Little price gauging help from the experts...
 

So i do indeed have to replace my engine. We made 120k together but its time to move on :(. So what exactly can i expect my 2005 Shinka with a rebuilt engine and the standard 36 month warranty to sell for? Almost everything about the car is in amazing shape, save for rock chips in the front paint. (what 8 year old car doesnt have some?) Its all stock except for a magnaflow exhaust and a pioneer headunit. Once again everything other than the motor is in really great shape, and im hoping she can pull atleast 10k? Hopefully. But what do you guys think? Thanks for all the help guys. Hopefully i will rejoin the ranks once im done with school and have a little extra money :)

10k from a dealer in immaculate condition.... no engine? you can cut that # in half, easy.

well i went to carmax and they quoted me 4,000. I reset the ecu so the report they showed said everything is in good condition except the wheels which are nicked. So that was terrible to me. What im asking is if i put in a new engine, what can i expect from a private party sale after the engine is installed assuming my car is in great condition???

Not sure of the dollar amount but you would get whatever a 2005 RX-8 with 120k miles. Just as example, I bought mine (Touring package) last August with 118k with reman engine, new clutch and in pretty good condition for $7300.

Ah... You can certainly start at 10k then... Just be prepared to go lower.

Unless you find an engine on the seriously cheap maybe install it yourself, you will loose money after installing an engine. It would probably be cheaper for you to sell it without a working engine and just cut your losses. I don't think there is any way you could get 10 out of it, Shinka or otherwise with that kind of mileage.

yeah i knew i wasnt coming out in the green just trying to figure if selling for 5-6k now or rebuilding (which i had quoted at 3600; is that what it generally is?) and attempting to sell for 10k. decisions, decisions.

I could always just keep it... hahaha too easy.

Whoops. Didn't read fully. Just sad to hear you parting with it!

If you're trying to get 10k because its a Shinka then the only people that would pay more for it being one are guys like us on this forum. Dealers don't care and most probably have no idea what the shinka actually is, like most people who would be buying it even privately. Last week i tried trading in my 04 and after pushing and having bought 2 cars from the same dealer already i hit a max of 3500. The trade in value of all rx8s sucks donkey balls right now.

I dont think i would bother with a motor swap either. If your goal is to sell it then again the only people who would look positively on a motor swap are rx8 fanatics. You have an rx8 fanatics car and knowing the issues i think you should take that 4k and run. I have no qualms about slamming a dealer with hidden issues, but privately you are really screwing someone with out the swap, but the 3-4k you do it for will not translate to 4k more in sale price. You might get 8k if you wait long enough for the right buyer though. Maybe you could make the engine issue known and ask for 6 and settle lower and make more than from carmax?

The logic behind that thought is flawed. The dealer doesn't care. They wont fix it. Its just gonna go to auction then get scooped up by some sleezy used car dealer. Then some young hopeful will pick it up cheap without doing any research about it. Then its just going to end up here with some noob threading up about hot start issues and a bunch of people asking if they did a compression test.

Vicious cycle.

Not really, purchases through dealers are almost always legally required to offer some sort of minimum state mandated warranty. I know thats not the case everywhere, but dumping the car on a dealer who will most likely end up warranty replacing the engine versus being shady and hiding it to a private seller are two different things and have two opposite outcomes.

The real point is that with it ending up in the dealer circle it ultimately gives the buyer some form of recourse. It could also gives the buyer more options at aftermarket warranties in case they don't ask the right questions before buying.

TL;DR
M 2c

I wouldn't pay over 6500 cdn for a perfectly functioning 2005 RX8.
Throw in a failing engine, phew it's barely worth 4000

Honestly these cars are worthless except to those that love her.
I'll never sell mine, when it's time we'll both drive off to the wreckers in the sky together.

while i would like to think that a new engine increases value, because then the car should need no servicing for 30,000 miles, etc, in practice there are two values.

running and not running.

you just need to decide if the difference between the two is worth the cost (~$4000) and time to do a new engine.

308/328 Ferrari's are in a similar boat, the 30k for those is to pull the engine and change the timing belt for $6000, yet doing that service doesn't add to the retail value of the car much