Rough first month
 

I'd waited three years for my rx8. Did a lot of research on them, knew pretty well the potential problems with them. Looked at my current earnings, factored in car insurance, payment, gas and cost of preventative maintenance and knew it was time. What I didn't factor in was how many things would go horrifically wrong within the first 30 days....

First problem was the infamous low compression, but fortunately our good friends at mazda had me covered on that after a week i had a new engine and all was well. Next week my exhaust starts rattling. Found out that the previous cat failed and fell apart and the debris was never cleaned out when they replaced it with a new one. Thats cool got that fixed too.

Now I'm finding out that my clutch is on the verge of going (squeaks like a pissed rodent), I have a misfire and my engine isn't getting enough fuel (also resulting in power loss naturally) Sigh....

Has anyone else had initial experiences like this or segments where everything just kind of fails at once. I love the car its a blast to drive and I know it can be great if taken care of but man was i not expecting all of this at once... Is it possible I just got one so poorly maintained I should get out from under it now while it still runs?

Any thoughts or comments are appreciated. Thought I'd throw this in the lounge just to talk about/vent a little. Need my fellow rx8 owners :tear:

It doesn't sound like you should have paid a whole lot....

The engine was replaced under warranty, right?

Considering the new engine replacement, I'd be suspicious if something was incorrectly installed or if there was a problem with a replacement part. Depending on what the problem is diagnosed as, you shouldn't have to pay out of pocket for it.

What year is it and how many miles? Depending on that, it's not really a matter of proper maintenance, just a matter of time and wear. Unfortunately, there's no easy way to tell you if it will continue to be a problem or not. This could be the end of any significant problems for years or it could be a continuous problem car. It's kind of the same chance you could have with any vehicle you purchase.

You got a free "new" engine, your had to clean some debri out of your exhaust (free) and the clutch squeak could just be a faulty clutch pedal and there was a recall on it. And a misfire issues are easily addressed for $200.00.

What makes you think you are not getting enough fuel?

What codes told you you have a lean mixture condition?

Exactly... You shouldn't have really paid a whole lot at this point. It's a pain in the ass to have a bunch of stuff going wrong, but it sounds like the cost was the inconvenient factor here. Has the dealer been screwing you on costs?

I really haven't paid a whole lot so far just a little over $500. What sucks is I'm in sales and I've had to call my boss 3 times in the last month since I've gotten this car to tell him I need the rest of the day off to get it looked at (can't do my job without a car). Plus who doesn't worry when they bought a problem car when the first month uncovers this many issues right?

And I learned about the car running lean when I took it to O'Reilly Autoparts. Didn't get the exact code, but thats what they said the problem was.

Yes it was under warranty. When the alternator went bad (i think i forgot to mention that in the original post) I asked if all of the problems i was seeing could be because of the engine swap and of course the mechanic denied it and said there's no way any of it could be related.

Does it sound too convenient tho? And if so how would you recommend getting them to admit responsibility for it? I assume that no matter what happens they will deny any connection to the swap.

I have had mine for 30 days as of today. Power steering failed 30 minutes off the lot. Got that fixed (place I bought it from gave me a 30 day warranty) they checked the compression when they did the steering and it's ok. After picking the car up I notice its super shakey. 2 broken motor mounts. All this stuff got fixed under warranty but I've had my car less then the dealer ship has.

I feel your pain man. My cars been in the shop 13 of the first 30 days. I'm just hoping i can get it all fixed, because I do rather love the car.

With having a misfire I know I probably need to replace both the coils and plugs/wires. But should I try one before the other?

btw thanks for all the responses so far guys

Proper Prior Planning. I wouldn't rely on O'Reilly's telling you the car is running lean. You could get a lean code from just a simple vacuum leak.

I also wouldn't trust or accept what the mechanic said. It's ridiculous to think that the engine replacement could in no way be related to the running issues. Like 9K said, something as small as a vacuum leak could be causing problems and it's not crazy to think that something during the engine replacement process could have been the cause. Depending on the cause of the issue, I would definitely push to have them repair it for you.

I'd honestly say you should consider yourself somewhat luck, so far. A lot of people have issues with mazda denying warranty on the engine replacements and it sounds like your replacement was done rather quickly. I can definitely understand your frustration, but I wouldn't be thinking about getting rid of it quite yet. Wait till you sort through the current issues and see how you feel a couple months later.

I am very glad I was able to get the swap. I do, however, also feel that something probably wasn't done correctly.

I called the place where I bought (also a mazda dealer but about an hour away) and told them all the problems I'm having and they said that the engine should not have a miss or be running lean that it should have all been taken care of when they did the engine swap. They want me to bring it to them to have it looked at. Hopefully if all goes well I can get it done right.