New to Me 2004 RX8
 

Hey All,
I am new to the site and I am thinking of purchasing a 2004 RX8 with 47000 miles on it..
I was reading alot of the posts on here and am just wondering if I am getting myself a money pit rather then a hassle free vehicle?
I currently own a 2008 Lincoln MKX which I have had since new and nothing but problems with from day one. I don't want this RX8 to be the same way.

Any advice would be great!
Thanks in Advance
MissMajor

I think it really depends on how the car was kept. If it was taken care of with good TLC and if you are willing to do the same. It could be a hassle free car. I can say this because I bought my 2004 Ti Gray RX8 with 36K miles on it in Januray 2008. I have been taking good care of her since then and nvr had any issues with the car, except for flooding once. And this was the same month I bought the car and not knowing that it would flood it I just moved it from the driveway and switched it off before it could warm up. Now I have 63K miles on the car. With no issues at all.

Thanks for the quick reply!

The other thing I was wondering about is that this car in an Automatic..I can't drive standard and I saw on other websites that the auto is a No No?

Any suggestions on this or is it just preference?

Auto just has less hp, lower redline also.

Thanks Chad D! Pretty stoked about getting this car, hopefully its not a lemon like the last two vehicles I've had.....

Used cars are always a crap shoot. Standard advice when buying one is to have a mechanic check it out. If there's a good Mazda dealer near you, take it there for a look-see. They can also pull up the service record for whatever any Mazda dealer has done on it.

Don't let the MT snobs tell you to not get an automatic if that's what you want.

Ken

ok umm, it wont let me post a new thread so if you dont mind i'd like to use yours ha. i am looking at a black 05 rx8. not sure what model. gt i think. but it has the mazdaspeed intake and exhaust. was there a model with that during that year or is that just something that someone put on or had put on? and what kind of performance effect does it have? its a a car lot for17 grand. im sure i could talk lower possibly. it has 50k miles on it. test drove it and the only thing that i could see that might have been wrong was the exhaust stunk worse than my 85' GSL-SE with 182k miles on it. still goin strong btw. anyways. if anyone could contact me with a reply or email that'd be awesome. '05 rx8 gt but not positive, mazdaspeed exhaust and intake. black, black leather interior, tinted windows. 50k miles. $17,000 with possibly unusually strong smelling exhaust. let me know what you think please and thanks guys

@Groesch

Those are aftermarket. No 8 came with the Mazdaspeed intake and exhaust stock.

If the exhaust stunk it could possibly be that he replaced his CAT with a midpipe.

04,05 and some 06s had a recall for engine compression/vacuum test, reflash. Engine replacement if they failed the test. Some early hot climate cars had engine damage do to improper ecu flash from the factory. Check to make sure this recall was done by previous owner if you want to buy an used early model. I believe it was a mandatory recall. I have an early 04 bought new and it has run like a top. Only minors issues. Maintenance costs have been very low. Mine passed the recall vacuum test no problem.

Thanks all for the replies. I am getting the car from a mazda dealer so I will be sure to ask if all the recalls have been checked and fixed!

major, this is not a hassle free car, please be careful what you are getting yourself into. i highly advice against 2004 automatic, it's the most problematic car with only 1 oil cooler. it's also the lowest power automatic, u'd be going slower than a civic ex.

I don't think that would be a problem in Canada.

Weren't the lion's share of '04 auto engine failures in Las Vegas and similar climates?

Major - the specific reflashes to look for are 4206f and MSP16. 4206f is the one Roaddemon mentioned, where they did vaccum checks on the engine.

Ken