So I've been reading a lot about them. Seems like as long as I pay attention to the maintenance of it, like oil, plugs, coils, etc, that I should be OK. I don't have any intention on forced induction. I am planning on looking at an rx8 Tuesday. These are the 2 I'm deciding between, with the first being my favorite based off the ad.

2007 Mazda RX-8 TOURING for sale at Forest Grove Auto Broker in Forest Grove and Lafayette, OR Stock 22071



2006 Mazda RX-8 Sport for sale at Braidia and TNT Auto Group in Portland, OR Stock B - 495 | Braidia and TNT Auto Group - Mobile Web


Which of the 2 do you think I should focus on, if either? Or should I keep looking for a different one?

 

As long as you pay attention and as long as the previous owner paid attention too.

Neither of those have a description, so it's hard to tell. In general go for the lowest miles, unless you can afford a car thats still under the 8 year warranty.

As you probably read, the deciding factor will be a compression test.

 

The constant oil burn doesn't bother me, even the plugs, wires, and coils every 30k miles, or "2 years", doesn't turn me away. But after reading about all these over heating possibilities, I'm concerned now that regardless of what I do, that I will at some point less than adding my own 100k miles, that I WILL be replacing the engine. Inline a piston engine, where maintenance can be neglected and still push 250k commonly. If they're both reaching the 120k mark already, and if neither has had an engine rebuild or replace, is it even a good idea to look at these ones?

 

Overheating isn't really a thing, as in it should not happen. If the car overheats, something preventable has gone wrong elsewhere. But that's what I mean about having a good previous owner. You're inheriting whatever mistake he has or hasn't made.

I had not noticed the mileage. Those prices are way too high
The thing is, they could already have fresh engines. Or they could be on original engines in good shape. Or they could have beaten and neglected original engines. Or they could have beaten and neglected new engines. You have to approach it case by case and have a compression test performed to know the state of the engine.

But yes, if you're going to pull the trigger on an RX8 in good shape, have a contingency plan if you need to replace the engine. These things happen and you can't be buying yourself into a situation where that can bankrupt you. On the bright side, you don't have timing belts to change or head gaskets to blow.

By the way, neglect a high strung piston engine, like an S2000 or an STi, and you'll get the same result. This isn't a Corolla

 

^Well said!

 

I'm not in a hurry to get one. I have no issues waiting for the right one to pop up. I think I'll still check the 07 out, test drive it, find out whatever I can about it, and do the test. If everything looks good, like compression numbers, maybe there's paperwork on new engine, etc, I might still pull the trigger. If anything seems weird, then I go home and keep looking. Worst case from just going home is i got to drive the rx8, and I'll get my current car closer to paid off before getting another

And I would like to thank you for your input. And also the amount of info on this site. I knew rotaries required different attention than pistons, but wasn't sure exactly what until I came here.

 

10 Surprisingly Cheap Sports Cars - These Fun Sports Cars Are Actually Affordable

 

Ok, so now that all departments I'd need to call are open, I made some calls regarding the 2007, (the first link). The dealer says it's a 2 owner vehicle, been in my area of the NW US it's whole life. They don't have any records of anything engine related. There was an accident reported in 2013, but it has a clear title. And of course their shop says everything checked out good. They didn't hesitate when I asked if I could take it to the Mazda dealer 15 minutes away for a compression test, though I didn't ask over the phone if they'd pay for it. They said it looks like it's been very well taken care of, but again, it's a dealer lol. Oh, and the ad has it listed, but it's got 119,235 miles on it.

I called Mazda North America and had the VIN checked out. There was 3 things she was able to tell me:
1) the door lock switch was replaced, on passenger side I think she said, don't remember which now lol.
2) the radiator was replaced
3) there was engine repair done in June 2015, though there wasn't any details about what exactly was done.

Those are in order from oldest to newest. Based off this info, I was thinking of still going to check it out personally, and get the compression test done. If that looks good, and the car looks good, I may get it. What are your opinions given this info?

 

Good luck getting them to pay for it, they're stingy and particular about where they spend their money and on whom.

That's kind of terrifying that Mazda has a record of engine work being done just over a year ago and they can't tell you exactly what was done.

It sounds like a decent vehicle. Bring it in to the dealership, after verifying that they have a proper rotary engine compression tester of course, and hope for the best!

 

Well, I ended up getting it. Here's to rotary! Right? Lol. Anyways, I will post some pics when I get a chance to take some in the light. I have a Nexus 6, and their cameras aren't that great. I need to find what bulb is the replacement for the running lights. Passenger side went out :-(

Edit: not the running light, but the parking light I guess. It's the orange bulb in the front, closest to the Mazda logo. Should be 194 right?

 

Has anyone tried these particular lights for the interior? http://www.autolumination.com/194.htm
I want to replace both dome/map lights and both door lights, and the trunk (though I don't know if that's the same). My issue is I don't know how bright these are.

 

KasperDG I hope you got that compression test before you bought it. We see way too many excited new owners who bought an RX8 that looked and felt great, at a "bargain price", just to find out later their engine was failing, and then they are stuck with a big bill to replace the engine. You need to know what "engine work" was done. If a rotary needs engine work, that usually means it needed rebuilding.

 

Gonna second williams and everyone else that said "Get a compression test done." As far as overheating goes, I drove my 8 1700 miles from MD to CO, and the only issue we had was with the bloody coolant bottle warning going on and off.

 

My Mazda dealer was booked until this Thursday. So I have an appointment Thursday morning. I did already purchase the vehicle, in hopes that it's not failing. (Insert "I told you so" flames here). I got a 3 year/36k miles warranty on it though, which, if something is going bad, should cover it, or at least some of it. Every other 8 I was seeing for sale within 200 miles of me was either cloth and manual, or leather and auto. I wanted leather and manual. This one has every option, iirc, that was available for 2007 GT. I do need to replace the passenger side parking light, which I've read is a pain in the ***. Haven't made it to the auto store yet to get my bulbs. And my fuse is blown I think for the cigarette lighter and console power slots. Haven't checked the fuse yet.

 

Keep us informed. I'm currently hunting down a second engine so I can rebuild mine.

 

I agree, post up those compression numbers when you get them! If they say it has failed ask them for the specifics, you will need 8 numbers in total, 2 RPM values and 1 compression score per rotor face (2 rotors x 3 faces)

 

As soon as I get them, however good or bad, I'll post them here. Aside from the concern of compression numbers, and the bulb and fuse, everything else seems to be great. Looks like they took care of things. Yes, looks aren't everything, but the cover on this book is nice lol. One of the 2 previous owners was a smoker though :-( There are a few burn holes in the upholstery by the top window. But, it is 10 years old, so showroom condition for less than the original $30k+ msrp isn't gonna happen lol.

 

^That still irritates the **** outta me.... How do you buy a car like this and then treat it like that...

 

I agree, believe me. At some point in the future I want to somehow fix that, somehow lol.

I used to be a smoker. Had my share of "nice" cars. Camaro z28, 240sx, and my 94 Celica gt. Never once smoked inside any of them. My friend tried to once while we were driving. I grabbed his smokes and threw them out the window lol. He never smoked in my car again :-)

 

Well, here it is.

According to the "Potential owners" thread, I shouldn't even be able to really drive the car at those numbers. But, that's based off the test at 250 rpm. Mine was done at 244. Now, I know it's still bad, but I'm not noticing any of the "typical" low compression issues. Minus maybe mileage or power loss, only because I don't have a healthy engine to compare with. I think I'm averaging 19ish on mileage. I got half a tank to go, and I can get a more accurate number for that. Based off of the rpm done in this test, exactly how bad is the motor?
Anyways, I will hear back in 24-48 hours whether the service warranty company will cover this. I'm hoping so.

 

Hmmmmmm. Well, A+ for consistency, but I don't know how you're still driving this thing with 4.9s in there. This can't be real :/

 

Ya, that's what I thought. I asked several times to make sure these were correct. And like I said earlier, I'm not noticing anything that leads me to believe it's failing, aside from those numbers. It starts fine, idles right around 750, which I believe is normal. Mileage doesn't seem to bad, considering they say 17 city 25 highway, I'm getting 19-20. I don't baby it, but I don't drive like it's stolen all the time.

Either way, I'm going to assume I need to pursue a new engine. If the warranty covers it, great. If not, I'll figure something out. But I love this thing. I'd rather try to get a new engine then look for a different car.

 

Good, the bug has infected you as well. That's how I feel about my car as well.

 

Really sad to hear about your compression, all you americans should be really thinking about buying in Canada... switching to MPH/KMH is the press of a button. There are some really cheap RX8's up here you can get a 2009 with only 17,000 ish miles for $9,000 ish USD

2009 Mazda RX-8 for $11,800 in LAVAL | autoTRADER.ca



Here's a list of 2009+ all manual vehicles

http://wwwb.autotrader.ca/cars/mazda...&rcs=0&rcp=100

 

Wow that must have been a special order deal, the AD says it has AWD!