I've had my 05 for 6 days. I'm getting 14.4 mpg, had two 4+ second starts and now the check engine light popped on. If I wouldn't have all the insight from the people on this board I would be quite a bit irritated. From what I've read I'm betting it's a flash issue and I have an appointment on Monday at the dealer. This board has given me the information I need to keep calm. Otherwise I'd be thinking I bought a $32,000 POS after the first week.

Thanks all for the good info! Keep it comin!

 

thanks but im not going to take all the credit....for it....he he he

 

Congrats on the new ride.
I'm surprised that the '05's have the same issues as the '04. You'd think they would have take care of them. I've personally have had no trouble with my '04.
Good luck.

 

I've had my '05 for two months now and no problems. No flooding even after three separate accidental cold shut-offs.

 

Yea I'm lovin the car. I know what I bought into as far as the mileage. I expect it to get a little better once broken in but if I get 18-20 I'll be happy. The light thing is a bit strange but I've determined it should be no big deal after reading for two hours on here.

The only thing that has me baffled is the way the light came on.

I was sitting at a light and a tractor trailer decided to turn onto the road in front of me. It did one of those turns that requires you to be hit OR MOVE. The trailer actually came over the top of my hood at one point. The guy behind me was so close I couldn't back up so I turned hard to the right and pulled a bit forward to get out of the way. When the light turned I wwent to pull out and the wheels were still turned hard right so I had to quick straighten them out.....then boom the check engine light came on. I'm thinking it's a coincidence but I'm interested in seeing what code they pull outta there Monday.

 

you paid $32k for this car? eek.

i hope it had every possible package known to man on it.

 

An '05 model will have the latest flash.

 

I meant it's a $32,000 car. I got it on the S-Plan so I got it for under invoice. Yest another thing I was please with regarding the car!

 

If it has the latest flash I'm thinking it could be a crap battery. God only knows what it is but I see others on here have has similar issues and it was remedied so I'm not real concerned.

 

Maybe, maybe not. Depends when the car was actually built. The latest flash only came out in January '05 and I don't think all dealers automatically flash the new cars sitting in their lots.

 

Man I was really hoping all of these problems were fixed during the first year and a half of this car's existance.

 

Not all of the codes are retained. Some of the codes will reset after 4 start/stop cycles. If the light goes out after 4 cycles there might not be a code for them to pull on Monday.

 

m82492, welcome to the club! Glad we could be here for ya

 

Welcome to the club.

Another thing that makes the CEL go off is if the gas cap isn't clicked on enough

 

Good luck on your issues m82492. It sounds like you got pretty unlucky with the issues you have already had. Make sure to educate yourself on this board so you know how to avoid some of the most common issues (warm-ups, oil consumption, etc.)

Just have faith in your car and don't get discouraged. I'm sure you will get past these issues. The 8 is a great ride...

 

The N flash is only for cars built prior to Mar 2004.... I hope it doesnt apply to your 2005 model.

 

What's the S-plan? I picked up my '04 on Friday. Got a good deal (?), but was unaware of any special plans for the '05. Too late now, but I'm curious. Glad that you did well, m.

 

The S-Plan is the Mazda equivalent to the Ford X-Plan, and as I recall it is referred to as something like the Friends and Neighbors plan. Basically, if you know someone who works for a Ford-controlled company, they can get you the S-Plan on certain models. The RX-8 is (or at least was) included in the models that qualified for the S-Plan. The S-Plan pricing is pretty much the dealer invoice price. So you find the car you want, contact the dealer to see if they honor the plan, and you just plunk down you money and drive away. No hassle.

Having said all that, however, since you bought an '04 you probably got it for less than invoice. At least you should have. In your case, the S-Plan probably wouldn't have been the best route for acquiring your RX-8, so that should make you feel better.

 

My CEL went back off this morning. Figures cause I'm supposed to drop it off at the dealer tonight. I believe my problem was my gas cap after all. I don't think I had it clicked on there tight enough. I'm gonna hold off on a trip to the dealer and see how it does this week.

 

Yeah, I recall reading on the forum that it takes a few start/shutdown sequences to clear a CEL.