New RX-8 owner
 

Firstly, I'm the happy owner of a new RX-8 that I purchased over the weekend. It is an amazing car that is exactly suited to what I was looking for in a new ride. I've been eyeing the RX-8 ever since they first came out and finally got my chance to own one.

Anyway, I would just like some input on something. This is my first new car. I've never owned a brand spanking new car. So I took the time to read through my manual as any new owner should.

Well, I came across the section about breaking in my new car. I'm sure the rest of you already knows what this section entails. My concern is that when the salesperson took me for a ride, he rocketed the car up to 95 MPH. I got a deal on the car because it had been sitting in the lot a bit longer than the other '05 models. It had 500 miles on it. But I can only assume that this guy (or any of the other salespeople) gave the same performance show to all other prospective buyers. How badly would this impact the new engine?

I'm somewhat concerned, but, as I mentioned, it's my first new car and I really have no experience to go on here. I treat the car lovingly, keeping the RPMs down at about 4000 or less for the remainder of the 1000 miles and plan on only hitting 6000 RPMs after 1000 miles until I have 2000 miles on the car. After that, I'll take it to the limit.

How might driving the engine hard before it's broken in impact my car? I don't think there is anything wrong with it necessarily, but I just wanted to hear input from people more experienced than I. Thanks. :)

Congrats and enjoy!

I wouldn't worry too much about what people did to the car BEFORE you bought it. The techs "break in" new cars just to make sure they won't break during a test drive or when someone first buys it. If it makes you feel better, change the oil right away and start breaking it in whichever way you are going to. :)

Thanks for the reply :) I wasn't too concerned about it, but after reading about breaking in the car in the manual that little piece of knowledge just stuck in the back of my head. Good to have some peace of mind though and I won't be worrying about it then.

:beerchug:

gratz and welcome!

Congrats mate, and welcome to the club, my baby is two weeks old and I am totally in love with her :)

congrats and welcome

Welcome! There are two sides to the fence as far as breaking in an engine.

One side believes that you should drive it normal, but just never let i drone at a steady rpm, the other side believes you should baby it.

Just drive it man.

congratulations welcome to da family. don't sweat about how the dealership might of treated her. it's yours now and the only thing you can do is go forward. give her love and treat her right and in the ends everything will be just fine.

WOOT. CONGRATS! :)

For their employee buying program, Ford Motor (aka Mazda's parent co.) classifies any new car on the dealer lot that has over 200 miles as a "gray-area" car i think- ie it's either been demo'd, driven around too much by dealer execs, or for whatever reason- just not completely new.

The manual prolly says the first 600 miles or so is the break-in and to keep it under 4000rpms. But, for most of us I think we consider the first 1500 miles as a 3-tier break-in period. Do a search on the forum and compare/ contrast the varying theories of break-in periods.

When I got my 2005 8 it had over 300 miles on it and one of the sales guys said there was no break-in period for it...so I am sure it got some high revvvvvs, but once she was in my hands I made sure she was not abused. From what I hear, these engines are pretty robust, so I would suggest not worrying about what may or may not have happened prior to your owning your 8. One good consolation is that you have a 4 yr./50,000 mile warranty! Enjoy!!!!!!

Consider yourself getting a head start. The RX-8 is one of those odd ball that its engine will run faster as it ages.

&(^*&#^@%&!%!!!!!!!
 

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome :) I really appreciate it.

I have some bad news though. On my way to work today, I decided to take the more scenic route to work instead of the freeway. Unfortunately, before I get to the scenic part, I have to pass through a bit of construction. There was a bit of traffic as there was only one lane. Stop and go type stuff.

BAM. I got rear-ended.

So I've had my car for 6 days and I have to take it into the shop to get the rear fender and left tail light replaced now. I'm still in shock...

Some college kid in an F-150 Harley Davidson edition with a big ass grill on the front slammed into my rear leaving an ugly gash down the left side. Only that edge of his grill hit. :tear:

I just hope there's no lasting damage that I can't see. I was supposed to take her into the dealership this week to get her paint sealed, fabric sealed, rust and sound guarded as well. Now I need a new fender and a new tail light. :crying:

Oh the agony and injustice of it all!!

I've had no accidents or mishaps since I started driving 8 years ago. As soon as I get my dream car, I feel like I have a big bullseye painted all over me now.

what color is your rx8? Dont tell me sunlight silver.

No, mine is snowflake white pearl. :tear: Now it's snowflake white pearl with ugly grill mark.

Well that sucks either way. I had that happen with my last new car. Within 24 hrs of signing the docs to own the car, i was rear ended and had to be without my car for weeks. Sigh.

:lol2: They really saw you coming, huh? :crazy:

Sorry to hear about your misfortune, hope it all works out.

Yeah I guess so :(

Thank you for the kind wishes. I'm gonna call the police department first thing in the morning for the insurance info (I was too distraught, I forgot to get the guy's insurance info).

The kid that hit me was trying to get me to not call the cops and to settle it outside of insurance. I asked him, "How much do you think it would cost to fix this bumper?" and he looked at it and said, "$2500?" I told him he probably wasn't too far off the mark and asked him if he had that kind of money. He said he could get me the money. I told him that I wish I could do that but I have no control over the situation I just agree to let you go and you never get back to me (honestly, I was worried more about the fact that it would cost $3000 or $4000, then suddenly it's coming out of my pocket, eh?). He told me his dad was an attorney...I think that made me want to call the cops more.

He tried his best to keep me from calling the cops and I asked him why. He told me that he'd already had a bunch of speeding tickets and accidents and was worried that they'd revoke his license. I thought to myself, "If what you say is true, I would be doing the city a favor." I told him to put himself in my shoes and asked what he would do. He didn't respond, but asked me what I would do in his place. I didn't respond. I wanted to tell him, "4 accidents and multiple speeding tickets? I think you asked that question about 4 accidents and multiple speeding tickets too late."

Oddly enough, I felt bad for the kid cause he seemed sincere about getting me the money and just not wanting his license revoked...I'm a pretty sympathetic type of guy, but...He just f***ed up 6 day old RX-8. I don't think he was the one that needed sympathy at that point.

I vote for going to the cops...

I took a couple quick pictures...Didn't feel like opening the garage for a better angle though...it's been a long day at work..and outside work.

My vote:

Report him to the cops.

first off, i am really sorry to hear about this... i've been in the same situation as u before. so i can speak without any bias... we've all been teenagers, so it's not about being compassionate- it's about doing what is right.

DO NOT HAVE ANY SYMPATHY FOR THIS KID.

if he has a lot of tix and is at the risk of losing his license, well too damn bad. he deserves to lose his license if he's been driving irresponsibly, causing accidents all over town, and rear-ending people all the time. what does he think? that life is a bowl of cherries with no consequences just because he has a rich lawyer dad?

YOU WILL NOT BE HELPING HIM or SOCIETY BY LETTING HIM OFF EASY.

at his age, losing his license is not the end of his world. he needs to earn some responsibility and what it means to have the PRIVELEGE of driving. just think about all the other safe, responsible motorists like yourself on the road who will get rear-ended or hit by this stupid kid. you need to do what is right, and do not let your compassion for him influence your decision. and, one day he will learn that every time he gets behind the wheel lives are at stake. on a worse day, he could've seriously injured someone or killed someone. he needs to learn the hard way and deserves to get busted on this one.

therefore, my opinion is:

1. REPORT THE ACCIDENT TO YOUR INSURANCE ASAP
2. REPORT THE ACCIDENT TO THE POLICE DEPT (if they'll take a report still).
3. REPORT THE ACCIDENT TO THE DMV

NO SYMPATHY FOR IRRESPONSIBLE DRIVERS- PERIOD.

Oh yeah, don't worry guys. I mentioned that I felt sorry for the kid, but I couldn't just turn away from the fact that he just violated by baby.

I called the cops on the spot and they came and filed a report. Hopefully, that kid did lose his license and maybe learned a thing or two about life. I didn't stick around to see what happened when the cop went to talk to him though.

Oh, and the ladies that work at the police office here are freaking morons. I called this morning to ask if I could get the insurance information from the police report. It took them FOUR tries to transfer me to the correct department. I called the main switchboard as well. What the hell?

Process:

1. Call police switchboard
2. Lady: How can I help you?
3. Me: I was in an accident yesterday and I'm calling to see if I can get the insurance information on the other party from the police report.
4. <pause> Let me transfer you.
5. Repeat steps 2-4 three more times.

You did the right thing in having law enforcement come to the accident scene. Not only are you making sure the pickup truck driver is held accountable for the accident, but you are also covering yourself per chance, several weeks from now, you find your back is killing you...and you realize it was from being rear-ended. Many years ago I let a rear-ender off the hook and did not call the police because there was no apparent damage to my vehicle. A couple of months later I could not get out of bed. The doctor said it was from substantial impact from the rear. Always call the cops!

Aww, that is terrible. I've had the car for 3 days and almost got in an axcident ( these crazy denver drivers ) And when i got my first car i ggot rear ended the day after having my licence, it was an older bmw and it was terrible I can only imagine how bad it would be for your RX-8 i'm very sorry. Hopefully no frame damage, that was the problemw ith me. But its all good i got an RX-8 now.

RotarySpirit, I hope everything works out. Glad to hear you called the cops. That's the best thing to do. Now, you'll be able to take care of your baby the way you should. Good Luck, and send us pictures when she's all fixed up! :)