ave_eddy

First I would like to salute all forum members.

I am from Romania (Europe) and I am willing to buy for myself a Mazda Rx-8. First thing I saw on the internet trying to gather information about this car is this complex forum. By the way, I am sorry if I posted the thread wrong - please move it if it's wrong posted.

Without taking to muck of your time, I would like to know if this car is ok for normal drive, meaning 10000 - 15000 km/ year. I would like to know if it has some major problems and give me a few hints about it - I've heard (don't know how true it is) that the engine is a little bit pretentious, it has special needs comparing to a normal engine. Does the car break a lot in normal use? Is it hard (takes a long time) and expensive to repair?

Any reply or forum link is very helpful me. Thank you!

PS. Sorry for my english - i probably made a lot of mistakes...

Mazurfer

Your English is better than quite a few on this forum, so don't worry about that!

Is the car pretentious? Well, not really in my opinion. The number one thing to remember about this car is to change the oil on a regular basis. That and make sure you check the oil about every second fill up on gas. Don't let it get low, but don't over fill it either.
I would recommend changing it every 5k kilometers(~3k miles).

I also take my car to redline in 2nd and 3rd gear on a daily basis as a way to hopefully keep the carbon deposits down. Oh........I drive my car on a daily basis, so that's not an issue.

This car is no more expensive to repair in the US as compared to any other import, but I'm not sure about Europe????????

I'm a little fanatical about my vehicles anyway, so I guess I would say....................if you are a person that never does anything about the car(including checking the oil) and does no maintenance but just drives it until something breaks, then it's probably not for you.

ave_eddy

Thanks for the advices, it shouldn't be such a bog deal with the oil
I have read about this - the rotary engine consumes more than the normal one.

My first and actual car is a Daewoo Leganza. I take good care of it, and it's a pretty old car (a little bit more than 10 years). Not that good also... I think I have to go to the service about 1 time/ month which is not confortable at all. I really hope that a RX-8 from the end of 2004 won't make so much trouble.

By the way, please give me a website where I can find Mazda RX-8 parts - I saw an interesting offer: http://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/sh...e&pageNumber=1
and I would like to calculate the repair (approx, of course).

Best regards!

To be named later

Whoa.......I would be very cautious about getting an RX8 that has been in an accident like the yellow one you are looking at. The front two headlights are broken and very expensive to replace, there is side rear damage which luckily didn't damage the rear taillight (from what I can see) and you are missing both front oil coolers. On top of that major body work and lots of other repairs.


I would be concerned about finding a mechanic in Romania familiar with rotary engines. The RX8 is not like some typical car where every mechanic and owner can fix it.

As far as parts.....It is easy to find RX8 parts in the US........I would be very concerned about availability of getting these parts in Romania.

Some people would look at this car and say fun project, I would say "nightmare" I would not pay more than a couple thousand US.

To be named later

If I read it right that car is 8.6 euros?
Maybe the Euro to US$ currency exchange is bad, but I get $13.3743 US for that car?

If that is the conversion rate, that would be a bad deal in the US.
Again, that may be a poor reflection on the US$

kersh4w

iTrader: (3)

i salute you too eddy!



www.mazmart.com for parts

8600 euros is a decent deal for that car. but i'll tell you why, its an automatic. eddy, you'll be severely disappointed with the power output of that car. unless you cant drive a stick because of a medical reason, get it with the manual transmission.

with a manual its also easier to clean out the engine with high revs because all you do is downshift.

if you need an automatic, look for one that is 2006 or later. they have the 6 speed automatic. previous year rx8s had a 4 speed automatic.

also, in europe a 5 speed is available. try to avoid that one as well. it has the low power engine.

high power engine: all 6 speed transmissions. 2004-2008 6 speed manual. 2006-2008 6 speed automatic.

low power engine: 2004,2005 4 speed automatic. 5 speed manual.

hope this helps.

To be named later

You really think that is a good deal?

8.6 Euros ($13,374 US) plus.....I dunno.....4.3 Euros (+/- $6,700 US) to repair it = 12.9 euros or about $20,000 US.

$20,000 gets you a nice newer RX8 in the states that hasn't been in a wreck, doesn't need extensive work.

And I agree......get the 6 speed manual!

kersh4w

iTrader: (3)

$20k USA standards. but for euro thats like paying $13k-$14k for a good condition rx8.

the only problem i see is that its an automatic. although it does say 231 PS, so maybe its a 2006 or later.

To be named later

Hmmm......I still don't agree. (Respectfully, of course.)

Yes, like I said, 20K US equates to approx. $12.9 Euros.
And when I was shopping for an RX there were a lot of similar mileage RX8's in the $15K to 18K range, all in good condition.

This is $20K US or $13k-$14k Euro for an RX8 in TERRIBLE condition. I would think that he could get an 8 without all those issues for the same price or slightly higher$.

I don't think eddys only problem will be that it is an AT, I think his main concerns will be the availability of mechanics familiar with the rotary engine. I am lucky...I have two Mazda dealers within 5 miles, and about 6 Mazda dealers total within 20 miles. Finding someone to work on a Mazda in Romania, I would assume would be harder.

Plus, there is the issue of the ability to get parts to restore it. I have the "luxury" of 6 Mazda dealers nearby to get parts, and all these forum vendors based here in the US. eddy may have few dealers to get parts from and have to get parts shipped internationally (expensive) or get them direct from Japan (?). Bottom line is I think it will be much harder for eddy in Romania.

Perhaps that is why this Dutch dealer or body shop is selling it "as is".......maybe they already know parts will be hard to find and expensive, it will be a costly pain in the rear to restore it. I dunno.

ave_eddy

Thank you all for replying, i think I doubled my knowledge about this car in less than 1 hour reading the posts and the forum.

I have a authorized Mazda service at about 120 km which is perfectly. They have some parts on stock, and the others can be brought in about 3-4 weeks, which is not a problem... I think the service issue is solved. However, I hope I won't make too many visits.

I am really confused about your prices... I mean in Europe you cand buy a rx-8 with 192 hp, 5 speed manual gearbox, and too many options (so, one of the cheapest versions) with more than 13000 Euros!! I really think that in Europe the yellow one is Jackpot. But now that you told me about the gearbox, I will take my search to another one.

If you have such low prices in America, please give me a link with a warehouse or something like mobile.de
Maybe I can find a way to get it in Europe - of course if the shipping costs don't ruin the whole deal...

ave_eddy

How much would you think the repair for this one is going to cost (approx of course):
http://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/sh...=8&tabNumber=2

I tried the version of buying a RX- from America, but it's the same thing (same money).

Thank you!

kersh4w

iTrader: (3)

im pretty sure you are looking at about $4,000 (minimum) to fix that in the usa. i dont know how much labor is in romania.

but you are going to need 2 new passenger side doors, a new drivers side fender, and a new front bumper cover. $1000, $600, $200, $400. i dunno, rough guesses. and thats if there is no frame damage. but all the other body panels seem to be lining up well, so thats a good sign. there is also condensation (water) in the taillights, but there is a service bulletin for that and mazda will fix it under warranty.

its a 6MT, and aside from the damage it looks nice. maybe a professional insurance estimator can hop on and give you a real estimate.

ave_eddy

Of, course, I'll to to a local service, but i needed to see if at least it worths asking.

Thank you very much for your advice!

Wish you all the best!

ave_eddy

One last question :-)
Do you think that this one has the chassis broken?
http://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/sh...en&tabNumber=2
I looked at the chassis picture and I just can't figure it out

It looks like a pretty deep crash...

ave_eddy

No one knows? Please help...

neXib

Personally I would never buy a car that has been in an accident unless I was capable of properly fixing it myself. But what you have to understand is that there's a difference in prices in the US and Europe. I'm sure that in Romania they could probably import cars with less tax and fees than I do in Norway, but I'm not sure if it's common there.

But to give you an idea, I'm soon getting a 04 RX-8 imported from the US, it's supposedly in mint condition with 10k miles, probably was 16k USD or something like that give or take. With shipping, import help from a company and fees to get it on a Norwegian plates it's going to be about 65-70k USD. That's still a tad cheaper than buying the car from anyone here unless you get a good deal. The car costs like 130k USD new here though, due to the high CO2 emissions it has got.

Razz1

Read the stickies and don't forget to redline it once a day.

Then you won't have problems.

Get the Access Port when it becomes available for Europe.

kersh4w

iTrader: (3)

for that price why dont you just buy an audi r8 or a porsche 911....

neXib

Because an Audi R8 is 372,000 dollars and a new 911 would be about 200,000 dollars, this isn't USA Also, I prefer to RX-8 to the R8, and only a pretty new 911 would do, but don't have the garage space for it.

kersh4w

iTrader: (3)

holy crap. how much does gas cost over there?

lowest i've seen around here is $4.30/gallon for premium.

Myardor

iTrader: (7)

For some one who is not well versed in English and you throw out the word
PRETENTIOUS.
What you trying to do to the guy, speak/write in simple English words.
Poor guy is looking for his English dictionary.

bose

iTrader: (5)

He used the word first, looks like he reads and writes english better than you.

EDDY you write/speak english quite well, not meant to flame you.

neXib

Our 95 (your 91) is about $9 / gallon (we use litre and norwegian kroner though, so it's an estimate). Our 98 is probably $9.5, but the 8 only needs 95 anyway. We are an oilnation, but we export most of it, and gas and diesel is heavily taxed, and we also pay CO2 emission fee in the price for every gallon of petrol we buy.