My name is Cameron. I live in Connecticut, USA, and I have fallen in LOVE with the RX-8. I am considering buying either an RX-8 or the reliable and efficient while also niche (but not nearly as niche) Honda Civic Coupe. My price range is around $5000, and I'll be commuting to school and back year round. I have heard that the fuel efficiency is around 20 MPG, which is much less than my father's Honda Accord 2014 that gets 38 MPG, but to be honest not that bad (like my friend's truck that gets 8 MPG). I love the suicide doors, the sound, and the personal maintenance of the car. I am someone who does not mind doing checkups, and what I have read to be called "redlining" which I don't know much about, but have heard that it is healthy for the engine? Unless that is some kind of a rumor? Anyways, I am totally up for tinkering with an RX-8, and getting 20 MPG. What I am not looking forward to is having to slowly replace every part of the car I buy until I essentially have built a new car from scratch. Also, if it is actually a good idea to rebuild an RX-8 from scratch by buying the parts for cheaper than what it would cost to buy them in a whole car, please let me know. I hope there are some experienced RX-8'ers out there that can let me know if and how I can get an RX-8 that won't ask for another repair as soon as it watches me acquire my paycheck. Obviously, stretching the $5000 price range a bit is not a problem. As an experienced owner, define "a bit" as you please.

Thanks for reading!

 

New member and rx8 owner. I will tell you from a few days on this forum, that it is the best place to get information and advice on your RX8 purchase.
For starters, look here if you have not already: https://www.rx8club.com/new-member-f...rs-read-first/

The redlining is no myth or rumour. It is a true fact that running rotary engines at high rpm is better for the engine life span.
Since rotary engines require oil inside the combustion chamber, the oil itself helps lubricate the engine, but also has to burn of so that it
does not build up residue inside the housing. Therefore, running the engine at high rpm raises the engine temperature and burns the two stroke oil.
You can drive your RX8 on lower rpm daily, but for each time you are driving, give it some juice a few times, just so that the engine burns the oil.
[I mean, what better joke to play on a police officer: I am telling you sir, i have to run fast, otherwise my car will brake down XD ]

That is what i learned reading and hearing about rotaries. The old masters on these forums can correct me on anything false^.
As for the rx8 purchase, IMO if you like tinkering and building cars, getting a cheaper one and restoring it might be fun for you.
But if you'd rather just buy a ready-to-go car, you will probably have to find a more expensive one.
There are could be users here who sell their cars, maybe they can help.

 

Don't buy a $5000 RX8 unless the seller can prove the engine is fresh and has good compression. These cars are getting old and student budgets and potential repairs don't mix well.

These cars don't need frequent maintenance, but they do need a vigilant eye and for the basic maintenance to be done on time. Otherwise new engine time. Scares many people away, probably correctly.

To be honest if your choice is between a Civic and this car, neither is the car you want/need. It's like being between lobster and breakfast cereal. They're good options for different meals/situations. Lobster breakfast is a little weird, and cereal for dinner isn't better.

 

It depends on how good of an RX8 you can find for > $5,000. A series 2 is out of the question for that budget unless you buy a broken one or get really lucky. So, you are limited to the 2004-2008 series 1 models. I don’t care how good your pre purchase inspection is, this car is always a risky purchase. You could do everything right: compression test, no rust, newly rebuilt etc. and still be looking at costly repairs even in the short term.

are you going to be driving a lot? Do you have a repair budget? Can you live without it while it’s being fixed? There’s a lot of questions you need to ask yourself. Honestly, as a student you will get more value out of a Toyota or Honda.

 

I'll back this up this is good questions to ask you're self when thinking about owning one. If you really need a car every day and you can't afford to have repairs come you're way sometimes like $80 or sometimes an engine which can be about $3K to replace. You have to be prepared to have things go wrong when owning one, I've personally had to replace about $150 in parts on my rx-8 when I first got it (+ an engine replacement because it had a bad one) to get it up and going since then I've probably replaced about $300 or more in maintenance parts since then, But that doesn't include things breaking due to me. and in that perspective it doesn't seem that bad but the engine replacement is what is really hard to go though because you will be with out it for week's and lot's of bills to have to pay if you have to have a shop replace it and i know that can really put a student in a hard spot.