Hi everyone.
I’m new to this site and I have some questions. I’m thinking of trading in my 02 Land Rover Discovery II SE for a 04 RX8. I’ve looked through this site and have seen a lot of talk about flooding, weak starters, and weak battery. I’m curious as to how prevalent these problems are and also what should I look for specifically when I go to view the car. My mechanic will be with me and he will give me his honest opinion but I would like to make sure he doesn’t miss a thing. Plus is this car really still covered under extended warranty (8year 100,000 miles) since it has only 30,000 miles?
Great forum, and thanks for the help.
Here’s the RX8 I’m thinking about getting.
http://autotrader.autos.msn.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?ct=u&car_id=250645119&dealer_id=73490&car_ year=2004&num_records=25&model=RX8&page=atcPartner &year=2007&certified=&icid=&search_type=used&dista nce=25&make=MAZDA&LNX=MSNATUSEDVIPTEASER&address=0 6320&cardist=26.

 

Overpriced, I bet that dealer has at most 13,000 in that car. Other than that, check that all the recalls and TSBs are complete; make sure no gears grind and drive aggresively on the test drive to make sure its a nice smooth acceleration all the way up to 9K. Have fun and let us know when you get it.

 

Don't buy an '04. I've had an '04 now for 4 years and I love it but we are getting motors replaced under warranty on mostly the '04's. i recommend '06 or newer. The '09's definitely will be an improvement with the new oiling system.

 

04's are tricky, lol, if you get an 04 make sure everything is up to date.

 

Thanks for the help.
So this car will still be covered under the warranty right? Also, was there any recalls on the battery and starter?

 

The car is covered under normal powertrain until 60K (since its an 04) and the engine core is covered until 100K. Yes there was a TSB for the starter, battery, and ignition plugs and coils I believe.

 

Right. TSB not recall which means since you are out of the bumper to bumper these may not be covered. People have been getting them covered with engine replacements on an ad-hoc basis. Just make sure you have a good dealer.

 

Happy '04 owner.... ZERO major problems other than maintenance...!!

Get it!

and Welcome BTW!

 

biggest idiot on the forum

 

umm all this guy wants to know is if this car is a good deal...

Car looks good, make sure you drive the crap out of it on the testdrive... remeber rotaries are supposed to redline, so if the revving isn't clean, steer clear of that car. I have an '04 and have had ZERO problems... It was mainly the AT's that had the problems, not the manuals.

Anyway hope this helps before Stealth closes this thread due to the Jackasses above

 

i'd buy the car for sure. 13k for 30k miles?

man.. i wish i found that deal when i bought my car. i paid 20k for 20k miles. same exact car just an 05. price makes me suspicious, i'd have it checked out by a body shop and a mechanic.

 

Glad to see we’re back on track. Thanks for the help everyone. I called the dealership today and asked about the car. The guy didn’t seem to know what car I was talking about. He said they have a yellow rx8 but not a red one. So I gather that either the car was sold already or its new to the lot. I think I’m going to check out the dealership tomorrow to see for myself.
The yellow rx8 has higher miles on it ( about 75,000 ) which is a negative for me, and plus its yellow. I just cant do that to myself. I don’t mean to offend all you yellow owners out there but that color just doesn’t do it for me. They are asking $10,000 too. So for what I would be getting, I think I’d be paying too much.
Lets hope the red one is still there. Or maybe a blue one magically appears.

 

Ross_Dawg....."It was mainly the AT's that had the problems, not the manuals."

Is this true? If it is I'm looking for a manual anyways so that would be great.

 

there are plenty of 04's, AT and MT, that have never seen a problem. as long as they got all the TSB's and kept up with regular maintenance, there shouldnt be any issue in buying an 04

 

I'm just saying on average problems with AT > MT. Also please steer clear of the yellow one... that is way too many miles to be sinking money into for THIS car. I would try waiting it out until see find a car that you really really like. It took me 6 months of searching ads everyday to find the exact car/color/package/miles/owners/distance... so you may have to pump the brakes for a few weeks

 

Thanks to everyone.

Well the verdicts out. I will not be trading in the Disco for a RX8. I took it for a test drive and was not impressed by it. Not enough power or torque in it for me. Plus the check engine light was on, it had completely bald tires, one of the taillights had so much condensation in it that it looked like a swimming pool. Also things in the interior were broken and the exterior paint had too many blemishes.
I did get the revs up to 9 grand but it just didn’t do it for me. They seem like they could be cool cars but maybe this was a bad apple. Either way I’m on to different pastures. I gave them the word that if they can find me a 05 GTO 6.0 that they would have a buying customer… very plain looking but I love the performance.

 

Wow, sounds like the rx8 was all wrong for you. peace out.