Multiple problems. Don't know what to do anymore.
 

So I just bought my Rx-8 from Carmax about two months ago. The Rx-8 has been one of my dream cars since its came out and I've always wanted a rotory engine. But within these past two months, I've probably only driven the car 5 days total. It has literally been worked on 9 times, and in the shop somewhere in the teens. I just got the car back yesterday after getting a new transmission and now the check engine and airbag light are on. Is this just a coincidence or is it typical to have multiple problems like this? I need to know if i just bought a lemon or if i should always expect stuff like this down the road.

heres a list of the stuff they have fixed/worked on.

-Clutch adjusted
-New clutch
-New sway bar link
-New synchronizers in the transmission
-New starter (after I was supposed to get something fixed that day, the car wouldn't start and had to get towed...)
-New transmission (if you haven't noticed yet its had never ending problems in that department.)
-Check engine light has been on 3 times now since I've bought it and now also the airbag light.


Might i mention I only had a 30 day warranty. That ran out. They keep wanting to help and fix it for free but I'm now debating on talking to a lawyer. Do I have a lemon??

what problem were you experiencing?
dealers would rape anyone if they think the customer knows nothing about the car.
engine light and airbag codes could be read at local autozone for free.

No you should not always expect stuff like this. Whats the Year? Mileage? Engine? AT/MT?

What did they say is wrong and why did you need the transmission worked on? Did you inspect that parts they took off?

Just a word of advice when someone says it needs replaced ask why. IF they replace it ask for the old part back so you can inspect it. Before they do the work have a written contract with the service writer that if the part is removed and upon inspection has no defects and did not need to be replaced that the shop will cover the cost.

Well a week before I bought the car I went in to test drive and buy it but was in service for the check engine light so i had to wait. Went back the week after and took it for a spin and bought it after I searched around a little (I had just sold my old car so I had nothing to drive and was in a bit of a hurry). Well a day or two after I bought it, I had realized the transmission was grinding when it was cold. After a few times in and out of the shop, a new clutch, synthetic transmission fluid, synchronizers, and in the end a new transmission they got that right. Somewhere in between all this the starter went out and they also saw the sway bar link was broken and replaced both. The check engine light was on once before and I took it up to autozone and they said it was the fuel cap so they reset the light. Well i just got the car back yesterday, took it to autozone, and its the same problem. Funny thing is, I just filled it up yesterday to and made sure the cap clicked a few times. The airbag light is another story. I checked all the connections and nothing. Its giving me code 23 then stays on.

They know that I know all about this car and I think they are now becoming frustrated themselves. Spoke to someone really high up today and they said to call their boss tomorrow. The man I talked to today sounded like they want to help but may just want to fix what wrong again this time. Im just a little frustrated because I've barley gotten to drive the car under warranty and was begging them to extend it incase anything else goes why i actually start driving it...

Its the 2004 6 speed MT. About 56,000 miles.

The transmission kept having problems every time I drove it and turned right back around to get fixed. They ended up driving the car with me in it after i kept taking it up and they couldn't even get it into gear the last few times. I finally suggested a new transmission because I got sick of going in every time i got it back. I have all the paper work from the dealer since they started working on anything EXCEPT the very last one when they gave me a new transmission. They said the transmission mechanic paid for it. Im going to still try and get paper work next time i go up, but I can see that the transmission is brand new and boy its shift smooth as butter.

Its just now that I got the car back yesterday I've got even more problems and Im scared to death of this car now.

Could they have done something on purpose to make these lights come on? I kind of feel like they honestly DO want to fix it so they dont have to see me again haha.

we need the code to tell the problem. the cap could be leaking get a new cap if thats what the code says.

Not sure what the code number was for the check engine light. They did tell me but I cant remember off the top of my head. They said it was the gas cap tho.

As for the airbag it flashes twice then pauses then flashes three times. This only happens when first started a few times then stays lit after I start driving it.

Do you work for them or something? That would be amazing haha.

I have to wonder how a sway bar link just breaks. That, combined with the airbag light.... Wonder if the car was previously wrecked.

Did you get a CarFax and have a mechanic check the car prior to purchase?

Beats me. I got a full CarFax before I bought it, and didnt find any accidents. The car was leased before me to and got serviced all at the dealer. I didnt even notice a broken sway bar link, but they said they found that broken why they were fixing something else. I never got it checked by a mechanic before I bought it, but I did have to get the oil changed a day or two after buying it because the oil light came on and it was still to the full line on the dipstick. They said the car was in great shape then and looked it all over.

I did call earlier and spoke to the bosses boss and she said they are going to go over all my service records and possibly get me a new car.

Boy am I lost with this poor thing...

I hate to say it but now I'm kind of scared of getting another RX8 :confused:

Huh?

The oil light came on right after I bought the car. I checked the oil level and it was fine so I assumed it needed changed. Haven't seen the oil light since.

I still stand by my idea that you should never buy a previously leased car... If i ever lease i am going to grind the piss out of the car for 2 years, then give it back worry free, im sure thats what the guy before you did lol.

You should read the manual. As far as I know, the RX8 doesn't have a light that comes on when it is time for an oil change.

Certain 04s had an issue with a low oil level light coming on. There is a TSB out there about replacing the oil pan due to this false low level light. 2004 VIN # up to 40111043

Hmmm nope. My vin number is just past that.

A vehicle that continues to have a defect that substantially impairs its use, value, or safety. Generally, if the car has been repaired 4 or more times for the same Defect within the Warranty Period and the Defect has not been fixed, the car qualifies as a Lemon. All States differ so you should consult the Lemon Law Summary and the State Statutes for your particular State. Note that the warranty period may or may not coincide with the Manufacturer's Warranty.

In your case, it depends on the defective parts within the Lemon Law in your state you live in.

While everyone here is actually trying to help, here is the best piece of advice you will get if you haven't already taken him up on it.

Contact Ray(Charles Hill) as he offered....not once, but twice.

He's a busy guy and imagine he won't offer it for long, especially if you treat is offer as real. You can screw around all you want and take months, so what do you have to lose in contacting him when he offered?

After reading everytyhing you've written, I believe I know where Ray would go with each of your issues and even the non-issues(which you have as well), but I'm not gonna jump in this one as I'd probably be wrong and look more stupid than I already am!

The End

make sure your state covers used cars.

http://www.carlemon.com/lemons.html

I took his offer.
Still like reading all my other options just incase :) thank you tho.

Thanks for the link. My state does cover used cars! Hurray! haha and I've had 5 attempts on one of the same issues under 30 days so I guess that makes it a lemon??

WHO WANTS MY CLUTCH AND NEW TRANSMISSION?!?! hahahaha

By the way, I would like to thank everyone for their help and opinions. Keep it coming! Need all the help i can get.

Never buy a car with a check engine light on.
You loose!

Clutch is a normal wear and tear item.
Borken end link can happen.
Transmission,that can happen too.

Sound like the previous owner beat it.

Dropped clutches for burn outs.

He beat the car fried the clutch broke the end link and transmission.

Any used car can be in this condition.

Buyer has to Beware.

Has nothing to do with the car. It's how someone drove it.

Just replied. Sorry about the wait.

Yeah I understand completely. Its just that when I first took it back up, its because the transmission was grinding. Well every time the gave the car back, they said it was fixed. Thats after 5 attempts and finally putting in a new transmission like I first suggested. After the 5th attempt, my 30 day warranty was out. And in between some of those attempts they found the sway bar link and clutch. The starter was another story. One of the days I needed them to work on the transmission again, it wouldnt turn over and I had to get it towed. The link by the way was the front end link. Nothing to do with the end link. How the driver drove the car still has nothing to do with why the airbag light was on after I got the car back either.

hmmmmmmmm....

Not mentioned yet is that these cars have a known problem with the bracket holding the clutch pedal in place can crack and eventually break. A cracked bracket leads to the clutch not fully disengaging during shifts and thereby wrecking the transmission. Presumably a Mazda place would know about the TSB's and now the recall notice on this, but perhaps they don't.

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-trouble-shooting-95/clutch-pedal-snap-off-8-year-warranty-recall-%7E%7E%7E-132912/

Just wait till the rear shocks blow, the dash rattling drives you insane, and the gas pedal placement causes your right leg to writhe in agony....and I have a new S2!

Well I actually went into Mazda today after because I made an appointment a while ago for the recall. They said it would take about 4-5 hours tho because two people called in and they were already so behind, so I rescheduled the appointment. On the other hand, I did go to Carmax today to try and get some stuff figured out. I am still very confused about what I should do. By the way Charles, I did speak with Silvia today in person but didnt get anywhere... She just talked and talked and talked. about nothing... Any who. They did say they will fix the check engine light and anything else for now that may have to do with anything they previously fixed. Just no warranty extension.

I had a similar problem with carmax, except I DID pay something like 3k for their extended warranty. They are scam artists imo, you'll find tons of disgruntled customers on the internet. That's kind of the problem with a used car. I bought my 05' shinka from them about 2 years ago and on my test drive I didn't really notice any problems. That was on a friday. On the weekend I noticed the clutch was slipping so I brought it in on Monday and told them as such. Their response was that I abused it, burnt out the clutch and basically tough luck. I assured them that throwing down 24k ( cost + warranty + RIDICULOUS HIGH FINANCING RATE) was reason enough to not abuse it. I essentially harassed them every day and talk to the manager multiple times till they gave in. Here's the funny part...

So they said they would look at it and see if the clutch looked like it was long term abuse or me who did it. I figured that's a safe bet, no worries there. Here was the problem. They evaluated the cost at 1400$, which I WON'T comment on it being too high or not, my problem is they told me they needed the money up front , just in case it was my fault. That is ridiculous, who pays a mechanic 100% of the cost up front? At that point my car was in their garage and they refused to work on it till I gave them the money. I told them since they gave me the courtesy car I have no problem leaving my car in their garage forever since there was no way I was paying until they opened it up and checked. ( Bluff, I love my 8). A few days later I guess they caved because the manager called me back and said they installed a new clutch at a mazda dealer and I could pick it up.

Moral of the story: Carmax is a piece of crap, honestly, you're going to pay 20% more than other used car dealers and you can't haggle due to the "no-haggle" policy. They give you the illusion of the car being like new because the dealerships usually have nice shiny buildings and the company is pretty big. That , coupled with what seems is an awesome warranty deal ( which they try to sneak out of anyway they can) tricks customers into paying more for the exact same thing they'd get elsewhere for the same price.

The lawyer option is tough, they have so many complaints their legal department is probably the size of their actual sales department. The paperwork you sign is like 50 pages long which no one will realistically read. Just... ugh. Also they will force you to use a dealer for everything even if they will only agree to cover a percentage - that percentage is pretty low.


About the 8, no, those problems I don't think are common. I drive the car as a DD, put about 35 k miles on it and I don't exactly baby it. I've never had a single problem aside from the power door lock getting stuck on the passenger side, though that was something I missed on initial inspection... not going to try for the warranty on that one because I give up. Don't let that dissuade you from the 8. The problems are exaggerated. Mines an 05' yet never flooded, never overheated no issues at all. The only thing I will say is I have NEVER gone more than 3500 miles without an oil change and my average oil change is about 2700 miles. Personally I find the build quality to be excellent , the best at that price range by far. Mazda I think knows the stigma about rotary and as incentive they really outdid themselves on all other aspects of the car in order to sell it, I'd wager due to that, the profit per car is pretty low.

... Yeah I'm rambling... sorry... just the angry memories of Carmax... it has been 2 years now, still thinking about their attitude pisses me off.

Wow, this was probably the best thing I've read yet on my post. It feels nice to know that I'm not the only one that feels this way towards Carmax. They have made me reach by boiling point and beyond. I love my Rx8 and it was honestly my dream car since its came out. Im trying to just be positive about it. I have so many new parts now and I'm kind of lucky to have had it all happen under warranty. I almost didnt get a few things tho after all the stress they put me threw. Its to much to explain by typing. To sum it up, they kept saying the transmission wasnt grinding after about 3 times i had went up about it, then I finally made them drive the car with me in in and he couldnt even get it into second gear. I looked over and said, "I thought you guys told me it wasnt grinding".

Any who. I have faith in this car. Just a little frustrated. Probably a little more frustrated in Carmax then the car. I love this car but I just want it fixed :(

I still am debating on the Lemon Law deal. Now tho I'm just wondering if I can do the Lemon Law but still keep the car.

No prob. I just want to mention , there are a lot of experts on this forum that will be able to tell you, but I've heard the s2 has had a decent amount of improvements over the s1. Now I'm not going to pry and ask you price, so I'm going to ballpark and say you're probably at 14k for this car. Unfortunately for me, 2 years ago I was relatively new to the U.S. ( Had only been there a year) Apparently my credit rating in Canada didn't count here, so I was starting from ground 0 essentially. Thus a new car was probably not doable for me - I had the cash easily for the down payment and monthlies but not the credit rating, so I had to go used. If I were to buy the car now I might go new car, here's why...

Financing was done through BOA at a much higher rate than I'm sure Mazda can offer you. Mine was like 11.9% ( yes, I was raped). Say for a decent credit rating you get 7-9% through BOA, I'm sure at Mazda you could get ~2% or possibly better. I've also heard and read on this forum people have had success knocking down the initial price. If you could get the R3 for around 30k , let's do a comparison. I notice the certified pre-owned have 1.99% finance rate.

(a quick search on mazda's site gave me the first entry within 250 miles of me, I'm in OC)

Mazda pre-owned certified:

price: 19,995
down: 5,000
tax: 8.75% ( Cali - fill in yours)
interest: 1.99%

monthly:

3 years: 479.53
4 years: 363.20
5 years: 293.42

New R3, assuming some wiggle room


price: 30,000
down: 5,000
tax: 8.75% ( Cali - fill in yours)
interest: 1.99%

monthly:

3 years: 791.13
4 years: 599.20
5 years: 484.08


Carmax:


price: 14,000
down: 5,000
tax: 8.75% ( Cali - fill in yours)
interest: 8%

monthly:

3 years: 320.41
4 years: 249.62
5 years: 207.32


So you can kinda make your own judgement there... the pro's and cons besides this seem to be:

Pro's for s2:
-Transmission is supposed to be better on S2 or stronger anyway it also has a different gear ratio.
-Has better oil cooling.
-Head unit for the stereo doesn't suck, unlike s1 which is a nightmare, it doesn't even have a line in. Though aesthetically the s1 system looks better, to me anyway.
***** You're not buying it from carmax

Pro's for s1:
-Seems like more mods , specifically performance mods are out for the s1, seems lacking in s2.
-The front grille doesn't look as ridiculous as the s2 ;p

Also note, the less you put down, the more the certified monthly payment will converge with the carmax payment.

• I've never seen any indication on the forums that the rear shocks "blow" or wear out prematurely. Not sure what happened to your particular car.
• The dash rattle has been diagnosed and the simple fixes described in another thread. Unless you are unable to remove a couple of screws or wedge a little piece of cardboard in a joint, this is virtually a non-issue.
• I'm 6'4" and find the throttle pedal position (and general seating position) quite comfortable. Of all the sports cars I've ever driven, the RX-8 is one of the most comfortable overall. I have never heard any other complaints on the forums about the pedal placement or leg discomfort.

Reporting individual "issues" is one thing. The appearance of amplifying and applying them universally is another... and inaccurate.