Buying used RX-8, what to look out for?
 

Hello fellow rotary nuts, I'm a previous FD3S owner and am looking to upgrade to a RX-8 in the near future. I'm gonna be loooking for a used one with a 6speed manual gearbox. I was wondering if there was anythign specific to be on the lookout for when checking out used models. Any help is greatly appricated.

Ryan

Also I look forward to being a regular here and joining the world of the Renesis.

you drive an FD and you asking what to look for when buying an rx8?

youre buying a car, not a space shuttle. check wear and leak. for rotary any hard start could be ignition system problem or worse bad engine.

check clutch pedal for any broken welding.

you can find a car with 15k on it that will cost you 5000 in the next 3 months, and you could find a 75k one that doesnt give you problems for 30k miles. Look to see what recalls have been done. Look for when the engine was replaced, and check to see if they did any of the tsb work to the car. Look for obvious nuts and bolts that have been worked on, and then search deeper in that area to see if its damage repair or routine maintenance on a part. If the work was done properly with OEM parts then don't worry to much as long as the car is straight and the frames fine. Look at tire wear. Brake wear, shocks and springs. Everything your going to eventually have to replace. If your going to put after market parts to replace them, then dont spend the money on one that has new or great parts on it if your just tossing them in the trash. You will ultimately have to decide on a trim package as well. Investigate everything you don't want to spend money on, and dont get over excited and over pay for the vehicle. If you see something that needs replaced or repaired you take it off the price of buying. Never pay more than invoice either. Look at the windows and the tint level to see if youll be working on that. Test the radio and all control buttons. When you drive it, drive it hard. Swerve, slam on brakes, floor it. Drive it like a stolen rental car. With the radio off so you can listen. Check for wheel damage, and check the front air dam, splash guardes and little things that will indicate if its been curbed. Most of all remember dont get over excited and don't be afraid to take the price down for things you know youll have to pay for. Do not over pay because you have to have one. Be patient and find the right one.

dam dude you have an FD?
You should already know everything then haha

Search

theres a thread like this at least once a week.........

Ahh huge mistake on my part, I had an FC not an FD, though I'm gonna blame the mistake on the fact I'm not used to typing on a laptop. I do plan on doing quite a bit of aftermarket upgrades to it so I'm not too concerned with trim levels and all that jazz. Really all I'm certain I want is the six speed gearbox. I'm trying to get a head start and learn everything I can about the 8's setup, just alot diffrent then the old bare bones 13B I used to run. Thanks again for all the help though.
Ryan

also ask the car salesmen lots of questions when i was buying mine i asked common questions like what kind of engine the car has and you would be surprised how many don't even know that
and listen while they talk to see if they were abusing the car, i encountered a dealership that pretty much were destroying this 8, turning it on an off, they were horrible at driving stick so they burned out the clutch putting regular gas in it, the compression was shot, there was hardly any oil in the car, it was bad

but just search the forum and just by knowledgeable when going out there
also check for the condensation in the tail light and the firmware version on the radio if you plan on adding the ipod adapter

I am in the market myself for an RX8 right now. I think this is really the type of car you want to buy from a private seller, someone who knows the history of the car, that you can get a feel from them how they took care of it. Someone who just needs to sell the car for one reason or another.

I have a feeling most people are not going to try and sell a problem RX8 on the street. It's easier just to trade it in and let the dealer worry about it. And a dealer, particularly a non Mazda dealer, is not going to know anything about this car.

I have contacted several private sellers, and they were all familiar with the compression issues, and took care to make sure the engined was revved up frequently, and made sure of the oil level regularly.

I gave this young gentlemen all the information as to what to look out for, read through this thread, it has all you need to know as far as expected costs, maintenance, and what to look out for while shopping.

https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discussion-3/opinion-buy-201932/

Get one with a fresh engine (if buying 04-05) unless you have $$$ and are gonna buy something newer. If you have the budget get a Series 2 (09+).

Yeah I appricae all the help, once I can get enough money saved up for a decent down payment I'm going to start seriously looking. Till then I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Ryan

If you come from a decently modded turbo'd FC, you might find the RX-8 lacking in the acceleration department unless you are prepared to FI the 8.

Yeah I've heard this from a few diffrent FC friends of mien actually. I do plan on eventually going the FI route, but will probably wait untill I've done a few basic mods to it N/A first (intake, exhaust, light flywheel, even thinking about maybe getting an alumnium driveshaft) I would stick with the 7, but it's just getting way to hard/expensive to get parts for these days. Plus as I get older I find myself careing less about pure speed, and want a reliable car thats fun to drive. As many probs as I keep reading about the 8, I can't imagine a 20 year old FC being better.
Ryan

Btw the driveshaft in an RX8 is made of Carbon Fiber, so getting an alumnium driveshaft would add weight...

True, I actually recently replaced my driveshaft on my car (out of round). It is ridiculously light, like you almost get worried when you lift it. You can lift it with your index finger and thumb :rock:

CF FTW

Wow I never would of guessed this one. Will save me a couple hundred bucks though. Once again the Mazda engineers know best.
Ryan

Dealer question to ask?
 

Im buying a 2004 Rx* 6 speed manual potentially and am curious as to what questions to ask the dealer. I am getting it from a certified Mazda dealership and it has 22k on it currently. Hopefully it was maintained and not sold due to being a lemon originally. Interior is immaculate and seems clean. Carfax shows regular maintenance done. It will be my first rotary and I have read that they can be tricky to maintain, but reliable and a hell of a lot of fun if you do so. Im sure this has been asked before but don't want to miss anything. Cheers.:wavey:

Not sure if I would consider the RX8 as an upgrade from the FD3S...On that note I don't consider the RX8 on the same category as RX7's...

I have a 2006 RX8, with only 36k miles on it. I baby the car, its not my every day driver. But, i have thought about upgrading it to get more torque and HP out of it, but not sure what my options are. Can someone give me some insight. I drive a VW GTI that I replaced the exhaust and upgraded the chip, and gain quite a bit of extra performance. Would like to do the same with the RX8. The only thing I dont like about the car is the torque, or lack thereof.

I have a 07 6speed auto GT RX8, and a BMW X1.

The BMW will hit 258 torque by 2k rpm, and the RX8 159 ( really 130) at higher rpm than that.

You want powwa stick with VW or BMW.

Ya want smooth graceful cornering stick with RX8.

Even turbo won;t bring that toque feel low end like GermaN CARS.

I actually like the RX8 because I have weak foot and I can just stomp gas and count down whereas you have to feather gas on BMW.

You can get 6 hp by putting on BHR ign kit, and maybe save misfires killing cat and engine.

Some guys dump the cat and put the BHR midpipe I think, but I've heard the exhaust stock is pretty gooid.

In other words almost nothing will change engine characteristics, but those I mentioned can preserve engine and fun.

Short of a turbo, there isn't much you can do. Mazda didn't leave anything on the table. I mean you can install parts, but they won't noticeably outperform stock.

Not sure how you've been on maintenance, but see that you're not driving on old ignition coils and spark plugs that bringing down the power output. Coils are kind of a thing with this car.

Hi I am thinking of buying a rx8 like them for years now but made my mind up that I am gonna go get one. What kind of money should I be looking at buying one. And what year should I get?

What's your budget?
There are a few late models with some warranty left If you're looking for as much peace of mind as you can get with an RX8.
You can get S1s dirt cheap and fix them up to your liking if you're mechanically inclined.
I would recommend avoiding automatics, and a rotary specific compression test is a must.
https://www.rx8club.com/new-member-f...t-here-202454/

$7-12K for a Series II GT. Go for it!

​​​​​i am looking around £1500 £2000 for one and I will have money put back to do work if needed.