

Mazda dealers are loosing touch with their rotary knowledge. The RX8 is a unique car so it would be ideal the shop doing the PPI has experience. This may or may not be true for your local Mazda dealer. The most critical function is the compression test as Loki mentioned. Make sure this is done correctly. Again, don't get too caught up with the specific numbers. Each rotor face will register between 0-120 psi and this needs to be corrected for ambient pressure and test rpm. I am fine averaging the the rotor faces as long as they are within 20 psi of each other. Both rotors should be reasonably close to each other. You also have to factor practical performance. 80psi and the engine runs awesome is different than 80psi with hot start issues and poor power. However either way a true 80psi engine is worth notably less than a 100psi engine. Negotiate accordingly.