[HUGE_rant]



omg I am so pissed off right now..
Here is my story.. Please read if you have the time, and respond.

On November the 30th I bought a super awesome 2004 RX8 with 50,034 miles from a dealership called "Johnny's Buick GMC" in Easly SC. I didnt get the best deal on the car but i honestly didnt care, and I did opt for the extended warranty because I have really really really bad luck with cars, so I KNEW the warranty would come in handy soon... and boy was i right.

The second I drove it off the lot I began to notice a strange little noise coming from the engine/transmission, but I didnt pay too much attention to it at first cause I was so damn stoked about my recent purchase. It wasnt until the next couple days that I really began to take notice of the little noise and became a bit concerned. I knew I had the warranty to fall back on so I wasnt in a super hurry to get the car back to the dealership to have it checked out, I would get around to it eventually I thought...

The noise can be best described as a minor grinding sound, something like two pieces of metal brushing past each other. The car made this constant noise anytime it was in motion, and in every gear.. 4th gear seemed to be the worst and most noticeable. It would also make the noise when at a stop in neutral, but ONLY when the clutch was let out. You could only hear it with the windows up and radio off, it was very slight, but I'm so picky that even the slightest noise will annoy and concern me.

Then I got a phone call from the finance department at the dealership and they need me to come back in to re-evaluate the paperwork, so I figured this would be a good time to mention the noise. So last Wednesday, the 5th of December, I went back in to take a look at the paperwork issue. It turns out that they had improperly filled out some stuff and my payments were actually going to be $85 lower than before, BUT for some reason they couldn't offer me the extended warranty anymore. Im not sure what the reason was, they had some big explanation but it went right over my head. ANYWAY, because I was losing the warranty, I told them that they needed to fix whatever this noise was before I agree to basically re-purchase this car from them. They agreed, and wrote me a "We Owe You" for the noise, specifically stating that if the noise is not repaired then there would be NO DEAL! This was good enough for me.

That night I left the car with their service department and they supplied me with a rental. They were going to have to pass the car off to the local Mazda dealership to have the work done, but this didn't matter to me. They told me before I left that it sounded like a clutch problem, I told them to just fix it whatever it was. That next day they told me that the Mazda place looked at it and confirmed that the clutch bearings needed to be replaced, but it would not be covered under the factory warranty because it was over 50,000 miles, but they would cover the cost of repairs so i didnt have anything to worry about.

The car was suppose to have been finished by that Friday, but I soon found out that it wouldn't be until Monday before all the parts came in and the repairs finished up. This slightly annoyed me but I brushed it off. Monday came around and they again told me it wasn't finished yet, but Tuesday it would be... they even went as far as to "double promise" me. Well wouldn't you know it, Tuesday came and the car was still not finished. By this point i was getting pretty heated and told them they better tell that Mazda place to get their act together or else we would have problems. I suppose they did because today the car was finally done.

I went to Johnny's to pick up my much missed car, and as soon as I started the car I could tell that nothing had changed. They obviously replaced the clutch because it felt completely different, but the noise was still there! in fact it was even worse than before!! Not only that but when driving the car there is a very rough vibration in the clutch pedal when engaging a gear, this just didn't seem right to me either. I drove it back to Johnny's and asked them if they really ever worked on this car because nothing had changed. The assured me that Mazda really replaced all the clutch assembly but could not explain why I was still experiencing the same damn noise as before.. they actually had a look on their face like "what the hell do you want me to do about it".. this pissed me off and I asked them what Mazda dealership did the work so that I could go there myself to see what the ******* deal was. They pointed the way and I hit the road.

On the way to the Mazda place I thought to myself "should I really trust this place to correctly diagnose the noise when they already had the car for 7 days and obviously didn't fix anything..??" The answer was no, so I drove to another Mazda dealership in Greenville next to where I live so I could get a second opinion from an unbiased shop.

Turns out that it was too late in the day to have it checked out today, so I had to make an appointment for tomorrow. Unfortunately I am going to have to pay an $86 fee to have the car looked at, but if it ends up being a drivetrain problem I can have it repaired under the extended drivetrain warranty good for 60,000 miles and not even have to mess with Johnny's. And honestly, to me, it sounds like a transmission problem anyway. I thought this from day one but gave the dealership the benefit of the doubt (my first mistake). But if it ends up being something else then I will have to go back to mother-******* Johnny's and tell them to fix it.... again.. which I know they wont be happy about because they just spent $1000 to have the clutch replaced.

Right now I am so annoyed with the whole situation that I almost want to just take the damn car back to Johnny's and tell them to keep the POS. I dont know what I should do.... any suggestions???

thanks guys...



[/HUGE_rant]

 

bring it back stating the issue wasn't fixed. I'm a salesman and this sounds extremely fishy and like they know something u don't about that car. Dump it and find another one, probably for cheaper too

 

and this is why you NEVER EVER EVER buy a car from someplace with the word "Johnny's" in the store name.

Ever.

 

agreed.

 

+1

There are too many of them out there now in better shape for better prices.......Keep looking.

Hindsight is not always such a great thing, so if you can get ahead of the game you are better off.

 

1) The noise you were experiencing initially was normal.
2) Replacing the clutch probably caused a new set of problems.

However, I'd get out of that deal any way you can. Used car dealers are WORSE than buying directly from a seller because they will do things to intentionally mask issues with the car (and will succeed because they have so much practice).

 

**** man, I feel for ya, even though I didn't read your post cus it was too long

I take it it had something to do with you getting ripped off on an Rx8 at some freaking car place and now they don't care about you as a customer correct?

 

LOL... something like that, yeah.

 

Its normal for the transmission to make a grinding noise??? how and why...?

 

I agree with Renesis07, bring it back, find a new one.

I'm concerned now though. Mine's an 04 too with a little over 50k miles; and only in neutral, off the clutch, i hear a similar noise...

 

From the begining it sounded like a trans problem. They stated that if the problem wasn't fixed they would take it back . I would drop the car on their door steps and walk away. Keep away from small dealerships.

Goood Luck........

 

If your transmission is bad, it's covered by the powertrain warranty. If your clutch is bad, it's not covered by any warranty, because the clutch is a wear item. It's kinda fishy they didn't want to sell you the extented warranty, as it would mean more money for them. Sounds like they did the bare minimum to make the sale. Always best to get a used car checked by a mechanic, especially a performance car, b4 you buy. Previous owner must have abused the clutch/transmission. I would to try to get out of the deal or have them find you another another RX-8

 

so thats why your so pissed. i left you a comment on myspace asking why. but now i know. good luck.

 

haha.. yeah thats why... and explains my headline "david wants to roll this damn car off a cliff!" LOL

thanks man

 

Search is your friend.
Better yet, read the stickies. That is why they are there.
Didn't you read the e-mail you got when you joined us?

 

it's not fishy, it's not like they don't WANT to sell you the warranty, it appears they outkicked their coverage. What i mean is that your total loan ammount likely exceeded what the bank would offer you a loan for.

 

sounds like it may have been the throw out bearing initially.....mine is a bit noisey too, but I think the general consensus is that it is normal to hear some noise in neutral with the clutch out

 

They didnt honor the promissory note. They misdiagnosed the prob, paid for a new clutch....hey tough ****, its not ur fault they didnt get it fixed. I would bail out NOW!! GET OUT GET OUT!!!!

 

This is as far as I had to read before spotting your problem.

 

You know what I would look for is the brakes. I had a similar problem like yours, but its actually really simple to find the problem. Take a good look at the brakes. Gently rub the back of the rotors, if its rough or has some kind of cut in the rotors then make sure that the backing plate (its a really thin piece of metal behind the rotor) isn't too close to the rotor.

If the previous owner had driven the vehicle rough and used the brakes a lot, Then it could've produced a lot of heat. Therefore the plate could be warped and right now be touching the rotor everytime you drive it. Not only that, but when the mazda "specialists" were taking down the trans to replace the clutch, they could've easily put too much force on that plate just trying to take down part of the trans and putting it back up.

So before I would do anything irrational. Just check it and if not then decide what you would like to do.

 

Question: I know you said it's a grinding noise, but is it kinda of like a whirring? or definitely a grinding sound?

 

See if they'll take the car back and go find yourself an even better deal on a RX-8 with no apparent issues. Since it sounds like you didn't get much of a deal to begin with you could probably get an '05- or '06 with lower miles for about the same price.

 

Go with dealerships, and even better the bigger name ones. They are the last to want a bad reputation. Its easier for people to find bad reviews about them than the smaller Johnny's shops.

Really sorry to hear about your experience, best of luck with everything.

 

IcarusX8, don't worry it's only gear rollover.

I have an '04 and sometimes I can hear it (windows up, no music). It got really worse once because they changed part of my center console and forgot to put back the "noise isolation" pads in there, I was SO sure that my tranny was about to die. Didn't cost a dime and I learned that when you look at that tranny directly from the top without any plastic between you and it... it makes some serious noise.

Same with my clutch that I was SO sure was about to die because it chattered when engaging... ended up being part of the clutch cylinder needing lubrication. 0$ spent, problem fixed.

Our cars make a bunch of little noises not even worth mentionning, but we're so worked up reading all the horror stories on the forum that we always assume the worst... Guilty here!

 

You know its kinda fucked but most people dont read **** now days. Then they want to cry to the Wambulance and I make this assumption on the fact that 99% of the people I check in are in there 40's