In the shop after only 774 miles
 

Damn.

While driving to Lake Tahoe yesterday started to experience intermittent low oil quantity light (1-3 seconds) accompanied by severe loss of power (i.e. - won't rev beyond 6K in any gear, surging, etc.) Checked the oil level and it was fine, car wasn't overheating, tried turning off A/C, DSC, etc. and condition remained. Since this type of thing had already started happening last Friday, I decided to turn around and head to the dealer. Dropped the car off at 1:00 p.m. yesterday. By the way, for the hundred or so miles (650-750) with no problems she is sweet above 6,000 for the most part (a few dips here and there as ports open possibly?).

Just received a call from the service manager who stated that the car showed no codes and their "technician" had some questions for me. He proceeded to ask me how I broke in the the vehicle (babied it for 600+ miles), which fuel grade I was running (premium), what the ambient air temperature had been (65-95 degrees), etc. He told me they don't know what is wrong, and that the Mazda tech they had on the phone would walk them through it, assuring me it would be repaired WITHIN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS OR SO!

I am quite certain that all of this must, in some way, be related to the ECU/stuck port issues found elsewhere on this board. This totally bites, but, hey, I was forced to ride my Ducati home last night so it isn't all bad :-).

I'll keep everyone here informed of my results. FWIW my VIN ends in 5067 (oil pan issue for the warning light possibly, I don't know) and my car did have a port campaign sticker under the hood, I want to say with July 9th date if I recall correctly, but am uncertain at this point. My mileage has averaged about 18 mpg to this point - with about 50/50 hiway to city driving.

I of course told the service manage that the red GT on the lot would serve fine as a loaner! He didn't laugh or acknowledge the comment, other than to say that he had loaner cars available...wonder what?

I miss her already...

Bill

I'm sorry to hear of your RX-8's malaise. Reports of early problems really tear me up though: on one hand, I want to support Mazda and the RX-8 by buying its first model year, but on the other hand, this is exactly why I'm waiting 'til 2005.

And I'm going to hopefully preempt some people who would say that this could happen to any new car and that the Renesis is not a "new" design by saying that while this is true, there just is no mechanical / maintanence history on a mass-produced Renesis.

had the tech heard about the oil pan issue and have they ruled that out?

edit: could surging be clutch slippage?

See this thread regarding the oil pan issue

https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discussion-3/got-my-rx8-back-repair-shop-good-news-8458/

I've informed the tech about the oil pan issue and faxed him copies of links/info from this board - thanks.

Surging was/is most certainly a power issue and not any failure/malfunction of the clutch.

My (slightly) educated guess is that the problem lies with in fuel delivery and or timing (ECU?).

Time will tell - and thanks to all for input.

Did the dealer give you a loaner vehicle?

If not, they should be..

http://www.mazdausa.com/MusaWeb/disp...=assuranceMain

The dealer has offered a Chrysle product (aaacccchhhh) as a loaner...no thanks...I'll drive my Maxima SE instead...

Update as of 4:00 today is that they can repeat the power delivery (or lack thereof) problem but haven't yet seen an oil light appear. The service manager, David, claims a factory rep, some sort of regional service manager, will be here tomorrow to help diagnose the problem.

Get this, I checked to odometer and they've put over 100 miles on the car since I dropped it off yesterday? If something is seriously wrong, I wonder what greater damage they could be doing...oh well...warranty I suppose.

One other note of humor (not that funny to me, actually) was that the service manager indicated that the power felt much better when going down hill as opposed to going up - duh! He also said, and I quote, "...you know sir, we don't build them here, only try to fix them."

I respect that, but that doesn't change my lack of confidence in this group of service personnel. This could get ugly...

Bill

wow, you're def. caught in an ugly situation and very tragic that you have to experience a set back on your new car. Hopefully, things will be resolved quickly....but wow o wow, i def. would not mind driving home with a Ducati :D

Yeah, I must admit the Duc is a lot of fun...and for what it is worth for those of you waiting for your RX-8, I can ALMOST hold a couple of my favorite corners at equal speeds in the 8 as I can the Ducati...now that's pretty impressive handling, body roll or not, in my book. I'd post the speeds but quite frankly they are too incriminating :-)

100 miles in 24 hrs? Isn't that a bit much even if it was part of the effort to duplicate the power loss condition? :eek:

When I take a car in I expect a 10 miles tops difference on the odometer. 100 miles, that's more than hour and a half worth of driving at 65 mph.

wow man, that sucks...hopefully they will find out whats up and fix it with out putting too much mileage on or hurting it too much worse
________
Oregon Medical Marijuana Dispensary

They drove your car 100 miles?! I think that's @#$$% bull !@#$!

Here's my guess and this is based on my last RX-7. There are some things that trigger the ECU to go into a "Limp Home Mode" (run rich, retard timing and lower the redline). As an example, if the map sensor hose pops off on any FD the car will go into this mode. It is possible that the intermittent oil light occurring x amount of times [or even in a time span] could trigger a sort of limp home mode. Maybe a constant low oil signal will even shut down the car until oil is added. Again, this is just a guess but it is possible.

Superfan -

Thanks for the input. You could be right about a limp mode, my previous vehicle (Jetta 1.8T - chipped of course) would do this on occasion as well - but only after some serious issues.

One thing though, if the ECU had decided to pump into limp mode - wouldn't it store some sort of code? Also, the power loss occurred on more than one occasion, and only on the latest episode did it have the oil light flashing. According to the Mazda technician, they can't get the oil light to come on - but can cause the power loss rather quickly now (warm it up, travel about 10 miles, and pull a grade somewhat spiritedly - or even just drive on the flats with mild aggression).

Finally, the condition isn't permanent, as my experience with a limp mode has been. It will return to normal, even without shutting off the key...

I'm sure tomorrow will be fun.

For what it's worth, surging can also be caused by turbulent airflow past the mass airflow sensor. The turbulence causes the CPU to recieve conflicting input (MAF "says" one thing, other sensors say another) and engine surge is a result. Have you changed anything on the air intake side?
________
MOTORCYCLE TIRES

I haven't changed anything on the intake side, the car is still entirely stock. However, you could be right (see below).

I just returned from the dealer, spent quite some time speaking to the mechanic about the issues. He can't repeat the oil light situation, and has checked the oil pan issue with Mazda tech line/corporate and apparently my car does not have the faulty oil pan.

The issue appears to be with (excuse my lack of correct terminology here) the variable intake volume in that when the runners that open up around 5,500-6,000 rpm, which are actuated by an electric motor driving a gear, etc., they aren't fully opening or possibly not opening at all. They are supposed to be able to verify this for sure this afternoon via laptop plugged into the car (he needs to shower first - seriously).

The service center here only has one mechanic that is rotary engine knowledgable (and after talking to him for about 40 minutes I have confidence in the mechanic). He was in the middle of pulling a transaxle out of some sort of minivan when he got the call back from Mazda with instructions on how to proceed around 10:00 this morning. He is covered in grease from head to toe. He asked, politely, if he could get back on the car tomorrow a.m. when he is all clean and I said OK. As an alternative, the regional service manager is supposed to be here this afternoon and he may hand the diagnostic session over to him. The mechanic is a nice guy that really seems to know his Wankel, despite the lack of information (manual, etc.) from Mazda at this point. In fact, what he does have from Mazda looks like my 2 year old son wrote it and drew the pictures with crayons. He drives a '93 (I think) RX7...and his diagnosis seemed to make even more sense to him after speaking directly with me about the issues. By the way, the computer did not have any codes stored other than an indication that the DSC had been completely disabled (by me, to see if it made a difference on the way to the shop).

So, there you have it, my update for today. There was some yelling over the 500+ miles they put on the car - a lot of name calling, cussing, finger pointing - etc. - and then somebody pointed out that the KM/M switch had been hit and the odometer was now reading in KM (1298) as opposed to the miles it should have been. Many apologies by all involved (including me) and promises of several comps later I walked out feeling somewhat more comfortable that the issue will be resolved shortly.

Not to fuel the fire here - but I did ask the mechanic if he had heard of the horsepower issues. He is familar with this forum as well as www.nopistons.com and had heard the rumors, but only replied, and I quote "...don't worry about it, all is well. I'm not sure if the ECU will be changing over or not - but I'm certain that you will be getting all the horsepower you've paid for - in fact I'd bet on it." I didn't ask any further and am not really sure what that means, but...at least someone who works on these vehicles knows about it and doesn't seem to be concerned (echoes Mr. Yaw's sentiments to me).

Time will tell - but I sure do miss her! They just pulled one off the truck identical to mine except for the solid black interior...might have to suggest they give me that one :-)

Time will tell - but I sure do miss her! They just pulled one off the truck identical to mine except for the solid black interior...might have to suggest they give me that one :-) [/B][/QUOTE]

I would, plus get some comps.:)

Hey wildwhl,
thanks for the update. So I guess they only put about 30 miles on it instead of 500 miles huh ??? :D

Let us know what happens tomorrow, keep us in the loop. I'm sure you'll get your baby back soon. Good Luck !

Update: Wednesday evening.

OK, so they tested the 5th and 6th ports, if you will, and claim they are working correctly (so says the ECU through the scantool port or?). They're stumped, and are not sure when they will no more as of 5:00 today.

I decided to write a short letter to the owner of the car lot. I'll post letter and resonse, if interested, tomorrow. I need answers. They have my car and can't give me any, and quite frankly, I'm disturbed. Yes, those of you who chose to wait for later allocations are smiling right now...but...I still think from what I've experienced that the problem lies in the "tertiary" ports opening and/or fuel delivery around that rpm range.

So no new good news, no car, and tonight, no Ducati. Had to haul stuff home for my wife and the now visiting mom-in-law. Had the joy of driving our sorely beatup '86 Toyota delivery van - no a/c and certainly no power...but better than walking I suppose :-)

I have some good news to report today. No, the car is not fixed, however, I just received a call from Terry Peterson, owner of Reno Mazda, and he said he is gassing, washing, and installing my car seat in his red RX8 and will have it delivered to my office as my loaner this morning. I am thoroughly impressed (had to make sure it wasn't April 1st) at his prompt response to my letter sent to his office last night that Andy, the general sales manager left for him on his desk this morning. The letter follows below - but I want to post kudos here to Reno Mazda for the loaner car solution.

<Attn: Reno Mazda
RE: Black RX8 going on day 3 in service - Mazda case number 210xxx

Gentlemen -

Each of you are aware of the situation with the black RX8 I purchased from your establishment July 30th. You are also aware that said vehicle has been in the service department, with no real diagnosis of problem or eta of resolution since Monday 8/11/03 this week, some 12 days and 774 short miles after taking delivery. Your staff has already admitted they do not know what is wrong and are at a loss as how to proceed, save for waiting for corporate Mazda's directions.

My question for you is this: When will my vehicle be returned to me repaired, or replaced. Being that the vehicle is brand new and that I paid full price I would expect prompt resolution of this matter. Does Mazda USA care about the early reliability reputation of this "flagship" release? I recognize you may feel that your technicians are doing what they can, however, that doesn't change the fact that my money (aka vehicle) is tied up in your service bay. How many days will you attempt to repair this vehicle before your conscience indicates that the right thing to do is simply replace it? I'm not threatening any legal action here, only questioning what each of you, most especially you, Terry, as the owner, feels is the RIGHT thing to do?

What do you feel is a reasonable amount of time for you to have my brand new property tied up in service before I lose faith in its reliability?

I know you have a vehicle loaner program. Can you loan me a vehicle of equal or greater value and performance, if not, what's the purpose? I didn't purchase basic transportation, but instead a sports car. Terry, do you have an RX8? How about loaning me that while you have mine? A lesser product (aka Chrysler rental as suggested) would only add insult to injury at this point in time. I purchased Mazda's flagship at a flagship price and expect to drive the same each day - nothing less. I noticed a nearly identical RX-8 delivered today, albeit with different interior color, as well as two others on the lot. Might you offer me one of those vehicles as a "loaner" in the meantime while your staff seeks resolution?

We all know how disastrous bad press on a newly released vehicle such as this can be for sales. However, as each of my vendors, customers, coworkers, family and friends keep asking me how I like the car, what can I answer other than it is already in need of repairs with no eta of completion or even diagnosis for resolution? I've learned dearly that word of mouth is the most valuable advertising for any business, most notably in small cities such as Reno.

Terry, if I have your name correct, as the owner of Reno Mazda Kia I would greatly appreciate a phone call from you to share your thoughts directly.

Warmest regards,

wildwhl>

Now, the car isn't actually here yet...but I suspect it will be shortly.

Again, I'm impressed, and want to personally thank Terry here for this temporary solution. I still have mixed feelings about the service department staff - though the mechanic(s) seem well skilled and polite. At least I'll be enjoying some more time in the sweetness of an 8 while mine is diagnosed and repaired.

UPDATE
They just dropped it off...19 miles, brand new, red with rotary accent package. I THOUGHT I was in love with the black...but the metallic in this red is pretty darn sweet too. I'm outta here for a few hours!

How terribly disconcerting. Please keep us advised as to diagnosis and the solution. I hope this isn't a soon to be common problem!!

The little flakes in the Red are sweet, aren't they? Tell Terry to keep the black one and you'll call it even.

Well at least you don't have to drive a Chrysler product. I like the way they have temporarily solved your situation. All the best in getting a quick resolution.

I'm guessing it's some sensor glitch that is probably related to just this car. Power surges can DEFINITLY be affected by the MAF (Mass airflow sensor) that sits behind the airbox. Probably something simple.

Cool that the factory rep / regional guy is checking into this. Mazda's tested the heck out of this car and defintily wants to find any "assembly line" bugs that didn't appear on the hand built models.

The Red RX8 feels faster/smoother

then my car ever did, from day one. Just returned from a 30+ mile test drive in it and quite frankly, from day one my black car I could feel a dip at 6,200ish and again about 8,000ish rpms (OK, I didn't hit 8,000 rpms until about 500 miles or so). This car is smooth everywhere (though I'm trying to be easy on it, I couldn't resist checking to see if I've been missing something - I'm convinced I have).

Certainly, this issue will be an isolated one - and hopefully for the rest of you only to this case.

Just going with the butt dyno I'm guessing this car has more power - possibly substantially more (15%?) - than the one I purchased. I'd attribute this to whatever defect has taken her into the shop at this point being there since day one - but coming on gradually such that I didn't really notice it (well, I did, but thought it was just tight breakin stuff) until it was severe. The red8 has quite smooth power delivery all the way up with a nice little rush around the top - like I had EXPECTED my car to...but it's been 20 years since I drove a rotary powered car (RX2 my first ever vehicle) and just figured it was still a green engine...

Anyway, I'm headed out to drive my wife and mom'n'law around town for a few hours...yes, I'm looking for any excuse to be driving and not stuck at my desk! I'll have my wife drive the car and see if she thinks it feels any different...though she has a fear of high rpms (she jams the throttle in her Maxima but always backs off about 5K for some reason - must be the old Honda in her :-)

dude I feel for you and hope all goes well. If they can't fix it demand a replacement! And get the red my friend with the red n black interior. feels like you're in a roller coaster.

best of luck!

Well, heard from the dealer today. It has now been a week and a half. They claim that Mazda is flying in a "flight recorder" to hook up to the car for tomorrow. This will allow the mechanic to drive the card and record some 24 minutes of diagnostic data while it malfunctions. This "flight recorder" will then be shipped back, overnight to the "engineers" for analysis. Their current eta is at least a week and likely 2-3 weeks before they have figured out the problem, much less repaired it.

A question for those in the know of my legal rights here. I took ownership of the car on July 30th and it went into service on August 11th. How many days do they get it before the lemon law or some other buyers rights take place forcing them to either replace the vehicle or refund the purchase price? Anyone know for certain (no speculation please, I need hard facts here).

Thanks,

Bill

When you bought the car if your state has a lemon law you would have received (and signed that you received) all the lemon law information. Look through your paperwork or check with your local Consumer affairs office. Only someone from your state will be able to give you exact information for you and you most likely already have it or can find it easier than waiting for someone here to stop bye.

Nevada has the weakest lemons law? :eek: According to this article a year ago,
http://www.autosafety.org/article.php?scid=109&did=681

I think in your case an rx-8 loaner car is in order :)

Vaughnc -

Actually, I've been driving a red RX8 identical to mine ('cept it runs better) since last week as a loaner. Dealer's been quite good on this issue to that regard. Fact is, I'd just as well take this car as a replacement.

Bill

I believe he reported that while driving a fair distance, and with the car good and warmed up, he got an oil light.

I think it is fair to say they are trying to reproduce the conditions when it happened.

How else would you suggest they do that??

I'm having the same issue with my 8 but not all the time. At a little over 6000 rpm it loses power severly and it just won't accelerate, kinda feels like a clogged fuel injector. This has only happended a couple times but I can always feel a little dip at that rpm it's just a couple of times it was really bad. wildwhl do you have any updates

At this point I would suggest you ask for and contact BOTH the regional sales manager and the national sales manager. Odds are they are already aware of the issues you have been having. I would support the local Mazda owner in your comments but appeal to reason and fairness concerning the continuing use of the red RX8. A subtle mention of your attorney interest and the web address for this thread would add support.

Enough is enough, I say. You have certainly been patient as well as calm concerning what has happened and your experience. Time to take action.

Offdaheeze -

This is exactly how mine started out - and it will only get worse. I HIGHLY recommend you get your car into the service department pronto. I would take printed out copies of this thread with you and demand a loaner at drop off. I am suspecting due to some other emails I've had, and the fact that I've noticed a similar, albeit much more minor, situation in the red loaner, that this will be a common problem with our 8's (sorry to say). I hope I am wrong here, but quite frankly, when I leave for a roadtrip next weekend, will NOT be taking the red loaner for fear of it failing me somewhere on the CA coast.

I have left messages for the sales manager and owner yesterday to contact me about a permanent swap for this car. Fortunately, I had not even registered the black car. I did get the windows tinted and it looks quite good - but my wife likes the red, plus it runs the way I believe they should (save for the hesitations felt at 6,200 rpm and about 7,500 rpm or so).

I'll keep you all posted here. One other note, a few responses up in this thread I indicated that I had misread the milage on the odometer - it had been switched to kph and therefore they had really only put about 30 miles on the car as of last Wednesday.

Wasy -

Well said. Thanks for the advice. I'm sure some more of the story will unravel this morning.

Just for fun when I picked up my car last Monday I looked at the Sentry Mazda (Northborough, MA) service manager and said,

"I guess there is no reason to be concerned about bugs in the new release..."

He just rolled his eyes and looked at the ceiling as if to infer that that is EXACTLY what he was expecting, but perhaps I was just reading too much into it.

We'll see.

UPDATE 8/28/03

Little long, but here's the update.

Yesterday I received a call from the service manager who informed me that two engineers from Mazda Japan had been here for two days and could not recreate the problem I had been having. He asked if I would be willing to take them on a ride and try to make it happen.

I did. It didn't.

I drove the piss out of the car and it never once pulled the antics that it had been for the last two weeks in service above or at 6,200 rpm. The engineer that rode along with me had a laptop strapped into the passenger seat and it was monitoring/recording everything as we drove. We broke several laws in an attempt to recreate this problem - but it appears to be gone (oil light problem still exists). There are now about 1100 miles on the car, so about 300 have been from the service department's test drives.

After about 40 minutes I gave up. I couldn't make it happen so whatever it was must have been (inadvertently) fixed. The "guess" at this point in time was a poor electrical on one of the engine harness plugs - but no one is sure. Of course, since the fellows from Japan didn't experience the problem for themselves, I'm under the impression they think it didn't ever exist and it was just us "dumb americans" though they didn't exactly say that. They were quite nice actually - but a little arrogant maybe?

Anyway, I asked if I could have my car back (about noon yesterday) and they said sure, we'll button it up and you can pick it up later today. That was followed by a phone call at about 4:30 p.m. yesterday stating that since they hadn't addressed the oil light problem yet, they would need it for another one to two weeks. I replied enough is enough.

I called the consumer compliance line this morning and insisted they fax me the letter and laundry list of documents I must supply in order to start the buyback procedure. They are leaving today via FedEx priority overnight. I have a scan of the form I'll email anyone if interested, but since it was scanned from a fax it is hard to read.

I'll continue to post my progress here as well as to watch this forum for further updates. Thanks to all the members who have assisted with my issues - and I wish all of you the best of luck with your 8's. My "try to scare the crap out of the 29 y.o. Mazda engineer test drive" yesterday was an eye opener - these cars handle amazingly well and haul ass once rolling. Off the line, no (unless you drop at 8K) but up a twisty mountain road and you own the corners.

Why on earth would you bother going through something like that??? It will be far, far quicker and easier to just return the RX-8 under the HP resolution terms (you know, the $500 and free service or Mazda buys back the car) deal. Sign one letter and your done, no fighting with state officials and lemon law nonsense. I recall one person trying to get a lemon law return spent nearly a year trying to get it resolved.

My advice - pull the plug quickly and now on the consumer compliance letter and laundry list procedure, and just let Mazda buy it back plain and simple.

Point of interest - in lemon law buy backs, IIRC you typically have a deduction for the use you had of the vehicle (X miles, X months, etc) - you don't get the full price back. Mazda is offering to buy your car back for full price!!

Regards,
Gordon

PS - I drove through Reno last week - on the return leg of a roadtrip in my RX-8 from Calgary, Alberta, to Monterey, CA. About 4000 miles round trip, absolutely no problems with the car the entire time.

I just wanted to add a comment that the limp home mode on the FD3S only cut the boost levels from the turbos, which would explain why wildwhl's 1.8T had the same feature. I can't remember the exact PSI that boost was dropped to (it may have been cut entirely) but I'm pretty sure that's what happened.

Well I took my car in because I am having trouble downshifting from 5th to 4th and I mentioned the issues that I had with loss of power and acceleration at 6000 rpm, the GM told me that if this was a problem specific to my car the he would give me a new RX-8.

If I did take the option of a new car I would forfeit the $500 and free maitenance, this would probably be better for the dealer and Mazda as they could sell my old RX-8, probably for what I paid for it, and not have to give up the free maitenance and $500.

Anyhow I have not had any issues with acceleration recently and It's actually starting to feel faster, I am begining to think it's a break in issue and the more you rev it to 9000 the faster and more broken in the engine gets. The dips in the power band are starting to be less noticeable.

Actually, didn't mean to mislead anyone here. I AM doing the HP buyback -not a lemone law issue. Sorry if my post read differently.

I had mine on pre-order from Carson City Mazda. Picked it up July 22nd. Silver 6MT GT with Nav. Too bad I haven't seen you around town (in your black or the red loaner). That sucks about your 8. I haven't noticed any problems at the top end with mine. Are you going to rebuy an 8 after you sell that one back or did Reno Mazda scare you from the 8?

VIN, engine #
 

what is the VIN (last 5 digits at least) of both your blk car and the loander, and what are each engine's numbers? It likely doesn't fall into any sort of sequential pattern but it doesn't hurt to try to find out what the numbers are. My Red seems to run great, but IMHO more like 210HP great,not 238HP great. Don't seem to have any dips that I can feel although a computer may reflect some. Thanks!
my VIN ends in 01129 and I think my engine code is 36588 or very close to that.
[edit] -mine is actually 361688 (engine #)

The black car ended in 05067 (don't know engine number) and the red car 05235.

Got the car back!

Scratches on top of the front fenders and all! Finally, after quite a few phone calls, the dealer released the black RX8 back to me today (they placed 342 miles on it while in service for those interested). The oil pan was replaced (and has been now on several of the 8's in their inventory) but nothing was ever diagnosed to the problem of the power cutting out (severely) as described in my original post. The car seems to run quite well for the 20 miles I drove it this a.m.

So, for me, I'll still participate in the buyback becasue:

1) still not confident that this vehicle is "fixed"
2) I paid too much (over MSRP)
3) 342 miles by the service department
4) scratches in front fender
5) Bad taste in my mouth

Still the the 8 is a great vehicle...but my experience leads me to believe it will be even a better value in a year. I'll still be lurking around here, watching what happens with the aftermarket as well as your experiences. Good luck all.

If your going to get your money back, may I suggest the Mazdaspeed RX-8 when it's released :)

It sucks you had bad experiences, but I'm grateful that the vast majority of owners are having good experiences.

Now if someone would just release the 150 and 175HP maps for the RX-8 ECU :)

I certainly do not blame you for wanting to opt for the buy-back. I would order a new red RX8 (like the loaner they gave you that you liked so much)....

Have you called the Mazda 800 number to discuss the buy-back? I, for one, would be very interested in what they have to say to you in a future post.

It really sucks that you got some bum RX-8's and you had to go through the service issue. You should do the buyback offer.

Then I can still say I have the first AND only one in Reno. :D

Wild...

Too bad about your car: I would be extremely disapppointed were I in your position. I just wanted to add that I appreciate how level-headed and non-judgemental your posts were as you went through this process. It seems that given your experience you have made the only logical decision. In spite of it all, you have even left the door open to try again in a year or so!

Congratulations for being impartial and honest during what was a truly crappy consumer experience. For my part I hope you have much better luck with whatever you purchase in the future... especially if you decide to give the 8 another chance!