elle

Hi everyone.
My 06 mazda 3 was recently totaled, boyfriend (well, exboyfriend) decided to go have some fun in the middle of the night while I was sleeping...

I've only ever driven Mazda's. 1st car was protege that had 302k miles on it when I sold it, and it was still driving just fine.
The 06 3 was/is my 2nd car. Currently has only 71k. Darn it, poor thing.
I'm still driving my totaled 3, because it still drives great. Stupid freaking guy scraped a pole going way to freaking fast. Or that is his story. The entire passenger side of my car is skeletor.
But anyway, insurance is going to pick it up next week and I need a car pretty quickly. I've always wanted an rx8, but, I don't know, I just never got one.
I have about $15k to spend and I found an 05 RX-8 GT w/ a little over 57k miles, but only 4700 on the engine. The only downside is that it's an automatic and I've never owned, or even driven, an automatic in my entire life. Never.
Seller wants only $10k, and tomorrow I'll go test it out. I've looked, like you don't even know, for a manual transmission. I cannot find one that doesn't have a bazillion miles on it for $15k or less. I don't want anything with over 75k miles. I just don't.
& so I pulled the carfax on it, I see that the engine was probably replaced at 53k miles at a local dealer on 8/11/11. But then, just on 3/23/12, I see that he took it back to the dealer for "No-start/hard start condition checked" mileage listed at 57260, which is not much less than what it has now.
But I don't see that any repairs or maintenance was done. & that's the last thing there is.
The carfax proves that oil was changed at every 3000-3500 miles since it was first sold in 10/2005. & I don't see any other issues that would be a red flag.
I mean, of course I probably need to wait until I drive it before I make a decision, and I read the whole "New & Potential Owners" thing (which is completely amazing and I am so freaking thankful for that) & I'll make sure to take it in for a compression test before I buy.
But what do you guys think? Is it seriously having engine problems at 4700 miles? It seems as though it's been pretty much parked since that last trip to the dealer on 3/23.
I'll ask the seller more questions when I drive it tomorrow, but just wanting an opinion on this car.

Oh & thanks --this forum is extremely fantastic. I lurked for a few days reading up on rx-8's, and the info here is ridiculous.
thanks again.

EDIT: & the reason I think that the "No start/hard start" thing is related to the engine is because carfax lists that same problem being checked right before the engine was replaced.

Bladecutter

Congrats on dumping a guy who has so little respect for you that he stole your car while you were sleeping, and destroyed it.

Honestly, you should keep looking for a manual transmission, or maybe search for a different car to buy in the mean time. Rushing into an RX-8 because of time constraints is almost always a bad idea.

Exactly what's wrong with your Mazda 3 if its totaled, yet it still drives fine?

BC.

JCrane82

iTrader: (3)

If you have never owned an auto in your life.....you wouldn't want to finally get a RX8 and have it not be a 6 speed.

Wait and find a 6 speed. There are plenty out there.

Are-Ex-Eight

iTrader: (1)

Wait for the manual. You should be able to find one without too much trouble.

monchie

Auto is fast, manual is faster.

elle

I drove it today, & despite it being an automatic, I really liked it, & I'm going to think about it for a couple days and wait & hopefully a manual will show up for sale somewhere in my area.
& if I don't find one, then I may just get the one I drove today. I do need a car quickly, and this is priced pretty good. I'll have extra cash to set aside, too, if I want to trade this for a newer manual one, then I should be able to do that easily w/ the cash down and decent trade.
I just really hope a manual transmission w/ low miles in price range (& area) come along before they pick up my mazda3, I don't really want an "in-between" car. But I can live with it.This auto rx8 isn't really so bad for an "in between" car.


As for my poor mazda3, somehow, this stupid douche was merging onto the interstate and scraped the passenger side up horribly on some sign pole. The rear passenger side door panel is gone. And it ruined the back tire on that side. & it screwed my fuel gauge to where it says it's full all the time. There is frame damage, and insurance guy says it's toast. He says the frame buckled & I wouldn't be able to get it fixed. (added pic of totaled mazda3 that I drive daily lol) & insurance is somehow paying me well over what I paid for it 3 yrs & 40k miles ago, plus I get a full refund on my extended warranty and my GAP coverage will give me $1k towards down payment on next car. But my car has been paid off for quite a while, so GAP itself was unnecessary, thank goodness.
Also added pic of RX-8 I drove, & may buy. The MAZDA sticker will be coming off, if I get it, as will the sticker on the gas tank door. It says “Rotary Inside”. I don’t like stickers on cars.

VectorManCorupt

I got an 07 gt with 32k miles for $15.5 so you should definitely be able to find one. I'd definitely hold out for a manual. Hawk craigslist and cars.com. Cargurus and autotrader, maybe edmunds, pop up good things sometimes. Stay vigilant, good luck!

elle

Ugh. I know I should wait for a manual. But the closest ones I've found to me, in my price range, & w/ low miles, are 2+ hours away. I've having my credit union handle this transaction for me, because I work there & so that makes it super easy, & unless a seller wants to drive all the way to me, then a long distance purchase isn't going to happen.
Actually, I've come across three local ones that I was interested in. (I'm searching craigslist, autotrader, cudl, cars.com & cargurus)
The first one had a salvage title - no thanks on that.
The second one sold & then the last one, which I found two days ago, hasn't responded to two emails and one voicemail.
none of these are dealers. The dealers around here right now have only automatics for sale, or manuals w/ 80k+ miles.
& insurance is picking up my car sometime this week. I cannot go even a day w/out transportation. I am having a strong sense of urgency.

Bladecutter

Honestly, you're better off getting either an automatic with a 6 speed transmission (06 and newer), or just waiting for a manual transmission car to become available.

Have you checked the regional sections on this forum to see if anyone has a car for sale that's near you? You might even be able to convince someone to drive a bit further to meet up with you, too, for the transaction.

The engine in your car is a 4 port engine, and as they fall out of warranty coverage, they are incredibly more expensive to replace than the 6 port higher hp engines. It really is worth it to find a car with either a manual transmission, or a 6 speed automatic transmission.

In this case, it might even be more worthwhile to get an in between car, and wait until the right RX-8 becomes available, or that you have more time to travel to go get it. Then you can trade in your current car for it, if you find it at a dealer's lot.

BC.

xexok

Except 04-05 autos are 4 speeds and not exactly fast.

Just wait for the right car for you, do not settle. If anything buy a cheap car on craigslist that runs and use that until you find the right rx8 for you. Then sell it when you are ready to buy the rx8. As long as its a toyota/honda it should be a quick sell for what you paid, as long as you paid a reasonable price for it.

elle

so I did it.
I came here & asked you all for advice & then I didn't take your advice.
I bought it today for $9200. Not a bad price, at all.

You just don't understand. I don't care if it has tinfoil for a transmission, when I look at it, I almost drool. & I don't really need it to go fast, I mean, this is probably fast enough. I can still redline it, and I don't ever race or anything, so I'm not seeing that as an issue. But I do miss my clutch
I own it free & clear, so I can still buy a manual one once I find one, & just finance it w/ cash down. & then I can have two (right now I cannot even imagine selling or trading it)
& my insurance is exactly the same as it was on the mazda3, even with the wreck.

& thanks for the advice, even though I didn't listen
I should've held out for a manual transmission, but I typically do things that I shouldn't, so whatev.

elle

Studying up...thanks!

xexok

Everyone understands, most of the people here own an rx8. Hopefully you at least got the engine compression tested to make sure it was good. There really is a large difference between the 4 speed and a manual though.
What happens to most people who jump on the first one they see that is not exactly what they want is they eventually regret it. Then every time you see your car its a constant reminder of a poor decision that was made. I hope you keep loving yours though.

Bladecutter

Don't worry too much about it.
Everyone wants what they want, and they made do with what they can get.

At the very least, keep your eyes open either for a newer Auto RX-8 with an auto, or a manual. The difference in the engine you have and the full 6 port engines is dramatic, just like the video showed.

Also mentioned was to get that engine compression tested. Hopefully you've done that, and it turned out good. If you haven't, you really should get that done. Its going to be the difference between you having a good healthy car, and a craptastic one that you start to wonder why you ever bought the thing when you start having problems restarting it after stopping to get gas, or having it flood in the morning when you look at it funny.

Did you get any service records for it?
Did the service records contain any information about when the ignition coils, wires, and spark plugs were last changed? If you don't have any records of that, replace them all, now. This way you don't risk killing that engine right off the bat in case the parts are questionable or bad.

Since you don't have any reference for what an RX-8 feels like with a healthy motor, and a healthy ignition system, you really should take our advise on this, this time around.

Enjoy!

BC.

elle

I got the compression test done today & it's all good
Dealer gave me tons of advice for this car, too. But I mostly already read it here.
They also changed the oil today and instructed me to buy 5w-20 oil to put in every other time I fill up on gas.
I have all the records. Oil was changed today, mileage is at 57817. most recent oil change I see before this was at 54083. & all the paperwork shows that he changed the oil every 3k-4k miles.
I have an invoice from June 2010 @ 46428 miles that shows replacement of 4 coils, but I don't see that they replaced the plugs or any wires. They also replaced the coolant tank due to "floater being full of fluid"


Oh wait. Spark plugs replaced at 42650. Brake job at 43674. & brand new engine at 49870.
Seems to be in pretty good shape to me. I should have a decent amount of life left in the spark plugs and coils.
I am buying new tires this weekend. That'll cost a lot, but that's how I got him to come down on the price.

ShinkaEvo

iTrader: (3)

Congrats and welcome.

xexok

Out of curiosity, what were the compression test results? Depending who you ask, you have between 5k and 15k miles left on the spark plugs. A lot of people change them every 30k miles with the coils. Others change plugs every 15 to 20k miles.

Look in the oil threads here, and decide what type of oil you want to use. If you are going to get the oil changed at the dealer then you are stuck using 5w20 anyway.

elle

I'll probably just get it changed at the dealer. It's only $30, and it's the same dealer that has done the maintenance on this car since it was new in 2005.

the guy was actually kind of rude when I asked for the compression test, he said that this engine is no where near needing a compression test, blah blah blah.

Here is what they gave me:

It says:

Rotor1
250 rpm

1) 117.7702
2) 117.6255
3) 118.0317

Rotor2
250 rpm

1) 116.9204
2) 116.1745
3) 117.0981


He said it was good and out to the side of the #'s it says "good" next to each one of them.
So is this good?
I found a chart on here to try and compare it to, I think on the "new & potential owners" thread, and the chart has lower psi #'s. (like, 85 psi would be normal) which is weird, to me. I think it should be pretty normal considering the low miles on the engine.