fix or sell 2004 needs rebuilt tranny and clutch
 

My 2004 with 97,000 miles needs new clutch and rebuild of transmission. along w spark plug and wires upgrade, total is $4,200. How reliable will it be after the fix?is it worth it, or should I move on knowing my rx-8 was fun whiile it lasted?

Why not buy a used tranny and install everything yourself?
Transmission would be $1,000 or less.
OEM-ish Clutch kit could run ~$350
Plugs and wires ~$110
Tools to do it all ~$500ish
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Total: Less than $2,000
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Saying you swapped your tranny and installed a new clutch = Priceless.

Good suggestion, except I am completely inept at the fixing part. I have to rely on others. And since I can't fix future problems, I'm worried about reliability moving forward. I enjoy the car immensely, but it may not make sense for me at this point

Well in that case, I would just go around to different shops asking how much it would be for a "clutch installation".
1. You would already have the clutch from elsewhere, so it would save money.
2. It shouldn't cost you a damn thing to swap a different used tranny in there, since they have to remove it to get to the clutch anyway.

Transmission rebuilds/replacement In My Opinion are a bit rare for that milage, and a clutch swap is is something every car has to go through eventually. After that, I don't think there's much more major jobs in your future. The RX-8 is an amazing car, like nothing else in the world. Don't give it up so easily.

P.S. $4,200 is way too much.

Very helpful. I will call around

I assume your 2004 was paid off, so I personally would look at it like this.
$4k to fix car < price of new car.

I'm in the same boat with the needing a new transmission. Thankfully my car warranty is paying for that.

The quotes for $4,200 are crazy off. Hunt around the part out threads here and you can snag a working used transmission for $500-$700. Brand new 4 coils 4 plugs, 4 wires is as low as $182 off auto-parts websites. OEM clutch is about $270-$300, Exedy stage 1 is $350. $40 for transmission fluid. Going with the top end of the prices, you are looking at about $1,300ish in parts.

A reputable and reliable mechanic can do everything in about 3-4 hours, and $90 is a usual hourly rate, so you are looking at maybe $350 for labor.

Total is less than half of what you were quoted. I'm guessing a dealer gave you the quote for the labor of an actual transmission rebuild (which takes quite a while), their 200% markup on ignition parts and a 50-100% markup on clutch, and didn't eliminate the labor for the clutch since they were taking out the transmission anyway.

I have a OEM clutch kit that I'm selling. It's used but still good if you're interested.

https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-parts-s...-parts-236200/