Buying a RX-8
 

I'm strongly considering buying a RX-8 because they look just awesome and has got rearwheel-drive. I've also always been facinated by the Wankel-engines, but never knew enough about cars to buy a RX-7. My only worries are that I know generally very little about cars and can hardly change tires on my own car heh. So I would need a very honest answer on whether I can expect more trouble with a RX-8 than another sportscar with a regular engine. I kinda thought that because they're pretty new cars, I wouldn't have to worry too much about malfunctioning engines and so on, but I see that quite a few people here experience trouble with their cars. I can't afford a new one so I gotta get myself a 2004 or 2005 model. Other than that, are there specific things I should be cautious about when buying a car like this? I wish for a fast, non-flaming reply :)

Hey Ryoma, welcome!

First off, don't worry this question gets asked quite a bit and the answer is simple: No.

You shouldn't have to worry too much about anything too unsual with the 8, although it does have its quirks.
1) you MUST check the oil every week or two. By design the engine burns oil to lubricate itself so it will require you to add oil from time to time. On a normal cylinder engine you can easily go 3-5,000 miles without adding oil. With the RX-8 I would not recommend it.
There IS a low oil light that will come on if you get very low but if that does come on, you've already neglected your can and should have known about that WAY before had you checked it properly. ;)


2) You have to rev the engine. Forget conventional wisdom; this car LIKES and MUST be taken to redline at least once a day. It helps us avoid carbon build up. (one of the arch enemies of our beloved cars)

3) I would say try and get 2005 or newer. You'd be shocked at what some of the prices on those are. Many people leased their 8's and we're at the 3-4 year mark so there's quite a few out there for sale.

4) Enjoy the car search, I think this can be a great car for just about any person even those 'mechanically challenged' individuals. :)

*** Are you looking to buy a Manual or an Automatic?


P.S. This forum has a WEALTH of knowledge on it and I encourage you to familiarize yourself with the search function towards the top right. The answer to just about EVERY question you can imagine can be found there.

Thanks for a fast reply. The oil thing shouldn't be too much of a problem as long as I know where to get the right type of oil and that it's not too expensive :p Hm but how can I know whether the past owners have done both refilling oil regularly and pushed it to the redline as often as required? And if they haven't done this, how will it damage the engine and what's the possiblity of the engine starting to malfunction?

Edit: I'm getting a Manual for sure.

That's a risk you always run when you buy a used car. (unfortunately) If you buy from a dealer, you can request an Engine Compression test as part of the purchase.
Fortunately Mazda N.A. has decided to EXTEND the warranty on our engines. Instead of 4 years, 50,000 miles it is now 8 years, 100,000 miles!

Even if the last person did neglect it and should the worse case scenario occur, you'll get a fresh engine and be back on the road Zoom Zoomin' before you know it.
If you end up buying the RX-8, I can give you a list of maintenance items I would look into right away just to have your car running at it's best.

As for oil: let me caution you now on the infmaous Synthetic oil vs Dino Oil. (don't start a thread, it'll get ugly quick...) Both have been used, but keep in mind not all oil is equal. There are some synthetics out there that are not as good as others. Feel free to use either one. I personally stick with Castrol GTX. (non synthetic). One thing we have learned over the years with this car is that despite Mazda recommending 5w-20, many of us are using thicker oil. I use 5w-30. Your engine will have NO problems with thicker oil, it helps due to how hot our engines run.

Take a tour around the forum, read up in the Tech Section, look at the "Sticky" threads (those at the top of each subforum) and just take the time to learn all about our car.
THEN let the car search begin. :)

P.S. don't forget the search function. ;)

That is the nicest way to say "SEARCH NOOB" that I have ever seen.

Don't worry, I'm no mechanic either but this is my second rotary engine car and you don't need to know much about cars to maintain them. As long as you can find the dipstick and oil cap (not as easy as it could be!) then you're fine.

Try to find one with as few miles as possible. I waited until I found one with 4700 miles. The extended warranty on the engine is great, but it would be a real pain to have to use it.

Hey Jedi, can I get a copy of that maintenance list too?

Marklar: how many miles on your 8?

If you recently bought one with that few miles you won't have much to worry about. :)

Yeah, only 4700 miles so I should have nothing to worry about, but it would be nice to have a list of things to watch out for from someone who's been driving an 8 for a while.

Hello Ryoma-kun. I too was a bit apprehensive about the '8' . I bought mine new in 2004. My car runs better now than it did when it was new. I don't redline it everyday as I don't subscribe to the magic 9k number, but I don't lug it around either. I now have 63k mi. on it. I joined this forum shortly after that and found out that there is a wealth of knowledge here. If you have a problem ,someone here will have the right answer. Some folks have had problems with their cars , but that happens with all cars. You have to realize that some of the problems were caused by abuse and some were not. I would buy another one in a minute if it fit my needs. When you find a car you want , find the previous owners name and call them. Some people buy sports cars and run the hell out of them and then unload them . It would be interesting to see how many 100,000 mi.+ cars their are in a couple more years without major problems. If it won't run 100k without blowing up it's not worth the money anyway. Have fun and enjoy the ride......

^^^ expo1 is already way past the 100k mark. :)

^ yeah expo was rebuilt at like 110,000 but someone(can't remember the name now) is at like 160,000 i'm sure they both will chime in shortly

Hello Ryoma-kun:

I had someone ask about my car just today in a grocery store parking lot. This person was considering the purchase of an RX8 as well.

I'm always happy to talk about my cars (I have precious little else to talk about!) and I've learned a little about the Wankel engine through the RX3 and RX7s I've owned, so I try to give unbiased views.

As far as the necessity of hitting redline every day goes: I don't believe this regimen is required, but do explore the higher RPM often, whenever traffic conditions allow it and the urge hits, or if gas and oil useage/cost isn't a concern. The engine truly does seem to enjoy zinging up to higher revs and so will the driver.

Frequent oil/filter changes (every 3000 miles seems to work well for most) coolant changes every couple years and other maintenance is maybe a little more critical for the rotary. No valve lash to adjust of course, but spark plugs are kind of a PITA to get at on the RX8.

I also think it's very important to have the engine thorougly warmed up before giving it a thrashing. I keep it under 3000 RPM (without lugging) until coolant temp. hits normal and oil starts to warm up to normal operating temperature.

I hope you find a good example of the RX8 and really enjoy it!

Hehe thank you all for helping a noob with buying his first rotary :) And I'll for sure hit the redline every day because it lies in my nature :p The only problem is that I'm thinking about getting one over from Germany to here in Norway but I'll do that through a dealer. I can't personally check up on the past owners as I would if I bought one that's been running here since it was new. I hope I'll get some nice warranties from the dealer I'm purchasing through though. I won't buy a car that's been running more than 25 000 miles anyway.

I have a quick question... Are there any major differences between the 2004 and 2005 model? The 2004 I've been looking at has Bose soundsystem and the color combinations I want the most but the 2005 model doesn't have the Bose and the colors aren't exactly how I wanted them. They've both been running for around 15 000 miles. What would you guys do?

this may answer your question: https://www.rx8club.com/purchasing-financing-insurance-56/year-year-changes-143280/

for '04 and '05, bose comes standard w/ the touring and grand touring packages

I see there are some changes but do any of them have any significant importance for the car? I would really like to buy the 2004 model because it's pretty much how I want it but I don't know if it's worth it.

*significant importance*? pretty much no. what's really important and useful is to ascertain that the previous/original owner kept up to date w/ flashes, kept up the maintenance, and took good care of the car, as with all used cars

https://www.rx8club.com/showpost.php...25&postcount=4

https://www.rx8club.com/new-member-forum-197/rx8-faq-new-owners-116484/

beers :beer: