First off: I LOVE the car.
Secondly: I hate being ripped off. I consider the fact that there is no way Mazda North America did not know they could not sell them with the Japanese spec ECUs making 247HP and my blood boils. Add to that the fact that they pulled the same crap with the 2001 Miata and I am convinced this an outright lie.

So, will I be turning it back?

Other factors:
What to get then? I sold my previous car, and need wheels regardless of what choice I make.
If I want better performance, it will certainly cost quite a bit more money.
If I want equivalent or better amenities and luxury items, the same situation applies.

Small things are wrong, and well documented here.
Some are fixable: Oil lights coming on, floor mats with no hold-down clip, and so on, but I expect those to be fixed soon.
Bigger ones like poor gas mileage are problematic, but I did not expect good mileage. No rotary up to now has had good mileage, so I did not expect better. Besides I do not put on all that much each year, so the cost is bearable.

So I probably will have little choice but to accept their offer, and keep the car.

OTOH, if a sufficient number return the cars, the word gets around, and they start being discounted, then I will be stuck with a lemon.

I DO know that if I keep the car, and they then FIX the problem, and we get stuck with the underpowered situation as is, I WILL GO BALLISTIC!

This is all beginning to sound like a "lose/lose" situation. But maybe it will all work out in the end.

 

I received the letter today. I bought the car below MSRP (caught the dealer sleeping), but am leaning heavily on turning it in. It has about 500 miles on it and I see all the problems every one else sees. Everyone here confirmed my issues as I've been reading the messages in these forums.

My biggest gripe is really my own fault. Im too darn tall. I am 6'2" and even with the power seat I ave to recline way to far back to feel like I am in good control with good visibility. Again, my own fault.

But the mileage is a biggie. Especially in California where premium is at 2.40 right now. I might as well be driving a hummer.

Yes, it gets GREAT looks. The best, and I won't be getting looks like this probably with any car I'll ever own again. Ever. But I have to think of the comfort thing.

Anyway, what is the exact deal. Are they taking it one customer at a time or has Mazda set the actual policy. Meaning, are they refunding everything (tax, title, license, accessories, special dealer fabric/finish warrenty, etc.) or just the purchase price. If just the purchase price, then I dont know. Then I'd be losing over 3,000 on the deal.

Thanks for any help. I'll be doing some heavy thinking tonight.

 

They are refunding what you paid to the dealer.
Including genuine Mazda accessories, installed by the dealer.
No finance charges, no other aftermarket stuff.
I believe they are refunding registration fees, but that is not confirmed anywhere I can find.

The really thorny issue will be trade-ins, I suspect.
As the dealer probably already sold most trade-ins, then what?

 

I finally made my decision to have Mazda repurchase my automatic RX-8. The horsepower issue was not a major factor in my decision making process as the RX-8 is plenty fast. Given this generous offer by Mazda I opted to take advantage of it for the following reasons (not in order of priority):

1) Awful gas mileage. While I understand this is a sports car, the advertised gas mileage in 18/25, city/highway. I drive 50-75% on freeways averaging 75 mph and don't drive the car hard in the city. I am averaging 14 mpg and my car has 2,200 miles on it. I was not expecting SUV type mileage!

2) Weak A/C. Too much cycling on and off both in recirc and normal mode.

3) Excessive heat in footwell area, center console and trunk. Footwell area in weather >80 degrees is an annoyance even with A/C on floor panel.

4) Weak acceleration from 0-30mph (this I knew of before I purchased the car).

5) Paid full sticker and because of the hp issue it may depreciate at a steeper rate. I believe that in a few months if not sooner the RX-8 will be sold below sticker as inventory piles up.

By the way, I sent my paperwork to Mazda. There does not appear to be any restrictions to purchase a new RX-8.

 

Can't say that I agree at all with these two figures. There are simply too many cars being imported to sustain the asking price. You can get that $30,000 car for $29,500 right now in many places, much less six months from now. I look for much lower prices than that with even the possibility of the manufacturer throwing in addditional incentives by year-end.

Also, $1,500 per year depreciation is optimistic to say the least. Hopefully the 8 will not drop like the final version of the RX7 did. My experience with it was close to $1,000 per MONTH depreciation. One thing for sure, in 5 years your car will NOT be worth $22,500 for no other reason than the the new 7's and 8's will be far superior performing cars. Plus, I expect 2009 models from ANY manufacturer to be really, really cool. Automobiles are evolving at an incredible pace and this pace will only accelerate.

 

I had been lurking on RX-8 forum for weeks prior to striking a
$750 over invoice deal at the deaer that gave me their demo for
2 days. That 'extended test drive' sold me on the car and when
the dealer called to explain the "power loss" deal he even told me
that if I closed the order with a deposit I would be covered on the
$500+service deal. This was on the 26th...needless to say I
consumated the deal and am patiently (NOT!) awaiting my grey
6-speed.

Seems someone misread this earlier...that was $750 over
invoice...NOT MSRP...meaning basically $1,890 below MSRP in
my specific case. MSRP should not even be in your vocabulary
when buying an automobile.

Regards

 

If you paid over MSRP, that's YOUR fault.

In general though, there are WAY TOO MANY PEOPLE overreacting to this "issue." The only bad press this car is getting is from right here on this forum. Most people will never see this and tons of people have complimented me on the car.

Also, there is no reason to be concerned over 26 RX-8's sitting in the dealer lot. This car was intended to be a mass production car whereas the 350Z, G35C and S2000 are more limited in production.

 

It seems if I keep the car I am getting it at about $1500 below MSRP. $500 depit card + maintenance. My car gets faster and better mileage with every mile I put on it. Using premium, 20 mpg. The mileage seemed to improve when I stopped trying to drive for better mileage. I just drive it now; 60 in second gear, then to 6th. The improvement seemed to happen after 2200 miles. Air works great for me in north-central Texas.

 

The only problem being, of course, that RX8 sales may not "have legs" and demand becomes weak. This is still an enthusiasts car after all is said and done and thus has a very limited market. Honda and Nissan were smart enough to limit production and maintain the selling price. It remains to be seen whether or not a $30,000 niche car finds a mass audience.

Having alternate transportation gives me the ability to take a sit-back-and-see-how-it-all-flushes-out attitude, I'd be silly not to.

 

I would be if somebody would pick up the
damn phone at (800-662-6779). I have
been on hold for over 40 minutes. UGH!

 

Call early in the morning.

I sent my paperwork in already. Should get a call in 5 2 days.

Original saleperson wants to sell me another. Going to get 3000 off sticker or MSRP.

 

The paper work that I received was if you wanted to take the $500 credit plus service and if you wanted to do the buy back
you had to call the 800 number. At least that is how the wife
and I read it.



I will try first thing in morning. Thanks.

 

which options are you getting?

 

I called last week and had the customer service rep fax me the return letter to my office, filled it out and overnighted it to Mazda. Told me saleperson and he has been tracking it since. Of course, nothings been done yet.

 

I am giving mine back for one primary reason:

The gas mileage is terrible. First tank was 12 MPG, second tank 14.4 MPG, third tank 14 MPG.

Interesting that I do not mind that Mazda lied (or made a mistake) about the HP. But it bugs the crap out of me that they so boldly boast that the Rotary efficiancy is much improved and will now get 18-24 MPG, while it turns out they have solved nothing - they still get horrible gas milegage. Can they do that? Isn't that advetising fraud? I think the gas mileage situation is much worse that the HP issue.

 

I would sale my automatic back (if I bought one) I could get an automatic 350Z that is much faster, hell an automatic Mustang GT is faster. :o and $5000-7000 less.

 

Around town I have been getting 18mpg. On a long trip we got
over 23mpg. If I am in the mountains it drops a lot.

The wrx that I traded in for the rx8 (faster, bigger back seat, trunk plus it had lug around awd) would get around 22-23mpg.
The inside was several notches down and it was a little louder.

For 33k+ the choice for our family is
evo 271hp bigger back seat trunk, better mpg (inside cheezy)
sti 300hp " " " " "" ""
G35 6spd coupe 280hp (quieter, better built???)
G35 6spd sedan 260hp much bigger back seats / trunk
rx8 6spd 220hp amazing handling (cramped, small everything,
bad mpg)

IMHO, I think the performance/size/mpg/etc in todays
market is worth around 25k. And even at that there are some
very nice cars in the 25k range.

Even when I bought the car for 33k (when I thought it had
247hp and very little tq). I thought I was paying too much,
but I love rotarys. So I went ahead and bought it anyways. I have owned more rotary cars than anything
else.

Sean
2004 rx8
1994 rx7 (bought new)
1973 rx2

past rotary cars
2 rx2 - one was a parts car
rx3sp 5spd
gsl-se parts car
fc turbo
1st gen rx7
rotary pickup ( dad's)

 

Well, I finally decided I'm selling mine back.

Going to be responsible and make the wife happy. The terrible gas milage is just too much since I'm commuting 100 miles a day. I'm getting almost 18 mpg and that's 80% freeway.

Plus, it's just too cramped for my growing boys in the back seat.

I'll probably end up with the relatively boring (and not nearly as stylish) Honda Accord. It seems you can get one fully loaded (V6, 240 hp, Nav system) for about 26K.

Oh well. It was fun while it lasted.

 

Question for you Superbone...

If you were a single guy like myself and still have the same problem of milage (I, too, drive 100 miles per day and get almost 18 mpg if I drive like an old fart. Otherwise I've been getting 15mpg)..

Would you keep the car?

 

You know, Squidward, if I was single I probably would keep the car. It's a real chick magnet.

Although, I would probably have tested some 2 seaters like the Z (although we all know it doesn't look as nice.)

Plus, the gas mileage is supposed to get better with time. And, I understand it's not a big issue to use less than premium fuel. I'll tell you one thing, I know I'll miss it after it's gone.

 

Wrong. The number on the paper is just different...it would be the price on the sales contract. If they were such enthusiasts they would have pre-ordered in January like the rest of us.

 

While surfing Ebay tonight I found a dealer selling a MAZDA CERTIFIED PRE-OWNED RX-8 6-SPD GPS . Wonder if this is one of the cars being returned. The price was low and it already had 7526 miles on it.

 

Question

Does the free scheduled service include brake service? Audi gave my Audi a free brake pad during one of their regular service jobs. I was afraid I was going to have to pay for it but was delighted to find out it was included as part of the scheduled maintenance.

 

IT is still depressing hearing Americans annoyed about 'Gas Mileage'.....


I am reckoning on covering 2000 miles/month at ~$5.00/Gallon (taking into account your smaller gallons).
18MPG US is ~22MPG UK.

Therefore RX8 will be ~$450/Month in fuel....

Morale of the story - Stop moaning about the gas ! You get cheaper mileage than just about anywhere ! !

Amen.

 

Anyone else run into this problem. I selected buy back. Overnighted my buyback letter back to them along with the original sales contract. The car was not financed but paid for cash. They told be they could not do anything until I send them the title. I called my dealer to find out what the hold up is on the title, I have had the car over a month. They informed me that it take 90-120 days to get the title. The Mazd rep that I spoke to told me that they cannot go forward with the buyback until they receive the title and there was nothing they could do about it. She even told me others are in the same predicament. I don't know if this problem exists only in California, but from what they are telling me, I have to wait another 2-3 months before I get the title and then send this in. Of course this is going to be way past the deadline.
According to the buyback letter, they must receive all required documentation by Oct.1. This includes the title which I am sure they are full aware that alot of people will not have this in hand until after their deadline. Of course if your car was finance you do not need this, but for those of us who paid cash, they are making the buyback impossible. OUt of the four items they requested, I can only provide 1, the sales contract.
The dealer told me this makes no sense, they should not need the title as they can always request a duplicate and the sales contract show proof that the car was paid for so there is no lien holder. They can even call the dealer to confirm this.
I have already asked if I could just drop the car off at the dealership she requested and then wait for my check, but she could not answer this and said she would call back. The call back never came of course I talked to her on Friday afternoon so perhaps I will hear from her on Monday.