I have not read the law yet. I contacted an attorney friend and asked him the duration and he said it varies but you can make a reasonable claim since the first instance of the problem happened within 2 years of purchase. It is considered ongoing.

Mine is a 04 but I have had it for just over 2 years.

All and all the car is a good compromise. I traded in my S2000 when my wife had another kid. I didnt want to have to have 3 cars and Honda NA will not put a airbag shutoff on the S2000.

The RX8 was a compromise car. It has good handling but better suited for daily driving. Just for the record, the S2000 is faster and more fun IMO but the RX-8 is a better daily car and has a lot more room. It is apples to oranges though.

If the RX-8 would not have had any problems or the dealer would have fixed it the first time, I probably would consider a Mazda 6 for my wife. I personally would not buy another RX-8 just because while it is a nice overall car, it is a bit underpowered and lacks torque. It is fine for 3-4 years for me but not something I would want to buy again. However, the gas mileage is a real killer.

My more direct answer -- The car was fine until the electrial problems. If the dealer had been good, it is quite possible my wife would have ended up with a Mazda 6 and if Mazda produce(s) or produced a RX-8 with 50-60 more whp then there is a high probability I would purchase that vehicle.

 

Nope. Everything was there since Day 1 (Okay maybe a couple of weeks). All the addons only came on once the car was started to.

 

Ok. Question. The car would not start..how so? Just cranking and cranking? Slow cranking? No cranking at all?


You say there is a power drain SOMEWHERE in the car, that is killing the battery (I assume from reading between the lines).

All RX8's have the exact same wiring harnesses throughout the car, and I understand that some of them MAY have a few problems (no one is perfect), however..

I would check the modifications you had made to the car first:

GPS, Satellite radio, etc. Its *highly* unlikely that the car would develop a power drain on it's own. I would have a professional (car audio installation?) man look over the wiring done on your car. And, besides, its NOT HARD to find a power drain on a car! You could do it at home if you want. Check all the wires going to your after market equipment, and then the important wires, like to the alternator. Multimeter, anyone?

 

Sorry but it would take me 30 pages to right a full summary.

What I have is just a 3 way power adaptor that goes into the back socket and I have basically hidden the wires. It goes to the Satelite and GPS and possibly my cell phone but I have never charged it in the car. I simply unpluged the 12 volt splitter for several days and it went dead in the same manner.

As for the car now, it is turning over but making a clattering sound if that makes sense. In most of the prior cases it would turn over as strong.

However, since Mazda is saying the battery doesnt have enough Juice, I am taking their word for it although with a grain of salt. The dead battery for 2nd time in a few months supports my case of a power drain.

Maybe it isn't a power drain. I am not a mechanic but I sure as hell feel like I have the right to have my car fixed without Mazda trying to make me buy new batteries every few weeks.

 

Ok, this may sound stupid but many of my customers have an issue with accidentally popping the trunk lid which will drain the battery. The problem is, you cant tell when the trunk is popped by looking at it and there is no warning light on the dash. Also, if they are replacing your battery, make sure it is the updated battery with higher cold cranking amps. Plus, there is an updated starter as well. Food for thought...

 

A simple power drain test is to remove the negative battery cable. Place a multimeter between it (cable) and the negative post of the battery. If you see a voltage reading then you have a positive wire (circuit) going to ground (draw). Start by unpluging fuses till the voltage reading goes to zero. Then check that circuit.
The Mazda technician should know this procedure. Voltage draws are fairly easy to find.

 

and that pesky nav system draining the bat..

beers

 

Good sound advice, but you have to remember that most cars nowadays always have some draw. Thats why draws are measured in milliamps so you have to start by knowing what is concidered to be a normal draw. 40-50 MA is considered normal. Remember, thats "Milli" amps, not amps...

 

Wow the first post of a guy not happy with his RX8 where he did not get bashed. These kind of posts are popping up all over.

 

Sorry for the confusion. My bad. Then ya better get the clamp on AMP tester.

 

Watch out for the electrical system AND the fuel line. I got a "lemon" too, and my car burned to the ground (check out the electrical fire blog). And FYI, I am STILL waiting for the insurance company to finish up with the payoff. And unfortunately, I was buying my 2004 RX8, and I still owe. I am sorry that you are having all of these problems with your car. I agree with you...I'll never buy a mazda again!

 

They still haven't paid? Can we presume you'll also be switching insurance companies?

Hope that when they do pay they'll a) pay on the value of the car when it burned, and b) pay interest. Value should be the retail value, not trade-in value, and have sales tax added.

Ken

 

I know it really doesnt make a difference in your eyes as a customer, but Mazda didnt screw you, your dealership did...

 

This is an inaccurate statement. I am unhappy with the Dealership and the lack of service.

If I had a top notch service center, I suspect the car would have been fixed correctly the first time and I would have been a happy camper.

Most of the major car companies (with a few exceptions) are about the same as far as reliability. The customer service is what brings people back.

I have not trashed Mazda at all. It is all about the dealership. This just happens to be the worst dealership as far as customer service that I have ever dealt with.

I dont have the car now to do the drain tests. I finally told the dealer not to touch in. I am on hold with MNA right now. I am telling them I only want them to handle it. I have the loaner and I told the dealer that they could keep my RX-8 as long as they want but they called me within an hour after I brought it in again telling me I needed to buy another Mazda battery.

 

I called MNAO yet again and I told them I wanted the regional rep to call me. They seemed very unhelpful. I asked if I could escalate the call to a manager to get an email address for the represenative and they said no. I asked if the Regonal Rep. would call me and she said she is not sure. All she can do is forward the info to that person.

I dont have a good feeling about MNAO at this point.

I also told them that I am not giving back the damn Hyundai loaner until the regional rep gets a mechanic to handle the situation.

At this point, all I can do is wait.

Dean

 

Dean, If you would like to PM me your email address I will send you a copy of the letter that I sent MNAO and you can delete my problems and insert yours. A few days after I sent the letter I received a call from the customer mediation department that scheduled the regional rep to come out and fix my car. For me it was a nightmare up until I received the first call from Customer Mediation.

 

I contacted another Mazda dealer that is not exactly close but talked to the service manager who was real nice and gave him the gist. He gave me the name and phone number of the regional manager.

I contacted her and left her a voicemail. He said it very well could be the alternator since the battery continues to go dead. He said he will talk to her too and see if she will tell the dealer that my 8 is at now to take over to this other dealer so that can due proper diagnostics.

 

Hope this finally works out for you. Just reading your problems left a bad taste in my mouth

 

Please keep in mind my experience is related to a single dealer and perhaps the Regional Rep for this area.

It seems like at some point though MNAO should have a red flag and have someone call me and say I want to get your car fixed right.

I dont know how other car companies NA support lines work because this is only time I have had to go that far. I have always been able to get the problem resolved with the local dealer with any past vehicles.

The system MNAO has setup is only going to be as good as the people at the local service centers and the regional rep.

 

im very sorry this has happened to you, seems that most of the problems happened with the 04's and the early 05's.. you hardly ever hear about the 06s having problems.. however also keep in mind also that youre only one of the few people that this has happened to .. like.. yeah of course if you post it on the board everyone reads about it but if you look at the rx8 owners as a whole.. a small percentage of them had problems

 

I understand that and I am not trying to trash Mazda as a whole by any means.

My car really doesnt have problemS. It has a single problem. It is just that the local dealer cant fix it and is not motivated to fix it.

I am going through all the proper channels but I am at wits end right now. I am hoping this Regional Rep will call me back.

 

Disregard the rest of this post if you have already taken my other advice.
(To recap: My other advice was to take it to an audio shop, and have them check your after market modifications for power drains, and the alternator. These are the most likely points of the drain, as you had the power system on the car modified.)

Ok, seriously, all this whining has made me think. You have a power drain..and it is eating batteries like nothing. If I was in charge of your Mazda dealership, I would straight up tell you "sorry, can't help you" simply because you have electronic modifications done to the vehicle.

If nothing else, I certainly wouldn't cover it under warranty. You have modified the vehicles electric system...this is all on you now. Unless you "forgot" to tell them that part?

 

I was thinking the same thing. I'd heard of dealers refusing engine warranty work because an owner couldn't provide every receipt (showing mileage and that a professional performed the maintenance) for when the oil was changed on their car.

How do you know that the electronics within the non-mazda GPS unit or aftermarket satellite unit didn't go bad??? maybe your GPS is a lemon?

As i was reading through all the responses, I was thinking more and more about that alternator. What if it isn't providing enough juice to fully charge the battery and run the car? What about the spark plugs or coil packs that go bad too?

 

I really don't mean to trash the RX8 either! I agree that it is a dealership issue (stay away from Bommarito Mazda in St Louis, MO!). I loved the car, and it was so different. I just had a lemon and a very bad experience! I suppose that in the future, I would consider a Mazda, but I probably won't push my luck with the rotary again; that's just me though! I have read through this post thoroughly....do you have a specific phone number for Mazda that I can have so that I can get to the right person about my problem? I have left several messages, and they "supposedly" have forwarded my complaints to the manager, but it has been 2 months now, and I still haven't heard back. I swear I'm not a Rx8 basher! I just want some money back. I still owe $2500 on my loan...yikes! And State Farm sucks; as soon as I get all of this mess dealt with, I will try to switch companies. Thanks in advance

 

You guys need to read my posts.

I have two addon devices that are simply hooked into the 2nd 12 volt socket. I unplugged the socket several times for weeks at a time and the battery still dies or it turns over and wont crank. Hell, why does Mazda have 12 volt outlets then? I have had both devices in my wifes 4Runner for weeks at a time also with no problem.

If you guys would say Sorry, I cant help you then I sure as hell hope you arent car dealers.

Have any of you owned Lexus or Infinitis? The dealer would be glad to go to all extremes to fix your problems. My Mazda dealer doesn't give a rats ***.

And I guess since the car is in the shop now without any addons turned on.

It is scary as hell to me that there are actually people on here that would take the Mazda dealers side and say they wouldn't fix a warrantied car with a reocrruing issue.