Roxxi

mscamp02

iTrader: (3)

the used 4 port auto is not powerful it produces just 200 hp (give or take), go with the 6 speed 6 port or a later modeled 6 speed auto 6 port.

as for the advice you seek it has been discussed 1 million times so just use the advanced search function to find what you need

lilring

iTrader: (11)

Just get what you want. 4 speed auto isnt bad.. Just make sure recalls are done on it. one more thing.. have fun with it

mscamp02

iTrader: (3)

^yeah its still an excellent car

Roxxi

Wasn't the 6 speed only made around 2007 or something though? I didn't consider it because I want an 04 or 05.

Thanks though And yes, if I have to get myself stuck in a job I'll eventually hate to pay for it, I'll definitely have fun with it.

rodjonathan

iTrader: (6)

i have an 04 and havent had any issues just maintain it well and make sure the recalls are done and you should be fine

CarAndDriver

Since you already have such preconceived notions about the rotary and you obviously haven't searched....do everyone a favor and buy a Corolla.

Atilla

iTrader: (1)

the 6 speed auto's started in 2006. It also comes with another oil cooler and a lil' more hp.

There's quite a bit to be learned about this vehicle but nothing too outrageous unless you're looking into modifications outside of the cosmetic ones. Best thing to start doing is checkin' out the FAQ's and then move onto regular maintenance threads. From there, our search function is badass - it'll give you super powers like common sense and problem solving skills. Think it's a joke? Ask some of the n00bs that got burned on their first time starting a thread Half the questions they asked could've easily been answered by a quick 2 minute search.

It also helps if you know some folks in the local area (i.e. attending a meet or something) and asking questions there. It worked for me

anyways, good luck in your research - hope you find your way into the rotary world

Roxxi

I did search. Here, and a lot of other sites on the world wide web. But it's going to be mixed reviews everywhere. I'm starting to believe it's just luck or something. But anyway, sometimes I have to make sure about making sure. Hence, this thread.

And I'm not a fan of Toyota. I like the mr2. But no corolla.

Roxxi

And I'm not sure asking locals would help a lot. Maybe if I went to SA, but where I live, there's maybe 5 8's. Around the same number of rx-7's along with another handful of non running ones.


Nope, most of the locals here are noobs just like me :/

Charles R. Hill

iTrader: (7)

I would be happy to give you some insight about your preferences and how you might most enjoy your RX-8, no matter which one you chose.

Roxxi

That would be greatly appreciated

Charles R. Hill

iTrader: (7)

PM me and we'll chat about it. I have some out-of-town work (on a supercharged 4-port A/T) so my responses may be delayed but we can discuss your expectations.

05TouringRX8

Roxxi, searches are helpful and I have no problem with it being recommended. I don't care for people being an *** about it though. But, what can I do...

Anyway, I have a 4 spd auto 05 RX8 I bought last May (I think it was). I was looking for the same things it sounds like you are because the car was for my daughter who didn't want to deal with a stick. The manual is more powerful and there is no getting around that but the auto still holds its own without being what I'd call scary-fast when it comes to my teenage daughter. It's still a blast to drive and you probably wouldn't know what you were missing if you never drive the manual version. I would suggest searching for individual sellers, on autotrader.com or something, who have taken care of the car. I know it's not always true but, in my search, it seemed every used car dealer 8 I found had a questionable or, at best, unknown history. Do yourself a favor and sign up for an unlimited use Carfax or Vincheck service and run every VIN you find for sale before you even talk seriously with the seller about buying it. I used Vincheck. I signed up for it through nadaguides.com and I could run as many VINs as I wanted for 90 days. I found many clean looking 8's that turned out to have bad histories. I expanded my autotrader search out to a 300 mile radius and found quite a few that we liked for sale. Most had the VINs listed in the ads so I could run them without even contacting the seller first. Then, when they passed the VINs, the next thing I asked the seller for was a service history as well as talking to them about the cars trying to read between the lines of what they said. We finally settled on our whitewater pearl auto 8, 2005 model. It was so clean it didn't look like it had ever even been driven in the rain. It had low miles and the most detailed service history I've evern seen or kept myself. It was garage kept. I also called Mazda with the VIN and made sure all of the service bulletins or recalls had been done and done in a timely manner, and they were. So, I bought the car and we love it. Good luck in your search. Feel free to pm if you have any specific questions about the 4 spd. 8.

kersh4w

iTrader: (3)

if you're going to get an auto, get a 2006. it might be a bit more, but imo, it will be worth it. i agree with the above statement, that if you never drive the manual you will not know the difference and thus not care. i drove an 04 auto and an 05 manual. even with my 200lb friend in the passengers seat (the former drive of that 04, he sold it) he commented on how much faster the manual was. that said, not everyone buys cars for speed. you could be buying the car just cause it looks cool and its fun to drive. which are perfectly valid reasons. (i bought the car for the those reasons.) i did get the manual cause it was faster though.

and no issues with the engine. *knock on wood.*

you are going to enjoy this car. nice for pointing out the mr2, it seems you like drivers cars.

SA? you mean san antonio? there are quite a few members that know a thing or two from there.

also i would REALLY encourage you to buy an rx8 that is listed in the rx8s for sale section on here. they are usually really good deals and very well taken care of cars.

stevenmu

I bought mine less than a week ago, and I'm delighted with it. The way I look at is that buying any car is a compromise of sorts, so I listed out the pros and cons and went from there. For me at least they were:

Pros:

• It's a fast car
• Technically a small engine which means low road tax (here in Ireland at least)
• Great handling (lots of narrow winding roads here)
• Fantastic drivers car, great combination of handling and engine, lots of fun to drive
• Unique. There's not many about and the rotary engine is something special
• High spec level and comfortable interior (leather seats, auto-climate, electric everything), particularly for the cost of the car.
• Stunning looks

Cons:

• Low gas mileage, 24mpg at best (I do low mileage so not a big factor for me)
• Needs a little extra TLC (but this only amounts to checking oil level every 2 fill-ups, revving it hard occasionally to burn of carbon, and not stopping the engine until it's warm)

There are a lot of negative rumours about the car which do seem to lead to some of the bad "reviews". People complain that it uses a lot of oil, but it does this by design, as opposed to a lot of cars which use almost as much anyway but not by design. People complain that they're not reliable, but if given the extra little TLC mentioned above they seem to actually be very reliable, and the extra TLC isn't really that much it's only a minute or two every now and then, and really it's all stuff that you should really do with any car anyway.

I think a large part of the problems are caused by people buying one without any idea of what they are and then not looking after them correctly. But with a little bit of research and tiny bit of care they are a fantastic car to own and drive (and stare out the window at).

volcomx31

iTrader: (4)

get an 06+, more reliable.

Bigbacon

iTrader: (4)

If she wasn't a she (or we are assuming by the name she is a she), you guys would be all over that "I want an AT because I suck at MT."

I will say got with an 06+, you'll still have LOADS of fun with an AT and the manu-matic in them is much snappier that most other cars that have it. (least out of the other 8 cars I've driven that have it)

mesaboogie

iTrader: (1)

No matter what you buy, you're going to love the car either way. I would say buy the manual only because once you get the hang of driving it, you'll wonder how you ever liked driving automatics. From my personal experiences after owning a manual rx8, I now hate driving automatics. They've become just so boring. Also, on the RX8 you have to push down on the shifter in order to put the car into reverse so you don't really have to worry about doing it on accident. I know you'll be happy regardless of which one you buy. But I think you'll be happier with a manual in the long run. It'll give you a greater appreciation for the car and what it can do. And in all honesty, you'll be comfortable driving a manual after the first month or so of driving it everyday. Just my $0.02.

EDZRIDE

iTrader: (1)

I disagree; no problems with my '05.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

I'd be more scared of accidently reversing in an auto than a manual, especially since the reverse is next to 6th gear for a manual, so it's either reverse or stall. Nothing up next to 1st to confuse it with. 2009+ changed I believe, where reverse gear is next to 1st. I'd recommend getting comfortable with a manual transmission, as you apparently like driver's cars, and MT just involves you so much more (but that's preference obviously)


If you have any claim to be a car enthusiast, even a minor one, then be prepared to buy one after you test drive it. However, the people that end up hating it are the people that aren't prepared for ownership. This isn't a piston engine, and while it's care isn't really any more than a piston car, it is different in several ways.

Going into ownership, you have to understand:
- You will get perceived "low mileage" for the engine size, but average mileage compared to other sports cars, and there are a number of issues which can cause your mileage to plummet from 18-22, down as far as 9, including coils, plugs, wires, MAF, air filter, and a heavy right foot. The last one I see as a price I pay for fun, similar to how my wife spends money on movie tickets. Mine's just interactive.
- Your coils/plugs/wires will need to be replaced at least every 30,000 miles, possibly more. Ignoring this leads to a noticeable drop in power and in mileage, rougher idle and power delivery, check engine lights, misfires, etc...
- Dealers will try to charge you for the moon when you can do everything short of replacing an engine yourself, and that doesn't even seem that hard. They really made this car easy to work on. Ignore that, and expect to have the cost of everything be 4 to 8 times more at the dealer.
- Your catalytic converter probably won't last to 80,000 miles. If it does, be happy. If you run richer than normal, you are dumping too much fuel through it, if you lean out the fuel trims, you run hotter than normal and can cook it. These car's aren't made for having cats on them, so they don't get along too well.
- Your engine might die, it might not. The rate of failure does seem to be more than for piston engine cars. If it dies before 100,000 miles, you get a free engine on Mazda. Otherwise you are out of pocket, although rebuilding our engine is quite a bit cheaper than rebuilding a piston engine. Several vendors on here can do it for $1k to $3k, depending on how it dies and what needs to be replaced. Purchasing a rebuilt engine is near the high end of that. If you are over 100k miles, I recommend keeping that much saved up as a just-in-case. If you don't have car payments by then, then take the payment you would have had and dump it into savings every month to build that up.
- The engine burns oil (as mentioned). You need to top it off at least once between oil changes. The accepted average is roughly 1.5 quarts burned over 3,000 miles. I add a quart at 1,500 miles and I stay fine. If you burn less than this, be very worried for the engine. If you burn more than this, then look for a reflash or aftermarket ECU mod that increased it. This isn't really a bad thing. Some people are 4 times the stock volume.

There are a variety of other minor things to consider, but nothing 'rotary' specific, like taillight condensation, visor joints breaking, etc...



Drive a few 8s before you buy one, so you can get a pretty good idea of what a healthy one feels like. Don't make the mistake of buying an unhealthy 8 and not realizing that something is wrong because you don't know the difference. And don't assume that just because a dealer sells it that it is healthy. Even Mazda dealers forget about the coils (it isn't a listed maintenance item), non-Mazda dealers have no chance at knowing if anything is wrong.






Terminology used can make this confusing. "Power", as in "Horsepower", is lower for the automatics than the manuals, because of the lower redline. from 0 to 7,000 RPM, they both provide approximately the same amount of torque, the pressure you feel when accelerating (ignoring gear ratio differences). Just the manual provides that for longer in a given gear, thus more horsepower, better longer distance acceleration, and higher top end.


RX8Club.com is the only site that has any business reviewing the 8, and even here the reviews can certainly be called "mixed"

Most magazines and websites have never driven one, and are only reporting on the numbers and how 'lame' they believe the numbers to be. Then there are a few places that drive the 8, but don't know that it's different, don't know that they need to shift high, and inevitably through in the 'no low end torque and terrible mileage' (like anyone sane buys a sports car for mileage). The few places that drive them like they were designed to be driven give them outstanding reviews time and time again, and even a fe wmonths ago one of Motor Trend's comparison lineups had the 8 place 3rd of 8(?) among sports cars, even though it was the lowest power and oldest of the cars.



If you aren't an enthusiast, then the only reason to buy this car is the looks, and you are in for a massive shock when you run into issues.


If you are an enthusiast, then ignore the numbers and drive one. You will see that the numbers don't matter anyway.


The 8 was my dream car before I bought it. And 2 years 2 months and 25 days of ownership, 45,000 miles (including in my 3rd winter in New England), and it is still my dream car. There is no production car I would take over the 8 for a daily driver, in any road situation. No matter how bad it gets, driving something else other than the 8 would make it worse.

And when it's good....my oh my is it good.

05TouringRX8

Even you aren't even sure "she" is a she and frankly it doesn't matter. I totally understand the reasoning for the AT vs. the MT because I went through the same thing and I'm here to tell her the AT, 05 is plenty fun to drive still.

It seems that some, not all, but some around here need to talk everyone else into buying a MT to validate themselves as owners of MT's. Give her the information and let her decide for herself.

Roxxi

Wow, well thanks everyone for their input. Test driving one might take a lil bit. As I mentioned earlier, I live in Laredo and there are only a handful of the RX family here. I'm not even sure if there is a Mazda dealership here :/ If there is, I think you'd have to ask them to bring an 8 to you. But also, San Antonio's only two hours away, maybe half that if you drive fast enough. I'll take mesaboogie's advice and try driving a manual one though The only cars I've ever driven stick in were my boyfriend's 97 Prelude and a 91 MR2. I learned: heavy foot = peeling out. I still can't get the hang of it but I guess I should just practice more. I'm not worried much about the mileage. Any car I want, 8 or no 8, isn't very convenient when it comes to that. If and when I do get one (hopefully) I'll make sure to keep in mind the extra tlc. Meanwhile, I envy your 8's >: )

Roxxi

I am she.


By the way.

05TouringRX8

An article I read when researching my 8 said it best. To paraphrase - The MT and AT are basically 2 different cars that look the same. Both fun to drive in their own right but not comparable in several ways. Frankly, I'm tired of feeling like the redheaded stepchild around here just because my 8 has AT.