R3, Any Year/Color
 

Looking to buy an R3. I prefer Blue and Black but will take red as well. I'd like it to be in excellent condition and very well maintained with 50k miles or less. I've been doing searches across Autotrader, Cargurus, Craigslist, Ebay, Cars.com, Carsoup, and RX8club twice a day. If anyone knows one I am missing let me know!

Thanks!

https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discuss...-build-268116/

I don't have it listed for sale, but for the right offer I would consider it. The right offer starts with a 2 :lol2:

I just saw we talked before lol. Carry on lol!

https://columbia.craigslist.org/cto/d/2009-mazda-rx-8-r3/6723099814.html

This is mine, I'll cut you a deal.

Details: 2009 R3 78k miles, manual, no problems, located in Columbia, SC
Asking $7000 but will give you a rx8club discount
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...5cf56a0347.jpg

Wes it's me Taylor haha. Just waiting on your test tomorrow!

Still available?

Bump, still looking. Just sold my car so I have cash on hand for an R3

Pretty sure this one is a scam. I was emailing this person back and forth and they were asking for a ton of ridiculous things like overpaying up front, making deposits without allowing someone to look at the car. It literally eventually got into Nigerian prince with money territory. Be careful.

Really? That's odd... I had a normal and progressive conversation with the person....

It wasn't a scam, I just decided not to go with his. Still looking

If still available i got someone interested...
 

I got a friend looking for Rx8 R3 Blue and i see your post but i dont know if is late or you still have it?

let me know.

Still looking
 

Bump

i might gonna put my for sale if gonna get good deal. its might not gonna work for you because its 69k miles.
but does have bhr coils/wires new ngk sparks. racing beat exhaust with straight pipe. seilbon carbon hood.
inspected in PA till sept this year.

i also have used greddy turbo kit with some extras, can sell as package with car.

for more photos check IG @reborn.garage


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...01c7eeb0f1.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...2c512f7a1d.jpg

Wanted to let you guys know that I found an R3 for sale in Pennsylvania that I put a deposit on and if all goes well will be picking it up this Friday!

Will keep posted

Is it the one at LW Automotive?

So jealous. I tried getting that one but it was already pending. Did you put a deposit down before seeing it in person? There is another in CT that got a deposit on it within a day of listing. Never knew these were so in demand :/

Mine got listed in the morning, by noon I had bought it lol.

Congrats, have you found R3s always sell that quick? I was hoping to wait til they took real pics of it, I was too slow haha. Good luck on the sale, the high quality pics of it look amazing

Yeah they sell really fast. I’ve been keeping an eye on the market for a long time and they never last long.

I’m looking forward to it. Wife and I will be flying up on our first plane trip together to Penn tomorrow, spending the evening in Pittsburgh with the new 8, and driving 11 hours back down on Friday. Any tips on something fun to do on a Thursday night in Pittsburgh?

I’ll make sure to get some pics with the new keys and the car.

Well congrats on the car, and good luck with the drive back down! Also just curious did you have them run a compression test or is that not a big of a concern in your opinion on lower mileage rx8s? I was thinking of being more aggressive when these pop up but have been afraid of finding out later it has compression issues

I didn’t ask about it. I’ve heard are far more issues with series 1 and the owners of this R3 were all good about maintenance so I’m not too worried. Although my first mod will be the BHR ignition kit as I don’t think the ignition system has been serviced. This will be my third car the second being the work horse of the family so I don’t plan to put many miles on it though I do plan to keep it for a long time.

Awesome well best of luck! Glad I have a little less competition in r3 shopping now :)

Here are two a bit north. Both black though.

2010 w/ 32k miles asking $10,400.
https://www.autotrader.ca/a/mazda/rx...%201R0&sprx=-1

2011 w/ 33k miles asking $10,700.
https://www.autotrader.ca/ico/mazda/...%201R0&sprx=-1

I think the 2011 one is cleaner. The 2010 has some what appears to be scratches on the front passenger side. Not to mention it's got a weird intake, and missing the battery cover.

Another black one, 2009 54k miles asking $9,000.

https://www.autotrader.ca/ico/mazda/...%201R0&sprx=-1

Looks decent enough.. private seller too.. funky floor mats. Has the stock wheels just blacked out too.

Oh and I'm not sure how I missed this one.

Red 2010 w/ 23.5k miles asking $11k

https://www.autotrader.ca/ico/mazda/...%201R0&sprx=-1

They got a bit crazy with the plasti-dip on some of the trim.. but nothing that can't be undone. All in all looks clean. Appears to have the RB oil cooler screens and an aftermarket exhaust.. I can't tell which though.. could be the turboxs exhaust.. it's not straight pointed a bit down and the tips are too close to each other.

@speed7 thanks for posting these! Any idea how difficult it is to import one to the US?

There is a write up in another section here on rx8club.

https://www.rx8club.com/purchasing-f...rience-265673/

the short version is you absolutely have to have to fix two issues.

1. Parts marking requirements:
At some year (not sure when) DOT requires parts to be marked with the vin of the vehicle. Possibly to track parts for cars being stripped and sold illegally. You can order these online through a 3rd party and costs about $200.

2. Factory TPMS installed and working.
There are a few ways to address this.. I went through multiple shops and contacted numerous Mazda dealerships. Even had a ticket opened with Mazda North America. Nobody knew how to code TPMS or enable this feature in the cars software. The short version is, in an R3 you have most of what is needed already. Except for the following, 1: 4 TPMS sensors (1 per wheel), 2: A cluster with the TPMS functionality.

My resolution for number 2 was to swap a complete computer system from a US based car. I purchased the matching set from EBay ($250). Purchase a used GT cluster from eBay, and sent the new cluster off to have it reprogrammed in order to have the mileage match. Then had a great Mazda dealership simply swap all of the components. They reprogrammed my smart keys to work and just like that TPMS was working. Others have said you simply enable it through IDS. If that is possible then you won’t need to swap anything except for the cluster.

Overall this process took me just under 4 months and was very stressful. There were a few gotchas that I had to figure out as well. One that stands out is to use a GT cluster so the automatic headlights don’t scream at you if they are on when exiting the vehicle.

if someone with more knowledge on the computer side knows how to simply reprogram the car that would ultimately be the best solution. Changing the cluster takes all of 10 minutes and is the least intrusive change.

And knowing what I know now, I'd be able to have a car imported start to finish within a months time, probably even just about 2 weeks. This is with the assumption I ordered parts ahead of time.

And the last bit of info that is I think the most important. Read the import laws like 10x's, have them printed out and have sections highlighted even. If you have the two issues addresed with the RX8 it is 100% legal to import. But you MUST correct those two infractions. The reason why I say read the laws 10x's is because each customs agent has their own interpretation of the laws. I'm sure there are a billion laws they have to know. So give them some credit of what they do and who I'm sure they deal with daily. By having the import rules printed out, any questions customs may have you can quickly reference it for them. And even show them.. that will make the customs portion that much easier. These cars are 50 state smog legal... it's the DOT requirements which are a federal mandate that you must correct. And there is no grey area on these laws, TPMS is a requirement as of 2018 and so is the parts marking. Granted these are not required as you drive the car across the boarder.. but it is required to get your paperwork done with customs. And I believe you have 120 days once you import the car to complete the process. If you can't then you have to surrender the car to customs.

Thanks for all of the info. This is really tempting since those r3s look super clean but it seems like with the customs fees, potential gas guzzler cost, travel etc it would probably put this out of my budget.

I am realllly kicking myself because my family has a car lot so I can buy from the auction and there was a clean 65,000 mile blue R3 that went for $7,000 last week. I held off because of it being as is but it had a deposit down on it before I could even call the lot it ended up going to.

Duty fee's aren't that crazy.. a but any state fee's are normal for when you're buying a car from a private party. In California I paid $1200 in registration fee's. Also thing to note, they don't like you bringing in cars from out of the country. At least mine didn't.. I kept reiterating that finding an R3 was hard since they are rare. Plus the R3 I got was in a color that is not available in the US. If you get a red or black one be ready for customs to really have you explain why it was worth getting from out of the US.

Hm thats an interesting point, I am hoping to find a black or blue R3 so it seems like the safest bet to wait it out for some more to go up for sale in the US.

Yes.. then just stick with a US version at that point. The other features that come on a Canadian Rx8 don't out way the headache that can ensue when doing this import.

Canadian Extras that are on R3's
Day time running lights
Auto sensing windshield wipers
Automatic headlights
Automatic climate control

Everything else is exactly the same.

Check this thread.

Same thread I linked to above.

Sweet!! Congrats!

Curious: what do you mean by having your keys reprogrammed? Like re-pair to key to the car?

And where did you get your cluster programmed?

I would actually look to do this, just because I lost a tire and didn't catch it in time. Turned into an expensive repair as the tires I lost was NLA.

Edit: read the other post and it looks like you swapped your PCM as well? Ouch, I guess I will ask the dealer near me if they have an IDS then.

UnknownJinX, sent you a PM.

For others, reprogrammed the keyfobs to the "new" ecu that is in the car.

Cluster mileage reprogramming done by a user on Ebay.

Keep the R3's coming. Very hard to find one in CA. Very motivated, preferably black color. Salvage ok. Doesn't need to be complete; blown airbags, damage, etc. ok. Happy to fly out or ship. LMK.

Pics as promised
 

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...fd48b86a20.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...5ddd3fbc3a.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...df4bc6ec10.jpg

Looks great, congrats on finally finding an R3!

Thanks! Already got the BHR ignition installed last night. Makes a big difference. Buttery smooth engine now.

wow ! looks awesome. congrats
suggestion - bhr midpipe - assuming SC does not do testing........ will take buttery smooth to super creamy buttery smooth.
but - somewhat stinky and youll have CEL light.
so what. its worth it........because...........you have a badass R3

Ehhh. I prefer the non stink and the sound right now is perfect for me. Maybe if they had a high flow option but I won’t do catless again. I used to have catless in my GTO and after driving behind me for 3 hours my friend said he was high from the fumes lol.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...85c7aed299.jpg
I was actually going to buy this from LW but I placed more focus on my 72 240z.Dang do I regret it..Enjoy it brother and when your ready to let it go shoot me a message.I'm on the hunt again for a R3 I miss my old R3 so much I keep the credit card key fob as a ornament on desk....One day...

@tslegendary the buyer had a deposit on this the day it was listed, are you saying you saw this even before he did? The competition is more serious than I thought haha

Actually Lazz, the salesman was about to take my offer but he told me there was 5 People lined up to take it.I as going to drive up the next day. 6 hour drive up.

Actually Lazz, the salesman was about to take my offer but he told me there was 5 People lined up to take it.I was going to drive up the next day. 6 hour drive up too.

It’s odd there are a few r3s that have been sitting on lots a few months then. Anyone know about the blue one in Cali and the red one in Virginia?

It's not that surprising. RX-8 in general doesn't sell very fast.

Maybe a bit less so for R3, but still.

Yeah I was in contact with them before they put up their own pics and told them to text me the moment their pics were up. After looking at them and the Carfax I had put a deposit on it in less than an hour after those pics were up. I knew the competition would be fierce as I've missed quite a few R3s in the past by not acting asap.