Guys, I'm about to purchase my 8 after a month of research. Just to line everything up, I'm building a checklist to take to the dealer. Can you suggest any must-have's before purchase? I'm looking at the M/T, black leather, GT pkg.

1/ M Flash Installed?
2/ Top speed in first gear?

 

If you purchase one with the last 5 digits of your Vin 30000 up , all problems SHOULD be correctted.

 

great tip, the vin is ending in 39222, so that part should be cool, I also got first gear up to ~33 MPH, I noticed some threads that said it was maxing out at 28 MPH. Mine is a M/T, don't know if there's was automatic.

 

good thread, i'm close to buying one too. post more people!! :D

 

As far as "must have" items, that depends on your specific taste. I bought the nav system because I thought it was cool. Now I realize that it will be a "must have" on every car I own from this day forth. I love my sunroof, some complain about the loss of headroom but the seat bottom adjusts through about a 1.5-2 inch range so I haven't had a problem and I'm 6' tall. I checked every box when I bought mine. The worst thing you could do is not buy one at all.

 

I'm looking more for specific items that should be verified with the dealer upon purchase. Not so much the options.

 

All recalls and "Campaigns," specifically the airbag recall and M flash. Look for labels under hood.

Inspect exterior for any dings, dents, or scratches.

Inspect interior for same, plus tears, etc.

Drive it day of delivery BEFORE signing anything, even though you have driven it before. Listen for rattles and odd suspension/engine noises. Make sure it accelerates smoothly. Make sure brakes work smoothly without vibration.

Try every button. Windows, radio, blast the A/C and make sure it's cold.

Kick the tires

 

this was a good thread about this that i bookmarked so i'll have it when i buy:

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...threadid=19317

P.S. what is the 1st gear problem?

 

serff,

Fellow Denver native in the house!

Listen, I read a couple of posts about limiting first gear speeds. People were complaining about only getting to 28 MPH in first. I don't know if this is due to being an automatic. But needless to say, when I bought my 8, I opened her up. No need to hold back when taking it on that last run before purchase. If it's going to break that easy, I'd rather have it malfunction before purchase!

 

And break the rules of the break in period??? hehe...i don't know how i feelt about that...i mean how do you prove it anyway? take a dyno sheet? and what is it limiting? just your top speed? or does your tranny burst open when you hit 29MPH? i sorta don't think they would do any thing even if you said it was "below the norm." maybe i'm missing something...but this is the first i've heard of it. thanks for the heads up though

 

is the 30000 a hard number, I see one in Houston I might get but the last five of the vin are 293xx, which is close.

just curious.

 

I would guess it is a hard number. they must have switch the production line at that 30000 mark. but i don't know for sure. that's my story and i'm stickin to it...

 

I'm not sure where you got that data from. According to the technical service bulletin, http://www.finishlineperformance.com...1-04-1273d.pdf, VIN greater than or equal to 35537 means you already have the M Flash.

 

The VIN thing has me worried...I just got my car three days ago, and the VIN ends in 19091. There's no way the car could've been sitting in the dealer's lot for that long, is there? Is there any other indication that all the problems have bee fixed? TIA,

-arattle

 

How many miles were on it?
What date is on the spec plate (on drivers side door frame)?

I just picked mine up 7/2/04, vin 394xx mfg. date, May 2004.

I hope there wasn't an underlying reason they sold it to you for less than invoice...

 

Just checked, 9/2003. That is weird, the car had 14 miles on it, I added two on a quick test drive, it looks super clean, obviously has never been driven. They did have a bunch of them sitting there, maybe they're not selling that well at that dealer? In any case, I'd expect all the problems to have been fixed, but I might call them to make sure. This kind of stinks, I thought I was buying a 'fresher' car than that!

-arattle

 

Picked up 6/29/04. Vin - 372XX. Date - 4/04.

 

Some cars are sitting that long, it should not be an issue. No one wanted the specific combination you chose. Just drive conservatively the first 600 miles and then redline it daily. It's a great car.