Concerned 8 Owner
 

I am sure by now most of us are sick of hearing about the recall issue, but here in lies the problem.

It looks to be I might be the next "new engine" owner, and this has me concerned in a few ways.

1. I have 43,000 miles on my 8 and received the 10,000 mile extension on the warranty. So If I receive a new engine I only have that engine warrantied for another 20,000 miles. To my knowledge there is no guarantee that a new engine will fix my car, there probably is no such thing as a guarantee anyhow concerning this. Anyway, ofcourse this is all speculation, but what if I have more engine problems after that 20,000 miles is up.

2. The resale value of this car has basically been falling dramatically, but all cars do this as I understand, but this recall issue has driven the value further below what normal depreciation would account for.

3. With the above concerns I had the awful idea of trading in the car I spent many hours researching and many many many hours of fun driving for a MazdaSpeed 6. For the fact that I have lost some confidence in the reliability of the Rotary engine, which I took care of by the book. All of which is documented at my local dealer. Going to the Speed6 maybe not be the best thing either, since it is deja vu all over again.

I originially traded in a 2004 Maxima for 2 reasons... it had bad struts and the warranty was only 36,000 miles, and I had 28,000 on it when having strut issues.. not to mention Nissan service was absolutely horrible.

The Rx-8 had been out for a full year to the time I traded in the maxima, and after hours of research on this site and others, the RX-8 didn't seem to have any major issues.

Now here I am with the RX-8 with a major issue and looking at a Speed6 which has been about almost a full year. From what I have found that car doesn't seem to have any major issues, and what is to say I might find myself in the same situation once again with the Speed6. Right? Well only time will tell.

So now I guess it comes down to that cliche.. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

So I posted this to see if anyone else out there had these concerns themselves or any others I haven't even thought about yet.

I say we make tell Mazda instead of a rotary can I have the Speed6 engine instead? lol...


Well like you all I feel like this :wallbash:

I really hope Mazda can fix this issue so I can just keep my 8.

1. You will not get a Brand New Engine, what you'll get (if you need one) is a Remanufacture one. and hey, its better to have a *Factory tested* one than keeping the *not working* one in your car, right ?

2. The resale value has something to do with the Market, in America, Horsepower is everything, most of the market here does not give a shit about handling(SRT-4), Style(Crossfire), balance(Mustang). All they need is high HP on their paper, even tho they cant really use it due to crappy design. The resale value of this car seems fine for the rest of the world, that should be a good sign.

3. In my own opinion, Mazda should say THANK YOU to Ford for that. No one else on earth has to do this recall EXCEPT for North America Market. Rotary engine is not *hack proof* of course, all engine requires attention. even 12A can go over 200K miles without failing. I hardly seen any 20 yr oil piston engine can go over 200K miles without major problems.

So theres nothing wrong with the engine, Mazda is just fixing up Ford's stupid shithead policy

JA I have seen many go over 200K

Get the engine replacement. There is no way that will hurt the value of your car. Seems like it should increase what you'd get if you do decide to sell it.

Remember that the recall is primarily to reflash the ECU, correcting oiling problems that led to the failure of some engines. For most of us our engines checked out OK and we got the flash. Your replacement engine will have the new flash. Either way that problem is fixed.

Do you like the Miata? From all accounts that car is rock solid, as reliable as anything on the road. And obviously fun to drive. If you're in a position where you have to be anxious about guarantees and reliability, it's worth considering trading in your 8 for one of those.

Ken

Tired of recalls, too, from Hawaii...
 

I am almost in the same boat with you, hagar852, except for the possible motor problem...hopefully. I had my 04 RX8 for about a month and a half and so far it's seen the Mazda dealership for the fourth time starting tomorrow. They changed out the spark plugs, battery, alternator and starter and tomorrow they're going to fix the problem I have with the fluctuating A/C and they're going to check out the lower control arms for cracks. I'm also going to address that I still have that "Hard to start issue" and it also has a slight missing problem/vacuum leak at idle. Prior to purchasing this RX8 I had a 2003 Nissan Altima SE (check out my old car @ http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2388049). This car could move! I had no problems with this car and I am now wondering if it was worth picking up this RX8 with all this recall stuff. I am about to drop about $6K into this car once the dealer goes over everything I find out there on the forum about the RX8 recalls/problems. I'm kind of tired of praying before turning the key and hope it starts on the first, second, third crank.I just want this RX8 to run without issues. If I still have problems or If they can't or won't fix these issues I'm going to trade it in for a S2000 or 350Z in a flash!!!
Good luck with situation!!!

Aloha-

You were right when you concluded your research—the 8 doesn't have any "major issues".

my 8 crank everytime I do her.

So whats your point ?

Thanks for all the responses to this post.


Iwill here the official word possibly tomorrow about the engine. So I will see what happens.

I have enjoyed my RX-8 very much the past 2 years and I really don't want to get rid of it.... Fond Memories...... :)


I love the handling of the car, and it is fast enough for me.

Thanks again for all the advice.


VIVA LA RX-8!!!!

Rotary Powered cars are for enthusiasts....if you not die hard on fan of the uniqueness of the RX's powerplant, design, and past.....than I personally dont think this is the car for you. I bought my car knowing what i was getting into, basicly i look at it as its bound to blow up, at one point or another its going to go, whether is because i overboost, add nitrous, or it just plain wears out, i expect it. I dont expect it to be a toyota corrolla that will last 300k. I DO expect everyone that see's me driving my cars to be like damn, thats hott.

from a person with 57 k miles on the car.. 2 k on the new motor...

i will say do it... the new motor is amazing... and it is a rebuilt one...

some get new motors some get reman ones.... it is luck of the draw.

it is soooooooooo smooth.

beers :beer:

I baught this car knowing exactly what I was getting into also. Did all my homework on this car before I even purchased it....

I also purchased for it uniqueness of its power plant and design. I fully understand this isn't a Corolla and should last for 300k miles but I would hope it the engine would have lasted longer than 42k miles. That is my point.

Ok cool... I was wondering how the new rebuilt motors were performing compared to the original ones.

I might find out today if I am getting a new motor.


beers :beer:

Every vehicle no mater the make has issues, some worst than others.
You traded in your Maxima? LOL, I did also & I work for Nissan(to make a statement! :mad: ), thought I was gonna get fired.

Yeah I had a 2004 Maxima color Radiant Ember :). Traded it in after the Struts were replaced under warranty. That was after fighting with them about that whole issue..

Anyway... Got the official word today.

The New Engine is on the way to my dealership.