grimfate

Hi all. I'm glad this place exists because I have learnt so much. But there are still a couple questions I'm not sure the answer.

a. I'm not really a car guy, but I am willing to learn. I'm not completely new to cars, but checking and topping up the oil is about as deep as my car maintenance experience goes. Am I am likely to be overwhelmed by the required maintenance of the RX-8, or would I likely pick it up quickly enough?

And, b. The big question: I am considering a 2004 automatic RX-8 from a car dealer. The car has around 37,000KM (around 23,000 miles) and was imported from Japan. The problem is, they don't have a service history, which I remember reading is quite important to get for an RX-8. The dealer also has no clue on its history, including recalls and version of the engine flash. (Apparently because the car is from another country, the Mazda in my country won't be able to tell me its history.) The car has been inspected by a mechanic and came up with an "above average" rating for its age and mileage. So my question is: Should an RX-8 with such low mileage be fine, or are there a couple things I need to do before buying to tell how good it is, or is this just too risky to blow my cash on? If it passes a compression test, is that all it needs to get the thumbs up?

Thanks heaps, guys!