Mazda RX-8 - why so cheap?

[StevesTruck]

Major money pit and many appearing in a scrap yard near you soon I suspect.

 

 

Very much so, my mate's got two none-runners in for breaking at the minute. One came with 2 grands worth of receipts, all from this year.

 

I doubt he paid more than £1000 for the pair. 

[XLBaconDoubleCheese]

I started looking about, bit of research after seeing this thread. It seems the majority of issues are due to not being looked after, correct fuel,plugs changes etc. They use oil so not keeping a eye on the levels will not do the engine any good. The owners club say to do a compression test before buying one and the newer the engine the better as they improved them, mainly over the first 3 years. They're still a big risk, but if you go in with your eyes open you'd not get stung too bad. Just over £2k for a FULL engine rebuild, garenteeded by a specialist, if you picked one up with issued for less than a grand and get the engine rebuild, £3000 for some relatively safe motoring is not that bad IMO. Plus if you sold it after a couple of years it'd be worth more having been cared for. I reckon you could do alright in a few years when they're rare and clean ones start going for decent money.

my mate worked for Mazda said most of the starting issues are down to flooding, apparently you have to hold the revs for a bit to burn all the fuel and then switch off.

This is know as the 4k turn off from what I read. Its only needed when turning it off if its cold, not a issue if the car has got up to temperature.

[Blackline Stu]

A lad ot work has one of these and his mrs started it first thing in the morning to defrost the windows and went back inside and when she came back out it had stalled on idle somehow. She then tried to start it again but the engine had flooded so she had to get the car taken to mazda who charged her over 80 quid to sort out the engine. The best bit was when she phoned the mazda dealer and said that it was a rx8 the girl on the other end of the phone said 'Ooh we don't get many of them in and I'm not sure if the technician's know what their doing with them. We normally send them to Inverness for anything' How can a main dealer not know about one of the cars that mazda (used to) make.

[j0hn]

rebuilds needed usually every 60k

Exactly this, which is why they're cheap as I believe a rebuild can hit £3,500 (could be wrong).

Picked one up in Surrey somewhere and took it up to Uxbridge, wasn't terribly impressed at the time.

[pixor]

As a former RX-8 owner, and member of the owner's club, I can speak from experience - most of what you hear about RX-8's is ill-informed myth.

Mine (and my friend's) were totally reliable. They are well-engineered and built. They handle fantastically, and are the best driver's car I've had. The gearbox is fast and accurate, and the limited slip diff helps with excellent grip. The rotary engine is fantastic and the revs are addictive.

Fuel economy - not really any worse than anything else of that age with equivalent power. I had an E39 BMW 530i after the RX-8, and it had similar fuel economy.

Oil - the rotary engine is designed to use a small amount of oil during normal running for lubrication. This is different from most other engines, where using oil is a sign of problems.

The reason I changed car was because I injured my back, and need an auto now.

If I were to buy one second hand, I would look for a full Mazda service history and all the usual signs of cherished ownership - regular servicing, no dings, no mods. Also, there are 2 models. Get the high power one, the low power model is lacking.

You can't get more motoring fun for the money.

[skinnyman]

I see one every day being used as a pizza delivery vehicle.  The chap has been using it like this for about 2 years now and it seems to be coping with every day life as a normal car.  As pixor said a lot of the stories are a tad overhyped.  My mate owned one and it was as reliable as any other car he's had.  Apart form regular services & consumables it was fine. 

[oilburninnut]

The reliability issues are certainly not over hyped, you only need to look on eBay to find a lot of late model cars with dead engines, even the rx8 owners club admits they are a bit of a nightmare and have a lot of dead ones in the classified section. The problem with them is the owners, two types of people bought them, enthusiasts who understood rotarys need a little extra care and maintenance then ordinary folk like hairdressers who never checked the oil before the low pressure light comes on. No prizes for guessing which type of former keeper you want to be buying off. The engines last anywhere from 45k to 120k where even the best kept ones will require a rebuild, most of them are dead by 65k. On the plus side they are so cheap you can buy a decent early car run it till it dies then break it for more than you paid so it is kind of cost effective.

[skinnyman]

I think you're right on this one.  Some of the owners didn't know what they were buying and therefore didn't look after them correctly.  Maybe the two examples I know of were enthusiast owned previous to their current owners so caused little or no trouble. 120k as a best mileage for an engine is pretty poor though.

[theezenutz]

As a former RX-8 owner, and member of the owner's club, I can speak from experience - most of what you hear about RX-8's is ill-informed myth.

Mine (and my friend's) were totally reliable. They are well-engineered and built. They handle fantastically, and are the best driver's car I've had. The gearbox is fast and accurate, and the limited slip diff helps with excellent grip. The rotary engine is fantastic and the revs are addictive.

Fuel economy - not really any worse than anything else of that age with equivalent power. I had an E39 BMW 530i after the RX-8, and it had similar fuel economy.

Oil - the rotary engine is designed to use a small amount of oil during normal running for lubrication. This is different from most other engines, where using oil is a sign of problems.

The reason I changed car was because I injured my back, and need an auto now.

If I were to buy one second hand, I would look for a full Mazda service history and all the usual signs of cherished ownership - regular servicing, no dings, no mods. Also, there are 2 models. Get the high power one, the low power model is lacking.

You can't get more motoring fun for the money.

You can buy a civic type - r for that money. I know which i'd prefer.

 

Many years ago when I had my mk2 golf 16v I had a little go against one. Let me put it this way, my car cost me £600 and I reckon I had the bigger grin on my face when we pulled up next to each other.

 

That's just my experience, I know their could be a lot of variable's.

[Mr Ree]

Went for a shuffties with my youngest to a local auction last night, and an 06 reg RX-8 was parked up ready to go through the ring.

 

It wouldn't start, shock and horror. :clap:

 

They ended up pushing it through and the highest bid was £600 which I thought was quite high tbh.

 

It didn't meet the reserve anyway, so it was pushed out again.

Edited 15 January, 2014 by Mr Ree

[VRS Mike]

Went for a shuffties with my youngest to a local auction last night, and an 06 reg RX-8 was parked up ready to go through the ring.

 

It wouldn't start, shock and horror. :clap:

 

They ended up pushing it through and the highest bid was £600 which I thought was quite high tbh.

 

It didn't meet the reserve anyway, so it was pushed out again.

That's because the auction employees are cluless with these cars. You are supposed to rev the engine hold it mid range for a few seconds, then switch off, this prevents them from flooding the engine.

[Mr Ree]

That's because the auction employees are cluless with these cars. You are supposed to rev the engine hold it mid range for a few seconds, then switch off, this prevents them from flooding the engine.

I'll pass that info on then if it's still there next time I go 'cus I didn't know that either, so I suppose in reality, that makes me clueless too!

[mr rooney]

Agree with all the above comments but I do like the sound of the racing rotary engine in this car.

[Matt Bodycombe]

Very thirsty and high emissions so huge road tax. The other thing is that the engines lack torque and are pretty specialist in terms of servicing. Very high oil consumption too and prone to flooding if you turn them off when not warmed up.

 

A nice RX8 PZ sound nice though but it is a bit of a risk :(

Edited 2 February, 2014 by Matt Bodycombe

[skomaz]

high oil consumtion because they are a total loss oil system.  if i was in tjhe market for something i would have one.  the engine sound is fantastic, very smooth and they handle brilliantly.

[MartynVRS]

There's rumours of the RX7 coming back and still with a rotary

[J306TD]

I won't ever touch one not even with a tramps dirty barge pole. Engines drink more oil than a Scottsman whiskey. Have to idle / use for more than 15 mins not to cause engine damage. Rear wheels happy to go the other way to the car. Plus not really a four seater

Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk

[Matt Bodycombe]

Yep if Autocar is to be believed there is a new 250 bhp RX 7 on the way in the next 18 months based on the new MX5 platform.I have also heard of the use of a small rotary as a gen in electro hybrid cars.

 

 

I think the whole RX8 thing needs to be looked at in perspective. They sold very well as they are fairly practical for a coupe and we reasonable to run as a company car before the punishing C02 based regs came in. It is though an enthusiasts car. If you warm the thing up, check the oil, don't beast it until warm and get it looked after by a specialist then it should be fine. there are loads of rotaries out there with six figure miliages. What they don't take kindly to is abuse and a lack of maintenance. Having said that a Stateside buddy has an RX 7 convertable with 150k with fettled ports and he swears by it.

 

They are an acquired taste: very very smooth, very revvy and sound nice if you like that kind of thing but it is the thirst and the emissions that are the big killers. Having said that you will pay top tax on an S2000 as well so it is horses for courses. You should not have  any trouble with the bodywork as they appear to be well made: Mazda does have a great reputation for build quality. There seem to be a lot around my way, even early 2003 cars that seem very tidy body wise :/ Having said that I am surprised that Mazda are persevering with the Rotary engine. When they developed the RX7 they sweated blood to get the rotor tips to seal properly. Their literature for the RX 8 makes a big thing of not having to worry about the reliality of the engine too. They mention the above Le Mans car and how the mechanics would have been happy for the car to do the whole thing again etc. One must also note that, especially in the US, people have got crazy horsepower out of the old RX 7 and Eunos Cosmo without blowing the engines to bits so there has to be a certain built in toughness there.

 

Not sure it is a completely total loss engine like a two stroke (that would play havoc with emissions) but it does need to burn off a little apparently. the handbook mentions checking oil once a week apparently and up to a litre a week usage is not uncommon. You need to know what you are doing but how many people actually bother to read their car handbooks these days?

 

 

P.S I think the stuff about failing MOT emissions next year sounds like pub talk to me. These things can't have retrospective effect otherwise all classics and older cars would be forced off the road: Diesels without DPF spring to mind...

 

http://www.motuk.co.uk/manual_730.htm

Edited 2 February, 2014 by Matt Bodycombe

[BJM]

I've only driven one once, as I had to collect a 6 month old one from Poole, Dorset and deliver it to a dealers in Leeds.

The owner decided he simply couldn't afford to pay the fuel bill (he claimed to commute daily to the outskirts of London) and traded it in for a Renault Megane Coupe

 

My memories are that it was horribly uncomfortable, with the seat, steering wheel and pedals all out of line with each other, so that by the time I arrved I could hardly straighten up.

It had no torque, but accelerated like excrement off a shovel if revved up to 14,000 rpm.

 

Talking to the dealers salesman (who kindly gave me a lift to the Railway Station - a very unusual courtesy) he claimed that the 4 door clamshell design was introduced for company car drivers, as many companies, both in UK and Worldwide, had clauses written into their policies that 2 door cars were nor allowed.

He also reckoned that they simply couldn't sell 3 year old secondhand models, and many of them that they sold to "yuppies" never even made 3 years.

It was one of those cars that seemed to be bought new by a certain market, mainly for posing purposes, but no-one else wanted

[grr666]

Agree with all the above comments but I do like the sound of the racing rotary engine in this car.

Got one of these in GT5 I think. :p

[Matt Bodycombe]

Good car to have fun in though.  Here is Johnny Herbert throwing one around (sorry don't know how to embed a video)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNOAoe667pQ

Edited 5 February, 2014 by Matt Bodycombe

[PastyBoy]

still in the garage now just £1200

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mazda-RX-8-1-3-190bhp-/251390699313?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item3a880da731

 

SUICIDE DOORS

SPORTS SEATS

AIR-CON

ELECTRIC WINDOWS

EXCELLENT SPORTS CAR

THIS CAR IS A PX TO CLEAR

STARTS AND DRIVES.

LITTLE MISS FIRE SOUNDS LIKE ITS A BIT FLOODED WHEN IT TURNS OVER. SHOULD BE PRETTY MINOR AS CAR STARTS RUNS AND DRIVES.

 

final point might be a killer

[Matt Bodycombe]

Hmmm the above is the poverty engine which nobody wants anyway. Add potentally sinister engine issues and I will be surprised if he manages to give it away tbh. Would be a bargain for an expert to bring up to fettle but not many people know roteries (Briskoda does not like the name of the inventor Felix ****el lol see )

Edited 5 February, 2014 by Matt Bodycombe

[Soot1e]

Cliff for about £2k you can buy a Civic type R, not the best ones but one you apply your spanners to.