To some it does, it all depends on what you do, where its done, and how its done.
To the guys that do their own work $2k sounds like enough to rebuild half the car, but if you live in a large urban area and pay the dealer to do any and everything they can find to do then $2K can be spent rather quickly.

 

14 years at 14k miles per year. At the recommended interval that's just under 5 oil changes per year. So $500 there, done at the dealer. Probably a $1000 set of tires every other year. Brake pads/rotors because dealers LOVE to replace those, probably another $1000 every 2 years. Coils/spark plugs every 2 years, that's another $500. It does add up when you're running those kind of miles and doing it all at the dealer.

Congrats!

 

I am a new member and don't have access to start my own thread. Ive dome research for a thread that was related to my topic but could not find one so please be easy on me. I am new to the rx8 scene.

I found an 2004 rx8 with 160k miles on it. the previous owner said that it was rebuilt at 120k. I was wondering how many more miles I could get at 160k when the engine was rebuilt at 120k? thanks in advance!

 

theres no way to answer that really. you need to get a rotary specific compression test to know the engines health. even with good comp #s theres a lot of variables. how was the car maintained by the owner? did they keep up on ignition? does it have a cat? hows the cooling system? etc. who rebuilt it?

 

 

Any secrets to the longevity? That's pretty good compared to many others.

 

congrats jballway!

 

@jballway : Congratulations, excellent result. I wish I could ever match yours.
Is the cat still the factory original? Also, did you replace anything in the cooling system, such as the radiator, coolant hoses etc.?

 

 

 

You can buy a replacement coolant bottle for ~$100 and swap it yourself. It only takes about an hour as a DIYer. It is a tad messy.

 

Or if you ignore the broken level sensor now, you can just simply disconnect the plug, so at least you don't see the dash light all the time.

It is not difficult to replace the coolant bottle to fix the issue (even I was able to do it myself), just got to be careful not to break the nipple going to the radiator. If everything in the cooling system is still the factory original at 213K miles, things may be pretty brittle by now.

I only have 122K miles on my car and since all cooling components are also original, that's one of my main concerns related to engine longevity. I know I should replace the radiator with an aluminum one and all hoses with it... just dragging my feet, because it seems to be a pretty big job (for me), and getting all that done is probably quite expensive.

 

jballway: wonder if that first cat got cooked with a bad ignition coil or some of the early fuel mappings Mazda was running on the RX-8 before they started reflashign them to extend cat life.
Either way, excellent results.
My 2005 had it's engine replaced right around 70,000 miles so it's always great to see people having these kinds of results.

 

Wow! I'm not even to 100,000!

 

Just rolled over 226k original engine miles on my 04 if anyone is still keeping score.

 

Thanks for keeping us updated. Are there any others still out there?
Elf?

 

226k miles is incredible!!! Do you service the car yourself or is the car dealer serviced? How has the interior held up? I take it you bought the car new?

 

I am original owner. All miles driven by myself. No one in my fam can use a stick. Almost all of the miles driven in New England. Car is dealer serviced. I wouldn’t know which end of a wrench to use.

interior and exterior look great.

 

That's great!! What are the mileage intervals you use for service? Do you do an oil change and tire rotation at every service? Do you go by Mazda's recommendations when doing fluid changes and spark plug replacements?

 

Looking forward to you starting the 300000-Mile Club thread in a few years

 

He will likely be the first here to hit the 300k mile club! We have a few GSL-SE's on rx7club thatbhave 300k plus on their original drivetrain. Quite a milestone!

 

Does anyone have any compression test numbers from a high mileage Renesis? Like over 150k?

 

I am sad to report my 04 died this week at 226700. Apex seals finally gave out. Traded it in for a Mazda6. Got 1000 for it. Sad but it didn’t owe me anything. RIP.

 

Aw man. Would have been cool to buy the car and put another engine in it and keep it going. Sad to think where the car may end up.

 

Good job, man! Your final mileage comes as no surprise to me. Good engine. Good design. And I suspect you drove and maintained it properly. Few do.