ActionAttackGoose

Hello everyone, it's nice to be here.

I am a Wankel fan from way back - I babied an '87 RX-7 Sport through NY winters in high school, because I loved driving something different. The rear apex seal finally gave up the ghost - at 164,000 original miles. But by then I was sold on the rotary, and Mazda cars in general.

Right now i'm driving a '97 Mazda 626 V6, with 196,000 miles. Everything still works, and it's a solid car. However, I just made a nice jump in pay, and i'm looking to commemorate the occasion by buying an RX-8 for myself.

My question is, what should I look for when test driving and inspecting a used RX-8? I am slightly mechanically inclined, but I don't want to overlook something and end up spending $6,000 on a new engine in a few months. It seems to me that the RENESIS has somewhat of a bell curve, those that last to 40 or 50k seem to make it for the long run - is there any truth to this?

I've searched around and found some valuable information. Thank you very much in advance!

chetrickerman

listen to the engine, since you know how a rotary should sound, make sure it is ok. make sure the dealer has done all the TSB's and recalls. make sure it has a warranty. as you know, rev the hell out of it. scare the dealer. good luck

Razz1

It can be a crap shoot buying a used car.

steer clear of the Auto unless it's a 2006 or newer.

ActionAttackGoose

No, absolutely no automatic gearbox. If my left leg was somehow amputated, I would rather take the bus than drive an automatic.

I'm strongly considering buying a vehicle with just a little less than 60,000 miles, that way the dealer can do all the recalls before it's ineligible. Is that reasonable?

daisuke

you should refuse to buy the car unless it's had all the recalls done, period. If it hasn't then make them do them before you get it, if not then walk away.

get an 05 or newer if you can, for some strange reason it's cheaper to insure an 05 than it is an 04 by something like 40 bucks a year (as of yesterday according to AAA), maybe because of reliability. I'm aiming for a car with 30 to 40k miles if I can help it at all. At that point if they're not likely to blow the engine and you still have a warranty.

from what I've read here (and I've been here a while), what you say about the bell curve is true, most 8's that turn out to be lemons blow the engine below 30,000 miles and then keep doing it too for some reason.