mike[piston eater]

iTrader: (3)

i actually thiunk the 8 is pretty cheap when it comes to maintinace, idk, maybe its cuase my car before it was german and turbocharged, idk but i dont think its bad at all

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Yeah, that would beat it, but I don't think there are any German Turbocharged "Affordable Sports Cars" to compete with the 8 in the category


The article is saying: "Of these Affordable Sports Cars, the Miata is the cheapest to own and the RX-8 is the most expensive to own."

It is also (indirectly) saying that anything with higher costs than the 8 isn't in the same category.

User24

iTrader: (1)

The viper is the worst car for the money. It is also the worst upper-middle class sports car for the money.

Never listen to those yahoo article. They are always recycling the same articles via a flip calendar. "10 ways to know if he is cheating on you" and useless "grocery money saving ideas" and "gas saving tips" and such "automotive secrets" such as skipping your oil change.

T-ReX-8

iTrader: (1)

Are you serious?? The worlds fastest production car is the worst bang for the buck.. wow. You have got to be kidding me.

imput1234

iTrader: (6)

It makes sense, there are SOO many people with problems. I've been one of the lucky few, who have had 0 problems.

fastlaneracing

I hope the value for the RX-8 drops to nothing so I can buy more...

mike[piston eater]

iTrader: (3)

its not just the 8, its the shitty economy lol sports cars have become a luxury , so there is less demand bringing the prices way down

Shoafb

As TR put it... you gotta be kidding right?



You also won't find them concerned with depreciation or MPG... they don't give a hoot.. they can afford a 90k car for goodness sakes.

ssspeedfreak

iTrader: (1)

I have had very little problems at all. After the break in I hardly needed to put oil in, changed plugs and wires when I did the BHR at 50K. I'm going FI so me and my tuner just tore down the engine and he said it looked fine? I did brakes once, changed my cat to a Racing Beat other thant those mods I wanted to do i've been happy. Lets see after I'm FI'd.

shazy

rx8's suck.

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

Im a maintenance freak (damn why I gotta say this over and over again)

Over the course of 4 yrs something ownership ... lets see ...

Gone thru 5 sets of spark plugs, cuz I change them every 10-15 K miles. 4 sets of coils. Hmm, what else ... oil change every 1-3K depends on weather condition/my mood. hmm , 2 sets of wires one RAcing Beat one OE, Changed all 3 belts once. ... hmm ... I think thats about it.

Im not buying this car to "save money."

if I really wanna save money, I would not even buy a car. saves me thousands of dollars every year.

I got this (and my FC) cuz I liked it.

I hate all these cheap ***** who complains about "OMG it cost a lot to own X brand Y model sports car!"

Can't afford it? Dont buy it. Fuxking simple logic and ppl wanna play without pay then bitching about it every other day.

plain ole wanker

Hey, that's rational thinking that's not allowed here.

Shoafb

NYC, this isn't exactly an exotic sports car though. Stickers for 30 and sells for low 20s brand new right now!

What if that new flat screen tv you bought all of the sudden needed a 200 dollar tune up every 6 months. Would you say the same? I doubt it, no other tv requires it and you didn't buy some crazy high end Theatre projector that needs to be calibrated so.... The average buyer expects a reliable car these days and that doesn't seem to include 5 sets of plugs and wires in 4 years. Look at the competition, 350z, honda S2000, maybe Miata. That's where the 8 needs to be with maintenance. Otherwise it will die, there is just no way to sell it.

photo chick

hmmmm...my car just got totaled and i was thinking of crossing over to an 8 (2006+ models). i thought most had problems with the 8 because they abused/ignored it, but if it's common to have constant issues, even when taking good care of it, is it worth getting one? i'll be keeping it for two years, and average 1,200 miles a month..

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

As long as you are prepared for the possibility, you will be fine, and that preparation will go a long way towards avoiding most of it. You are correct, most of the issues are owner-induced, however there are a few things that are flawed from the factory, primarily:

- Weak ignition (can be solved by frequent coil/plug changes, or coil upgrade + frequent plug changes)
- Inadequate cooling (can be solved by RE-medy upgrades including water pump, thermostat, radiator)
- Inadequate lubrication (can be solved by premixing and/or SOHN adapter, Oil flow/pressure increase mods)

None of the above will void any warranty, which for the engine is a 8yr 100k from MazdaUSA. There are additional protection measures you can take that will void the warranty, but most of them will also negatively affect the resale. None of the above will be a negative effect on resale to anyone that knows rotaries, and likely won't even know they are there for anyone else.


Knowing the history of the car before you buy it is critical to avoiding issues down the road. Regardless of what you do, what the prior owner has done matters a ton as well. I would highly recommend buying an 8 from an owner here rather than a random public sale, since you can get a good idea of how they treated their 8.

Eyes open and you won't get surprised. Eyes closed and you will get slapped in the face and hung out to dry.

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

I want this car because its special in its class. Not because its some omg they only made 100 in the world.

I can get almost any car thats in the 30K range with OTD price in the mid-low 20s. it depends on the make/model, and you have to know how to lowball the dealership/let them know that you really want to finish this deal.

Like any other purchase you do everyday, you should know the product well before you hand over your hard-earned cash. The bitching came from people who don't do homework.

For spark plugs, that's how this engine "works," Its "normal" for this type of engine to go through plugs like this. At least for this generation. So whats the problem here ?

I know this girl got cancer, she never dated anybody cuz she knows that she might die one day, but hey, a guy step in and he knows everything about the girl, he still date her and she accepted, so? should he bitch about that "omg you gonna die what the hell?"

There was a time that Piston engines eat plugs just like Rotary does. But Piston has been here for over 100 years. Rotary? Just got 40th birthday 2 years ago. Keep that in mind.

and I can just let the plugs run 30K before I change it, it wont die or anything. but I love this car and I want it to have the best. something wrong with that ?

My friends said Im tossing money into a hole with no ends. Well, men's toys are always costly.

Wires? I dont have to change it. I still have the old, original set in my garage. Its not broken, but I changed them out cuz I feel like it.

My Father's CX-7 Just got 18K miles and Im looking to change its spark plugs already, is it necessarily ? Not at all. but same reason as my Rx-8.


Take it this way, if I left it the way Mazda wants me to, like oil change every 7500 miles, plugs every 30K, etc. Lets see, I have 55K right now on the odo. so that means I should have 1 set of plugs at 30K miles. hmm, 70 bux. 7500 miles between oil change, and lets say it eats about 1 quart of oil every 1.5 K miles ...

Is that a lot of money? I dont think so. About the same if not higher than 90% of the cars out there.

77mjd

I would tend to agree. It pains me to say it, but it doesn't even pay for Mazda to be making the 8 anymore. Due to early issues the car has made the masses turn and run the other way. Now the only way they can move them is with many k's in rebates. A market for this car pretty much doesn't exist anymore. In 2009, (pretending the economy didnt suck), do you think anyone in their right mind would pay 30+ k for this car anymore? I doubt it.

photo chick

thank you!

and ya, i've been watching the for sale section, but haven't found 'the one' yet

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

The problem here is that, Mazda still dont get this

"It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it."

From Warren Buffett

IF they did, they will take the BMW's approach. First year model car will almost always have the "best" material/safest computer program in it. Then replace them with "cheaper" material over the remaining model years.

MICHGoBlue

ya, if you can't afford to change the plugs and coils, change differential and transmission fluid, along with the typical replacement of wear and tear parts on a regular basis, you shouldn't have this car...

The weird thing is the people that complain about the cost of those things usually has a decent amount of aftermarket parts.

dmitrik4

iTrader: (5)

NA miata.

Shoafb

Yes I am sure you can negotiate some cars / trucks from 30k down to mid 20's but can you get the 8's competition negotiated down that far? Apples to Oranges. You also won't have to negotiate at all to get the 8 there. Negotiate and you are looking at 20 even OTD.

Also correct, Piston engines USED to eat plugs, but now they don't. You have to compete with NOW not 20yrs ago.


I doubt anyone follows the Mazda recommended oil change unless they desire replacing their engine fairly soon. What weight oil does the manual say to use?

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

20 K OTD for a based model, probably not, maybe around 22K OTD. Thats for NYC. Thats about 3K under invoice. typical for this price range of cars.

Do you count 350z as competition? if so yes I can knock at least 7K off MSRP without too much effort.

Some people might consider Civics SI a competition as well, I can get it at about 1-2 K under invoice, maybe 3K if I try hard, some dealership wants me to buy it earlier and thats what they offered.

If Rotary has the same history as Piston engines, I would say Rotary engine sucks.

but its not, its not even 1/2 as old as Pistons and so far only 1, I repeat, 1 company that actually put effort into it. I think thats pretty impressive.

For the recommendation thing, thats what "most" owners would follow, and seriously if you follow that, it doesn't cost a lot of money.

Shoafb

If you can get 7k off of a 350z then kudos to you. Your doing better then anyone else is nationwide according to Edmunds. Before you tell me how wrong they are on 350z prices they seem to be dead on with 8 prices.

But if you got those skills then:

Current rebates for the 2009 rx8 are 5k + 1k loyalty bonus = 6k before you even start using your negotiating powers. Then you can use those same skills you used on the Nissan dealer for an additional 7k, cause the first 6k was a rebate from Mazda and cost them nothing at all.

350z = 0 current rebate ( but you can get 7k negotiating )

So you should be able to pick your 8 up for about 13k off of sticker or about 17k OTD for a 30k stickered 8 or pick up a base for 13k or so.

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

I got my bro's SE-R 5 years ago for 3K under invoice, back then Edmund's TMV prices said it should be around invoice.

Last year my great bro Totaled his SE-R, and I got him a Brand new FX35 2009, just got off the boat, for what? Under invoice again. and what TMV saids ? about 2009 FX35 of that time? 500 above invoice.

There is nothing wrong with 350/370's price, its just that people these days are NOT looking for sports cars. They're looking for "Bang for buck" deals.

And of course you just gotta know what a dealership is thinking, how they want to screw you, basically you have to bait them, and Im not afraid to "low-balling" them. Hey its my money, my lost, their gain, and I dont like that.

Many people just afraid of doing that and what happen? they just getting ripped off.

if you believe in Edmund's "prices/TMV" then I guess you should really stop typing and start walking.

For the record, there is no "buy/financing" 1000 dollars bonus for RX-8. Its only for "LEASING." Please check your source first