Should a buy a RX-8 (230) year 2004 that has 4 previous owners?? Im going to be number 5! Do you think its a duff car or previous owners weren't aware of fuel situation? Thought id ask the experts

 

A million things could have happened....if you really want to buy the car, check it thoroughly like you should do on a rotary-powered car, and then decide if it's worth it.....

It might help if you could find out a bit about previous owners....maybe it was indeed their lack of knowledge about the 8....

 

I wouldn't touch it. Run away I say, run away!

 

heh.

I would be suspect of that being one of the cars that get 8 mpg no matter how you drive it.

 

2 year old car with 4 owners...somethings fishy. Either that or quite a few people did not do their research.

 

Agree. Doesn't sound right.

 

im getting details of the previous owners tommorrow so will see what they say but agree with you guys that something might not be right.

 

i wouldn't do it.

 

The owner is trying to offload the car. Three other owners have done the same.

This is not normal.

I would take anything the current owner says with a grain of salt. if you do want to proceed, I would recommend working out a deal where you can have an extended test drive - just so you can see if any quirks show up, or if the mileage is **** poor. You should also make sure a rotary mechanic takes a good look at it.

Otherwise you may soon be the 5th owner trying to offload the car.

 

The car is with a dealer who bought it as a part-exchange, so the previous owner should have no reason to hold information back from me. Its only done 25,000 miles. Is it common for RX-8's that old to have major faults?

 

it's not common to have issues at 25k miles, but there are a number of cars who have issues.

 

The dealer is giving me a 12month warrenty that would cover everything but wear and tear. So even if something is wrong can always get it fixed. Even with this should i leave it alone??

 

yes.

if you have one of the cars with the por mpg no matter how you drive it, they will not be able to fix.

 

If 4 people have said "even with the warrenty, I dont want this car because of X" do you want to own it?

Its like tossing away a hamburger and watching 2 other people pick it up, take a bite and put it back with a funny face. And then watching you , who was watching the 3 previous people try to taste it and ask yourself, maybe its good? They were just full. Nobody eats a 1/2 eaten burger from the trash if they are full. Same with your car.

 

Just don't buy it. It might be a good deal, but it won't be worth it.

Trust me.

 

i bet he buys it anyway.

j9off, if you don't mind, report back in a few weeks with what's wrong with it.

 

You could always get a carfax report, but of course, that wont tell you what gas mileage it gets. 4 owners does sound like a lot.

Whats the deal with the 230? What price is it and all that other good stuff?

 

Its £12,500, full leather. So are some RX-8 worse on fuel than others??!

 

No...just that you felt enough doubt that prompted you to post this question should be enough to tell you NO! Dont mess with it. Thats a lot of car turnover.

 

I bought an 04 and im number 5 as well. I havent had any problems, just a couple recalls and flashes had to be done. If you want it I say go for it.

 

Well honestly a lot of people buy new or used rx8s and sell them quickly. We have seen that on this forum. Its not the right car for everyone. 4 owners or not, the car may be perfectly fine. If you look every single thing over and check the carfax history and see no issues, it is probabaly fine. You still have warranty through Mazda anyhow if you do have any issues.

 

personal opinion...i wouldn't think twice on moving on. If there isn't a problematic reason why it's been passed on that many times, you'll still likely find that all the different driving styles may have worn many different aspects of a car.

Long story short...its either well used, or well abused. Ike was right...run away.

 

i would just let it go!

 

Dont do any research on it, don't follow up -- Just get away. The odds of 4 people owning a 2 year old car without being a lemon is astrinomical. There is no shortage of RX-8 so find another one.

 

I have seen salvaged titles that dont show up as having issues on Carfax. The average owner has had this car less than 6 months. I am telling you to RUN. It is a lemon.