Thinking of buying an RX-8 but I have heard bad things about rotary engine
03-28-2017, 10:57 AM
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Thinking of buying an RX-8 but I have heard bad things about rotary engine
Can someone help me understand why people think it is a bad engine? I don't think it could be that bad or they wouldn't keep selling the cars. I've read that they use a lot of oil and gas mileage isn't too good. I'm looking at a 2005 with 83,000 miles. They want $5000 for it. I want something sporty. This is to replace a Miata that was totaled in a collision with a tree. I'm getting $6700 from my insurance. I loved my Miata but can't find another one in the area to replace it. The RX-8 is a beautiful looking car but I'm worried about the engine. Can someone who owns one of these help me out and explain the good and bad of the RX-8? I like the idea of having $1700 left over from the insurance because I need to replace some other things like my eye glasses (they were destroyed in the accident). The glasses will cost $400-$500. Anyway, any advice I can get from an owner would be appreciated. Thanks.
03-28-2017, 11:04 AM
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Welcome aboard. This question gets asked a lot, so rather than rehash it, here's the main collection of information:
https://www.rx8club.com/new-member-f...t-here-202454/
The main thing I'll add is that your car's story will depend heavily on how the previous owner took care of it. If they were careless, your risk goes up. If they did well, your risk goes down. The things you can do to protect yourself are outlined in that thread.
https://www.rx8club.com/new-member-f...t-here-202454/
The main thing I'll add is that your car's story will depend heavily on how the previous owner took care of it. If they were careless, your risk goes up. If they did well, your risk goes down. The things you can do to protect yourself are outlined in that thread.
03-28-2017, 11:56 AM
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Tacked on to Loki's statement I would add if it's not already addressed in the new owners thread (I was a **** new owner and decided not to read it...) Make sure to get a Rotary Compression Test. A regular engine compression test ain't gonna tell you anything. You should have sets of numbers for the rotor faces on the front and rear if done correctly. A little bit of googling will find you a chart that shows you what healthy versus unhealthy is.
03-28-2017, 03:15 PM
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Rotary compression test.
Rotary compression test.
Rotary compression test.
Post the numbers here. They should come in two sets of four. 3 pressure readings for each face of the front rotor along with RPM. 3 pressure readings for each face of the rear rotor along with RPM. Some equipment can do both rotors at the same time so you may only have one RPM number.
All of the numbers are critical. Don't let them give you just one pressure number or three pressure numbers with no RPM. That isn't enough.
Once you have verified those numbers, then you can go on to look at other pre-purchase inspection items. It's not a bad thing if those numbers come back bad, it just means you offer them $1000-$1500 for the car and budget the rest for a good rebuild from a good rebuilder. (emphasis because I'm in the process of getting a crappy rebuild covered under warranty and the rebuilder is being a pain in the ***)
Rotary compression test.
Rotary compression test.
Post the numbers here. They should come in two sets of four. 3 pressure readings for each face of the front rotor along with RPM. 3 pressure readings for each face of the rear rotor along with RPM. Some equipment can do both rotors at the same time so you may only have one RPM number.
All of the numbers are critical. Don't let them give you just one pressure number or three pressure numbers with no RPM. That isn't enough.
Once you have verified those numbers, then you can go on to look at other pre-purchase inspection items. It's not a bad thing if those numbers come back bad, it just means you offer them $1000-$1500 for the car and budget the rest for a good rebuild from a good rebuilder. (emphasis because I'm in the process of getting a crappy rebuild covered under warranty and the rebuilder is being a pain in the ***)