No apparent problems you noticed, but it obviously needed a new engine...that is of course assuming the dealer knew what they were doing when testing the old engine.

Tim

 

They should be aware of it,they have been notified by Mazda and the test procedure is available.However you should wait unti you receive your letter.l

 

Your car is FAR from EVER being considered a lemon. God, you people crack me up.

 

Must be going around. I acquired one on Thursday in the same tire. Unfortunately I discovered it when my tire had gone nearly completely flat. I haven't had time to deal with it, so I'm calling the roadside assistance today to take it in and get it repaired.

 

I live in Texas but am working in Baton Rouge, LA. Contacted a local Dealer and am scheduled for Oct. 10 for the Emissions Recall. Was told that they may have to have it up to five days, but will give me a CX7 as loaner. Service guy said, "I didn't realize there are so many RX8's out there."

Personally, although I hope to keep my 8 for the long-term, I have no objection to getting a new engine every 30,000 miles or so. I couldn't care less what number is on the block. And I doubt my kids will care either when they inherit it as an antique. If they do, TS.

 

They're just coming out of the woodwork like termites.

 

just wondering why you don't want to drive a CX-7, I've had one for a week now and it's pretty frickin' sweet, if I was in the market for that type of ride I'd definitely have that thing in my list. you make it sound like some horrid disaster or something

 

Never got a letter but mine goes in this Tuesday. Service advisor said they will detail and gas it up after everything is done.

 

Quote from canaryrx8: "just wondering why you don't want to drive a CX-7, I've had one for a week now and it's pretty frickin' sweet, if I was in the market for that type of ride I'd definitely have that thing in my list. you make it sound like some horrid disaster or something"

Really! I wish I didn't have a 24' trailer to tow, I would love to replace my V8 Explorer with a CX7.
Burt

 

Took my car in today to John Hine in San Diego. I hadn't received the recall letter, but called and scheduled the appt. last week anyway. Service was most excellent. They took the car, noted my complaints which were loss of power, rough idle and a rattling noise coming from the exhaust/cat under hard acceleration. He told me that they'd be filling my tank and having their detailing service clean the car inside and out. They put me in a 6 for the day (was really hoping for a CX-7 ) and sent me on my way. In and out in less than 15 mins.

I got a call about 1 1/2 hours later saying that the cat needed to be replaced and it was on order but wouldn't be in until tomorrow. They're also replacing the front-left shock because the mechanic felt it didn't "feel right".

So it doesn't sound like there's a new engine in my near-future. I was kind of hoping to get it replaced considering I'll be hitting 60k miles by the end of next month or so, but at the same time, I'm glad that having taken good care of my baby means that a replacement isn't neccessary.

 

I got my car back today. I waited until last Friday to bring it into Brown's Fairfax Mazda in Virginia, so that they could do everything in one day. I had them check the recall, fix the CEL, and change the oil. I have 1600 miles on it. They didn't get everything done the first day (after not getting to it first thing in the morning like they said they would), and called me to tell me it would be ready at noon at the latest on Saturday. On Saturday I phoned, and my "team" manager was off that day, and the other teams forgot to look at it. So come Monday morning I had to call my "team" and remind them to complete my car. It was ready around noon. No engine replacement - they didn't even replace the plugs since they had just replaced them when I got it new in June. No cat problems. They claim my CEL was a loose gas cap, even though I told them it wasn't and that I click my gas cap 8-10 times every time I put it back on. I had this problem once before at 788 miles, when they claimed I was missing a flash, and the CEL came back on about 790 miles after the last flash. Unless this computer software update they did for the recall fixes it, I'm sure I'll be back in there in another 780-800 miles. I did not get a CX-7 to drive - they claimed they didn't have one even though I parked next to one when I dropped my car off, and there was at least one on the lot when I got there. They put me into a new Ford Taurus with a V-6 (no where near as nice as the 99 Honda Accord with 87K miles I just sold). The Enterprise rep claimed that they have a new policy that if your car is damaged in any way - windshield chip, scratch, missing hubcap, etc - that they automatically charge your credit card $500 - regardless of how much the repair cost. So, for the first time in my life I got the extra $18 insurance, only to have it multiplied by 4 due to how long they took with my car. I had to argue with the repair manager about paying for that, with the end result of the repair manager calling Enterprise to get them to take it off my bill - no guarantee that they will though. I am going to call them in a few minutes to check. Next time I'm just going to have a friend drop me off and then drive my 4-Runner instead of dealing with the BS.

Each time I go into Brown's they take longer than they say, and seem to give me the run around. Does anyone else in this area have that problem or know of any better places?

 

BTW, the repair manager told me that they have had one RX-8 in there over a week waiting on the new engine to be shipped to them for replacement.

 

BS. I would have smiled politely, then called my CC company and told them not to pay any such crap. XXX dollars for the rental is what I signed for and no more.

 

I just returned home from my Mazda recall. The dealer{Twin City Mazda}, found zero problems with my car.The service manager said they replaced the leading plugs ,checked the converter,reflashed the TPM and did a vacuum test. I dropped my car off at 9:00 and it was ready for me at 3:00.And get this,He told me that part of the recall was to fill the gas tank and do a cleanup on the car.When I walked in he handed me $20.00. I asked him what was that for and he said since I had obviously cleaned my car up before I brought it that it was for a cleanup job. So they paid me $20.00 for me cleaning up my car and gave me a Mazda 6 to drive while they did the recall! I'm happy with that.I give Twin City Mazda an A+ rating for customer service.Iasked him a few extra questions one being about using Synthetic oil. I know you guys are going to say""OH NO NOT AGAIN""but I wanted to hear it from my dealers mouth. He said the same thing I have read on this forum that using synth oil will build up carbon deposits.No big deal to me. I'll just use non synth oil. He also told me that I will notice a little more oil usage after the reflash. I have only had to add about a pint between 3000 mi. oil changes a couple of times. Gooday all.

 

Did he also tell you by using conventional oil it will do the same thing Shocker I know.

Gosh people, learn about conventional and synthetic. No matter what you choose to use, please make sure you do your research and pick a GOOD oil and don't baby the engine.

 

Yeah I know. But I don't see what all the fuss is about synthetic oil. It just costs you more money.Change your oil 2500 to 3000 mi. and conventional oil is fine.If Mazda says it is not recomended,then I am not going to take a chance on Mazda giving me some crap over an engine problem. Cheers

 

Took my car in today for recall and got new spark plugs and reflash. Already had the cat replaced in first 1000 miles or so. No hassle and a sucky Ford Taurus for a rent a car.

 

I spent $50.00 today because I locked the keys in my piece of **** Kia Optima rental. It was in my drive way by the way. What ******* Monday. Oh, and just so you know enterprise does not keep extra keys. Just as I was saying to my wife how much money I was saving in gas, Poof! there goes the savings.

 

holy crap that could not have gone any better, my car is running like a champ, no issues found, all problems taken care of, 800+ dollars of work done and at no cost to me while I drove around in a very comfy CX-7. Thank God some of these places get it right every now and then, and Mazda South and Allan (service writer) right here in Austin nailed it...ahhh..what a relief as I was really close to throwing it all away for a new start with something else. The only negative is that it did take a while for one of the parts to arrive causing me to miss a show last Saturday, but considering the results I'm not sweating it at all

edit: forgot to mention, tank full, car immaculately cleaned as well

 

yeah mazda south did recall on mine, said CX-7 but was early and gave me a mazda 6 from hertz free of charge. Engine checked fine, I am trucking at 57k on an 04 with no problems cept I need to replace the plugs, misfiring but still keeping it at 6500-7000 in 3rd cruising the highway no problems We didn't get dud builds canary =) see ya around.

 

I just got off the phone with the Enterprise Manager. She refunded the money for the insurance since it was presented incorrectly by the local agent. The service manager of Brown's Fairfax Mazda, who said he was going to call and speak with her, but of course never called her. If anyone is getting their recall done in the DC area, I recommend finding a different service department.

On a side note, Rosenthal Mazda of Tysons Corner sent me a flyer about bringing in my 8 for the recall, even though I didn't buy the car there. So it would appear that they are trying to get my business via the recall, so if anyone is having problems getting their car in, maybe Rosenthal has availability.

 

I would advise using caution if going to Rosenthal Mazda of Tysons Corner. I had brought my car into their shop about a week ago for a safety inspection and various warranty issues, and it was an unpleasant experience. Some of my complaints were fixed (rusty rotor hubs, squeaky brakes), but most were ignored (perform recall, paint door jamb area where paint was coming off, look into a strange noise, look into rough idle). On top of this, they managed to scratch my hood, return my car dirty, and smudge and put chips into my dashboard when trying to fix a rattle (which just got worse after they had it).

When I brought my car back in for them to fix the dashboard and to fix the hood, they did touch up the hood (which was nice) but did a shoddy job fixing the dash. Now they are ordering a new dash for me. They are making it right, but it has been such an inconvenience going there like 4 different times and not getting my car fixed properly.

PS. The same thing happened to me at their Enterprise location. They told me I need the insurance, or they would take my entire deductible of $500 for any damage, no matter the cost or fault.

Jon

 

My dealer said a good shift point for daily driving is about 5 k rpm. I prefer shifting at 8.5, which is where I get a lot of my power, if not my torque. From what I've read in this thread, is this kind of behavior actually good for the engine, contradictory to popular belief about driving a car hard?

Also, as far as the engine light issues are concerned:

I've had an engine light that appeared on my vehicle (2004 6spd GT package, 9.5K miles) a few days ago. I took it to my local Mazda dealer immediately, who scheduled a service appointment on it. I asked about the recall, and their policies regarding it. They told me that replacing the engine was an absolute last resort, and even if some of the vacuum tests for the seals fail, there are other methods of recompense, such as reprogramming the ECU (not sure how that makes sense).

The dealer tried to play off the vacuum seal recall as part of the problem or related to the problem of the engine not starting, at least as far as I could tell, and he mentioned that part of the process would have to do with programming (the ecu I assume) how much gasoline and engine oil are in the engine before starting. This sounds like a load of bull crap to me. By the way, I go through a quart of oil every 1500 miles or so. (Castrol GTX 5w20 non synthetic), and I always fill up with premium gas. I never take the car for short trips, or if I do take it on a short trip, say to the gas station to buy cigarettes, I leave the vehicle running and parked out front rather than shutting it off. My point is my engine always reaches optimal temperature before I shut it off. I've pretty much babied the **** out of this car...And for the most part its been extremely rewarding. Mazda built a car that was made for the enthusiast, for the person who sees the warning signs for the sharp turn ahead and presses his/her throttle as opposed to braking. I'm in absolute love with it.

I'd rather not go through the hassle (and the embarassment of having some crap loaner car parked in my driveway) of engine replacement if I don't have to, but if its my only way out of a bad situation, I personally refuse to take a refurbished engine...

 

My insurance will cover anything I drive also, which is nice. I have never heard of a $500 automatic charge for any kind of damage no matter how minor. Another way to line their pockets I'm assuming. When my mom's Tribute was in the body shop they gave her a Kia Spectra, which was awful. No cruise or power anything in it. The seats would have been more comfortable if they were wooden benches instead. She had it for around three weeks so the only good thing was it got 30+ mpg. It was through Enterprise and they didn't try the $500 automatic charge for damage thing when she picked it up. Maybe it's a variable policy depending on the state?