Reminds me of:

Agent: "Alright. We have a blue Ford Escort (Chevy Aveo) for you Mr. Seinfeld. Would you
like insurance?"

Jerry: "Yeah, you better give me the insurance, because I am gonna beat the hell
out of this car."

I got a '05 Corolla while the recall was performed. It wasn't that bad from the inside-very upscale looking for a Corolla. It felt roomy, more like a Camry. When I stepped out of the thing I realized it was a very stubby, tall car.

I forgot how different a front-wheel-drive car feels and the donuts they called tires howled in agony when I cornered at any speed. They only plus side was that I never saw the gas gauge move the whole time I had it.

 

**** that sux.
But since its a loaner they might have programmed it on purpose to go slow.
I remember when I went to vegas about 8 years ago they gave us a pontiac sunfire as our rental car. It was the slowest piece of **** I had ever driven.
Then my friend had bought one a year later and it had decent acceleration.
Which leadsme to conclude rental agencies purposefully program their cars not to go fast.

 

Got my car back this afternoon.

6000 rpm buzzrattle -- "Cannot reproduce." Even after the service writer ragged my car pretty good. Hmmm.. maybe he's deaf.

Sunroof rattle -- "Cannot reproduce" Granted, it is a hot day, and it rattles when cold.. or he's deaf.

Stalling after fillup -- "Cannot reproduce, don't top it off, oh and we didn't put any gas in it" O.o (There's no way you can reproduce this writeup WITHOUT filling the tank..oy.)

Airbag rattle -- fixed. "Repositioned airbag"

I'm going to another dealer next time. I'm done with this one. The service writer knows as much about cars as I do about the mating rituals of the Elbonian Three-Colored Peacock.

At least the BIG rattle, the one that made the car feel like a cheap piece of tin, is fixed. I can live with the rest. For now, anyway.

And that Aveo? I pity the poor fool that gets stuck with it. It's borderline dangerous in an interstate or toll road.

 

The 6000 RPM rattle you get (7500 in my case) should happen consistently while you're in gear.

 

Not every time, but very often. I'd say 85% of the time I go past 6k it rattles till I'm over 7.

Like I said.. the man's deaf. Gotta be.

I've tuned it out. Friend of mine commented it sounds like a BOV almost.

Doesn't seem to be hurting the car any (20,000 miles in one year) , so I'm cool for now. Let's see what a more aurally acute dealer can do with it.

 

Mine comes 100% time. I can cruise at 7500 and it won't go away.

Here on the forums, a lot of people have been saying it's a bad cat

 

I wonder if we're talking about the same thing. Mine sounds like metal-on-metal, like an actuator rod fitting in a too-large-hole on a cam (to flip open a valve or something).

It's sharp, it's metallic, it goes "zzzing!" as the clock winds up on its way to redline, in a very narrow range, around 6000 to 7000 rpms.. somewhere in there.

I don't know if it holds steady -- I can't think of any time I'll hold the engine at high rpms. Never tried it.

My conjecture is: It's the actuator for the auxiliary intake ports. Or the ports themselves. They're the one thing that opens at that RPM range. (That I know of.. my basic Renesis 101 is kinda rusty right now.)

Then again, the miata taught me Mazda rattles are like no other.. what I thought was coming from the instrument cluster (at 3500 rpm) was actually a loose heatshield on the exhaust manifold.. go fig... another bizarre one was one that sounded like it came from the windshield.. the grease on the hood latch had left long ago.. replenished it, and all was good.

This 6500 one has me marginally worried because of how high in the RPM range it is. The car pulls well, it has the performance it should, so I conclude all the auxiliary ports and whatnots are doing their jobs.

Here's hoping we never get to hear the infamous "cricket" squeal like the Miata had -- take apart clutch, forget to grease release fork.. instant cricket.

 

Same sound, I've seen other forum members say the exact same thing as you have. The only difference with mine is that the range is only 7000-8000 rpms instead of 6k-7k. No power loss, no CEL, just that metallic rattle (marbles in a blender is one metaphor).

 

^^^^ i completely agree with the marbles sound, 7 - 8000 rpms and with the windows down.

 

well bring on the flames:

i work for enterprise (and am quite familior with the aveo) and yes a lot of the time dealership customers get stuck with something inferior to what they have. in the case of mazda (at least around here - every area is different) they prefer their customers to have ford vehicles like a focus, tarus, 500, or one of the suvs. mazda pays the same ammount whether you get the aveo or the explorer - it just depends on what the rental branch has availible at the time. there are a few things you can do to get a better car though:
1. call the enterprise the dealer uses before (preferibly 2 days before) you take your car in and make a reservation. tell them the class you want (WE CANNOT GUARENTEE A SPECIFIC CAR) and they'll put in your prefrence and try to get it for you - unless you're a complete ******* on the phone.
2. and you all may not like this one, but offer to pay a difference. you'd be suprized at what may become avilible for $5 a day on top of what mazda is paying. for instance when i take my car in, i'll be driving the mercedes c230 for about $5-$10 a day.
3. you can swap your car out at any other enterprise in the area, so if you don't like what you've got and you'll be in it for a few days, pick up a phone and call around to find something you may want to drive somewhere else. there's always one store that has all the nice cars, and if you catch them on the right day you may get something worth rolling in.

i cannot stress enough how much being nice on the phone can help you. saying stuff like "i drive and rx-8, i should get someting comprable," or "i want a nice car," or anything that starts with "you're supposed to..." will just get you wheels and a radio. just be cool about it and we'll try to work with you.

btw, this post solely reflects the opinion of myself an not that of enterprise, enterprise staff, or anything having to do with enterprise rent-a-car (read please don't get me fired )

 

^^ Dude, no one was ragging on Enterprise. I've used 'em lots, and they give great service. My beef with the Aveo is that Mazda paid only for an Aveo-class car -- when I believe I'm entitled to something a little more.. effective as a sub while my car's out for service.

On the same subject, I'm calling MNAO today. Car's not fixed. Once I got out to the expressway and interstates, the airbag rattle is still there -- reduced, but stll there. I lost 1 total day of work and loss of my car for 1 day, AND had to put up with that POS Korean deathtrap -- for nothing.

I want the entire steering wheel assembly, rim and bag both, replaced. This is BS and I'm not gonna take it. This is not some entry-level car, this is supposed to be mazda's pride and joy. I paid premium money for it, I expect premium service in return. My dealer, however, is a textbook example of how to **** off your customer. Sales (thieves), service (incompetent or at the very least badly managed) and facilities (waiting room? yeah, right.) are simply inadequate. I've had it with 'em.

 

Had my car in for service this week. Enterprise put me in a 2005 sebring. It's was better than a micro car ( 4 door 2.7 V6 1700 miles ) but for having ~200 hp it felt SLOW I missed my RX8. the car had no pickup at all. made lots of noise if you floored it but went nowwhere... but much better than a POS aveo.

I gotta go back and get them to finish fixing my car, the ordered parts, so I'll let you all know what I can put into this time.

 

I've seen that on mine and it was bad gas... fill up at a diffrent gas station.

 

Does it with any gas I use -- Shell, Chevron, Texaco -- doesn't matter, at least in my case.

Just fired off an email to MNAO, will call service manager later (which is useless, but at least I'll burn up some of *his* time, instead of me *losing* time at his shop.)

 

sory dude, so many people here bag on enterprise that i finally had to say something. i still haven't had to take my 8 in for service yet, but i know the mazda dealers we have pay something like $30 a day for whatever car. you probably got the aveo because that's all they could spare to give you at the time, but i'm only looking at it from my pov. on another note here's a quick ranking of cars worth driving at enterprise from luxury to economy:
c230>volvo s40>maxima>camry>300>charger>500>mazda 6>altima>sonata>mazda 3>cobalt>lancer>sentra>neon>rio (new)>aveo>rio (old)

 

As for your rattle in the sunroof, is it a rattle, or is the creaking noise when you turn? There is a fix in the DIY forum for the sunroof if you look for it. Just has to do with greasing some of the parts - which I still need to do myself. It's embarrasing driving your car with the sunroof down, and you hear this big ol' creak.

 

Rattle. A quiet rattle, at that. No creaks. Does it more when it is a cool / cold day. Even on a hot day you'll hear it a little. Closing the shade will mask it. Only happens when the sunroof is closed -- tilt it or open it, and it goes away.

 

The sound you guys are desrcibing is more than likely the intake ports operating. It makes the exact sound you mentioned and is perfectly normal. They typically occur around (these are approximations) 3-3.5, 5.2-6, and 7.5K rpm ranges. Pop down to the tech forum and do a quick search for more details or further your own detective work. Good luck
Jeremiah

 

That's what I'm thinking, but at the same time I don't get it at anywhere but at 6.5 or so, in a very narrow RPM range. LIke a loose c-clip or something along those lines. Something small and light is what it sounds like. That narrows it down to what.. the 2ndry intake ports? My renesis 101 is rusty right now

 

How is it normal if we are one of the very few who get the noise?

 

I have the same issue. The metallic rattle sound at axactly 6k rpm that lasts through maybe 6.5k. It happens all the time, regardless of the weather, the brand of gas, ..... I'll buy that it may be the secondary intake ports but why do I only hear it with the secondaries and not the primaries and why should I hear this sound at all! It's not the healthiest sounding rattle.

 

Sorry to hear that people are having issues.
But RX-8 being slow.....I would trade my car anyday for a newer RX-8 any day. The thing handles like a dream and I will give someone my 2006 Eclipse GT with premium pkg for a 2005 RX-8 6spd.
I almost bought one at the dealership, but I had identity theft issues.....trying to clear my credit. It would have been only $24500.......

 

damn, every week someone starts a thread about "slow"

 

Sorry you got a crap loaner. My dealer gives out pretty decent loaners, I usually go for the mazda3. I had to take a pontiac sunfire once though and that thing is like being in fisher price my first car on the inside. It was probably one of the worst interiors I have ever seen.

 

You are not alone. (<-- Sounds like an ABC after school special ) You are not the only one, I have it too. In fact many people do. I can only hear the 6ish-k port operation. Sometimes I could hear the 3k operation when I revved the car in neutral before my intake and mid-pipe-sounded much like a whistle. I hear nothing but sweet sounds now!