RX8Club.com - crossroads AGAIN

so I'll be honest. I love my rx-8, but I only post here when something goes wrong. I have a 2004 automatic with 45k miles. I've had nothing mechanically go wrong. other than fit and finish trim pieces (sun visor, heater on/off switch, etc.), brakes, and tires, the car has been incredibly reliable with nothing (spark plugs, battery, etc.) needing maintenance during my ownership. I've been diligent about changing the oil with dino 5W-30 at 2k mile intervals, revving to 5-6k every other day to clear out any carbon build up, revving to 3k before turning off to clear out any unburnt fuel have avoided any common problems like flooded engines, etc. I live in reno, nv, so it isnt that hot, and the only mod to the engine is a stock replacement K&N air filter, which I replaced at around 10k miles.

that said, I recently had a check engine light come on. I took it to pep boys to diagnose, and it was the dreaded engine optics failure error. so I took it to the dealership (reno mazda kia) as the service recall had yet to be performed and the engine optics failure did in fact mean that the ECU had to be replaced (I seriously doubt the whole ECU had to be replaced, but I do acknowledge that determining what specifically was wrong is significantly more difficult than isolating the problem). during this, the mazda dealership gave me a rental car (2010 mustang convertible - boat of a car) and washed it, but failed to refill my gas tank as stated in the recall. no problem. in order to replace the ECU, they had to have a second key which I did not have, so they waived the programming price, which was nice of them.

I then got the car back, but the car didn't start as easily. like nothing was wrong and it ran fine, but it didn't catch as easily, so I had to run the starter longer than before the ECU change. they had stated that was due to the battery failing the check, which made sense to me as I was still running the original battery. then, about 2-3 weeks later, I go to start my rx-8, and it won't start. I decide to finally swap out the battery with a new one from walmart. it now turns over very fast in comparison to the old battery, but it won't start.

so yesterday, my wife has it towed by her friend to a mechanic who is friends with one of her friends. and, despite great power and nothing being wrong with the motor at all prior to its service, the diagnosis was that the engine has 30psi compression and coolant in the oil. damn.

so that's the mess I am in. I am really hoping mazda's 8 year, 100k warranty covers the engine repairs, as I have done nothing wrong to void the warranty and had no problems prior to the recall/ecu replacement. I can't easily afford another car - this one was supposed to last me 10 years/100k miles, so mazda would really be burning me if they left me out to dry on this. that said, even if they do fix it under warranty, the fact I have been so cautious has me worried about another failure down the line. honestly, if I knew I would only get 45k miles out of a renesis, I would have bought an fd3s for $10k less and used that money to replace the motor and pay the difference in gas. :(

so, level-headed rational rx-8 owners, sorry for venting, but how screwed am I? how reliable will the next motor be? mazda will cover the new motor, right? and once they do, should I keep the heart-transplant rx-8 or try to sell it and go into debt for a c5 corvette?