Peakster

For those scared to buy the RX-8 because you've heard of reliability problems and other issues , ignore them and buy the car. I've had my car for a year yesterday, and I love it.

My RX-8 by the numbers:

0 floods
0 oil lights
0 problems with the A/C
1 TPMS light--just last week after being on vacation for a week. Filled up the tires with the compressor and the light went out. What a great feature
2 times adding oil after checking the dipstick
18.942 MPG--80% city driving
10,841 miles
100% satisfied with the car and the dealership. The car has flawless handling, a wonderful transmission, gorgeous looks, comfortable interior, outstanding build quality, and practicality (we have a baby on the way). I would not trade it for a 350Z, STi, or G35. The dealership's service department has been wonderful, once giving me an oil change free for the heck of it and giving me a free state inspection this month.

cgrx

I like the miles. I'm hitting 20,000 - had mine for 7 months exactly. NASTY

Peakster

I drive about 24 miles/day plus take many drives on curvy roads on weekends. I guess not taking long trips has kept my mileage low.

kn34

im one of those waiting for mine. i had alot of doubts at first. stillhave some maybe one or two but those are little things that could happen to any car.i appreciate your post to let us non owners get some much neede info on the 8. there are alot of negative things about it. but still i will buy one and expect to in jan or feb

ptiemann

Mine had its 1-year anniversary last week. My numbers are

0 floods
1 oil lights (old oil pan type.. high speed.. wrong alarm, TSB.. fixed)
0 problems with the A/C
1 TPMS light (drove the car off the dealer's lot after a tire rotation, instant flat tire)
20.5 mpg
17,300 miles

100% satisfied with the car.
As disappointed by the dealership's service department as one can be. A different incident *every* time I went there. On the upside, I learnt to do oil changes myself now.
I'd buy another car from them though.

If my RX-8 was totalled today, I probably would buy another one but not black again.

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

why not another black RX? Too high maintenance or just falling in luv with other colors?

ptiemann

The maintenance.

I think I'd probably go with nordic-green. Too many white, silver and titanium cars out there. Blue/ yellow cars look like toys to me. Red is great but not the red that the RX-8 comes in. Honestly, I'm not really thrilled about nordic-green either.

Maybe I'd buy a black one again, with a warranty on its cleanliness

kn34

i was thinking about a black on at first but omeone put into my head that since i live in tampa it migh fade after a while just my opinion

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

Lots of Zaino and you'll never have to worry about the car fading.

I live in Southern Cali and I've never had a car fade on me...

I say if you like the black and you're willing to make the commitment to keep it clean then GO FOR IT!

kn34

works for me. i kinda like the sunlight silver to i dont know maybe a last minute decision.. i like to use meguires

brothervoodoo

Good thread...

1 year and 2 months old
0 floods
2 oil lights - (Oil was low)
0 problems with the A/C - Adequate, will look into getting AC Amp...
TPMS light -- Was getting this on right front every couple weeks. Turns out I had a nail causing slow leak. It's doing its job..
22 MPG -- Highway
15.5 MPG -- City
20K Miles

Satisfied...

Rob Tomlin

Great idea for a thread, could be very informative. (I don't have mine yet, but finally have a bite on my 3rd gen so I hope to be joining the party soon).

Nice to see that a few people are actually getting decent mileage.

maxrx8

I just got her back after a week and a half and had a Cavalier rental. It felt nice to get back in the cockpit. This is a great car.

One year on the 22nd of Sept.

My RX-8 by the numbers:

0 floods
1 oil lights
0 problems with the A/C (recall to be fixed tomorrow)
1 TPMS light--Over filled thinking higher was better/ looking at max psi.
3 times adding oil after checking the dipstick
15-16 MPG--70% city driving
5,400 miles
100% satisfied

I just want to add some extras.

Bill

Elara

0 floods
1 year and a month and a half old
1 oil pan replacement
1 A/C amplifier replaced
1 temp control gauge replaced
1TPMS light, on the first day it got really cold here
No idea how many times I've put oil in- 5 or 6, I'd guess, for a total of 6 quarts (I do know how much oil I've bought)
23k miles
Around 20-22mpg average.
Will be needing a new windshield soon, as something hit it this week and there's a 13 inch crack in it now

Love my car very much. Might consider trading up for a Mazdaspeed 8 if it every arrives here ever. Aside from that, I'll buy another one when this one dies or I sell it.

RX8_Ownz

My numbers :

0 floods
0 oil lights
0 problems with the A/C (recall to be fixed tomorrow)
0 TPMS light--Over filled thinking higher was better/ looking at max psi.
3 times adding oil after checking the dipstick
15 MPG--70% city driving
2,300 miles
100% satisfied

Rotarian_SC

0 floods
0 oil lights
0 problems with the A/C
1 TPMS light (it was really cold, went away after I had driven for 5 min and the tires heated up)
2 quarts of oil added
~20 mpg--70% highway
~11,000 miles
~7 months

irish8

Let the numbers speak...

8 months old
0 floods :D
0 oil lights :D
0 problems with the A/C :D
3 recalls...M flash, pass airbag, rear trunk lid :o
1 TPMS light--still on!! need to top up with air...my bad!!
15 MPG--70% city driving
3,060 miles
100% satisfied :D

- Irish

rx8pilot

0 floods
2 tpms lights
1 oil light (tsb fixed)
3 times added oil
14 mpg city (i drive like andretti)
20 highway (on a weird note.. i got a wild hair up my a$$ and drove from northeast mississippi to southern alabama in a tad over 4 1/2 hours.. you do the math..but i'm pretty sure the avg speed was over 95....and to my dismay it was the best gas mileage i had ever gotten in the 8....24mpg!!! anyone else notice that cruising at much higher speeds yields better mpg numbers??)

2 new tail-lights...problem with seals.. condensation
3 of those stupid rubber grommets on the engine cover from when they did maintenance on it
25,471 miles.........do i have the most????
1 replaced center console cover
1 replaced a/c ****
4 replaced 245/45R18 stock tires at 21K put new bridgstone potenza S-03 pole position shoes on and BOY....u do notice a difference.. need better sway and strut bars now! lol
:D :D :D
would buy one all over again..no complaints..it's done as expected and better for a first year car.

eskimo

13 months old - 13Aug2003
0 floods
0 oil lights
0 problems with the A/C, and I've used it. (Although I do have a sunroof)
added lots of oil - 3-4 quarts?
1 TPMS light during the winter when it was <=32 for a week
6,000 miles - I have a really short commute - 3mi each way.
15 MPG - Car doesn't get warmed up by the time I get to work, at least in the winter. It's getting better after 5K.
100% satisfied

and lots and lots of Zaino products (mines black).

VikingDJ

Almost 8 months old- 5200 miles

Several hard starts and 1 near flood (although I did eventually get it started, took about 10 seconds, and I smelled fuel, and had black smoke coming out of exhaust to burn off the fuel).

1 check engine light (must have been knock sensor because it occured at about 7k rpms and car fell flat on it's face)

0 oil added (however dealer overfilled it quite a bit when first purchased, and on first oil change)

20mpg 80% highway (got like 15 mpg first 3k miles but it's now improving)
Both recalls done

A/C problem (it got me through summer on full blast, but it's fluctuating ice cold/lukewarm and clearly not 100%)

Tranny noise under accelleration and decelleration just recently but it stopped.

Not happy with my color choice (black) because it's just too hard to keep clean, and you can see every single imperfection and swirl mark other colors hide. It does look beautiful though when clean, but will definitely be my last black car.

I am taking car in Thursday to check out transmission, along with the a/c bulletin and reflash. Hopefully this will fix the problems I have had with car.

Overall, I am somewhat satisfied, but with tranny noise gone, flooding issue, and a/c fix I'll be 100% satisfied. Hopefully after Thursday the bugs will be all gone .

Old Rotor

1 year old
0 floods
0 oil lights
0 prob with a\c but had dealer put in new amp and it is much better now
0 TPMS lights but I check psi regularly
0 oil added. I just get it changed when its down. About every 2.5-3.5k.
13k miles
16.5 in town worst mpg
27.5 all hwy mpg(cruz set 65mph) normally get 20mpg all around
100% satisfied and a real good dealer too.

graphicguy

Have had mine for about 14 months....13K miles

--0 floods or hard starts
--1 CE light...evap replacement taken care of by the dealer
--1 oil pan/oil level sensor replacement under TSB
--1 "add oil" encounter when it had about 2K miles on it....none since. I change the oil every 5K miles under the free maintenance program. I check the oil every 2nd or 3rd fill-up. It's never been more than 1/2 qt low since 2K miles
--no A/C problems, but dealer did A/C magnifier TSB anyway
--Since "M" reflash, I get about 18 MPG in town and got one tank of 25 MPG in all highway, cruise set at 75 MPH.
--no brake squeal
--10 coats of Zaino...still looks brand new and is the shiniest car in the city
--Still amazed that I can fit two weeks worth of groceries in the trunk
-- " " " " " " four people in it comfortably when going to dinner
--Still get gawks/stares/thumbs up wherever I go
--Still get Honda driver sports car "wannabes" trying to race me :p

Would buy it all over again given the choice between a 350Z/G35c/Subie or Mitsu

Squidward

My 1-year Stats:

Purchased in late August '03.

Currently have 26500 miles on the car..

No major mechanical/electrical problems.

2 minor problems encountered.
At 15k, the clutch started to produce funny high-pitched noise when shifting..They replaced something and it disappeared for a while but came back slightly.. Haven't bothered with it since it's doesn't bother me..
At 23k, Gas cap broke, had to pry it off. They replaced it. I may have something to do with it though, I had the habit of tightening it, afraid it might come loose and produce a CEL. Anyway, the plastic interior tabs broke making it impossible to remove without popping off the cap cover.

The car burns about 1 quart of oil every 5000 miles, as designed to.

The car averages 17mpg. 80% of the miles driven were on the highway.

Paint is perfect still, thanks to the 3M paint protection on the entire frontend. Great investment.

Wankeler

Howdy All,

1 Year and about 1 month old. (drove off the lot, 8/29/03)

0 - floods
3 - oil lights (still need oil pan TSB done)
1 - AC cycled warm once (getting Amplifier TSB done this week)
1 - TPMS (Mazda Tech error, damaged wheel sensor during winter tire change)
M-flash, air bag TSB, trans damper TSB, Left Rear tail-light replaced (condensation)
10-12MPG City (Speed Metal makes you press the Gas pedal harder and more often)
23MPG Highway (6th gear, Cruise, 3 tankfuls)
20981 miles since 8/29/03

Been over a year, and this car still makes me smile... when I see it for the first time in the morning, and when I'm driving it around, especially in the twisties. With winter approaching, the seat warmers will be much appreciated again!

soundoftoday

I thought this would be a fun place to introduce myself as a proud new 8 owner . . . yeah, I finally took the plunge last week . . . my numbers may look a little different, but I'm sure they're relevant all the same:

0 floods
0 lights of any kind, except for the fantastic HID xenon ones that still make my jaw drop whenever I get out on a backroad after dark
0 issues with the AC
~15mpg city, 21 highway, which I'm pleased with :-D
. . . and, to point out how deeply and quickly I have fallen head over heels in love with this machine . . .
. . . 1,894 miles since, uh, last Sunday. Whoops.

But LOVING EVERY MINUTE OF IT. Woohoo!