Firstly thanks for having me on your boards.
I bought my beautiful Black 2007 RX-8 GT with 16000 miles on it this past April. Having owned a 350Z and a BMW M5 I was ready to start judging the torque right away but found it was never an issue for me. Maybe because Im old (30) now? Its fun to drive factor beat both easily.

That was great news! I now had a sexy car and my worst fears did not come true. The lack of torque didn't haunt me in the least. Only recently hav eI ran into the real problem. WINTER.

I start thinking man as much as I love this car and even though I have four 95%+ tread Blizzaks that I can put on maybe I should look into a second car. This lead me to thinking let me go to CarMax just to get a crude valuation in case somehow I do a trade in and get rid of her. Now I knew the car had been in an accident but that it had a clear title and no frame damage. In fact I was rear ended at no more than 5mph shortly after I bought the car and it cost over $7,000 in repairs to the responsible parties insurance. The people at Gerber told me "Man, the last people who worked on this really screwed it up, I we had to re-fix things that may have not even been related"

So, going into CarMax I was not surprised to see that there was going to be 2 accidents in the valuation. I DID NOT EXPECT for the guy to come back and tell me all these things about how the frame had weld spots and that the car was in at least one major accident. On top of that I notice I have the airbag sign come on and worry maybe there is an ACTUAL issue all of a sudden. CarMax is super nice, offers me 11K, and lets me leave with some paperwork included what should have been shown to the buyer at auction.

So here is where I am stuck:
1. I keep the car. In this case do I have a less rigid and more unsafe RX-8? Might I be missing my airbag(s)!!?
2. Do I take the money from CarMax/or dealer trade if I find a car I want and eat about $5K since April?
3. Do I list on eBay and try for market value (at least 13K considering all) while still being able to look myself in the mirror. I know I would have to disclose info but I still would need to "sell" the car?

I figured I'd ask the experts. P.S. Im a newbie here but Ive been on many boards and done many searches befor eposting. The totality of this situation is unique so I chose to start a new thread.

Thanks in advance,

Tom

 

It's a tough call.

If it's a safety concern for you, then it would be worth your time and your heart's pain levels to get a 2nd opinion on the extent of the damage. If there really is frame damage, then there is certainly justification for taking Carmax's offer. If you can get $13k private party, then it's going to be a long uphill battle to get there. I personally don't expect that you would be able to find someone to accept that price, and you would probably keep dropping the price to down about Carmax's offer anyway. And this is assuming there isn't actually frame damage. With frame damage, you can't expect more han $5-6k tops, and that's only because of the low mileage. So nix #3 from the list.

I'd stick with option #1 if you get additional opinions that clarify things more and show no frame damage. Option #2 if the additional information shows much greater damage than viable.

 

I guess my first question would be; why did you buy the car in the first place? Doesn't seem like it was a to good to pass up kind of price.

Personally, I'd dump it and cut my losses.

 

Thanks for your input. Both Gerber who did the collision repair and CarMax who made the offer did not say there was any major frame damage. In fact only CarMax mentioned the frame saying they saw weld marks. I guess I can call Gerber and inquire about the frame and airbags.

Corsco- I think I bought it because I let my impulses get the best of me. Its exactly what I was looking for and not easy to find. Black with a white leather interior six speed car looked real clean inside and out etc... I also paid almost 17K so its not like it was priced low. I simply was lead to believe it was rear ended once and that was listed on the title; of course dealers have a way of wording things and I should have researched harder. Its not like it had a salvage title so I told myself an accident and some repair no big deal.

As far as the car it does not leak oil (I check every 2 fill ups), Dealer says its super well running and maintained in every aspect, but what can they really say it barely has any miles on it!? So at least from a mechanical standpoint I'm very happy. Car is also bone stock which I am happy with.

I would love to hear any other opinions. Thanks for the quick responses I truly appreciate that.

 

"Does not leak oil"...well, it shouldn't leak oil, but it should consume it, at a rate of 1 quart every 1,000 to 1,500 miles. I hope that you actually mean leaking, and not "doesn't consume oil".

Weld spots on the frame without frame damage isn't anything to worry about. They probably removed the crash bar and welded on the new one. Possibly because the crash bar bolts were damaged? The crash bar is intended to be removable, but I could see a variety of scenarios where they took a welding torch to the frame getting the new one on without there being frame damage.

I'd say you are fine for keeping it, but if you find it bothers you get a 3rd opinion on the damage.

 

Black w/ white leather.....I bet that looks real sharp. Don't think I've ever seen that combo....?

Good luck, go with your gut.

 

This is really helpful. I will contact both.
And yes I will say the Black outside with cream leather really sealed the deal. I was surprised at the quality on the leather as well. Shes sexy, I just feel a little screwed over I guess. My gut is saying finishing paying her off (almost there) and just enjoy the car for as long as I can. Ill see how the Blizzaks hold up in CHI.

Thanks again guys seems like you have a good group here. I was a Looooooong time member of the 350Z forum and there are some great people there but the maturity level needs more work.
As for the Z, she was sexy, aside from that 3 bad transmissions cheap plastic the list goes on...so they are having a hard time with their" RX-8 is completely unreliable" argument in my opinion Knock on wood. My over 100K M5 was MUCH more problem free believe it or not. Even based on my own research the rotary (especially by my year) is solid...Just have to stay on top of checking the oil. And yes I meant consume and not leak my bad !

 

Probably a lighter shade of tan, because in 2007 the RX-8 had a limited run of 2150 "Shinka" edition.

 

In my opinion,
Have the shop who completed the repair inspect the frame and get a second opinion.
There are laser frame machines that can measure a frame to the nearest mm closer than any human could. And regarding the weld marks, RIWWP pretty much summed it up.

As long as the frame is okay, then I'd say keep it.
Your car has so little miles so you might as well enjoy it for a bit and I envy your seats.
CWP with those seats would look great if you ever want to trade.

 

Lol I think Ill keep the seats. Ill take a pic, I guess they look so light because they are against a black RX8. I was driving it last night at 3:00am no one on the freeway in Chicago and thought about how much I love my new baby.
Gerber would have said something if they though there was frame damage but I will double check.

Thanks again everyone!!