Thoughts on this 2004 RX8? Test drive today
 

So the like-new white 06 was too good to be true. One of the rotors does not fire at idle.. very rough.

I see everyone saying to avoid 2004 model because of the engine failures. (and smaller starter/battery)

There is a garage kept blue 04 with under 50k miles that I am going to look at later today and would appreciate any thoughts.
The engine was replaced at Mazda 6 months ago, do you think it is still necessary to get a compression check even if he has receipts? Cant you also tell if the compression is low if the car simply doesnt pull like it should (i drove a couple 06's with low miles)

The car has AEM intake, AP exhaust, tanabe lowering springs, and kazera wheels with new tires. If this were stock I would try to get an 06+ but it looks really damn good. And new motor. He's asking 1500 over NADA (asking 13,500) so hopefully will come down a grand

I read that back in 05-06 when they were replacing the 04-05 engines, some people went through 2 or 3 engines because some of the replacement ones were faulty as well. What are the chances that today, 2011, mazda installs a bad engine? Surely all of the bad ones are gone by now? I would hate for this engine to go bad since the warranty has run out (private seller) or is very near. Finally, about how long would it take to realize "oh, my new engine is actually bad" (probably too tough to answer)

Thank you

Its probably even more important to get a replaced motor tested. Some of the engines were rebuilt poorly, while others are done really well, and there's no way to tell other than a complete tear down, or at the very least, a compression test.

Also, if the cause of the engine failure wasn't resolved (clogged oil injectors, clogged catalytic convertor, failed ignition coils, dead spark plug, dying fuel pump, etc), then that replacement engine won't live a very long life.

BC.

its pathetic that replacing a motor is a common problem lol

Hey Jas5, what did you wind up doing? Whats your judgment? In my opinion its good if you wanna see where you stand in terms of compression but 6 months is not a long time for an engine to go bad.