chattanooga29109

I am looking to buy a used 2004 RX-8. I have made an offer and below is what the person is asking and I want to know what you guys think is a fair price based off the specs.

2004 Mazda RX-8 Coupe, Red, Grand Touring, Manual Transmission, Super Clean
Location: Tennessee

Leather Interior
Michelin Pilot A/S 3 Tires with 35k mile warranty
ACT clutch
lightweight flywheel
new ignition system - plugs and wires
new front brakes
Clear glass coating (he said it was like rainex for the entire car when describing it)
Non-smoking, Garage Kept

Upgrades: higher oil pressure, PVC valve for air intake
Compression test results showing like-new numbers on replacement engine
Sliding sunroof, spoiler

All service records, clean CarFax
Excellent cosmetic condition inside and out

41k miles on car
12k miles on engine, replaced by Mazda and all paperwork for replacement and all add-ons were done by Mazda.

Owner 1 - 13k miles
Owner 2 (Seller) 13k - 41k miles

60k Mile / 4 Year Extended Coverage MaxCare Carmax Warranty (this is how much is left on the warranty and is transferable)
Warranty is transferrable and the seller is paying transfer fee.

I KBB'd the price of the car and found it around $8,400. With the add-ons and engine replacement and warranty, what is a fair price to pay for this car?

Thanks!

Williard

iTrader: (18)

Ok well i see it has a lightweight flywheel, Was the counterweight purchased and installed as well? Is everything in good condition? I.E. brakes, rotors, how old is the ignition system? How long since it's last oil change?. I wouldn't pay 8400 unless it was PERFECT. Flat out, yea their rare(ish) cars BUT it is still a 2004. IMO i would offer 6 and see where it goes from there. Go through the link. have you done your research on the rx8's?

https://www.rx8club.com/new-member-f...t-here-202454/

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Yeah, that $8,400 might be fair assuming that it is as good as they say, and you see those compression numbers, including the carmax warranty transfer. It's higher than a 2004 normally should be, but since you can expect a lot of mileage out of the engine and there is a warranty over the car, that is less of a concern at this point.

chattanooga29109

The car is listed at $12,500, I had offered 10k. I thought the 8,400 was for the car in excellent condition, and then I assumed the warranty (warranty costs $1500 new, and about half is gone) and the extra add-ons would bring it to value of 10,000. Also he was asking 12,500 so I thought I was pushing it by offering 10,000.

I just text him asking about the counterweight, brakes, rotors, oil change, and age of ignition system. I'll post as soon as he replied. I did read the new rx-8 owners post, and that is what I used to counter all the bad reviews about people saying the engine had problems. I would feel a lot better with this extended warranty in case something went wrong.

Thanks again.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Yeah, 12.5k is dreaming.

If I paid $10k, I probably wouldn't feel ripped off, just feeling that I overpaid a bit. I'd probably end up forgetting that feeling before long.

chattanooga29109

Okay here is the update:

Counterweight was installed by Mazda as well, and he still has the stock flywheel too.
Brakes, rotors, ignition system, oil change all about 500 miles old all done by Mazda.
He says all new by Mazda.

He is sending me all the receipts and warranty documentation so I would believe this is all accurate.

Williard

iTrader: (18)

I would still say 10k is to much. Okay great the motor is replaced thats roughly 3500 bucks. Unless this car is flawless which i highly doubt it is its not worth what he's asking. It seems to me as if the new brakes rotors n all that were replaced and now hes trying to recoupe some of that money as well. Whatever you choose to offer is up to you, i would try to get him down lower but again it's your world your life your money therefor your choice. I would aim for around 9k IF all the documentation checks out. Did you pull the dipstick to check the oil yourself?

chattanooga29109

The car is about 100 miles away in Knoxville TN, so I plan to meet him Saturday. I didn't check the oil myself. The reason I am interested in this particular one is because it comes with the warranty and its in great shape. When I meet him I'll have to decide if I want it or not, since I don't want to make the trip again.

If 10k is too high I will ask him if he will take 9k (kinda difficult since I offered 10k already).

What he told me about the price was that he was -
Asking 12.5k
Owed 11.8k on it (I am meeting him at his bank if I get it)
I offered 10k

Is there anything else I need to ask about the car besides what I have posted that you guys would factor into the value?

I've had my parents call the guy and they've asked him a bunch of questions and he seems like he is being honest and will provide all receipts and everything for the car and work done by Mazda. He says he had Mazda add every option possible to the car.

Thanks again for the help.

braybern

I just bought my 04 from a dealer for 10k. It's in perfect condition and I'm having a ton of fun in it. Your's will have some upgrades too so out the gate better car than mine unless it has some defects. We'll have identical cars once I do my upgrades 04, GT, Red, 41k (almost 42k now).

Khurram

Its a 10 years old car do the deppreciation, no insurance company will pay you 12K if god forbid, it gets stolen tomorrow.

Here in Ontario, we get used vehicle package from the Ministry not sure if you guys have similar system in US. That package also lists retail and market values of the vehicle at the given time with current miles.

I think even 10K is a bit too much..

blckninja

iTrader: (1)

There really are two numbers you're looking at right now. First is what you're paying for the car. If it's in excellent condition and there is NOTHING wrong with the car, I would feel comfortable BUYING the car for 10. Note I said buying, not offering.

Second number is what insurance is going to cover. Insurance won't care what mods the car has and minor maintenance like brakes and rotors. Car value is around 7-8, so check that warranty and make sure it includes GAP WARRANTY.

Hope this helps.

chattanooga29109

This is what the extended warranty covers - MaxCare Extended Service Plans from carmax.com

I called Mazda and they said that the engine was replaced with a brand new 2013 engine 12,000 miles ago (last year). Is this another thing to value in, as in isn't this new 2013 engine better and will have less problems than the older model?

Also, they said a brand new 2013 engine, but the RX-8s were only made until 2012.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

It got the same engine design that existed in 2004, and the engine isn't "new", it's a remanufacturered engine. There haven't been any brand new engines installed under any warranty replacements since ~2011, and it most certainly did not get the series2 engine, which would require a significant amount of hardware and software replacement. No dealer will do that "just because".

The reps at Mazda are often careless with their choice of words, even if they actually understood the differences, difficulties, etc... It just has a Series1 6-port reman in it. As long as the coolant gets flushed sometime between ~2,000 miles and ~10,000 miles on the engine, it should be good to go for a long while, and definitely still has value added because of it.


Again, as I noted before, considering the engine and warranty, I'd think a 'fair' price is $9k, $8k would be getting it cheap, and $10k would be overpaying a bit. HOWEVER, if I bought that car for $10k, I would NOT feel that I got ripped off, and probably wouldn't even give it a 2nd thought during ownership.

chattanooga29109

Okay thanks again. I will see what happens when I drive the car this weeekend.

covertpenguin911

Atleast it looks nice

braybern

Looks good. Make sure there isn't any dings on the passenger side. That garage looks crowded...