Nerrage

Hello RX-8 club,

I was thinking of joining the club with a sexy RX-8 that I happened to see browsing some cars. It was everything I wanted in a car, a sexy design, a rotary engine, and a manual transmission.

I read the New Potential Owners start here thread. I get that it's a really finicky beast that needs careful driving, tuning and above all maintenance. I love that. Though it'd be my second car, my first car was a nice ground for me to get into maintaining my own car, something I took care of. I do like the thought of giving it the tender care and attention it needs. It makes the value of driving it so much better.

I basically noticed the car when perusing around for a nice used car (my first one was involved in a wreck. Damage wasn't too bad, but enough to crack my radiator and that's when I knew it would be totaled). Goddamn was I impressed. I was never much of one to keep up on every make and model of car, but when I saw it I just knew why people could love a car so much. I wanted that car so badly that I wasn't even thinking straight about the car buying process.

Then I got a closer look at it. It's 2004, and it's already got 109k miles. Damn. The price for it was $5800 at a dealer and I thought for that piece of machine, no matter what condition it's in, it's just so low.

I should clarify that I'm not getting it as a cheap piece of amazing car, but rather it was an amazing car that happened to be going for way less than I thought it should be going for.

I keep reading so much about how risky of a purchase the 2004 is and the mileage it's at could mean that the engine is ready to die at any second and all signs are pointing to giant red flags that the dealer is just trying to get rid of the car. I just can't stand it. If I knew I could even get a couple years out of it, I would buy it in a heartbeat. I get that I gotta get the compression tested #1 to get a better idea on that and I'm gonna have to shell out a good bit just in the cost of ownership on all the lovely maintenance and insurance that's going to happen, right?

Please, someone, smack some sense into me. I'm not thinking right. This can't be true. I'm going to have to replace the engine in 6 months right? The previous owner probably didn't even bother to do more than the bare maintenance, right? It's going to explode. That's it. It's a death trap.

BigCajun

iTrader: (1)

Well,good that you did you research.
If compression checks out that's good, but if the radiator was damaged, I'd be worried it got overheated, & paired with borderline comp #s, I would pass.
You'll probably find a better deal from a private owner if you're patient.
Good luck!

BigCajun

iTrader: (1)

Ok nevermind, I see it was your car that had a cracked radiator.
If #s check out, it doesn't seem bad . That price does sound low for a dealer though, better go over it thoroughly.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Call up MNAO, give them the VIN to see if it has had it's engine replaced, it might already have a reman in it. Either way, get a compression test and if the numbers all check out fine then you are good to go on that front. $5,800 for a 109k 2004 is at least not overpriced. But then, since dealers always overprice them, it makes me wonder what else might be wrong with it.

rotaryzoomzoom

Keep in mind that these cars do not keep any resale value hardly at all. I see them all the time for four to five thousand. Especially with the milage over 100k I think its a legit price. I paid 10 grand for mine with 54k miles on it, (its an 04 too) and it was in mint condition, perfectly maintained, and havent had any real problems in the more than a year since I bought it.

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Nerrage

Thanks for the insight guys. I'm still shaky on it, but I'm sure if I do a good bit more research. I hear the '04 specifically had a bit more quirks than the others.


Thanks for letting me know about those folks I can call. I got the VIN, and I'm definitely getting what info I can about the car. Also thanks for your helpful newbie guide on all the little things to look out for. I get that it can be a bit tempermental. It makes driving all the more pleasurable.

04Green

iTrader: (1)

For an 04, look at the $100 thread in my signature. Some of those things got fixed later. Some apply to all of them.

Mine is an 04 I bought with 60,000 on it, engine was replaced around 40,00 I think. Currently at 126,000, 7,000 or so of them on the track. Car has been great. Only real issue was daughter hitting third at the end of the straight at 100+ on the track.

All of them need coils regularly. That is the major maintenance item.

Ethan Melamed

I'd be skeptical, that's some pretty heavy mileage for an 8. If the dealer can compression test it for you and it's rust free I guess go for it. I bought my 2005 this year with under 60 000 miles for $7500 rust-free. You can probably get a better deal on a newer car if you are willing to spend a bit more

Razz1

Only have a Mazda dealer do a compression check or a reliable Rotory shop.

there is a special technique.

Junkie _ De _ Adrenaline

I bought a 04 with 88k miles on it for 6k flat and it is running beautifully. normal wear and tear for a 10 year old car. have had it for 3 months and not a single issue. It's a legit price. But like others said check on it cuz these cars do need over the to maintenance. good luck man. P.S I'm in the santa cruz area. If anyone out this way hmu and let's go on some runs!

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ken-x8

Don't let the Potential New Owners thread frighten you too much. It's a lot like the insert that comes with prescription medicine, or the waiver you sign before surgery. Great list of everything that can be a problem, but it's not like everything will happen to everyone.

Read the "The little things" thread for counterpoint.

An RX-8 isn't rock solid like a Honda or Toyota in their glory years, but it's not a Pinto with a loose gas cap either.

Ken

Nerrage

Yeah. I'm starting to look at some of them around the area and I found a 2005 with around 80k miles and there's a mazda dealership about 2 miles from where the seller is at. Still doing my research, I love the look of this car. The price wasn't a HUGE issue. I can afford more car than 6 grand, it's just something that came up like "damn that's a pretty car, why so cheap?"


Thanks for that info! I definitely want to get a little spendy on it right out the door and that's a great help! Though I'll likely throw in an OBD2 bluetooth sensor. Thanks for all of the great info, guys. I've pretty much decided on this car, if not for the great community around it. Last time I had a strong forum community, I became pretty handy at soldering and fixing electronics. Could always use more knowledge on fixing a car

I don't mind it. I get that every car probably has its underbelly if you took the collective experience of everyone. Hell, my last car didn't even have any way to put a transmission filter in for whatever weird-*** machine **** up that basically made it impossible to screw one in. Never had a problem with it though o_o

protodad

Bought mine in LA for $5800 (usually higher prices than anywhere else) with a $2000 suspension and $2000 clutch that wouldn't engage properly. It passed smog better than OEM spec. I took a risk on advice that the clutch issue was easy to fix.

From a dealer I would demand a compression test.

...and then offer 20% under what they are asking. You never know. I bought a used protege5 for 40% under dealer from Mazda because the clutch was stiff (a stage 3 something or other).

slkent

For series 1, what I found when I was looking is that the 04-05s are usually a couple thousand dollars cheaper than the 06s and later. I assumed it's because the earliest models had some recall issues that were fixed for good in 06, but it's still a lot of extra depreciation either way. I only looked at 06s and later because like you I just wanted a RX-8 regardless of budget and so I was willing to pay a bit more for the extra piece of mind, but for sub-5k at a dealer it's probably worth a shot (provided it passes a compression test).

Just keep in mind, if you're tall get one without the power sunroof. I'm 5'9" and I barely fit in my car (with the sunroof).