Hi everyone. I am about to purchase an 05 RX8 Shinka. I already have the financing and everything and I am getting a real good deal on the car.
But now I am scared. I have read many horror stories on here about the engines going bad. I don't want to have all kinds of problems with the car and I am worried that I might based on what everyone else has said. All throughout the world 5W-30 is recommended for this car, but here in the US they recommend 5W-20 for the car. Could this be the cause for all the engine failures. Would it be bettter to use 5W-30 when I get the car and avoid what the manual says or is
5W-20 going to work ok now that recall 4206F has been done for these cars.
What does everyone think about the oil?
Do you think I should get the car based on your experiences? Is everyone happy?
I need some reassurance over here, but I also want to hear the bad side too.

 

Fifth year, daily driver, fourth winter, northern Canada.

Check that all the little re-calls are done on the one you buy, and drive it hard occasionally, it should be OK.

Use whatever oil makes you feel good, it has zero to do with the low compression that affects some peoples engines.


S

 

i plan on using 5w30 Castrol GTX.

 

I've had this car for...almost 8 months, this is an AWESOME car. You are definitely safe with it. It's a 4-door so you get better insurance. And for the oil, I'm not too sure with all that, but I always take it to my dealership for oil changes. Also, you have airbags surrounding the cabin so that helped me make my decision.

The bad...I haven't any. I've had minor things go wrong with the car. I take it into the dealership and they take care of it right away and wash it for me. Even though I always keep it spotless

 

Everyone else hasn't said that that you'll have all kinds of problems. Some people here have had problems, but most haven't. Take care of your car, and it'll tkae care of you! I've had nothign more than the normal TSB issues, and haven't had anything that wasn't covered under warranty on my '04

 

I just bought mine and started getting paranoid as well. I actually got stressing over this stuff and the car was already sitting in my driveway

Then I took a step back and realized a lot of people come here to ask questions and post their problems. Drive your car slightly harder than you would a regular car (have fun, but not too much fun), give your car a good redline every day or two (lately i've been holding a 10 second 8500-9000 rpm rev in 2nd to ensure I'm getting carbon burned out), check the oil and coolant at the pump, change your oil every 3k miles and of course change your sparkplugs, flush your coolant system, etc. before you have problems (its always better to be proactive than reactive). Unless you get a lemon, the car will treat you well if you treat it well.

As for oil I'm not sure yet. I'm about to change mine and I have to make a decision... The manual says 5w 20, but the dealer put 5w 30 in.

 

The 8 has become my favorite car that I have owned for a reason. It's buttery smooth, it's WAY more reliable than reading a forum would have you believe, it's comfy, it's practical for a sports car, it's quick, it handles like a dream, and it's darn nice looking. I'm not going to tell you that there WON'T be any problems, but I'd say you're likely to have a pretty worry-free experience. I only had one minor problem with mine (it got flooded), and I'll admit that I even slipped up on the maintenance a few times. As long as it has all the recalls and such, I think it's going to be perfect to you.

 

well i have 55k miles on mine and it is starting to fall apart...

 

mine started to fall apart at 20K miles.......not kidding....... Every model has its bad seeds, avoid 04s.

 

To all of the positive responses, how many miles does everyone have? what year cars? what kind of oil?

 

I wish I could remember exact numbers, but I had an 04 with somewhere around 30k miles and I ran 5W20. My only persistent problems were a couple rattles, but I usually had the engine wound up enough that it would drown out the noise. The flooding issue I had shouldn't be a problem for the car you're looking at since they've upgraded the started, battery, and plugs on 99% of the models.

By the way, I've learned that I have a very hard time driving other cars normally after owning the 8. Now I always shift at absurdly high RPMs ever since being spoiled by the 8's punishment-loving engine.

 

8,400 Miles....whatever the dealership gives me

 

Almost 74k miles, 2004, no major problems. Just little stuff like the oil pan needing replacing, visor breaking, etc. Only put 5W 20 in it.

 

2004...40k miles, no problems

 

Almost 70K kilometres, no major problems except the brake squeal issue, which was covered under warranty. Love the car, and it's my daily driver all year around. I'm taking it to the ski hill this weekend.

 

Of course you'll be "safe" with an RX-8! You certainly can't get a sense of its reliability from the crap you read on RX8Club.com—a strange place where engines routinely fail, where 2005 was confidently said to be the final year of production, and where global warming was "finally put to rest"! (You think I'm making this stuff up—I'm not! Do a search and you'll see. You'll find that not only were all these things trumpeted here, they were loudly stated by the same six or seven people—repeated over and over and over again—so that, to the casual visitor, the RX-8 appeared to have a huge problem with reliability and engine replacements. In fact, a small number of 8s—mostly first year, 2004 models with automatic transmission run in very hot climates—experienced some loss of engine power. Mazda tested every engine out there and, to their credit, elected to replace—rather than merely repair—engines that failed a compression test.)

Road & Track completed a long-term road test and rated reliability as "excellent". Consumer Reports initially rated reliability as "average", then lowered it to "below average" the following year, and now has raised it back to average again. They've also added the RX-8 to their list of "Recommended Cars"—they don't hand that honor out to cars with questionable reliability. Reading just about every long-term test out there, I get the impression the car is more or less average in reliability.

Regarding oil, I prefer to follow Mazda's recommendation and use non-synthetic 5W-20. There's a popular "fact" on this forum that states the reason our cars get 5W-20 is to help Mazda meet its CAFE numbers. No one has ever shown any proof of that; it's conjecture. Personally, I find it hard to believe that a rotary engine sports car that clearly would sell in relatively small numbers could have much of an effect on Mazda's corporate fleet mileage numbers. What's more, I would think Mazda's biggest concern launching the 8 wasn't mileage, but something way more important: reliability. As possibly the "last chance" to make a rotary powered car, Mazda clearly was doing everything they could to ensure that the new RX-8 would be as reliable as possible. Recommending an engine oil that would increase the probability of engine problems, warranty claims and the resulting bad publicity would be something Mazda would want to avoid at any cost, so short of hard proof, the "CAFE theory" doesn't hold water for me.

Now… there's a strange "logic" on this forum that goes something like this: North American RX-8s use 5W-20 while the rest of the world uses 5W-30. Since engines have been replaced only in North American cars, it follows that the reason the engines needed replacing was because they were using 5W-20. Unfortunately that "logic" is flawed and doesn't "prove" anything. In fact, any number of variables—including, but not limited to engine oil—could account for the problem: US climate, driving style of American drivers, how attentive American drivers are to checking oil level vs. other drivers, etc.. My attitude is that the Mazda engineers who actually designed the Renesis just might know a little more about which engine oil to use than the "experts" here. On the other hand, many elect to go with 5W-30—and/or synthetic—and say they have no problems. Me? I have an '05, over 13K miles, problem-free so far.

 

^^^ Thats True ^^^

I used to live in Europe and with gas being 6-7 dollars a gallon when i was there you would only be in the power band unless you were passing or climing a hill and needed some more revs. Other than that it was top gear everywhere you went, I remember it cost me 100 dollars about to fill up my tank in my WRX. Americans have cheaper gas so they are not concerned with MPG as much as the rest of the world and dont drive with that in mind...

 

oh yeah and they did not put as many miles on there cars because the public transit system was so nice, and most my friends had cars they would drive in the winter if they had nice cars like ours.

 

+10

05 w/28,400 miles, and absolutely no problems whatsoever (see my sig).

Oh yeah - with Hankook iPike W409s, it's a blast in the snow. The absolutely best handling RWD car in the snow I've ever had the pleasure of owning.

 

i would personally rate the reliability as excellent. 10k miles, no problems whatsoever.

but why is consumer reports hatin on the rx8. makes me sad in my pants.

 

i know it seems like it has alot of problems but i think it's really because you just see alot of negative posts/threads. they scared the hell out of me, too. but if you think about it, why would the owners who have no problem whatsoever with their 8 keep everyone posted that "hey my car still runs at xxxxx miles.."? i'm a recent new owner too and seems like mine have no issues *crosses fingers* :lol don't mind the negative publicities. just make sure recalls are done and follow maintenance procedures (eg. redline, oil change+ top-off etc) having warranty would help alot, too. anway congrats with the purchase and welcome.

 

Man, I don't even add or check my oil.. I just f'ing drive.. I've never had any problems.. Had the 8 for more than a year now. I'm guessing I'm just lucky.. But seriously, this car is just as reliable as any other car imo.. So take your pick.. 8 or not.

 

Thanks for the detailed reply. I appreciate it. Two questions for you. How can you seem so confident when you only have 13K. Most of the people who have had problems get them with a bit more mileage than that. Second and most importantly. Why would everyone else in the world use 5W-30? Why shouldn't we? Would that make sense since we know why 5W-20 is recommended here? CAFE Would it be bad to use 5W-30 and if so, why. Every other country uses it.

 

'04 with 43,000 miles. No problems what so ever.

Remember that there is allot of lurking in forums and I've noticed that it's very common for people to post desperation threads if they have a problem. Not too many people start a thread just to say "I love my 8. Is has run great for 4 years now with no problems". Don't worry so much about it. If you are getting a good deal and recalls have been done, go for it !!!!

 

All new cars have thier little problems and readjustments after the factory. for every Rx8 with abnormal problems there are hundreds with none. that's what factory warranties are for. If early owners of rx8s took care of these issues the used models are good cars too. It's the same with any used car.

Overall build quality and reliability is excellent on these cars. But there are no absolute guantees with any used car.

I have 26k on my 04 mt gt. I have had no problems and it so far is the most reliable new car I've ever owned. I don't follow any of the posted warm up policies on this forum. I just drive it. I move it around cold all the time with no flooding. Weak batteries and starters are what cause the flooding. Tsbs have fixed that problem. check the history on used rx8 and make sure it was maintained and factory recalls were done. If not, have the seller take care of them as a condition of purchase. It's like any other modern Japanese car. Just use a little car wisdom when buying.

Nothing is a sure thing and we all worry when buying a used or new car of any brand or model.
These forums are a witnessing combination of doom and gloom or total satisfaction.

I am satisfied and totally happy with my 8. Most owners are.