Reuben

Hey guys, looking to get my first RX8. Test drove it today and absolutely love it and its design. I know the issues being the low mpg which doesn't bother me seeing as I drive average of ~20 miles a day. And hopefully I can get some kind of warranty from Mazda because I've heard about the problems with the 04's.

That being said........


It a clean 2004, Red, MT, with 65k miles. Not super clean but clean. It has the two tone leather interior, upgraded audio, and suspension. That's about it for additions. It was priced at 14k before he matched it at 13.5k to another RX8 I was looking at.

I still think that it is too expensive seeing as it has 65 thousand miles and was thinking 12,500 would be more reasonable. Thoughts? Suggestions?

Symbioticgenius

Im pretty sure 60k miles is the limit on Mazda's Warranty for the 04's unless it has had a reman, or a flood issue, in which case it maybe extended for the powertrain.

Call Mazda, or go to their website and do a live chat. give them the VIN of the car and they can tell you of any Mazda issues with that particular car, if its still under warranty etc.

for 65k miles, i'm not too sure what the going rate on that is but for reference I paid 8.6 for my Altima with 73k on it, so I wouldn't go much more than 11k for an 8 with that much, especially if the warranty is gone.

Good luck with your purchase. Zoom Zoom

Revvittupp

Yeah,that is still too much. More of a 12k car, tops. If you are worried abotu reliablity, buy ONLY a Mazda factory warranty unless you want to run into the same problems over and over. Aftermarket warranties p[ull parts out of junkyards from wrecked cars.

dag14qb

from a dealer or private seller? go onto edmunds.com and go to used cars...click on appraise a car before u buy, type in info, find true market value, compare to private party or dealership. then knock 500 bucks off...then its a good deal! get a carfax report! remember when negotiating...a sign of a good negotiater is knowing when he has a good deal, if ur at a dealership that is a good deal (if title is clean)

Reuben

It is a dealer, Edmunds has it at 13,600, carfax says its clean of any accidents, just a recall and some services to the engine, suspension, and stuff. All I expected being a '04.

I still think buying it at around 13,000 is a bit steep. Only because of the mileage and the reliability of the '04 model.

Revvittupp

Ding, DIng, DIng.... all online car valuators fall dreadfully short in their estimates of value loss due to higher mileage. Mileage depreciates a car much more hten they predict.

dag14qb

what kind of options does the car have? make an offer to dealer for what u feel is fair price, 12k should be able to get the deal done, and ur happy. go to dealer with everything u need, title of trade, down money, cosigner, be ready to do business, show them ur serious and tell them 12k does the deal TODAY! i gaurantee they sell the car for that

Reuben

Thanks guys.

I've been reading up some more and the engine flooding with the '04's is really making me nervous. I don't want to regret a purchase as big as this one.

I'm now looking at an '05 with 71K miles (yikes) GT, MT, black for 15,000 dollars

Jasonawojo

iTrader: (2)

If you're going high miles, you mine as well save 2 or 3 grand and go to the '04 with slightly less miles IF it runs well and has had all the important recalls AND service bulletins done. The engine flooding "issue" really applies to all of the RX-8s, and really all you've got to do to avoid it is let the car warm up some before shutting it off.

Rhythmic

the flooding is not an issue as long as it has the new starter, etc. from the service bulletin. Make sure this was done promptly after the bulletin was issued. In general, flooding was an issue blown way out of proportion on this car.

Reuben

I don't know, the '05 only has 6,000 more miles than the '04 and it is better equipped.

The carfax for the '04 says "Manufacturer recall/service bulletin issued Recall # 4206F VOLUNTARY EMISSION RECALL"

Could this possibly be the one that fixed all of it's issues? Yet still I think I'd be better off with an '05 for some reason

Jasonawojo

iTrader: (2)

That is one of the big recalls that the early ones had. I didn't realize that there was a difference in equipment, if there is then you're probably right about the 05.

Reuben

Hey guys, little update haha.

So the '05 was sold before I could even take a look at it and there are no other good RX8's in the area, so it's looking like I'm getting the '04 I've mentioned above.

The only dilemma now is whether or not to get a Mazda warranty. I checked from a dealership and they said $2,500 for 3 years or ~35,000 miles (I forget the exact number)

Is the '04 going to give me much trouble if I don't shut it down when it's cold to prevent flooding and get it serviced every couple thousand miles? It does have the emission recall and all.

Bottom line is I'm not sure if I should get it then spend another 2,500 to make it safe.

AJ's Shinka

With all those miles and not really knowing how the previous owner treated the car I would go ahead and fork up the dough. If the engine blows that is an easy $4000.00.

Reuben

2 previous owners

Thanks for the input.

Revvittupp

If I can assume you are financing, it really comes down to....

Which would hurt you more, $40/month, roughly, or potentially having to fork over $4k at one time... In most instances, that would be the latter.

If Not financing, then what hurts more, adding $2500 to the total bill now, or thinking you will be fine, and having to spend $4k+ in the future?

My personal opinion? would be to buy a warranty, specifically the Mazda one. I believe I have mentioned my dissatisfaction with third party warranties in this thread, and IMO the RX8 is the PRIME vehicle to avid them with, as there are plenty of junkyard motors available from all of the wrecked cars, and there are plenty of instances where engines last less then 100k miles.

Reuben

Oh my frickin' gawd.

I gots my 8, "driving it like I stole it", haha.

Going to get pictures tomorrow in the daylight. Holy **** it is awesome.

Rkesh88

lol thats good for you, i cant wait to get mine.

Reuben

There she is.

Revvittupp

20% tint?

Reuben

Ummm 0% I think. Tint is going to be my first mod though, if you consider it a mod haha.

Revvittupp

Huh, looks much darker then my factory... MUCH. Looks darker then peopel that get 35% but that could be the light in the picture...

Bumble_Bee

I take it you went with the '04??

Congrats! You won't regret it... :p

04wb8

iTrader: (4)

i got my wb 04 mt on 03/03/2008 for $16,409 out the door with taxes and tags and it only had 23,714 miles on the car.

dsimmons8

How much did you pay for the '04? I just got mine two weeks ago. 41k, mt, loaded, appearence package, and all the goodies for $12,500. I was nervous having read all the stuff online about the reliability but I also heard Mazda increased the factory warranty to 8 years and 100k miles. So far I havent had 1 problem with the car, but it has been two weeks. The only problem is wanting to race cars that are much faster!!