Foreverfallout

Hi guys! I need some advice and insight. The last 3-4 weeks have been a ******* nightmare.

I bought a 2005 RX-8 from Hiley Mazda in Hurst, TX (6 speed manual YAY!). It had 101k miles on it. Looked amazing. Only had a couple of minor dents, the driver side window needed help going up and down and the heat didn't work (i didn't really care about that, this is Texas after all, the ac worked great). Mechanically, it seemed sound. The dealer told me that it was in "nearly immaculate condition with no mechanical problems." I bought a warranty through Owner Guard just in case. Ran and drove like nothing else I've owned. It was an absolutely blast for the 28 days that it worked. Then I went out to start it and nothing.

Called AAA and had it towed back to the dealer. They thought it just flooded. Turns out the car needs a whole new engine and a new cat. Also the belts are showing some wear and it needs new ignition coils and plug wires. WTF?

The warranty company is now refusing to pay for anything. They say the engine failed due to pre-existing conditions. They told me the apex seals are bad and the engine's compression is too low to start. Hiley Mazda told me only that the compression on the engine is low. I've been going back and forth between them for 3-4 weeks now and today is the first day that anyone has told me that specifically its the apex seals. Hiley has been giving me as little info as humanly possible. They said it could not be a pre-existing condition because it wouldn't have passed emissions with low compression. It doesn't sound like they were particularly thorough in their inspection.

I don't know a whole lot about rotary engines. This is also the first manual transmission vehicle i've owned. Is it normal for apex seals to fail like that within 600 miles and 28 days with little or no warning? I had taken the car out fairly often, driving it around the lake here. I red-lined it on several occasions (i heard that you are supposed to do that every so often in this vehicle) but never pushed it beyond 90 mph or so. It wasn't getting driven THAT hard. I noticed that a couple of days before it failed to start completely that it had a hard time starting once. I never noticed it misfiring. Would i have noticed it? I've never had a rotary before, but i've had a subaru before this one that had misfiring problems and it was very noticeable. It never felt particularly down on power either.

I don't know what to do. I dropped a 1500 down payment on this car. My girlfriends car needs new head gaskets and that's going to cost me around 2500 (it's a subaru forester) before we can take a trip up to see my mom for her graduation next month. I don't have 6000 to repair a car i just bought with all this other **** going on. I'm really thinking of taking either the warranty company or the dealer, or both, to court but i REALLY don't want to go through all that.

kevinande

https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discuss...t-here-202454/

Read through that and that will give you a lot of insight about the car.

Threatening legal action is about all you can do, and follow through if necessary. You could also raise a lot of hell?

ken-x8

I think you need a lawyer.

Ken

godesshunter

Sounds like both you and the warranty company jumped into this car blindly without really knowing much about it. Now both you and them are pissed about it.

Chances are the motor was bad long before you ever bought it due to maintenance neglect. You may be able to get away with changing all the ignition parts and put a mid pipe on it to get it to run again for a little while. Key words: may be

Read through the new owners thread to get some incite about whats going on.

Learners_Permit

Try to get some proof the apex seals are bad. I bought an 8 that had a "blown" engine in it (apex seals), Mazda and another shop said it needed a new engine. The guy I bought the car from had the same conditions, he said he parked it one day and the next day he went out to start it the car wouldn't do anything. I put new spark plugs in it and fired it right up. The ignition system, from what I have read, is very picky. If it is not in top condition it will cause the engine not to start.

With the car being at about 101k miles, it is near the time for plugs, coils, and wires.

monchie

Sorry about your situation, but i think you need some legal advice, good luck.

Chris_HT

Well, I'm new to rotaries as well. But following the logic - make em check the CAT.

- if it is all clogged up to hell, then there is an pre existing condition and you can state that clearly to the dealer that they failed to inspect CAT before selling you that car and threaten with legal action.

- if CAT is just dirty but there is still some open space to let the exhaust fumes through, the there was no pre existing condition and you can point that fact to insurance company and threaten with legal action.


I did read a lot the day before I bought my car, so knowing how difficult it is to deal with companies to honor the warranty on rotary engine failures I simply decided to take it without coverage and be prepared to pay out of pocket.

tmc3

Sounds like the motor was on the way out before you bought it. I would suggest getting that in writing from a rotary specialist. If you have it in writing that the car was in "nearly immaculate condition with no mechanical problems", then you can go after the dealer. Not sure about TX but in CA this constitutes a warranty. I had a similar situation with a private party when I bought my '88 10AE that didn't start the next day and left a puddle of oil on the driveway. All I wanted was for him to pay what it cost me to put the car in the condition that he supposedly sold it as, but he was being stubborn. So I made him fly from NorCal to SoCal, rent a car, bring his dad (he was under 25), and pay for a hotel. When he refused to budge on his position, we went to court and I won anyway. The dealership should be a lot more reasonable when their legal office tells them that it's going to cost them more to fight a case that they're going to loose anyway.

Bladecutter

Exactly what does this mean?

When you turned the key, do you mean that there literally wasn't anything happening? No lights on the dash, and complete silence? That's a dead battery.

Or, do you actually mean something else?

When you turn the key, do the lights come on the dash, but the starter never engages, and does not crank the engine over?

Or, when you turn the key, the lights come on the dash, the starter engages, spins the engine, but the engine never fires up?

Please be clear in what you are trying to describe.
Those three things mean entirely different things for us to suggest.

I doubt nothing happened if the car worked perfectly fine the previous time you drove it. I would bet that I could show up at your place with new plugs, wires, ignition coils, and a simple recharge of your battery, and your car would fire up perfectly fine.

Next time, it would help if you researched a car before you bought it.
You would have made sure your car was fine before you financed a sports car with over 100k miles, and your gf would have avoided buying a Subaru with known head gasket issues.

If you can do any work on the car yourself, I highly recommend installing new plugs, wires, and ignition coils. I bet it will start.

BC.

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

Proper Prior planning. Who buys a car with 100,000 miles on it without a compression test, let alone a car where engine failures are common. Sucks to be you, but you made a shitty decision and now you have to suck it up and deal with it.

Did anyone give you actual compression test results?

Foreverfallout

I was absolutely unprepared. I went in looking for something more like an MX-5. The miata they were trying to sell me had cracks in the windshield, tears in the roof, 3 different brands of tires and it looked like the airbag had been deployed at some point screwing up the steering wheel (carfax said it had been in only 1 very minor accident.... suuuuuure). They happened to have this RX-8 there, it was roughly the same price, had 20k more miles on it, and looked to be in MUCH better shape. So i kind of bought it on a whim. I agree, it was incredibly stupid on my part.

I knew that rotaries were somewhat finicky but I wasn't expecting something like this to happen so soon, especially considering outward appearance of the car. There are 3 guys that go to the bar next to where I work that have RX-8s, two of them use theirs as their daily driver and told me they've had minimal issues. My boss owned an RX-3 way back when. I figured that since mazda had been building the engine for a while I was probably ok (they won LeMans with a rotary powered car did they not?). Most of the cars I've owned have been pushing past 200k miles. I didn't expect a vehicle with half as many miles to have 3 or 4x as many problems. I'm only 25 so its only been recent that i've started to be able to afford something better than old hondas. I live withing walking distance of my job so it was only going to be a car i drive around for fun.

If this had happened a few months down the line i would be better prepared to handle this. =/

When i mean i turned the key and nothing happened, what i mean is the electicals all engage fine, the starter cranks and i get no ignition. The dealer has been VERY vague when it comes to telling me whats wrong with the car. The only specifics i've gotten are from the warranty company. When the told me it was the apex seals the other day that was the first i heard that in the 3 - 4 weeks it's been at the shop. They haven't given me any results regarding a compression test and they return my calls maybe once a week. And as far as the catalytic converter, all they say is "it's clogged."

Razz1

umm... they fucked you.

Look at the condition of the MX-5.

That should have given you a clue as to how reputable the dealer is.

They knew the engine was bad if they did any checking at all. I highly doubt they checked out the car.

I bet it was sold "as is".

Your not going to get any help from the dealer with an "AS SOLD".

Without a warranty the condition is to be assumed as "As Sold".

There are allot of members in Texas. Check out the Thread for members in the Gulf.

One of them will help you.

https://www.rx8club.com/gulf-rx-8-forum-32/

-_- just.gimme.my.ticket

sounds like you bought from a shady dealer. if it was a liscensed mazda dealer it is illegeal for them to sell a vehicle in that condition without certifing it (sue). if it was any other small type used car lot fix it and sell it or take it to auction the dealers protected theres nothing you can do to him because all his cars are sold as is where is