Hey guys i just recently signed up but have been going through the forums for sometime..(no im not a stalker ;D) Im thinking about buying a used 2004 rx8 7k miles on the car its perfect condition its pretty base only has the sport package i believe its called with only the lights&dsc. Anyway the price is at 20k seems good to me considering they were asking like 25k. I was just wondering anything to expect from a 04 rx8 as those seem to be the most problematic ones. just to add its manual. any help is appreciated thanks a lot and i look forward to owning a rx8

 

I have an '04, purchased new. No problems. Many of the problems of the first-year model have been taken care of with flashes.

Lots of tales you hear about problems are from people who aren't familiar with rotaries (they're thinking of the problems of the older apex seals) or deal with issues that have been fixed. Also, some people consider the need to keep adding oil a problem, but that's just a feature of rotaries.

 

i was in a similar situation couple weeks ago...i was looking at an 09/03 build date 2004 model with 10k miles.

after reading the forums extensively i decided ill take the gamble and buy it. i put 1,000 miles on the car so far and its been good....except for the usual rx8 complaints :P the only thing that freaks me out still is the rough idle and the vibrating shifter, outside of that, my car seems "perfect".

as long as the car is under warranty i wouldnt have an issue getting it. and all the typical '04 issues can be resolved by making sure the car gets serviced with all the latest outstanding bulletins and recalls.

seems like i keep getting first year production vehicles lately so im used to getting tsb's/recalls taken care of.

one thing i would do if i were you is call up the local mazda dealer and see if they have service history available on the car (such as tsb's/recalls outstanding, oil changes etc). it might make your decision easier knowing its been serviced regularly and put in for tsb's.

mine had a few outstanding tsb's which got taken care of within a day along with a fresh oil change and such (got a loaner car for the day from 128 mazda in boston, ma area)

 

I have a 2004, 10/03 build date. I bought it new last July and haven't had any problems with it. I'm still on the M flash. I don't have any rough idle or vibrating shifter issues. That might concern me a bit if I did.

 

id like to compare my car to someone elses to see if the rough idle and shifter vibration are really an issue...
next time i go in for service ill ask the dealer to check the engine mounts for me to make sure they're fine as its something i saw mentioned on these forums...
if those two things are within rx8 norm, ill just let them be...i've had both worse and better experiences with rough idle and vibrations in my previous cars but this is my first rotary so dont know what to make of it....i guess ill just keep an eye on it and see how it behaves as i put more miles on it...and in the meantime ill just enjoy driving it caus it really is a blast

 

alright cool thanks a lot guys im going in today to the dealership to test drive the car around 5pm. we shall see how it turns out :D

 

I have a 2004 too. I have had no problems either. A couple minor recalls and 4 flashes. The last flash really smoothed out this car. It runs strong. It's very dependable at 12k.

 

I have the 6 speed. the rough idle and shifter vibration are normal as long as it smooths out when you raise the rpm. At 1500 rpm mine is as smooth as a baby's ***.

 

well test drove the car today and i must say its very nice :D. yeah the shifter vibrates but its no biggy. Man the car was fun as hell and i must say it has some nice pick up in third gear as i passed a car and looked backed a few seconds later i was astonished to see just how much i had gained on the other car. to bad i couldnt buy it today a stupid old old man was buying a lexus and giving my salesperson a hard time 3 1/2 freaking hours to explain to this old guy how to use the navi system!!! i got there at 5pm ish and the guy was done at 8:30 and they close at 9 so there was not enough time to do the paperwork. oh well i guess i wait till tomorrow sigh..... but anyway this car is fun i mean absolute fun.

 

i have been driving my 04 RX8(produce in 03 august). Very happy with the car. unbelieveable handling and good speed (not very very fast but very very quick)
the only bad thing is the gas milage which is like 14 mi/galonn.

 

haha, i had a very similar experience....once i was done with my test drive i signed the papers right there and then. the price and the car were too good to pass up!

the car is just a dream to drive compared to my old merc c230

 

Go for it!

It's cheaper than new and you won't regret it.


Except one small problem... You will always wax it over and over and over and over again.

 

I bought my 04 MT Sport Touring used with 6,000 miles on it a year ago. 12/03 build date. It just hit 25,000 miles this week and has been PERFECT. Rough idle is normal, don't sweat that. Got the R flash about 1,000 miles ago and am averaging 20.5 MPG pretty consistantly. This is not babying it around either. I hate hearing all the bad gas mileage stories becuase it just isn't so with my car. Gas light came on today at 262 miles with a couple of gallons left.

 

Well the dealer today said someone else made a deposit on the car and that i would have to wait to see if the other guys financing fell, no way well he can go screw himself. I now am pending a deal at the local mazda dealership for a 2005 and i got to test drive that car, and wow it was much better then the used car i took out, i mean just simply incredible. so ill see how that goes

 

I hope it works out for you. The car is definitely worth waiting for!

 

well i am now the proud new owner of a sport package 2005 rx8 in either black or pearl white whichever they get me first/ manual transmission ;D. I cant wait till the car arrives there ^^ :D

 

Glad to hear!!! How was the 05 better than the used 04? Just the fact that is was new or was it faster, smoother, etc?

 

from wat i experienced the 05 was much smoother, shifts were crisper, and the engine was much stronger, it also felt like it handled the road way better overall i am pleased with my decision and look forward to having my car ;D.

 

I think that has alot to do with Mazda getting the new flash out and into the 2005s. My 2004 6sp finally feels the way it should since it got the latest flash. I have no doubt I have 240 hp now. It really screams from 0-100mph. It's much more responsive at lower RPM. It's smoother thru the rev band and at idle too. I don't get thayt sooty carbon on my chrome pipe tips anymore either. It's a great drivers car.