What Should I do?
 

God knows I love my car, but I'm approaching my limit of tolerance with her. I still have this issue with power loss that's been going on for the last three years, and the dealer and I keep scratching out heads about it. My display for A/C and radio kept going out (but I did fix that by checking behind the radio and tightening a loose connector). Now I have a problem with the power steering failing. I took it to a mechanic and he checked the connectors under the airbox for corrosion and dirtiness, but they are clean. I can live with the low MPG and the oil consumption and even the lack of torque, but the car's long list of problems are really getting on my nerves. Since the 4 years, I've had her, she has been at the dealer more times then I can remember. To me, this is unacceptable in a car that barely has 60k on the ODO. I had a 1994 Ford Probe GT that had 131K miles on it before it was totaled 4 years ago, and the only issue I had with that car was the water pump failing at around 98K. When that was replaced, she took me another 32K miles without any problems. I took my RX8 to a local "National" garage and the mechanic said, "Unfortunately you have a Mazda and a rotary engine so you are married to the dealer , I'm sorry that we can't help you." That realization felt good. Anyway....

I'm at he point of. "Do I just get rid of her?" or keep her. She is a gorgeous ride and she gets a lot of attention wherever I go, but the issues are making me wonder if she's worth keeping. I called Mazda North America and talked to a rep. and he acted as if I was talking a language from another planet. No help from him. I even wrote a letter to Mazda about my concerns and they responded with a knee jerk letter, saying that. "They will note my dissatisfaction." and also told me that my car was out of warranty. That was a nice attitude from them. For the ones of you who may be or was on the fence about your RX8, what did you do? I'm reaching my limits, ya'll. Sometimes when I see her parked in the garage, I get pissed, but to me it's not the car's fault, it's the fault of Mazda for not designing her better. IMO, they have to be on point at all times because they are the only car manufacturer that is producing rotary engines, and all eyes are on them. Other manufacturers gave up on the Wankel decades ago and these engine recalls and such may be good fuel to support their decision. Thank God, I'm not a member of the second engine club. Mazda, there is no room for compromise or failure.

Oh yeah, someone suggested that I write the B.B.B. That could be a thought.

i think if you have to ask what you should do then you should get rid of it. if you dont like it then sell it. it appears you dont like the rotary engine. i am not going to say if its reliable or not but if you want reliable and yours is not then get rid of it. the engine is the best part of this car and if you think mazda should drop the rotary because it gives you problems then sell it because its not for you then.

did the dealer test the compression? what is wrong with having a new engine? i would much rather have a new engine then a crappy used one. or do you mean electrical power loss? if you were complaining about it before your warranty was up and they never fixed it correctly i would think you should be able to get it covered.

but any ways it sounds like you should sell it because you dont appreciate the rotary engine and that is what makes this car this car. i know that if this car was the same but with a piston engine then i would have bought something else.

No that's not correct. I highly appreciate, but most of all, understand the rotary engine completely. This is the fourth RX that I've owned, and the fifth that's been in my family so I do appreciate all of it's qualities. My '83, '88 and '91 RX7s were a heckuva lot more reliable than this car. What I don't appreciate are the other aspects of the car that surround the engine. I have read too many complaints and problems from other owners, on this forum and other parts of the web, and that's not good. I can understand and accept if I got a "bad one" because "bad ones" do get produced here and there, but these issues are from many RX8 owners across the country and the world....something is wrong with that picture.

Yes I did have a compression test done by the dealer and he said that my compression was the best that he's seen in a long time. Just because an engine is a replacement doesn't mean that it's going to be better. Some people are on their third engine. Something is wrong with that. Why would a company offer to replace an engine to begin with if they knew something was wasn't right about the engines they produced. As for your comment saying that the car isn't for me... it is for me. It fits me like a glove, it is something that I would buy, it is very unique and pretty, that's why I'm on the fence for keeping it or getting rid of it. There isn't any other car out there, except maybe for a 370Z or BMW 335i that would fit me to a tee, but the Z is too harsh and the Bimmer too expensive.

Power loss (as in not being able to sustain a cruise or pass someone on they highway) not electrical. Most owners who buy RX8s understand the engine and are familiar with RX heritage, I am one of them. As I said in my previous post, I can accept the low MPG and torque. Before I purchased the car, I knew about, understood and accepted those figures. If I would have known about the reliability issues, then maybe I wouldn't have signed the dotted line.

I don't know how to advise you, I've had 3 rotary cars now, all been near perfect, no complaints like yours and never spent much time at the dealers. Maybe you should ditch it as some cars just cannot be fixed, no matter what the make?

If it was me...I would learn more and DIY for most stuff

I would check your CAT.....

Then your coils plugs wires......do a Seafoam treatment......


Then drive it hard for a bit...and do a compression test

DIY that would cost maybe $400 in parts...and a bit of time...

The CAT is emissions and should still be covered.....the warranty is different for that stuff.......Look in your owners manual and see the Emissions warranty limits

Good Luck

if the compression is ok, then there must be something else. either coils or plugs.