I have a 2004 RX-8 with 94,000 miles that I bought on April 10, 2005. I have been having starting problems for a while, the car always takes a few extra seconds to start. The car also seems to have gradually gotten slower than when I first bought in, but no drastic drop off all at once. I went to the local dealer yesterday, 3 weeks before the 8 year warranty expired, and paid $180 for a compression test just to make sure my issues weren't related to low compression.

He called me 5 hours later and says Mazda has approved a new engine. He said I would have to pay probably a few hundred dollars out of pocket but he'd find out. The engine should be in within a few days. So when I picked the car up 2 hour later, he said it would be about $1100 actually for wear and tear items Mazda doesn't cover, and I still have to pay for the compression test even though it failed it.

Anyway, I am posting because this seems to run counter to what others experienced in that I had no trouble getting the replacement engine approved, but I have to pay alot out of pocket, including for the compression test. I am mostly concerned that since the price already increased to $1300, that by the time they put the engine in it will go even higher. Has that happened to anyone else?

 

I was told I had to pay for the comp test a d plugs, wires, and coils. When it came down to it I supplied my own parts and they covered the comp test. They also replaced the catalytic converter. I would get a list of these "wear a s tear" items. At most you should only be paying for plugs, wires and coils. Definitely find out what you're laying for before you do anything. Make sure you get the date when the comp test was done. You don't want to go back in a few weeks to get the engine replaced and have them claim "you're out of warranty"

 

RX8Buffalo, can you list what they are charging you for and their prices?

The total is pretty high for a warranty replacement. Usually it's $500 or less, all the way to a possible $0. Mine was $57, for belts.

And he is wrong, the diagnostics fee to determine that something under warranty has failed IS covered by the warranty. That is a standard across the board. Don't pay that and call MNAO if he insists.

 

Mazda's warranty extension is only for the engine block, everything else, like the clutch which you need to change, coils, spark plugs, engine mounts, etc etc are not covered.

when i did mine, Mazda covered the compression test, so that might be negotiable

 

Thanks for all the help. So if I get a relacement engine then clutch for sure would need to be replaced at 94k miles? Maybe that's why its so much, the clutch is like $400-$500 right? They haven't given me a breakdown of the "wear and tear" costs yet, they just said it would be about $1100 for them, but I'll go in and ask for the actual cost breakdown. I'll also ask if they will take the $180 compresion test cost off, since most people say there shouldn't be a diagnostic fee to see if something under warranty has failed.

Is it possible to have them replace the clutch disc only? And since they have the engine out, should I be charged just for parts and not for labor for replacing the clutch, plugs, wires, coils etc.? Sorry if these are dumb questions, I don't know all that much about cars, just trying to educate myself before I go back in.

 

Well, at 94,000 miles, if you are on the original clutch you probably should take the opportunity to change it when you won't have an added labor cost. However, they should not automatically be replacing it without discussing it with you. Doing that is illegal in the US since it's not actually part of the engine block.

The dealer clutch prices are mildly crazy. They do sell the disc, pressure plate, and each bearing separately, for a total price of $600-$800 depending on dealer markup. Conversely, you can buy every piece from BHR or Amazon for $375 as a complete kit.

If they are replacing ignition as well, then that is going to be a large part of the price too, since the dealer will charge $60-80 a coil, $30-40 per plug. You should have a heft discount on any labor for any of the non-covered items, though it won't be completely free labor, since there is still actually labor involved, even if it's just 4 little easily reached nuts.

Yes, you NEED that itemized list before the work is done. They are required by law to provide it.

 

I don't know what the history of the vehicle is, but if the vehicle was bought brand new as a 2004 model, that would mean it was sold in 2003. If that is the case, that would mean the car's warranty actually ended in 2011. That would be the reason for the higher price and the compression test not being covered. I can only speculate as stated before, OP has not mentioned vehicles original purchase date or history.

 

Owner says purchased on April 10, 2005. They still are in warranty - barely.

 

I apologize, you're right. That's what I get for trying to do something constructive at 4 in the morning. I'm interested in what the $1000 in extra cost to the engine warranty is for as well.

 

I will answer that...you need to pay for the coils, plugs, and wires (they are not included on the engine warranty). They may have to change the catalytic if its bad too...so, that's another extra right there, and if they find something else like the engine mounts are bad...so, the list goes on and on...

 

plus a clutch!

 

Don't forget the tax...

 

Which clutch kit is the best to buy on Amazon? I see the EXEDY 10803A Racing Clutch Kit on there for $347. On Amazon it says it fits the RX-8, "base" (only choice), "1.3L R2 Gas Distributorless Naturally Aspirated MPI Electronic FI MFI". I have an RX-8 manual transmission Grand Touring. Should that work?

 

Actually it looks like the Exedy MZK1002 clutch kit is the OEM recommended the most for the RX-8. Its about $360. I can't find BHD online, what's that? Are JC Whitney and PartsTrain reliable? Thanks for all your help.

 

Well I ordered an Exedy MZK1002 OEM clutch kit for $325 delivered on Amazon (direct from Amazon with a 10% discount they had). Now I am looking for ignition coils that I can get in 3 or 4 days as well since those seem to be the highest priced parts as the dealership service manager said he would be charging me $480 total for the 4 of them. And then I'll just get the plugs, wires and bolts from the dealership.

The $1300 total he was originally going to charge did not include the clutch which I feel I should probably replace while the labor costs less during the engine replacement. They said the $1300 was just for the coils, sparkplugs, plug wires, bolts, and compression test. He brought the total price down for those things (without any clutch replacement) by about $150 to about $1150 and said he's also going to check with Mazda tomorrow to see if he can take some more off the compression test portion of that $1150 as well.

The guy seems nice enough, it's just higher prices than I expected. He said I could get parts myself on amazon or wherever to save money and they will put them in. I am hoping that they are really okay with that, I've never done that before and I guess I could see them not liking it very much but he said that would be fine. I appreciate getting a replacement engine under warranty and all but I really need to save some more money somewhere on the out of pocket costs since we are sorta short of money right now.

Thanks for the help in this forum.

 

Seriously, those ignition coils are $240 at mazmart (OEM). They charge $395 for coils/plugs/wires. I would call them and pay for overnight shipping compared to what this guy wants to charge. A compression test should just be an hours labor. Just my $0.02

 

You can get the coils/plugs/wires down under $200 for everything if you hunt around, although they will be the older revision coils, I believe Mazmart's coils are the newer revision. The main difference will be in their ability to survive longer.

Compression test should be covered under warranty, as are any tests to diagnose a covered part are supposed to be covered.

 

Ok, I talked to Mazmart and plan to get the $395 all OEM coils, plugs, and wires package which i don't think the dealership service guy should have any problem installing since its all OEM and comes in Mazda packaging. Hopefully they will also be willing to install the Exedy MZK1002 OEM clutch kit (which I already ordered thru Amazon) even though its not in Mazda packaging since it is OEM and the same exact clutch Mazda uses as I understand it. Thanks for everyone's help.

 

Sounds better. Good luck.

 

I talked to the dealership service guy and he has no problem if I supply the parts myself but he does recommend I buy Mazda OEM if I can afford it. It turns out I am only saving $185 by paying $395 through Mazmart for coils plugs and bolts since the dealer was only charging me $580 for those items.

It turns out the other $383 the dealership is charging is for "engine bolts" that he says are required and only Mazda can supply. But I haven't read anywhere about others being charged for "engine bolts" so I don't know what to make of it. The guy seems nice enough but between the engine bolts and trying to charge me for the compression test, I was considering going to another dealer. Another dealer told me that they wont charge me for the compression test if it fails and that they don't expect the engine replacement charges to be so high.

It seems like there is some variation in compression test results though. If I have the compression test done at the other dealer and by chance they now get a different result and it doesn't fail the test, is there any chance that Mazda would not allow the engine replacement at all, even at the previous dealer?

 

so he doesn't know what they are, but you must have them? with logic like that, its a wonder he's not wearing a shoe on his head...

if you ask for the part number and it is N3H1-14-631B, this is the metering oil nozzle, which Mazda calls a Bolt, Connector. list price is $95.99 each and there are 4 on a car.

if its a different part number, who knows what it is. well the service writer is who should know...

 

Uh, yeah, he is seriously blowing smoke your way.

 

When my engine was replaced I only had to pay $72.44, which was for fluids (coolant, oil and freon). The difference for me was that my engine had quit and had to be towed to the dealer. They paid for the towing, compression test, and the complete engine replacement. The existing clutch was still fine, so they reinstalled it. The coils, plugs and wires were also reinstalled (no use replacing those unless they are bad).

I agree that a clutch replacement is a good investment since the engine will be out. However, if there are no burn marks on your pressure plate and you still have plenty of lining on your clutch disc, you can just have them reinstalled on the new engine.

I think the dealer is trying to squeeze you since your engine didn't quit working like mine did. You shouldn't have to pay for engine mounting bolts; they are reusable, since they don't get torqued to "yield."

 

Yeah that's what it is, part number N3H1-14-631B, bolt connector. The service manager says all 4 need to be replaced for $383 total. I just never heard of anyone else being charged for these.

If I go to another dealer service shop I still am (mistakenly?) concerned it might not fail the compression test since it seems like I have read that the same RX8 might fail at one dealer and then pass at another. Then maybe Mazda would cancel the whole engine replacement? This dealer I have been dealing with didn't make me have anything done on the car before getting a valid compression test like some owners seem to have had to pay for, so that was good. Thanks for all the help.

 

Since the new engine bolt connectors are being paid for by me and are not under warranty, is there any reason I can't get the old bolt connectors (that are being replaced) back from the service department when they are done?