ok so what i have heard is maintance is most important which goes for any car really, coil plugs are the usual things to go out, and the electrical is kinda weird, so all around it sounds like its not much different then most cars u buy, i just heard so much smack talk about them and how i heard that 25% of the engines fail as well, kinda scared me do u know if is going to be like a warrenty or its all up to u to replace?

 

Ask the people who smack talk where they got their info from ? I can tell you all of them got it out of their asses.

next thing is ... Search.

 

What, exactly, is weird about the electrical system?

Inquiring minds want to know...

Ken

 

The electrical thing is new to me ...........................

 

There's a 8-year/100k-mile engine core warranty on all 2004-2009 RX-8s in the US and I'm not sure where else.

 

Ya, the engine failure rate is a specter that all RX-8 owners live with. As pointed out, Mazda has increased the warranty(8yr/100K) to address this issue. That being said I would avoid all 04 and earlier model year 05, go with a 06 to be safe. I have a late model 05 and so far so good, just some small issues.

Maintenance on this car is well over blown, check the engine oil once a month and your good. Never had a problem with flooding but I am careful not to shut her down cold. This is only a hassle once or twice a year. Beyond that it acts like every other car out there.

I've owned the car for over 3 years and still can't figure out if the engine will last longer then a piston or not. The best way I think I could phrase this is if nothing bad happens and the engine dies of normal wear it will out live a piston engine. The other side of the coin is the rotary is more likely to have something bad happen which can shorten its life. Hope this helps

 

ok well its a 04 rx8 with 48,000 miles and has an extended crank but i tested the battery and its good should i be worried?

 

What do you know about how well the previous driver took care of that '04? How many miles did he put on the engine with older PCM flashes? The current flash was introduced in March '08, BTW. I like to buy low-mileage used cars when I know something about the previous owner. Personally, I wouldn't buy an '04, especially now when you can get much newer cars at real bargain prices.

 

04's are fine to buy as long a u can handle the extra maintenance which consists of checking oil, redlining once a day and letting it warm up before u shut it off so if that's too much then no it's not for u!....oh yeah search snd everything is there for the taking

 

To the OP, read my other posts why it has a 25% fail rating. Even honda had to replace a bunch of Civic engines a while ago because they were so ****. I think it was the 01-05 ones that sucked. Stupid d17 engine produced no power...

But seriously, maintenance is REALLY blown up for this car, but just be on top of everything and you are good to go, there is no REAL maintenance that is expensive for this car. Just do a normal checkup on the engine 1-2 a month and see if anything is loose or the oil is low. Im not saying stuff will break, but I do that as a normal precaution before anything bad develops.

Remember this car only has 3 moving parts and has no valves compared to a piston engine. To me, in terms of maintenance and such, there are only minor differences (other than it's a rotary engine of couse!).

 

My 2004 8mt is at 70K.

5th gear tranny syncro replaced.
Gas cap sensor replaced
Coils replaced
flooded twice after long drives. I now do the rev to 3k and shutoff trick - all is well.
Cat started breaking up, replaced
Battery died - replaced out of pocket
Several tires ; )

I love my 8. I'll keep the 8 for years to come.

 

civic si has your name on it. According to the Honda commercials, it has F1 technology in it and it is Powered by Honda. Yumm!!!

 

I have an 04 early build GT with 36k I bought in late 04 as a demo with 2300 mi.. So far I've had no maitenance issues that were not covered under warranty. The last flash corrected most of the nagging flood and overheating problems some 8's had. I only flooded once, cause was a weak battery. I replaced it. The car is out of bumper to bumper warranty now so cross my fingers. Maintenance costs so far have been less than a honda accord I bought new some years back.

 

2005 w/ 51,000 miles

Heater control module replaced (warranty) 2006?
6-disc changer replaced (warranty) 2006?
left tail light replaced form condensation (warranty) 2007?

Original engine, no floods, never failed to start, no other problems...

My '89 RX-7 (non-turbo) w/ rotary engine did 255,000 miles + (odometer went out) on original engine, no rebuilds, little to no maintenance, before an apex seal finally went.

 

2005 with 66k miles here..I needa change my spark plugs & ignition coils again here soon.

 

I would not agree with this. The 04 ran longer then any other model year with engine flashes that were not delivering adequite oil to the engine seals. The flash that finally corrected this was not out until early 06. The higher the mileage on an 04 the more likely that seal problems could develop. There are obviously many factors which could both help/hurt this such as the way the car was driven, environment the car was driven in, hot/cold, dry/hummed ect... I am also sure that there will be many 04 which have long and happy lives but for the small price difference I would look for a later model year.

 

The only fault I see in an RX8 is the fact that it's running Mitsubishi Electronics.
They've designed it to where you can't play around with the vehicle without ruining anything.
They force you to have them repair it,or replace it.

Tip for everyone.Don't run the battery til it dies out.Your electronics will go retarded.

 

Really? Mine has gone dead twice with no issues (aside from having to jump the car and reset the DSC).

 

I mean it's not a problem.But try to avoid it.
It's bad for the car.

 

dude, he's a honda tech.

you're a honda tech...

rx8 maintenance should be NO problem.

change out oil, plugs, and what not on schedule, like an other car.
with rotary you can baby it, premix etc, get into that later.

but other than that. its any other car with just
1.redline once a day to blow out carbon and burn off oil
2. let it warm up before you shut it off.