It's a 2004 manual transmission with 90,000 miles on the body and 15000 on the motor. If I understand correctly from what I've read so far, these motors will fail and fail and fail if not treated right. So basically I'm looking for verification. I have no problem with giving a car special attention if it means longevity. What I don't want is a car that will be problematic no matter what I do. I've been reading some of the posts on here and you guys seem very passionate about these cars so I figured I'd ask here. I love the car, inside and out, how it handles etc. I just don't want to run into a mess of problems. So basically I'm asking if there are preventative steps necessary to ensure a long lasting motor and over all rx8. Any input is much appreciated. Thanks!

 

Get a compression test from a rotary shop or Mazda dealer. Post the results here and go from there.

 

There's no magic formula to engine longevity. Way more engines last a long time than fail prematurely. There's a 100k thread somewhere on the site. From what I've read here failures in the early years were due to poor ECU programming, but once that was fixed via one recall (4206f) and one special program (MSP-16) they tend to be from random assembly goofs.

If you get good compression numbers, consensus (if there is such a thing here) for longevity is to change oil every 3000 miles and premix.

You should also consider the fact that you're buying a 10 year old sports car with 90,000 miles. There's more age and mileage related stuff than just the engine.

Ken