Hey,
I'm considering buying my first rx8. Been reading a bunch about the problems and maintainence unfortunately I don't feel comfortable not knowing if the rx8s I'm looking at has had an engine replacement.

Basically I'm wondering if anyone knows a way I can check on this information if the dealer doesn't have it.

@107,XXX
JM1FE173050149274

@107,XXX
JM1FE173650157251

I plan on doing repairs & maintainence myself.. both are for sale at around 6k.

Any thoughts? Both dealers have no knowledge of the engine being replaced.

 

Giving us the VIN doesn't mean anything. There ARE a few people on the forum that can look up VIN histories, but they have the same access to the dealer data as the dealer you talked to. Call MNAO if you think the dealers are lying or concealing data.

Otherwise, when you go to see them in person, you can look for a blue metal plate that is on most reman engines. But if Mazda doesn't know about an engine replacement, it's probably the original engine. (107k on the original engine would make me wary).


Regardless of whether or not it's on the original engine though, get a compression test to confirm. An engine with 180k with good compression is more valuable than one with 30k and poor compression. Plenty of people dump the car when they realize the compression is failing, so buying an RX-8 without testing the compression first is running a rather large risk.