RX8 Running Costs

Capodecina
Permabanned
Joined
31 Dec 2003
Posts
5,172
Location
Barrow-In-Furness
Afternoon all,

I know there's a few owners on here so i'm just wanting to find out try how much it costs in general to run.

I believe they average around 22-25MPG? And is the oil something like every 3000 miles?

But how much does all this cost? What's the servicing etc like as well?
 
Associate
Joined
15 Jan 2004
Posts
1,425
Location
Doncaster
3000? You're having a laugh! You'll need a litre every thousand miles. I've got 5 litres spare that I'll let go cheap after I sold mine if you get one. Let me know.

It'll get around 23mpg, yeah. Tyres are £130 each for the good ones (fitted).

Had mine for 3 months. Fabulous fun to drive, but it cost me nearly £200 a month in petrol. And seeing as I only take home just over 1200 at the moment, it was too much to maintain. I was doing nearly 1000 a month, though.
 
Capodecina
Permabanned
OP
Joined
31 Dec 2003
Posts
5,172
Location
Barrow-In-Furness
Cheers.

Have you got the 192 or the 228? How long will the tyres last? I'm guessing that largely depends on how you drive?

My mileage is pretty low, My commute to work is a 10 minute drive at most. How much does the oil cost?
 
Associate
Joined
15 Jan 2004
Posts
1,425
Location
Doncaster
The Fuchs stuff is fine for the oil. It's to do with the naming of synthetic here and in the U.S. It's £25 for 5 litres, I think.

I replaced one tyre in 3 months, but that was because of a puncture. Wear wasn't bad on any of them during that time, to be honest, across 3000 miles. Mine was the 228. Don't go for the 192 - all the drawbacks, few of the advantages.

Mine was 35 miles a day minimum, so you're better placed.
 
Capodecina
Permabanned
OP
Joined
31 Dec 2003
Posts
5,172
Location
Barrow-In-Furness
Thanks that's a good review.

The only reason for edging towards the 192 is the insurance. I did some quick quotes and there's £400 difference.

Fair enough when you're paying £7000ish for a car, an extra £400 for a year isn't really that bad, but still.

Looks like i'll need to do a fair bit of reading about the flooding and taking care of one though.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
40,375
Looks like i'll need to do a fair bit of reading about the flooding and taking care of one though.

Flooding isn't really an issue if you know how to deal with it.

If you're only going to drive it short distances - take it up to 4000rpm and hold it there, then remove the key and let the engine spin down.
 
Capodecina
Permabanned
OP
Joined
31 Dec 2003
Posts
5,172
Location
Barrow-In-Furness
The road tax sucks a little.

They are fairly expensive to run then, but not over the top due to my relatively low mileage and commute to work.

There's 3 months or so before I'll be looking to buy my next car, i'll have to give serious thought to the 231 and taking the insurance hit.

A quick check on confused.com for insurance roughly:

192 - £1800+
231 - £2200+

I would imagne that shopping around I would get that lower, but I wanted an indicator. I'm happy to go with £1800 but anything more is a little too high.

At the moment it seems for around £7,500 I should be looking at...

2004 192/231
Full leather (the multi coloured seats are disgusting)
22000-30000 miles

Is there anything I should look out for when buying? Evidence of repeated previous flooding etc?
 
Soldato
Joined
25 Jul 2006
Posts
3,057
Is there anything I should look out for when buying?

A different car :p I had one and as much as i loved it, It just burns so much money :( I know you can pick them up quite cheap now, a lot of the earlier ones like 03/04 plates, had starter motor problems (as mine did) and the oil hoses deteriating (which a lot were recalled for - mine also had them done. Check the alloys too as mazda's laquer is crap and they begin to bubble. :(
 
Last edited:
Capodecina
Permabanned
OP
Joined
31 Dec 2003
Posts
5,172
Location
Barrow-In-Furness
I've thought about several cars and will continue to do so.

I'd rather get something that has more about it than a Fiesta ST/Clio 182, which the Mazda does.

I think they are great looking in the right colour, the interior is nice, they are pretty quick and not totally stupid when it comes to insurance.

There's not much else that is as good value for money.

I can't really think of many alternatives to be honest.
 
Soldato
Joined
31 Oct 2002
Posts
13,891
Location
Newcastle upon Tyne
I believe they average around 22-25MPG? And is the oil something like every 3000 miles?

I'd say about half of that in real world driving. My 3.2 TT and Boxster aren't exactly economical but they're like a Bluemotion compared to the RX8s I've driven. I literally drained 1/4 of a tank in minutes when test driving the 231 RX8
 
Soldato
Joined
31 Oct 2002
Posts
13,891
Location
Newcastle upon Tyne
That is a little worrying.

The vast majority of my driving (as i'm sure most peoples is) is pretty sedate due to the roads i'm on but I do like to 'give it some beans' every so often.

My test drive was a mixture too. Started off round the outskirts of Bristol, through some small villages, bit of stop and start then I hit the ringroad and gave it some beans. I'm used to crap economy but this was in a different league altogether.
 
Back
Top Bottom