hey guys. didnt know if this was the right place to post this but i figure id give it a shot.
i just bought my 2005 mazda rx8 with 31,000 miles on it. i got a super good deal from a trustworthy family friend even though it is a salvaged title. i wanted to get a major tune up on it or some sort of tune up but wasnt sure if a major one was necessary. Just wondering what something like that would cost? im coolant level light comes on sometimes but i have read that that is a problem with most rx8 owners. someone shed some light on me!
thanks

 

Has it been driven? Or has it been sitting?

 

it has been driving for the last 10 months.
i think the suspension is messed up on the back right side or something. when ever i go over bumps or anything with a dip it makes like a clacking noise. not quite sure though i dont know too much about cars.

 

any help would be greatly appreciated(:

 

it would help if we knew your location. Prices vary across the board...

 

orange county california

 

bump

 

niceeeee, in my area...id say if you wanted to do a tune up, look up and buy new ignition coils x4 and 4 spark plugs (2trailing & 2 leading) also some new spark plug wires...also might wanna check the air filter to see if its clean. As far as your suspension issue it could be a number of things...Im in Santa Ana and i wouldnt mind giving you a hand in saving a few bucks on labor, cus if you take your car to the dealership your looking at a 600+ bill on just replacing those things

 

nice ya im in huntington beach. tomorrow im taking it to my long time mechanic to see what he can do for me. its a 2005 with 31,000 miles on it so hopefully nothing is wrong that is expensive to fix.....is it cheap to fix your suspension?

 

Apparently the coolant level light is due to the fact that the float in the coolant becomes saturated and stops floating. If it comes on check your coolant and then just try not to get annoyed every time it comes on.

 

shops are gonna charge you by the hour to do work, so you do the math...im not a rich guy, thats why i do all my maintenance myself

 

+1 on what Wrightcomputing said about the coolant light.



as far as shops that can help you in the OC area - check out

Neptune Speed in HB - Shop owner: Yoshiya (AWESOME GUY). You can also ask for Ken...he's a long time friend and really knowledgable. If you talk to Ken, tell him Paris sent you n' he might be able to give you some insight on some stuff.


Rotary Reliability and Racing/Fast Freddie's in Costa Mesa/Santa Ana. Definitely a lot of experience there. They can help you too. I've dealt with Louie at that shop n' he gave me a lot of help.


g'luck

 

+ 1 BILLION for NeptuneSpeed, it's the ONLY shop that I trust to work on my car, I've referred dozens of people there and everyone loves the shop.

Atilla: Ken hasn't worked there in over a year but Yoshiya's new mechanic is BADASS. He's the one who installed Tim's HKS coilovers. This guy is the new & improved version of Ken and really knows his stuff.

 

awwww - i liked Ken

i wonder where he went.

 

me too, Ken was cool.
He recently graduated with his engineering degree and went to work for Kia or Hyundai.
I think it's Hyundai since they have their headquarters in FV.

 

oh, good for him. I'm sure he's gonna love dealing with those Genesis's

 

so i have to get a new upper control arm and the part is 471$ on the right side and im getting all new yakahoma tires for 625$ plus my mechanic charged me 70$ for 100 point inspection or whatever its called and to find the prolblem. so im paying 1200$ total. is that a good price for all of that?

 

im no mechanic so i really dont know what a good price is, and as far as stuff like that goes, ive done ALL the work on my car here from home

 

If the prices are correct for the parts that is a good deal I normally pay $40 to get my tires mounted and balanced and maybe a camber or toe check and a chat about racing thrown in. Some 100 point inspections are BS though because it's like roof-check, 4 doors-check, 6 windows-check, 4 wheels-check etc.
The Mazda dealer gave my car a complimentary 100 point check when I checked out a recall item. I said "Oh great how much wear do I have left on the break pads". The response was "Oh we don't check things like that".