Maintenance of RX-8
 

Hey everyone....I am considering buying a black 2005 RX-8 with 26,000 miles...the dealer has it listed at $15,995. Should I pay this price? What should it be and on the basis of what?

Also, I hear rotary's are a b**** to take care of. That true? What do I need to know about this car? I am mostly worried about flooding and oil levels. How do I prevent this from happening?

Thanks everyone!

You could probably knock the price down a bit, depending on what model it is.

As far as maintenance, do some searches...there is more information on this site regarding maintenance and other stuff that people are 'afraid' of with this car than you would ever have time to read.

There should be a rule here that you can't post a question like that without documenting exactly where you heard it. FWIW, where did you hear it?

Anyway, they're not a problem to take care of. Just change the oil regularly and remember that this engine likes to rev. The rev part is fun - consider yourself to be driving a four wheel sport bike. The mantra here is that you have to change oil every 3000 miles, but I suspect that's the mantra on every forum dedicated to worthwhile cars.

Flooding and oil levels are not really problems. Don't turn the car off cold and it won't flood. The latest PCM flashes reduce the odds of flooding...and I'm not even sure what the odds were in the first place. You do need to check the oil level, but consumption is typically a quart every couple of thousand miles. I remember when that was exceptionally good. There's almost two quarts between full and empty, and there's an oil level warning light for the truly forgetful.

Hope you find one to your liking and budget - the car is a blast to drive.

Ken

Maintenace:

5000kms oil+oilfilter

15000kms spark plugs

40000kms coils and wires

change or clean your airfilter every year & clean your MAF every year.

this isnt that bad?

/\ More like plugs every 25k kilometers and coils every 30k kilometers.

But seriously, don't listen to other people's ignorant opinions or statements about this car. As long as taken care of, like any car, it could last a pretty long time.

$16K seems a little high - depending on the model. I just bought an 05 with 43k miles for $13.5 and have seen others post similar prices. The thing is, while they sell for less than $16k, they should be worth more than that and I haven't figured out why. Mine still has the window sticker in the glove box and it listed for more than $30k less than 4 years ago. Go to NADA guides.com and look up your year and model and see what it should be worth. This is not the only "deal" out there. It seems a lot of nice gently used cars are on the market out there right now at very good prices.

As far as the flooding, I have yet to experience it. But it warns you about it in the owners manual and on the DVD that came with mine and it also gives you a restarting procedure to follow if you do flood it. There really is no reason to shut it off cold on purpose. It warms up really quick. The couple of times I've wanted to move it out of the garage for one reason or another, I've taken it for a quick spin down the street and am amazed at how quick it comes up to temperature. But if you don't want to drive it to warm it up, they also give you a procedure for warming it up while sitting still before shutting it off. Part of it is revving it to 3k RPM's and holding it there for several seconds.

They are, by far, not a b!tch to take care of but they do require care a little different than non-rotary engines. Mainly, they are designed to burn oil as you drive. Not a huge amount but some nonetheless. So, keep a quart handy and check it every other fillup or so and just add more oil when needed. This forum also recommends redlining the engine once a day. I've had mine 2 weeks and have redlined it once but haven't driven it very much either. It is to be my daughter's car in a few months so we are trying not to pile on the miles. But it's hard to watch it sit still too. So much fun to drive.