Well, I am really disappointed in Mazda with my 8. I tell you. At 5400 miles and the rear dif needed to be replaced in my car. That's just poor workmanship. I think though I got a bad one. Since I had the car I have had the following problems.

1. The Horn did not work (Replaced)
2. Whistling from the rear, (Replaced the Rear diff)
3. Intermittent seat heaters. ( My 3 has better seat heaters)
4. Side sill was falling off. ( Replaced by dealer)
5. The dash had a nasty rattle. (repaired the dash) So the dealer states.
6. The fuel Mileage is not even close to what Mazda claims (14 to 18) No I am not driving it hard.

Just a few pet peeves that I have with the 8. I am just used to buying a Mazda and the only thing I had to worry about is oil changes. Now I wonder every time I get into my 8 what will fail next? Will the diff hold up for the trip? I have lost all confidence in this car. Who knows I might just go and grab a 08 8.

Rant over.

 

In terms of #6, you should have known that coming from this board.

 

A rattle you say?

....call the lemon law lawyers.

S

 

18,500 miles on my 06 and no problems as of yet, I love my car.

 

Yeah you definitely got a lemon. 11,000 miles on my 06 and only real problem were the visors, replaced under warranty. I'm very happy with mine. Sorry about your bad luck, I hope you don't have anymore problems. At least the dealership fixed your car without hassle. I have read a lot of dealerships not wanting to fix cars under warranty.

 

I get about 18-19mpg with mixed use. The EPA ratings are done for emission purposes, they don't actually test driving conditions, just a statistic of the fuel efficiency of the engine. I'd love to meet someone who has got 24mpg, and maybe they can let me know how they do haha. I've had a couple odd little things here and there but I'm pretty laid back so it dosen't bother me as much.

 

25,000 miles with my car, just the normal TSBs and recall, love my car!!!

 

I generally get anywhere between 17-20 MPG. Higher gas mileage with non-city driving of course.

It does sound like you have gone through a lot of problems with your car. The thing is, pretty much *any* car can have similar issues. I used to be part of the BMW camp and you would think that since those cars cost a premium there would be better quality - not true. I had a few issues and I knew people who had A LOT of issues.

So basically, when buying a car it is sometimes a crap shoot. There are a lot of good RX-8s out there but every so often you get the one that's not quite up to par. Again, it could happen with any make/model. This is the very reason manufacturers have warranties - to cover those situations where the car isn't 100%.

Unforuntately, you can't hope for a 100% perfect car 100% of the time.

 

hahahahahha....that’s just daily maintenance for me.......Those are trivial compared to the problems I've had.

 

RX-8s appear to reward highway miles and punish urban/suburban driving in terms of fuel mileage. I go out on a road trip, drive 80 mph and get 20+ mpg. Driving around the suburbs in Chicago, I get 15. Head to the city and spend a day tooling there, and it drops to 12 or worse.

 

Always around 5000-6000rpms, 90-95 mph on highways, mixed 50/50 city/highway and get about 16mph since I bought her 16 months ago.

 

Bob.. I've avgeraged at one time 8-13mpg no matter what I did. I had my CAT replaced and it went up by alot but at that time I was doing soley city driving and only drove 2 miles to work each way.

As others have stated the car punishs city driving and really murders those with short city driving. When we drove down to NJ for Rotor(fuckup)fest I avg 18mpg even at the speeds we where driving. On conservitive driving on the highway I once got 22mpg a all time high, but that was because I lucked out and the route I took let me "draft" if you will behind big rigs for my entire trip (must state here so I dont get flamed, I stayed 3+ car lenghts behind these rigs and speeds where only at 60-65mph no higher in the right hand lane ).

The lil things though the diff is really odd and makes you wounder what the previous owner was doing to the car, are small and trust me the first 6 months of ownership I had my car at the dealer more days than me actually driving it.

 

I have had zero problem with my 04. Same with several of our members here in So. Cal.

Did you buy it new or used?

 

sounds like u have a lemon

 

Same with me. I've had the engine replaced, trans rebuilt, 4 cat converters replaced and numerous replacements of plugs, wires & coils. All under warranty.
I get maybe 12 mpg city and 16 mpg hwy. Don't for a minute think I'm complaining. I expect this to be all sorted out by the time the warranty period is up.

 

I, too, would like to know if you bought it used.

I bought mine new 19 months/12,500 miles ago. No major problems to speak of. (Occasionally squeaky sunroof when open, and milky oil dipstick—both fixed with TSBs.) Mileage ranges between 17-21 mpg, 65% highway/35% city.

 

I got 48900 miles on mine and had all recalls done and no other issues i love my car and i drive it hard everyday - someone didnt take care of it before you bought it sorry bro

 

i have 22,000 miles on my o6 and no problems yet.but i accidentley broke the center console where the cup holders are some how i lifted it wrong and it broke is this under warranty????

 

i doubt that

 

i love my car. no problems at all since i become owner.

 

[QUOTE=New Yorker;2064054]I, too, would like to know if you bought it used.

I bought mine new 19 months/12,500 miles ago. No major problems to speak of. (Occasionally squeaky sunroof when open, and milky oil dipstick—both fixed with TSBs.) Mileage ranges between 17-21 mpg, 65% highway/35% city.[/QUOTE

I purchased my 8 NEW. it only had 34 miles on the clock. It seems that the more I drive it, the more issues come up with it.

 

Wow! I have to have my visors fixed too! Guess this is a common defect.

Regarding, mileage, I've been getting 24 with trips, including being hung up in traffic a bit, with the a/c running the whole time. But I've gotten as low as 13 with city driving. I do a lot of sitting at lights.

I should also state that when I got my 13mpg figure I hadn't yet checked the tire pressure, which turned out to be low, triggering the warning light once the temperature dropped.

 

You just got a bad copy, sorry to hear about it.

Did you break the car in properly and change the diff fluid/tranny fluid after driving it for the first 1000 miles?

Mine rattles in some places, yes the mpg isn't great but I still get 18 city, 20 mixed. The key is to keep it under 4000 rpm and keep the a/c off. As far as the other plastic stuff breaking, it's a mid 20K car not a Lexus. Just take it in and get it replaced, no big deal. Overall it's a great car and there's nothing like it for the price.

 

In terms of #6 my new BMW claims to get 22 and 30 mpg, but I find myself pumping as much gas as I did with my 8. I guess those 2 extra pistons are the cause

 

Solution... Sell.