VIN check
 

JM1FE173240104044 Can somebody tell me if this is a problem child? A chevy dealer is selling this one...........04, 9k miles, touring package, $24,000. :o

That's a very early VIN. The "preferred" range is 35537+ for last 5 digits (these cars come from the factory with the correct PCM programming).

Wow... My VIN is even earlier than that one.

That Vin may have some bugs that need to be worked out, but nothing that should persuade you from purchasing the car if you want it. Everything is fixable, or may have already been addressed. I'm not sure what the going used rate is for that particular car.

so what you're saying: my vin of 40489 (last 5 digits) is okay and i don't need to think about worrying about it? kewl, i hope so.

yamajj

I have 1129...that one is likely a 3rd allocation or just missed the 3rd alloc. - probably built very early 2004. But based on earlier analysis done on VINs, no clear indication of what to expect by way of performance, MPG or any other common measurement. If you can get if for an overnight 'test drive' - fill it up, drive it 50-60 miles and fill it up again. At least you can see what the MPG is like. You'd want to make sure that is has all recalls done.

The price seems good. Had a friend just sell his (loaded) for 26K in a private sale. 24K at dealer reatail... Looks like some one took a beating on the trade in.

Or it was a repo that was bought at auction...

somebody probably drove the hell out of it to have that much miles on an 04. maybe thats just my opinion though. sounds like a decent deal though, not a bad price but you can get a brand new 05 for around $26k.

If you can find an 05 MT Touring for $26K, you should take that! Thats $2K below invoice for a car that rolled out of the factory within the past month. Personally I assign a high price penalty to mileage, especially warranty mileage. An RX-8 with 9K miles should at a minimum be discounted 5% below invoice for mileage plus another $1K to $2K, so $24K is the upper limit on price. I'd say $23K is more reasonable, because we're not talking about the difference between 100K and 109K, we're talking warranty mileage (when the car is in the prime of life).

I had 8000 miles on mine 3 months and 10 days after I got it (from 7/17/2003 to 10/27/2003). Hit 9000 miles before the 4th month (11/9/2003)-but by then I wasn't driving it daily. I did not 'drive the hell out of it'. I did take it to the Gap (Dragon) seven (7) days after picking it up. That was a 1000+ mile trip. I did drive it at WOT a LOT that 2nd weekend of owning it. But not until after a meticulous and careful break-in to the 1000 mile mark.
I have +/- 18K now and have NOT driven the car about another 8-10K that instead went on the Miata or the Subaru that is now sold. Granted, the above RX-8 probably hit the market January - February of this year - but 9000 miles is not a lot. And frankly, the rotary can take getting the hell driven out of it. Even if it couldn't, the rev limiter would prevent any out and out abuse. Worst case scenario would be if the oil level was allowed to drop too low and never changed and it was driving like 'you stole it'. Unlikely though. Owner probably just didn't get the rotary thing or lost a job or couldn't afford it - or traded for a Vette... just IMHO of course.

JM1FE173140105816 - very early vin?

Yes.