jez -- that's rotten luck!!!
sorry to hear about that.
good luck to you in the new year.
it can only get better from here, huh?

-BSG

Somewhat dissatisfied--they need to fix the flooding issue. It's happened to me twice this week even following the dealer instructions. In my opinion this is a major design flaw and I'm not happy about it.

Worst vehicle that i have ever owned. Pray everyday that the car starts. Service department awful with the flooding issue. Have met with the sales manager about trying to push for a buyback or close to it. A blue G35 coupe 6 speed is going to be delivered to the local Infiniti dealership and has my name on it if I can dump this.

You're 22, right? Shuh. Six years of being legally licensed. Whoo! You were still sucking on your momma's titties when my main steed was a '73 Fiat 124 Sport Spider which I bought new when I was your age, just like the way you bought your 8.

1 month of a minor problem, like not being able to understand how not to flood this rotary engine & you want to jump to the next car, which, guess what?...you won't like it even as much.

See ya, looser!

Racer, c'mon. Respect the guys opinion. That's what this thread's for. I, on the other hand, still have to manage to flood mine. In my opinion, it's not a matter of knowledge, it's a matter of willignness. Are you willing to warm-up your car before shutting it down? Are you gonna make sure it has reached operating tempertature if you only had to move it a notch because of an annoying neighbour asking you to move out of their property line? Are you willing to walk to the restaurant next block not to move your car and have to wait for it to warm up again?

There are several reasons one can end up being fed up by such 'rotary treat.' For what its worth, I don't mind: the car is rewarding to drive despite all its flaws. I drive the same car all of you are driving, although there are several different opinions about it. Why? to each its own.

Have a good one!

RX8-TX, I hear ya, but,,,

I'm respecting his opinion about as far as I can. The kid is writing like he's some kind of authority on cars. He's just finally grown himself a full crop of underarm hair. For crying out loud... A person's gotta know from whom the story is written. On this forum, his bantering carries as much weight as Mario Andretti, if he were a forum member. Know what I'm saying? We gotta keep things in perspective here...at least try just a little.

Racer - Don't agree with you at all. 22 years old and already has enough maturity to know that flooding cars is not normal in this day and age, and makes no bones about it. When I was 22 I would have grit my teeth and stuck through a bad decision. I haven't flooded - yet - but if it happens I'll probably be saying much the same stuff. A $30k car shouldn't do stupid things like flood. This is an engineering defect. reiskame is calling it as he sees it - well - maybe with just a touch of internet-standard hyperbole.

Darn it to all of you...I am just a tad over 22...23 to be precise. And while I am no authority or expert in the field (nor any field for that matter) I believe we all have common sense. I am new to rataries, and, while I knew about apex seals (most 'in'famous subject about rotaries from what I've heard) I had no idea about engine flooding. In other words, I had no idea what all the kinks of a rotary where until I started hanging 'round here. I don't regret the decission at all...maybe will talk about it later on (with 100K miles in the odometer..) but for now, I am a happy camper.

We will have to wait and see...at least, I know what I am running for. Others might not have been that lucky. In all, PEACE!

OK, well, I can't say I'm suprised at a couple of people who disagree. (Especially the younger set, and I sympathize with that emotion.) But it's posts like those of rieskame that make the RX-8 look like an incompetant POS. Go back and read it again.

That's my only problem here, cuz it's definitely not a POS at all. I would be bashing the car too if everybody was flooding all the time, all over the place. It's not. Mine hasn't flooded at all. A large majority (7 out of 8, last time I looked at the poll) have not flooded at all, and most who have flooded theirs understand what they did wrong and won't let it happen again.

Those who refuse to learn are bound to re-live the situation. It won't not happen just because you spent $30k and don't think a $30k car shouldn't make you do anything special to maintain it. If someone would consider that fact as a reason to place it in the POS category, well, fine. Everybody has an opinion.

Racer, let me try to put things in perspective: if you have over 300 votes in favor of the 'completely' satifsfied people, and those votes represent close to 80% of the opinion, and you come by this thread and think the RX8 is a 'POS' as some people have called it....you shouldn't even have a license. A driver's license requires 'common sense' and if you don't have enough of that to realize that the car is keeping those who own it, 'happy' in its majority....well...

That's why I started this thread in the first place. To put things a little bit in perspective for all of us. I don't know how many votes can be counted as valid: many non-owners could have simply voted the best or worst, just because the felt like it. I don't know.

What I do know: if I was new to all this, and was coming from the outside, I'd be looking for the car's weaknesses. Well....there aren't those many, and they haven't shaded all of us. In fact, it seems that we are the most careless car community......flooding problems, transmissions blown, engines replaced, bad gas mileage, oil consumption, HP downgrade...etc. However, these haven't prevented the opinion to be highly in favor of the vehicle: there's gotta be something in it that keeps us coming (driving) for more every day!

Ufffffff, what a way to start the day! Have a good one all of you!

My wife was having trouble starting her Audi a while back and she flooded the car as a result. Not because she stepped on the gas pedal but because she was only giving the car about 3 seconds to turn over. Normally it doesn't take so long but for whatever reason it was this time and the engine definately flooded. So I guess in this day and age you can flood more than just an RX-8 without needing to do anything special.

Yeah, but I bet she didn't have to get a tow to the dealer to get unstuck.:mad:

No offense Arthur, but if you flooded the car twice in one week, you didn't follow the "dealer instructions" or there is something else wrong with your particular car.

Why is it not OK for someone to have an opinion other than "completely satisfied"?

Are you calling Arthur a liar? He said he followed "dealer instructions".

Certainly repeated flooding would make me "somewhat dissatisfied". And if there is something else wrong with his particular car, then I would think that would still be a good reason for Arthur to be "somewhat dissatisfied".

bernieunger,

You're right she didn't need it towed to the dealer for that problem but how about twice for a fried ingnitor and twice at the dealer for sunroof controls in a 1.5 year period. For some reason the sunroof wants to open on its own and refuses to close after words. Can be a problem when it's cold or cold and snowing.

He's talking about his wife's AUDI folks.

Sorry 93rdcurrent, but this is for those who read your post & thought you were talking about an RX-8 (you know, duh, stupid people such as I :confused: )...

I admit that's inconvenient, and doesn't really live up to the "German quality" myth. The question I have is, are these inheritent problems with the Audi or random problems? The stalling issue has happened to about 20% of those responding to our unscientific poll, and the car's only been out for a half year or so. I think I detect a pattern here...

What annoys me is that, after all these generations of 7's, the flooding issue is a known problem. With the haitus of a few years to get it right, I would have expected an incremental improvement. Instead, it sure looks like we had some serious backsliding. Unforgivable.

That's some sunroof you got there.

14.3% (16 flooded it out of 112 responders)

15.4% if you want to remove those 8 "don't give a rat's ass" responses. Heavy on the automatic owners (about 1/3 of them flooded it). I wonder how many flooding victims didn't have to resort to a trip to the service shop?

You're right though, very unscientific - oh well.

amen to you!

we difinitely need to be tolerant of the expression of opinions that are different from our own. if we weren't interested in reading other people's opinions, none of us would be subscribing to a site that promotes the spreading of exactly that!!

happy new year, btw!

-BSG

Just like you are tolerant of the expression of my opinion?

I get it.

Happy New Year to you too, btw!

C'mon people, this is a message board. I didn't try to offend anyone, and I know you Racer didn't try to do it either. We have our opinions, and we sure do have different experience.

Point #1, I don't want this thread to go down the toilet. If it does, it will be a failure to my original premise: short, concise and to the point posts. (see, now I am screwing up my own thread...damn! gotta get some sleep!) See ya'll around! :D

HEY! WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!?!

JK haha. :D ;) :D

You are absolutely right RX8-TX. :)

OK, I won't stink it up any more than I already have. Sorry. It never works anyway. I should have known better. :(

bernieunger,

I haven't checked to see if the ingniter problem is something Audi has been dealing with I just know about our car. I do know that Hondas were dealing with it a while back. I can remember several of my friends with Hondas towing there cars to the dealers to figure out what was keeping their cars from starting. Ignitors on every one of them. Interesting. Flooding has not been a problem on my car but I bet that most of the people who haven't experienced a problem with it haven't posted but I will say that most who have flooded most likely did post.

You may want to re-read my post. I didn't even comment on his opinion. He's entitled.

Again, re-read my post. I never called him a liar (your words). I said he either didn't follow the instructions (he may have thought he did, but possibly didn't, exactly) OR there is something else wrong with HIS car.

Since you quoted his complete post, I initially took your comment as a challenge to all aspects of his entire statement.

However, in reviewing your post, along with your elaboration, I can see what you intended which, as you say, does not comment on his opinion.

Mileage--First tank was 18.6 mpg, second 19.1. Almost all in town.

Awesome car... love it. Even as it sits stored in my garage.

Can't wait for winter to end...

i agree with this post.

Totally satisfied!!! I can't think of another vehicle I would like to drive!

The car is exactly what I expected in many regards, and exceeds expectations in many others. If only this was true of most purchases!

I smile when I get in it, I smile when I see it in the garage, and look for excuses to drive.

First car I've waxed since I was 18!

Oh yeah - hello everybody!

I have given most of my co-workers a ride in my car and everyone loves it. It has some small issues but what car doesn’t. Overall I feel it was well worth the money and I am glad I waited and didn’t go for the 350z.
-Ron

yeah, I am highly satisfy with my car. So far so good. Yesterday I filled up for the fist time. I had a notch just below 1/4 tank. I drove 240 miles ( mostly on highway) and it gave me 19.5 mpg. Not bad considering that my old 280 Z was giving me 20 mpg. I am guessing that I could have gone up to 260~270 miles before getting the low fuel light.

Highly Satisfied - I LOVE MINE!

Yes, I followed the dealers instructions. It was only 6 days after the first time it flooded and I REALLY didn't want waste another day dealing with this. On the second flood, the car was fully warmed up when I shut it down and it still wouldn't start approximately 20-30 minutes later. The dealer replaced all four spark plugs when I took it in (per service bulletin, I guess).

Anyway, I'm still paranoid about the car starting, so I'm sticking with "Somewhat dissatisfied" until MAZDA comes up with a good fix.

This car just blows me away. So far Very satisfied!

I got the Rx8 the first week it came out. I am happy with the car's performance and look. But to be honest it has been a bit of a lemon.

Got it with a cracked headlight lens. They replaced the lens, but then the headlight would not work. Had to get and entire new unit.

Then I get the famous check engine a few times. Oil pan finally replaced.

Tire pressure Monitor has been reset twice now, and it is on again today!

Finally, I got a flooded engine the first of the year. Tow truck the whole bit. They had to replace the plugs.

The Good news is that I have not paid One Penny so far. Between Roadside, warranty, and free scheduled maintenance, I have had no costs. I got a free loaner everytime, and everytime the service was completed in 30hrs or less.

In short, it is not so bad since Mazda has taken care of me, but it is a bit tough to RELY on the car as I am as our everyday family commuter.

I will give you more info as I approach 7500 miles.

The biggest disappointment is the shop trips and the gas mileage. The performance is really good, the looks are great. Navi and radio are awesome. The red leather is heaven. Love the rims and brakes -- still plenty of tread on the tires.

Three points for me:

1. I polled "highly satisfied" before my flood, when I thought the Emergency Start Procedure would resolve the problem and when I believed Mazda was fixing flooded cars for RX-8 buyers under the 4-year warranty. After waiting 6 days for a repair, losing a day of work and being told that flooding repairs are not covered and that I "didn't really want the new plugs because they are so expensive," I'm reserving judgment until I get something official from Mazda explaining what their policy will be in the future. I mailed my letter last week... I think we're all entitled to know what the protocol is so we can judge what kind of a problem it is for each of us... particularly those who have not yet bought and plan on relying on this car as a daily ride.

2. Anyone that actually owns an RX-8 is entitled to have an opinion in a satisfaction poll, regardless of his age. Fuel consumption and reliability are "issues" as much as "missing HP." I too love the car, but it and Mazda are not above criticism.

3. Someone should fix the title of this poll:
"What is your overall level of stisfaction with the RX8?" and
"Statisfaction Survey with your RX-8"

SOMEWHAT SATISFIED- Great dry weather driver, fun in the wet, but when it snows it sucks. Don't care about gas mileage, my other car is a Denali 10 mpg. Traction control needs improvement, doesn't start working for a few minutes after you start the car. Needless to say, I have fishtailed and lite up the tires going out of parking lots more than a few times. Not that this is a bad thing. But my Boxster's TCS is flawless, no bumping on hard take offs, and is so smooth, you forget it's there. Also the stick vibrates way too much at idle. GPS is great, climate control should be better, including the heated seats. Silver/red 6spd.

Not with snow tires, it doesn't.

I don't know what you are talking about. My traction control works right away.

Right now, I'd say "Highly Satisfied". Though, I have only had my 8 for a week and finished engine break in on Wednesday. I'm taking it in to the dealer today for the "after engine break in" oil change.

My 8 is everything I expected it to be. But, I had the benefit of reading this forum for 2 months before I bought. That may have tempered my expectations.

Most importantly, after a 52 mile commute home, I'm smiling instead of frowning. Every day this week!

Highly Satisfied! I've had it two months now. In a perfect world the 8 would get 60 mpg and Mazda would have given it to me free - but hey, this ain't that world. I haven't enjoyed washing and waxing a car since I was in high school (1964). I can't justify a 911, so I am in heaven with my 8. I note the comments about gas mileage - certainly no one bought an 8 in hopes of getting exceptional gas mileage! If so, you should have gotten a Civic or Prius.

Highly satisfied. Haven't had this much fun since my Alfa. Great combination of handling and ride. Only complaint being a bit of wind and road noise from the back seat area.

Stuff that leaves me a lil' less than a happy camper:
1. The gas mileages is horrible. I've yet to get over 19mpg (and suspect that I could only get Mazda's claim of "24 mpg highway" by steady highway driving at 55 mph.
2. Oil consumption: 1/2 quart at 2,500 miles.
3. Black oil residue at the bottoms of the tail pipes.
4. Very poor roll-on acceleration unless I am in the spot on gear in high rpm.

I just bought a red rx8 grand tour pkg. I pick it up today. I test drove it last week and the dealer let me take it home over night. I was so impressed with the handling,smooth power delivery and luxury that I just had to have it. I paid $28550. It is a demo with 2300 miles on it. I am very pleased so far with the entire rx8 experience and hope to enjoy the car for a long time.

I'm installing a snow/wheel pkg from Tire Rack so I can drive it all year round. We get our share of snow here.

Your killin' me!!!

I paid $32,600 for my GT (only option) back in July. Some people in the area paid $33,600. Even prorating the price of the 2,300 miles, you definitely have a good deal on a fine car :).

Sportscars are'nt selling well in the midwest right now. It's winter and snow here in Wisconsin. I'm sure that affected price and that's part of the reason I bought an rx8 now this time of year.

Highly Satisfied. The car is awesome! Yes it has some things on it that are anoying, like poor mileage or no auto AC and other little things. But overal the car is great! If anyone can name the perfect car in any price I will buy it for you!!

A highly satisifed Australian, with nearly 6 mths/20,000k (=12,000m) ownership. No coathooks (I'm a suit :p ) no easy cellular install, and the cruise control 'surges' (see other posts). But I love it!

the reason I put somewhat satisfied is the continual worry that the car won't start. After 3 weeks of driving pleasure(had a 2003 maxima) i'm still concerned about this one issue. Otherwise I love this car!!!!!!....Markiev