So, my last car was written off because of an asshat driver who didn't know how to drive, and basically caused me to go through a lamppost (in retrospect I should of let him hit me, instead of avoiding him) and the other driver ran away

so I'm needing a replacement.

There are quite a bit of 04 RX8s in my city which are in my price range.

Now I've been reading, some people say avoid the 2004s at all costs, are there any reasons to this?

Any other issues I should look for when looking at a car?

Or are the 2004s just trouble and I shouldn't be looking into them at all?

I do plan to do some more serious modifications. My last car was a 2003 Sentra SER running a Procharger PSC-1 at 4.5 psi with 240whp on a mustang dyno, so I'd be looking at trying to be at least as quick as that, if not quicker in a straight line, but hopefully with better handling (which after driving a stock RX8, it feels more composed than my modded ser did) and better ride comfort (crappy chassis + handling = no comfort)

 

i have a 04 and love it

 

Anything to look out for? common problems? It would be the first car I would own with a rotary, I have several friends that love rotaries, but looking at the car I'd have no idea where to even begin to look for issues =/

 

Just hit 97,000 miles on my 5/2003 built 04. So long as the minor recalls were done there isn't anything about an 04 I would worry about. I would try to get as much history on it as possible. You should try to find one owned by a person that took care of it.

 

That is what I did. Good advice. Just picked mine up yesterday.

I bought from a private party that was offered 15K trade in on a 2004 W/ 51k miles. They did all the recalls and maintained it by the book and have all the records. I offered 16K and they agreed. Very happy

 

I'll be selling my '04 soon even though I love it (another kid on the way and need more room). 22k miles and the recalls were done on time (mazda changed one spark plug -seems odd). Sounds like you got a pretty good deal.

 

I found a few at the local mazda dealerships for good pricing (at least for canadians)

it's slightly more than I'd pay if I bought privately from the USA, but I wouldn't have to deal with the hassle of shipping then.

Good to know.

If anyone has anything else I should be listening for, or common problems let me know

 

Damn Canadians!

Well seems like most of the major problems have come from 04 AT's. If you're getting the manual, just make sure it has all the flashes/recalls done and it should be fine. Read the FAQ and this site in general. Lots of info on here. I suggest you get started. :-P

(where in canada are you located?)

 

I'm in Winnipeg, Mb middle of no where...

lots of reading huh =/ I already have to study for the mcat -_- haha

 

I actually wanted the AT and was more concerned about the Manual version because people drive the crap out of them and beat the car up much more and sell it when it is about to become a serious problem. This is another reason I avoided the MT version. I have a bad back too and wanted something a little easier to drive but still fun.

What was wrong with the 2004 AT's ? I would like to know. I assume it was owner trying to drive it like a MT

 

Well it just seems like most of the problems have been coming from 04 AT owners. But I'm sure most of it is fine.
While there's no difference between the Manual engines, the 04/05 AT engine differs from the 06+ engine. 4 speed (197 hp) vs 6 speed (212hp)

 

No problem here with my 04.

Just make sure you Rdline it once a day.