More and More of 2004
 

Hello everyone, I used to be apart of this forum when I was the owner of a 2005 AT Rx-8, I traded in my at for a 2007 honda civic si and have been wanting to get back in an 8 since that day. Obviously I want to get an MT. I have been doing a lot of searching and I keep finding 2004's for sale in the 40-50000 mile range for decent prices. Why are they so much cheaper with even less miles than 05+? I would like to hear any opinions for or against getting an 04 8. Thank you

04 was the first year of production (in USA) so they had a few problems..there was even a recall from Mazda. I would avoid them if they don't have any warranty left..05's are not much better either. They improved a little in 06-08, but 09 is when they made serious reliability improvements

any power differences?

Mazda has not made any HP improvement from 2004-2011 on the MT version. From 2006 on the AT got a small HP vs. the 4-port AT engine found in the 2004-2005 versions.

Supply and demand also plays a major part. The over whelming majority of RX-8 on the road are 2004 models. There are just tons of them around that for various reasons people do not want.

They did change the gear ratio in the 09 models which I think gave them a slightly slower 0-60

okay, thank you guys very much I'll do my best to find 06 and up but if i can find an 04 for a steal and get it waranteed that is what I will pick up. Thanks again for all the help

Welcome back..

Either way, if you are 04 or 06, check out the $100 thread in my sig...

Get it warrantied for what?

If you are lucky, it might still have a couple of months left on the Mazda engine warranty.

If you are expecting a bumper to bumper warranty, you would be much better off taking the money they are going to charge you for that aftermarket warranty, put it into a savings account, and use that money when you have a failure.

Better yet, use that money to replace all the simple stuff on the car that should be done right away after you buy an early used RX-8 (coils, spark plug wires, spark plugs, starter, oil and filter, air filter, transmission fluid, etc).

BC.

*shrug*

i bought my '04 in 2009, and the extent of my problems have been: replaced cat under warranty; replaced clutch pedal under warranty.

it's been a real nightmare. ;)

if the car is in good shape (and especially if the owner has maintenance records), there is no reason to avoid the '04s.

edit: the starter isn't something that needs to be replaced unless it goes bad.