I recently picked up a 9k mile 05 rx8 (auction link). Seller had changed the oil and did all necessary recalls. Drives wonderfully, no issues. I polished the paint and got PPF installed on the front. Tires have 04 date codes so I'll be replacing those soon.

Wondering if there is any additional preventative maintenance I should be doing? Things like brake lines, fuel hoses etc.? With the low mileage nothing looks worn out, but hard to be certain since it's still nearly 20 years old.

​​

 

Belts, hoses, and seals. Anything rubber. You can end up with leaks coming from all sorts of random places you didn't even know were capable of leaking with a car that's sat that still for that long.

Also, condition your leather. Multiple times. It's going to be dry as a bone, and will crack with the slightest provocation.

 

I would change all fluids (engine, trans, diff, coolant, brake). Lines should be ok for the most part. Do you know how it was stored this whole time? Outside/inside? Conditioned?

 

It's certainly never seen much of winter by the looks of it, and it couldn't have been baking in the sun by the state of the paint, so seems like it's been inside. I think it's been used on and off, and not mothballed for years on end.
Brake fluid is a good idea, I'll definitely do that. Diff/trans is probably overkill, mazda recommendation isn't until 60k miles. They also say every 8 years, but I don't think I've ever done it that frequently on any car.

 

Your call, I change all fluids in any car I buy. Those oils are 18 years old after all.

What are your plans for the car? Any track time?

 

.
I acquired a 2006 low mileage (for it's age, 30K) Shinka (copper red) a short time ago. After a lot of reading, I learned heat
is the most important item in keeping the engine running a long time. I had a number of things updated right away.
New radiator, fans, oil cooler thermostats (cooler opening), replaced the plastic overflow tank with aluminum one that had
a lower temp to turn the fans. I also replaced plug coil, plugs and plug wires. When they get here, stainless brake hoses
and "speed bleeders". With your low mileage, the plugs, plug wires and coils should be OK. You might want to look at these three at around 30K...
I noticed that the receipts show 5W20 oil. Most think that as a minimum 10W40 will protect the main bearings better.
Some say heaver.. You might want to look into premixing fuel. There is some made specificity for this use...
.

 

I paid $25k off the lot new for mine, still under but 40k miles, but far from factory stock i.e. race car

if you’re happy then ok, but I never would have paid anything close to that even if was zero miles, it’s still 18 years old and no longer supported. To be fair, I don’t value cars that way, even rare models like the FD3 RX7 TT.

however I did receive my mothers 2013 Lexus ES 350 as a gift when she retired from driving on her 93rd birthday this past February; only had 20,000 miles on it.
.

 

Probably just keep miles low, I have a few other cars. Used to have a 2004 RX-8 which I loved, so this was a nostalgia purchase.

 

Cool. Are you by chance the guy who designed the GoodBox? The name seems familiar.

 

I am yes

 

lol, I totally missed that, guess you could afford it with the killing you made off all those GoodBoxes before you retired …

 

I sold the rights and design to someone, who appears to not have made much progress in producing more, or supporting the existing ones. So unfortunately there's not currently a ton I can do to improve that situation.

The main things I'd like to improve for it would be to use the factory harness plugs (to avoid requiring cutting), and improving the power supply design a bit. Eventually give it a USB connection for easier tweaks and upgrades.

Anyway - that has nothing to do with why I bought this Shinka