My mom bought an '05 RX-8 and at some point decided she didn't like driving it, so it just sits in her garage. The battery is dead, which I am going to replace tomorrow.

My real question is, what else should I look for? The car hasn't even been started in over a year. All fluid levels look good, obviously I will get the oil changed, but I am the only one in the family that will take care of her (the 8) so now that she's been adopted, I want her to be healthy, haha.

Any advice?

Also, it breaks my heart, but mice have eaten a lot of the insulation in the engine bay, is there a DIY for replacing that?

 

change the gas, plugs/wires. actually, I'd change all fluids, just to be safe.
check tires for damage.
check all lines and make sure they're not cracked or damaged.
Check corrosion on battery terminal leads
change air filter, clean the MAF and eccentric shaft sensors.

 

Thanks for the quick reply!

Is there anything I should go to the dealer for? recalls, tsbs, etc.?

It's been neglected for so long, i'm afraid to start getting into the cost of getting it running again... It only has 5500 miles!

 

take it to the dealer and have it checked for any TSB's

once you get it running give it at least half a dozen drive cycles to relearn fuel trims before worrying about "how it's running". When i say drive cycles i mean 20 to 30 mins of driving under varying conditions with time in between runs.

 

Why she bought it and never drove it in a year? Nobody in the family ever drove it within the whole year? Just curious.

 

She liked the car a lot, but she didn't want to buy a sports car that was auto. I taught her to drive stick but the car scares the **** out of her.

I drove it a lot after she first bought it, but moved away and was unable to properly maintain it. Now that I'm back it's basically my car.

 

Cool, I will try not to worry about how she's running until I get some drive cycles in. I'm doing a bulk of the fluid changes and the battery done today. Can't wait til she's back in good health!!!