Should i buy an rx8 w/ 80k miles?
 

I really want to get an rx-8, but ive been looking for one with 40-50k miles on it so it will be more in my price range. So far the only car ive been able to find has about 80k miles on it, and the guy said he has always run synthetic oil so he only changed the oil every 7000 miles or so. I would think you would still want to change the oil every 3000. Also he put all the miles on in about a year, he drives 325 miles a day 5 days a week. I asked him if he ran it hard or babied it, he said he didnt run it hard, since it was the only car he had and he didnt want to kill it. Kinda doesnt sound good, but he only wants 16,500 for it. Is the price too high for how he treated the car? or should i just stay away in general? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

That must be the most miles I have ever heard of.

Get the vin and PM me so I can run it.

Too many miles in too little time. Eventhough the asking price may correlate with KBB & NADA, I would seriously stay away from it.

damn--80K miles in one year--its got to be one of the highest mileage 8s ever. Well at least its ready to be turbocharged--no more warranty.

That's absurd, it would have to be 220 miles a day in one year

Yeah, totaly absurd, that was the first thing i asked the guy.. "How the heck did you manage to put 80k miles on in one year?" He works as an Outside Sales Rep, so he travels all over the state of VA every day, he said he averages about 325 miles a day durring the week.

09/13/2003 3 FE6261195 0 KNOB, TEMP (fan knob)

03/16/2004 30056 Y6Y022100 1 BRACKET, INSULATOR K (recall damper)

08/30/2004 64061 N3H618881A 0 MODULE,POWERTRAIN CO (MSP04)

Three claims for common issues

This guy is a drivin' fool!!

09/03----3 miles

03/04---30000+

08/04---64061 miles

As an ex car-guy with 15 yrs of experience appraising and marketing cars for a large dealer, chances of this car being in better mechanical shape than a "city driver" with 20K is pretty good. Just doing the math, you've determined that the owner put several hundred miles on the car daily...which means he had to drive it primarily on the highway. Highway driving is almost always easier on an automobile than stop-and-go city driving. Regarding changing the oil every 7K miles, this would be a problem if it was a city driver, but for only hiway driving, it shouldnt be. Let Snap-On check out the vin, then check out the owners maint records and finally have a local mechanic check it out. If the car is sound, it might be worth 12-14K. Don't let ONLY the odometer be the deciding factor as in this case it is probably the least realiable predictor.

yep. pretty much ;)

I hope the job was worth all those miles, then again if he is buying and selling 30000 cars every 1-2 years, he/she must do OK.

I agree with raadracer's points, especially about how highway driving is a low-wear environment for most components of a car. A one-year-old RX-8 priced somewhere in the teens doesn't sound unreasonable to me, but a check-out by a mechanic and a careful look at the maintenance records would be necessities. Maybe sending a sample of used motor oil away for analysis would shed some light on how the engine is wearing, too.

First, I read a post here that synthetic oil may not be the best choice for a rotary engine. Don't have the link, but you can do a search.

Second, when I was looking to buy mine (about 2 weeks ago), a 2004 with touring package was about 20,000 (maybe a little more) after all the rebates. (I ended up paying a lot more, but I got one with grand touring and navigation.) If you're financing, the difference in payments between the used one and a 2004 may not be significant. And-- you get the warranty.

You might also be able to find a 2004 base model or one with sport package for about the same price as the used one, with the rebates. I'd check that out first.

Where can i find info on what rebates might be available? i dont really see anything on mazdausa.com.

Thanks for the input guys, its really helping!

You aren't going to get a new one with $10K $15K worth of rebates to equal sub $20K price. All the used ones I've seen have been $21K and up.

thats pretty much what ive been seeing too... ive been looking for almost a month now, and the lowest im finding new is about 23k. I also work for a ford preferred partner, so i get about 500 below invoice.. and thats still not helping much ;)

Yeah and those $23K new prices I've been seeing have been on base automatics with 16" wheels.

Right now there is $4000 off of 2004 models
http://www.mazdausa.com/MusaWeb/disp...esPopup.action
and if you get the S-Plan (employee purchase plan) you're sitting pretty. These 2 things made my purchase a dream.

Looks like this will be another arrow in the synthetic oil user's quiver! 80k miles without any documented problems. All I can say is WOW!

This bodes well for our reliability. Mazda should buy that one from him and tear it down.

You could buy it and then if you need to get an engine or trans later on there is always mazmart...

Definitely- that has to one of the highest mileage production RX-8's. I would love to see the internals and specs on seal wear, plug condition, etc.

On another note, think about what that dude spent on gas in one year... it's mind boggling!

80,000 miles, let's say 20mpg at 2.20 a gallon for premium.........$8,800......wow.....could be +/- $1200 depending on true mpg, and actual price of gas......

If his employer reimbursed his car mileage at the current federal rate (somewhere around $.42 per mile), the car cost him absolutely nothing. In fact, he's ahead. Bought the car for $30k, sells it for $15k, spent $10k on fuel, $3k on tires, $2k on maintenance and is reimbursed $32k.

I'd buy that car before I bought a 10 year old car with 80k miles. Ten year old car has wear and tear on everything plus all the oxidation that ages the car.

Thanks for all the input guys! I decided not to buy the used one with 80k miles, but thats only because i found a new 2004 base for $20,000 after rebates and with my s-plan pricing... i have to drive from New Jersey to Michigan to pick it up.. but worth the drive for the money i just saved. Thanks for all the help, you guys rock =)

80K miles whew. That's alot where did he drive it? around the world?

He just drove around Viginia between a couple of cities.

A few things here.

1. Synthetic oils are not bad for a rotary. This is a myth. I don't care who started it. I've used it for years with no problems as have countless others. Racing Beat has recommended Royal Purple for years and before that they used Amsoil. Rotary Performance in Dallas uses synthetics. Mazda uses synthetics in their own race cars. People who know, use synthetics. The only time you don't want to use them is when you are breaking in a new motor since they are too slippery to allow proper breakin of the seals. When at any other time can you possibly have something too slippery?

2. 3000 mile oil change intervals are not necessary. This is really only a common number in North America as the oil companies have most people scared into thinking that their cars will die if they don't change it. Your oil is fine at this mileage. They just want you to buy more oil. Check out Europes oil change intervals. Americans are paranoid. For hard track use, a 3000 mile oil change interval is fine. A rotary is fine at a 7500 mile oil change interval and a piston engine can go 10K+. If you run synthetics such as Amsoil or Royal Purple, you can go 25K on a piston engine with no issues. My Honda has 113,000 miles on it right now, has never had a problem, gets better gas mileage now than the day I bought it, has only had Royal Purple in it, and has only had the oil changed about a dozen times.

3. 80K miles on a naturally aspirated rotary is like 80K miles on a diesel engine. If you treat it right, it will go on seemlessly forever. Rotaries are not unreliable nor do they wear out quickly. Especially not with synthetic oils.

The whole thing with synthetic oils stems way back when (sorry I can not be more specific as I am sitting in Iraq now and the Mazda book I read this info is in Denver) mazda was had first introduced the 7, there was one specific synthetic oil that caused problems with the motor. Mazda could not legally state do not use X synthetic motor oil for some reason, the book didnt go into it, so they put out a blanket statement saying not to use Synthetic at all. The book went on to state that since that time that oil is no longer available since it was causing issues with higher performing piston powered cars as well and they stopped making it. That is where this whole "dont use synthetic oil" supposedly came from. (From what I read and for what it is worth) Actually a friend of my owns a snowmobile shop and we tested several different oils (synthetic and parafin <--- sp? based oils as well as additives on a spinning bearing and and applied pressure to it at a 90deg angle , the rod we applied the pressure with was connected to a torque wrench and the best results we found was Castrol GTX. Even when other oils were mixed with these so called super additives Castrol was the best. After that that is all I will use, not to mentions it is designed for higher heat motors. Not to thread hijack but out of curiosity what oil does everyone else use?

RG-
Good points on the synthetic... many rotorheads I've met also swear by synthetics as well. I plan on switching over soon myself.

Couple questions thought- With an extended oil change interval, do you advocate changing the filter more often? I ran synth in my Miata, and on occasion I would let the oil go 6-7k miles, but I would change the filter out at 3k. Or do you think that modern filters can handle the longer change intervals that synthetics give you?

2nd question- on the RX8 with it's dual oil coolers, unless you tilt it while draining (which I do), you only get 50-60% of the total oil capacity out of it. Don't you think that might be a factor in an extended change interval? Even running synthetic, I personally would not feel comfortable with a 7500mile knowing that half the oil is just diluted dirty oil from the previous batch...

I always change the oil filter at the same time the oil is changed. It's such a cheap piece to buy, there's no reason not to.

I assume by your response that there are no drain plugs on the RX-8 oil coolers. I don't own an RX-8 so I don't know. On my 1st and 2nd generation RX-7's there have always been drain plugs on the oil coolers. I would drain them at the same time so most of the oil would get out this way. Whatever was left was only a small amount in a couple of lines. It is best to drain as much as you can each time you change the oil. That's really the point of changing it. It's supposed to be an all or nothing affair. If the 8 doesn't have the ability to drain the coolers, I consider this a big design flaw.

Actually, I was talking about changing the filter twice as much as the oil (ie. oil every 7000 miles, filter every 3500).

I think I remember seeing drains on the oil coolers when I had the bumper cover off, but I'm not for sure. What is for sure is they're not easily accessible for routine oil changes... I don't think you can get to them by removing the black plastic undercover. That's one of the reasons I've been a big proponent of closer oil change intervals - Mazda's 7500/5000 intervals seem too long considering a large portion of the oil goes unchanged. I use a floor jack and jackstands, tilting the car each way briefly during the draining process and get an extra quart out (5 or so total), but even that still leaves 2 quarts of dirty oil hiding in the system.