Looked at the rx8 today :) Help please
 

Okay, I'm posting again. Finally got to look at this 2005 RX8. 6 speed , Pearl White

Damaged Bumper:
http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/581...v35t5b7gfd.jpg

http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/5...q65u3b7g20.jpg

Private seller
59,000+ (dont no exactly what numbers forgot to check and forgot to take pictures!! I already hit myself)
No mods all stock
Asking $7,000 (he wouldn't go any lower, if he was then he was going to trade for a bike, [Suzuki Boulevard C90] i dont no what year)

Okay my first time being so close to one and touching. hmm felt good.

The owner drove it while I was in the passenger seat. Condition of the interior was pretty nice a few dings and lil scratches but nothing major. If anything in good condition inside. Drove pretty smooth, no problems starting up. Also note that the back right rear tire is a spare tire, would that effect the sensors of lights that came on while he was driving? (ABS Warning Light, TCS/DSC Indicator Light, Tire Pressure Monitoring System, and I think Brake System Warning Light was on but lets just say it was.) Could most of these be caused by the spare tiring being on the rear right ? AND also heard while he was pulling away some kind of wheezing noise or something my bro said could be the spare tire. lol not sure how to explain it sorry.


Some of the flaws I saw were:
Front bumper is def. needed.
Some of the lights came on while he was driving it. (ABS, TCS/DSC, Tire pressure, and I think the break light was all on? one of them kicked on like 2 mins into driving which I think it was the brake)
Crack front window. (not spider web cracked but just a line. Bro gets a discount on windows so that should be alright I guess)
Needs tires but 2 rear ones for now then later on get some for the front. (fronts are alright)
Break Pads

and I figure around 1400 into this baby should clear those up?

He had spark plugs put into this awhile ago not sure how long ago but it wasn't driving constantly this year and the tune up for the engine was in 2010 April 28. He checked the oil regularly as needed and used 5W-20

Carfax says its clean just has a lien on it but he said he paid it off 4 weeks ago so waiting on the title and will call him in about a week to see if he got the title.

Yes I've read all/most of the threads. I no this is going to need alot of tending care. and also I live in PA west side just a fyi , in case somebody says there's a better deal because I couldn't find any.

Anybody find better deals or should this be interesting? Im def, willing to buy it now. lol (the main plan really is to get this car b4 my chance is gone)
Oh yea next time I go see it and the time for buying Ill test drive it myself.

Thanks all for reading and for future help. Hope I'll be joining you guys officially!

take it to a mechanic and have a compression test done

Even if I did a compression test, it will be under warranty. (if the engine was going bad) but from what I listed above. Is this correct pricing or at least around that to get it fixing (tires, labor, breaking pads, labor etc..?) and do I have to get tires and break pads by mazda dealers? Could I go2 PepBoys and get the tires and pads done there cheaper?
Much love

You have a few options with that - first off when you change the pads you need to find out if the rotors can be resurfaced or need to be replaced. Since I don't do any racing, I prefer OEM brake pads which are a bit expensive compared to ceramic (I think maybe 200-250 for 2, but don't quote me on that), but they are a lot smoother and seem to last longer from my experience. You could get them changed anywhere as long as you have whatever pads/rotors you would want put on the car.

As for the tires, you could just get that done at a discount tire or something like that. If you have no specific tire in mind just get whatever seems to be the most economical in terms of tire life and cost. For both of these things done I would say close to 600$ if only for the front. Other people here might come up with different advice so just do some searching around for good deals. For the brakes, you could always see if a friend or family member has the tools and change them out for cheaper.

Yea I have to change only the back tires. and for the breaks I could have my bro or my moms bf do it since he has all the tools. So thats something to look into. (i just didn't no if the Rx8 was different in changing break compared to a diff car. I seen a DIY for that, so ill try and look into it. but overall for all this including labor it might be around 600$ (for breaks and tires?)

Thank you for responding

Sounds like a lot of work, additional investment, and high potential for further, unseen complications to arise post-sale.

There are too many good examples out there for slightly more that will not require the additional effort and expense this thing will. You can grab a good 04/05 with the same or slightly more miles with none of the headache for 1500-2k more.

In my book, it is worth the additional money to buy a car that has been taken care of. It seems to me, at first glance, that this one has not.

Yea, def worried a little abit about the future but its come with any car you buy usually from a private seller. If you can find a better deal than this please, due tell. Around here that's the cheapest I can find. I checked the kbb and its going for 9/10 grand on a fair condition under private or something way higher for what Im going to pay for it and on edmunds its running for $8,465 private seller under rough condition.

Does anybody have solutions for whats up with the lights coming on? Could it really be that the spare tire is causing this?

Thanks for anybody that reads all this. and thanks for the help from above.

Have you checked autotrader? I've seen at least a few inside a 100 mile radius of my area that fall at or under 10k and even at a glance have infinitely less complications than this one.

You might have to be willing to take a bit of a trip in order to get the right deal. It will be worth it in the long run, though.

The brakes should be pretty straightforward to do - I don't think they're much different than any other car that has disc brakes. If you're only changing the back tires I would say probably around $250 for tires and labor if you go through a place like Discount Tire, but it may be more if you want to match the tires that are on the front, depending on what they are. And like I said before, if you're changing the pads out the rotors usually need to get resurfaced or replaced. Without knowing what needs to be done in that regard I couldn't really give you an accurate cost estimate.

I do agree that you should look around for a better deal. If you plan to finance anyway, it doesn't hurt to go the extra mile and get it from the dealership, then just make payments over a longer period of time. At the very least have Mazda take a look at whatever car you are interested in before you do anything. Good luck with the search!

I remember seeing you post a thread about this car before and you've already gotten plenty of opinions, mostly resulting in you not purchasing the vehicle. The car has 59,000 miles which isn't that low and the front bumper is destroyed. There could be hidden problems in the car, especially since all of the lights are on. $7,000 is NOT a good price at all, you can easily get a 2004 for about 7-9k. The front bumper alone from Mazda is $850 but you can always decide to go aftermarket but by the looks you're probably going to need a new wheel bearing, control arms, bumper brackets + retainers and possibly quarter panel. That's going to cost you at least $2,000+ right there and for what you paid for it, it's honestly not worth the expense. Now if you paid maybe $4,500-5,000 than okay, it'd be okay but $7,000... not worth it.

Walk away. Tell him 6k if not find something else. Check craigslist or here on the for sale threads.

From what i read, it's not a good deal. You could find another rx8 with a better condition and cheaper than that. Good luck on whichever route you choose.