rddragoness

The sun visor is a known TSB warranty issue. They just break, and Mazda replaces them, NP. I've had one replaced and my baby is an 06. Two steps forward, one step back still means you are progressing. Hang in there.

Big Money Pit

i own a 2004 and have had ZERO luck in getting them to replace my sun visor.

blackenedwings

I'll see if they replace it under Mazda warranty, if not I have full warranty on the car through my dealer... if THAT doesn't work then the shop that did the hack job on my wheels/tires may pay for it. Its getting fixed, and I have a lot of other people in line to pay for the visor before me. I looked at the passenger side one though and man...those visors are REALLY cheaply made. I'm not surprised it broke... damn thing looks like its glued together with elmers. In fact, I was going to put the stock shifter back in today before taking it to the dealer, but ended up deciding "f it" and leaving the AFE in. I'm not having anything done with the transmission and when the turbo goes in I lose powertrain warranty anyway. I did notice when I took off the plastic cover from the center console, there is a lot of cheap hard plastic in the Rx8. I don't blame some shops for not wanting to work on the car because it seems like it would be stupid easy to snap hard plastic parts all over the place. I absolutely adore my car, but there are some definite cheap bits. I guess most cars have that though.

Motomouse

iTrader: (1)

I know there is an oem upgrade shock sensor but I dont know if the oem is good enough to react when my car will by jacking up??? I bought new rims and now Iam really afraid to put them on. Last saturday in the place where I usually park my car (Iam taking the bus to NYC) I saw the audi TT without the rims on the pavement!!

Davey's RX-8

iTrader: (1)

They definitely look to get work done on the cheap. They want to get my seats and door panels re-upholstered instead of replaced. I understand the cost aspect, but geez, they're going to eventually get reimbursed by the other girl's insurance anyway at some point.

ShellDude

iTrader: (12)

You can tune the sensitivity on the OEM shock sensor to trip the alarm on a mere tap to a hard hit. Mine is set to go off as suggested in the install guide... at the hit of a tennis ball dropped from about a meter away.

I agree it is very single dimensional. Something with a modern gyro and / or motion sensor would definitely be superior, but it's going to cost a bit more than $45.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

My 8 is back whole again, but picking it up a couple days ago was pure heaven. I did the full cloverleaf at a nearby interchange twice just for grins.

Hang in their man, at least it is to a Mazda dealer now, someone that knows what their doing.

Big Money Pit

HA!

That's the overstatement of the year.

dshiznit1489

You must be new around here.

blackenedwings

Well, actually CanofWorms is right... although most dealers are crap I've had pretty good experiences with Russell Mazda. They have some people that know the rotary well and the Asst. Service Manager is really helpful and cool. I'm getting so much done there this time, so I'll have an even better idea once I get the car back. If they keep treating me right I'll keep going back there. They did go through my list of things today, are working with my insurance to handle the insurance things, and are replacing the sun visor at no charge without even blinking. Then they offered a shuttle to drive me home so I could go to work. I'm very happy with the customer service so far.

rotary boy

damn that sucks...
locks don't matter... they can just hammer a smaller socket in/over the locks...
try to milk your insurance for at least part of the cost... you should be able to get the body and rotors repaired on their tab though

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

^ Might want to read a few of the updates since the first post


Coming up on 1yr this Monday actually, and yeah, I know the trouble dealers generally give people. But a dealer that is treating my friend right and actually knows what it is supposed to look/drive/feel like and has the tools/parts/technicians to put it back that way vs a dirty cheap thieving hole-in-the-wall chop shop.... my money is on the dealer to get it right.

And I have yet to have a single problem with a single dealer (crosses fingers)

Heh

longpath

iTrader: (1)

I'm glad you've had such positive experience with the dealer or dealers you've dealt with. I had a great dealer like that; but, regrettably, their sales department apparently wasn't bringing home the bacon, so they are no more. The dealership that moved in afterward botched both of the times I let them work on it. I've had much better luck with mechanics I know personally.

blackenedwings

Ok, final update:

I got the car back from Russell Automotive (Mazda/Subaru/Volkswagon) in Ellicott City. They charged me $50.00 less than the estimate, and the assistant service manager Samantha told me she just credited me the $50.00 because they felt bad about how horrible an experience I had had with the place in Waldorf and the theft. Car had an oil change, compression test passed with flying colors, replaced the sun visor at no cost, installed/calibrated tire pressure sensors, installed shock sensor for the alarm, an estimate on the paint repair, and all the updates/flashes done too. They got it done quickly and let me talk to the technician to make sure I had all my questions answered. I am very satisfied with their work.

The next day (yesterday) the car went in to another shop to get the Tein S. Tech's installed. The car looks amazing. It looks so much better lowered and the handling is clearly improved too. The ride is much stiffer, so its a bit more uncomfortable to drive around in, but the handling is a lot more precise and stiff. Some new shocks/struts and sways would really tighten down the handling, but might be too stiff for a daily driver. Anyway, I'm still working to get the paint issue resolved, but besides that the car is in great shape. I'll be posting some pics up tomorrow and will be reinstalling my AccessPORT, and installing a BHR replacement clutch pedal. Once all that is done its just getting set for the turbo kit install. :D

Pics of the car can be found: https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...74#post2623674

I'll update that thread tomorrow.

Learjet_Pilot

First of all, thanks for posting the original photos. I personally couldn't stand to post such a heartbreak, publically. I don't know how you could stand to even take the pictures. Yuda man!

Not to make you paranoid, but what are you doing to prevent it from happening again? (I didn't read all seven pages,; sorry if you answered already.)

blackenedwings

Well, honestly I posted the pics partially because I wanted to make other people aware of what can happen so they take precautions. It's easy to think "I live in a nice area that can't happen to me" and then your car is balanced on a pointy rock. Especially for anybody that is living in Howard County MD right now, I read an article recently that said there is a 40% increase in vehicular breakin and theft right now. It's attributed to the economy fears and also apparently a skilled group of thieves working the area. I was talking to a woman at the shop while my springs were being installed and she said her whole neighborhood got hit, 8 cars in one night. Several of them were in garages. Across the area airbags are being taken, catalytic converters, stereos and wheels... pretty much anything worth money.

I have upgraded my alarm with the OEM shock sensor, I am keeping a more open path to the window that looks over my car (I'm a very light sleeper, I didn't hear them last time because of a storm) and my neighbors are all keeping an eye out on the neighborhood now. I also have a loaded gun near at hand. Additionally and probably most importantly, I lowered my deductable on my comprehensive coverage to $50.00. It hardly makes a blip in my montly payments, but I'm pretty sure at some point SOMETHING is going to happen to the car and now I won't be paying half a grand for the deductable in addition to the wait. I added rental coverage as well so I don't have to worry about borrowing a car from a friend.

Learjet_Pilot

Well, other than my chuckle about the "skilled group of thieves" responding to "economy fears," I feel your pain, and glad you're back on the road even stronger. (I would prefer to see the thieves respond to 10 years in prison, but I don't imagine that my Texas values would be very popular in Howard Co.)

And be careful with that loaded gun. You will be viewed as the criminal, rather than the guy who is rolling your tires down the street. Crazy world. Stay safe.

Rhawb

Wow, all that because some useless losers needed to feed their coke habit.

Glad the car drives well, shame it took so long to get it that way though.

blackenedwings

Since I had promised to post some pictures of my friends Porsche that he lent me, here are a couple of pics. They really don't do it justice, he has put so much work into this car, brand new turbo/suspension/transmission etc and custom red paint job with metalic flake. It's the nicest 944 turbo I've ever seen and he lent it to me for nearly a month while I had my car in the shop.





Also I am posting up pics of my newly lowered car over in: https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...74#post2623674

moRotorMotor

^Now that is friend worth keeping through the thick and thin.^