Just purchased 2004 rx8, put less than 1000 miles on it and was having problems with the car missing when you first started it. took it to the toyota dealer where i bought it, and they sent it to the mazda dealership because they didnt know enough about the rotory motor. Found out one cylinder is low on compression and they blamed it on a stuck thermostat, saying the car over heated. when i purchased the car they sayed there was a 3000 mile or 1 month warranty with the car. when i took the car in there they said there was a $100 deductible, and saying repairs are $6000 - 6500 to repair it and i would have to split the bill to get it fixed. Anyone know how much getting a new motor should cost? or any ideas on how to handle the dealership. Was also thinking maybe they could supply all the parts and i would install the motor myself otherwise $3000 out of my pocket along with the $2000 down when i bought the car.

 

Play hard ball. Make them pay for the repairs or give you your money back. They issued a warranty, now they need to honor it. You will win in a court if you in fact have paperwork that reads warranty for a set amount of time or mileage and it has not been exceeded. As well as the motor being a covered portion of this warranty. I had the same issue with a truck I bought a few years ago. It needed a transmission and I had the truck for less than 500 miles when I found out. Though they did not want to, they ended up fixing the vehicle at their cost. After they tried to offer me my money back. I declined, the truck was to good a deal to give up (which is probably why it needed a tranny). If you pay anything other than the deductible you are a fool.

Edited to add: if you decide to give the car back, if that's on the table, get a compression test next time before you buy a rotary powered vehicle.

 

Thanks, I will play hardball then or contact the better business burrow about it. Compression check was definitely something i should have done.

 

yeah if you are in the toyota dealership's warranty period, they should either fix the car for you, or buy it back, minus your $100 deductible.

i saw the bill for my warranty engine and it was about $2000 in parts, and 12 hours of labor @120/hr, total was $3500.

if this goes thru, you should buy a new clutch, and belts as the labor is free, and they are wear parts and won't be covered under warranty

 

+1 on that ^

 

$6k for a reman install? LOL.

"Oh ****. We didn't see this coming. How do we deal with it? I know, let's tell him it costs twice what it actually does, and then tell him we'll split the cost."

 

My reman engine was $2500 total including parts and labor. I had the clutch replaced at the same time which cost about $500, saved some money on labor since the motor was already out. 6K is absurdly high.

 

Exactly! Someone finally saw what's really going on.

You're a fool if you pay a nickel more than the agreed upon warranty deductible. Good luck.

 

Also, if nothing else, have the dealer unwind the deal and go find a decent 8. Lesson learned. I wouldn't accept less than one of those two options.

 

The words I marked above are your biggest problem. It seems like all players involved in the issue (you, toyota, and the mazda dealer) don't know much about the car, which might not help your situation

1. First of all, it is a 'rotary' engine not rotory.
2. The engine has no cylinders. If they mean one of the rotors has low compression, what are the test results from the compression test in each of the chambers for that rotor? If a Mazda dealer performed the compression test, they should have provided you with a copy of the compression test results.

 

This is freaking sad, 6k for a damn reman install? Pay me 6k i will ship my.toola over to.ur house and fly over to do the install for u parts n labor included loooololol

 

shoot, pay me 6k, i'll drive it to the dealership, have them change it, throw in a new clutch, and pocket $2000.

 

Little update, talked with lawyer and am responsible for half the bill. So pay $9500 for the car and 2.5 tanks of gas, another $3000. Live and learn I guess. If I didn't put $2000 down I woldve told them to keep it.

 

This is what Mazda said.

 

i might try a different dealership, this one is EXPENSIVE!

and they want to charge you for the thermostat that comes with the engine....

 

Does your paperwork read that you are responsible for half the cost of any repairs?

 

Yes it does, I had my lawyer look at the paper work also. The dealership where i bought the car said a new motor is $2500.00 alone. I'm pretty sure they knew the car had engine problems, there was 2500 miles put on the car after the vehicle inspection report was made.

 

Car went in this week for the new motor, guess we will see how they do on it. There not taking it to the Mazda dealership to change out the motor (bought it from Toyota dealer).

 

well, 2500 + probably 1000 labor / 2 is not THAT bad ...

while they are doing it, you should throw in a new Clutch and new lighter flywheel. Or at least get the old flywheel resurface.

 

I am having the same problem, I am not very educated on the rotary engines. My car is having acceleration problems. My rpm's rise very slow as well with acceleration through all six gears. the car idles fine, it kind of has trouble starting as well i have to hold back the key a little longer than normal. Some days, the car runs just fine and accelerates normal. then other times i have this acceleration issue. I ran the car open heads to see if it was the catalytic converter, and it still ran like crap. Changed the fuel pump, spark plugs, I also took the car to the dealership. They told me the car lost compression and I needed a new engine. As soon As i left the dealership my car ran just fine for about an hour. the car has 80,000 miles i bought the car about 3 months ago i have put maybe 4000 miles on the car. A friend told me if the car had a compression issue, it wouldnt run good at all because compression does not fix itself. can someone help me before I do change out the engine?

 

location will be great

 

It could very easily be coil problems.

Replace the coils.

Best of finding club member in the area you live. Have those old dogs help you.

 

Next time listen to your friend, because they know more than you do about RX-8's.

BC.

 

Update: Final cost was $2800 out of my pocket for the repairs (added to my car loan). Car runs good, but only 12month or 12000mile warranty on the new motor. Thought it should be more. Chalking this up to a learning experience.