Morgan

yayayayayayayayayay. Maybe they'll buy me a new bumper...

rx8wannahave

A little off topic...but do SC effect the exhaust temp's also? Do Turbo’s heat it up more or are they similar? Just wondering...

Crash

Ok I thought I wouldn't have to ask this question because, well honestly I'm not of the mindset that a couple of problems are warrant for dispelling an entire vehicle's worth.

Should I be buying this car!?

I understand that recalls happen, especially in a model's infancy stage. I owned a 1999 Miata (first year of the redesign) that had some issues. None of them seemed as extreme as the RX8 problems I have seen on this forum however. My wife is going to be driving this car alot, I worry about her (any good husband should in my opinion) getting stranded on the side of the road in the middle of the night. Or her car not starting after her night classes (in the city).

It is EXTREMELY concerning that Mazda has decided to hold all cars without any timeline for the customers that are waiting (given there are not many that are waiting on 04 delivery but, we ARE still customers). This is unacceptable to me for our current society that is used to computerized inventory management, immediate order fulfillment, overnight shipping and excellent customer service. What's more is there seems to be concern that this "plan" won't even fix overheating problems and that the "plan" is going to effect the driving characteristics of the car (power) of which were major factors in my choosing it.

I don't want a dog of a car that has issues, with a poor support network......especially if it's at the cost of my wife's well-being.

Once again, I'm trying not to overreact.... only about 10 to 15 percent of owners typically go on forums. Forums are also notorious for being Cauldrons of Complaint.

What do you owners think I should do? I know if I had a troublesome vehicle I would be letting potential buyers know about it.

Tamas

iTrader: (1)

If you have such doubts about the car, then don't buy it. You would feel nervous all the time.

ALWAZL8

I, personally and speaking as a female, have not had any major issues with my 8 and I've had it for over a year and a half. The only issues I've had were minor, ie: broken visor & squealing brakes.

I also am not going to worry much about the recall until I HAVE TO since I don't rev my car to 7,000 RPM's at idle - ever- and I don't get up to that high of an RPM enough when I'm driving to really mention it.

My 8 falls into Group 1. I bought my car KNOWING that there may be issues along the way because it was a first year production model, but I'm willing to deal with it. I LOVE my car and haven't regretted buying it at all.

That's my .02.

brightnova

Hi Crash, I am in exactly the same position as you. I bought my RX8 on July 9. Exactly one day after the stop notice. Admitedly I did not try to take delivery until July 14. But on that day they informed me about the stop notice and the upcoming recall.

I was gutted for the next couple of days. I hear you about modern society, and that we all want everything yesterday - and for the most part, that's what we get.

But I have thought about this some more. First off, Mazda does not seem to be reacting to this because there have already been a load of RX-8's blowing up and the Federal government was about to force the issue for them. They seem to be proactive and fixing this before it gets to that point. How many times have you been watching the news to see that Dodge or Ford have had some people die in their cars before a recall happens?

Secondly, I have not heard anything yet that says that power will be reduced. Some guesses on this thread were saying that there could be a low speed map that changes the air/fuel mix when the car is stopped. If that is the case then you will get no loss of power when actually driving.

But its all guesswork at the moment. If somebody does get a 2005 build (group 2) car fixed with the flash then it would be great to hear the effects.

I know its frustrating, I am in exactly the same position. And the worst bit about waiting, I've been pricing up Mazdaspeed parts - and actually thinking about spending the money. If I can't get the car until August - maybe they could install some parts while they have the car...

Hang in there and lets see what the factual news is in August. That's my plan.

RX8_Buckeye

Are you implying that the new PCM calibration will incorporate a rev-limiter at vehicle speeds less than some threshold value, e.g. 5 mph? Or will the calibration not allow the driver to hold engine speed above a certain value for a given amount of time, i.e. cutting throttle if the time limit is exceeded? I don't see how a hard rev limiter would be accepted by most RX-8 owners.

RotaryIT

So it is S flash.... I was wondering what the deal was. I was corrected by Zoom about the nomenclature last time, and now this time I was hearing "E" thinking what?

I called my dealer about when the MS6 comes and they are saying October or November...bummer, but could be just in time for winter.

Labop

Crash,

I bought my Group 1 car (weird having a subclass to refer to it now) a year and a half ago knowing full well that it might have major problems, that's what heppens with the first year of any car. I've only once had it flooded, the body shop moved it a few times that day without letting it warm up or give it a rev at shutdown. Other than that, no problems whatsoever. Nothing that would concern me.

I do get a high idle some times (by this I mean that the car is out of gear with my foot off the gas) and she will go up to about 1.5k-2k and hold there for a bit, then come back down. That's how I interpret the "high idle" anyway.

This means that I'll be one of the ones that are damn sure they get the work done. Other than that, I'm not getting rid of my car. I love it too much and I'm not worried. Mazda halting the production line and arranging the fix is actually a good thing. It means that they're addressing the problem. I'd rather they took a little more time and firmed up the timeline before releasing it to the public. Imagine how irate we would be if they kept changing the timeline on us?

If you're concerned about your wife and it's a big enough issue, don't get the 8. But if you can get a Group 2 car, and there are no problems... I'd jump on it.

Well, I wouldn't really jump on it. You might hurt the paint if you did that, but I'd buy it.

Side question, should we make a new badge/emblem for our cars that say "Group 1" and "Group 2" lol :D

brightnova

I wonder which car will have a cooler interior - a fixed group 1 or a group 2? Its a shame cars are not like books. A first edition (group 1) would be worth more later on :-)

zoom44

aratinga that is the code associated with a loose gas cap. what the flash fixed was throwing that signal falsely. if the code comes it is most likely the gas cap

staticlag

When it comes time to go in for the service, are any of you going to swap back in your stock components?

Do you think if they find an aftermarket cat/muffler they can say the heat problem was your fault? Or do they have to do the service for free, reguardless?

zoom44

because it is specific to sitting still while having the engine revved high

zoom44

if your car was built in 3/05 then it is a group 2 car, already has the extra heat blanket and will be inspected etc as per the group 2 instructions and given back to you.

zoom44

i did not mean to imply anything other than this- i know that what causes the engine to idle very high in the first place is in the pcm. i believe the flash will re-work this bit to either remove it or shorten the duration of the high rpm idle. this i have to confirm.

any remarks about leaning or richening are pure speculation and should be avoided and ignored.

zoom44

i wont be. and a recall once enacted has to be done on any car in the class. this is mandated by the Federal government. it doesnt matter if you are in warranty or not nor whether you have aftermarket parts.

Aratinga

As soon as I saw the CEL was lit I pulled over and checked the gas cap; it was tight. Gomez mentioned that the cap itself may be faulty, so if it happens again I'll replace the cap.

zoom44

yep thats the next step i figured you knew but doesnt hurt to mention

Crash

Ok, Ok.... So I have a question.

The big difference between Group 1 and Group 2 seems to be the existence of an extra thermal blanket underneath the car. So here is my question, "Why are the dealers forced to wait for 'further instructions' before fixing these vehicles?" It would stand to reason that you could take this thermal blanket and apply it to an 04, reflash and be on your merry way.

Is it a matter of this part not being in warehouses for replacement? Do they need to manufacture more of them in order to repair as they continue to produce? You would think they could take stock from the factory to repair inventoried Group 1 cars, there can't be that many of them.

Am I missing something? I know, you all hate me for being impatient. But think how much you must love your cars, then think about what you would do if you were in my position?

Gomez

You've got to look back to the first post. This recall addresses problems associated with the fuel tank, the back-up lights, the neutral switch and oxy sensors etc. Some of this gear is on the gearbox.....not the fuel tank. There will have to be a repair kit that looks after this other gear. It may be more shielding, modified harnesses, high temp tolerance switches....don't know yet.

It may be that these bits are already done on Group two cars. That is logical to me. We'll have to suck it and see, I'm afraid.

Gomez.

RX8_Buckeye

Group 2 cars were built more recently and are less likely to have sustained thermal damage. Therefore, an inspection of these vehicles can be conducted and repairs can be made on those few cars that have damage.

A much higher percentage of group 1 cars have probably sustained damage since they have been in service longer. You are right that there are probably not enough parts available at this time to initiate the recall for group 1 vehicles. It's either that or Mazda is still trying to decide how to handle the repairs, i.e. how much damage warrants replacement of a part.

oreo

What do you mean "How much damage warants replacement of a part" are you assuming that they will decide that if the part is damaged but still functional they are just going to ignore it and hope it doesent break down before your waranty is over? That would be very low. In Fact, I going to inspect the car myself, and if they try it when I take it to the recall I'm going to have them buy it back (I love this car, but I dont want a new damaged car!!)

Go48

Oh the hysteria!!

zoom44

because the instructions you hae read so far ar efor GROUP 2 VEHICLES. they should have the blanket and not have any damage. if they do find damage then they have to tell mazda what they found and wait for furthur instructions.

In other words they can do the cars on their lot to get them moving again as long as they are group 2 cars because that is what they have instructions for. If they find damage then they have to stop what they are doing on that car and put it aside until they get new procedure from Mazda because it is outside the scope of the group 2 instructions. understand?

TheGreenOcho

I took my 04 MT in for service today and to have a few minor tsb's handled. I asked about any recalls for the 8 and the tech said that he hadn't heard of any. He punched in my vin number and it did bring up something about the gas tank. He said he would check on it and call me later today. Fast forward to this afternoon, the tech calls and says that my car is in Group 2 and no repair has been release yet, and it may not even need a repair. Now my car has a build date of May 2003, would this be in group 1?