Drove an RX-8 for the first time on Saturday; awesome ride but that's beside the point. It's a 2005 Sunlight Silver Sport with 92kish on it. There's the infamous "H" crack on the passenger dash and minor exterior blemishes [paint chipping]. It's had two owners and is the right price for me. Is it worth it with the mileage?

I'm also looking at a 2004 Brilliant Black with 79k and a 2004 Titanium Gray with 34k on it. But they are both a little bit over my preferred price range [by about 1-2k] and the Ti Gray is a four hour drive there and back. My only issue with the Ti Gray is the distance; how am I sure it's a good car before making the drive? I don't want to waste time and gas for nothing. I know some people here have traveled far for their cars so I was wondering what their thought process was for that situation.


That's all that's plaguing my mind right now :/

 

You have to tell us the price if you want advice on comparative value. If the price is low enough, just budget an extra $3000 for a new engine and you're good.

 

Ahhh, "new engine".. not liking those words. The price is almost $10k, and I forgot to mention the guy told me they had to replace one of the rotors after I had checked the car out before Saturday. I just submitted my application for the Ti Gray though, so crossing my fingers that it works out, that way I have definite options..

BB is $11k and $Ti Gray is 11.9k.

 

Realize that most 8's never need a new engine. Reading about the car here, it's easy to not know that.

 

Are you sure? That sounded to be a main problem when I read about it; something about recalls, problems with 2004s and such.

 

One of the risks you take buying a car at such a high mileage is that you might have to replace the engine, especially on this car. That being said it really depends on how well the last owner treated the car. It also depends on how lucky you are.

I have a 2004 with over 100k and never had engine problem but have had lots of trans problem.

 

Compression test the engine before you decide to buy, to make sure the engine is still going strong, good luck.

 

That's because the only people who post about their engine, are the ones that had some significant issue. The majority of RX-8's out there are performing as expected...
People just find that "I have no issues" isn't very interesting to talk about.

Even still... It's always a good idea to get a compression test, and a complete used car inspection. This way, your chances of knowing exactly what you are getting yourself into increase dramatically.

One more thing... I can only presume you've read the stickies in this forum, regarding potential ownership, right... RIGHT?!?!

 

Indeed. I don't know the actual numbers, but I'd guess they'd look something like this:

RX-8's in the world with replaced engines: 3 - 5 %
RX-8's on RX8Club.com with replaced engines: 30 - 40%