Mazda RX8 - anything else like it?

[2StepSteve]

EDIT 9th September 2012

Guess what I have bought? ...

Totally against my better judgement.

Mazda RX8 231 - 53 Plate.
£1995
A few dings in the paint work but nothing serious.
It's got 105,000 miles on the clock BUT at 86,000 miles it had a complete engine rebuild. The previous owner threw nearly £4k at it in total including other work. Then part exchanged it!

No cold start problems at all . The longest I've seen it take to fire up is 1 second.

MOT from last year shows nothing too major on the horizon just windscreen wipers and brake pads. Not sure how much the brake pads will cost? I'm guessing not a fortune.

I really was very lucky with the timing of the sale. After I arrived others were swooning in, both in person and over the phone. If I turned up 5 minutes later it wouldn't of been mine. Extremely lucky.

The insurance and road tax have made my eyes water. But my God, it is an amazing car to drive(!). The rotary engine is incredible. The sound and pull in 1st and 2nd is insane, stunning all the way up to 9,000 RPM! The sound is incredible!

Even if I get a few years driving out of it I'll be happy. Touch wood! What I will say is that I'm thankful that it doesn't have a mileage indicator. The comments I've read about it being a drinker are very true!

What a crazy weekend: Seeing the advert, mad dash there, finding a bank that is open late on a Saturday for the funds, then TRYING to find a post office in the whole of London that is open on a Sunday to obtain the road tax.

Well so there you have it. I was looking at other options and I think I answered my original question: There is nothing around like the RX8.

END OF EDIT


I'm starting to build a pot of money towards a used car.

Came across the RX8 - it's definitely something special for the money and very unique, looks absolutely gorgeous also. But the horror stories I am reading are sharply putting me off buying one.

Correct me if I am wrong but I have gathered that it's not great for short trips (short trips make up about 90% of my use for a motor!), poor fuel efficiency, prone to flooding, rotatory engine is not very reliable. I see a lot of cheap RX8's about and all of them I am looking at with a very suspicious eye. I have read that after x amount of miles they start losing power and eventually require a complete engine rebuild which costs around £3K. Not good. Why they didn't just fit it with a normal engine.. I don't know to be honest. As the engine, despite being unique; seems it's main point of failure sooner or later, akin to a time bomb.

Despite reading all these things, I still want one. I'm really not sure why confused as I haven't got endless amounts of money and I am not good at anything DIY when it comes to motors.

I am however interested in gathering together a list of other models which might fit my bill. I want something with preferable 4 seats, fun to drive, responsive, sporty.

What alternatives are out there in the 3k-4k price bracket?

I was looking at the Clio 182, it could be a contender... but it really doesn't have a patch on the looks of a RX8!

Sway me to something sensible.

 

[The Running Man]

I think they look amazing. Engines are a major weakness. Need big things at 60k miles and drinks like there is no tomorrow.

 

[Ravster]

I just sold mine, but gave me 3 years of flawless driving. Not a single problem, nothing with the engine, nothing with the build quality, nothing. Absolutely awesome car and I miss it like mad (its only been 24 hours).... I was an owners club member as well, i recommend you join if you do get one, huge amounts of support and information, plenty of guys on there prepared to meet up and help other RX8 owners (so dont worry too much about the DIY thing)

Keep an eye on the oil, its nowhere near as bad as people make out. I used it for a 3 mile daily commute, so dont believe the horror stories about short trips. That said, if you do want to just move the car on the drive, make sure you rev it up to 4k and instantly switch off the engine. Also don't clutch down when turning the ignition (it floods the engine).

Seriously though I bought one for the same reasons, beautiful to look at, completely unique, drive's incredibly fun. Great Car.

If possible, get a warrantywise warranty on it (i know friends who have successfully claimed for the RX8 with WW).

As for why they didn't put a normal engine in it...it would ruin the car. Go and drive one, the weight distribution would have been wrecked by a "normal engine" ..also 9k RPM.

 

[d_brennen]

I haven't got endless amounts of money and I am not good at anything DIY when it comes to motors.

This is not the vehicle for you

 

[Maccapacca]

Mazda RX8 - anything else like it?

Being mugged?

don't let anyone tell you they are anything but a ticking time bomb, you'll drive it with no confidence waiting for it to let you down, if you have the cash go for it but you need a full engine rebuild pot of disposable cash in a pot on its own, winging it on monthly paye is living in a dream land.


yes they look nice and apparently they drive very very well, don't go in with your fingers in your ears.

 

["andy"]

Love how different the opinions are from someone who owned one and someone who hasn't...

I think the problem with them is people think they are a 3 grand car , they're not , they are a 3 grand + money set aside for a rebuild car

It's similar to all the people on here who think the 172/182 is a good £1500 car when again they are that plus the huge sum for belts etc

 

[Hxc]

There is the very viable route of buying one with a dead engine, and getting it rebuilt. If you are willing to faff around with it you can have a fully warrentied (for 2/3years) smart looking modern coupe for under £5k. This is my present 3rd option along side a Z4/350Z at the mo.

 

[Flibster]

Correct me if I am wrong but I have gathered that it's not great for short trips (short trips make up about 90% of my use for a motor!), poor fuel efficiency, prone to flooding, rotatory engine is not very reliable. I see a lot of cheap RX8's about and all of them I am looking at with a very suspicious eye. I have read that after x amount of miles they start losing power and eventually require a complete engine rebuild which costs around £3K. Not good. Why they didn't just fit it with a normal engine.. I don't know to be honest. As the engine, despite being unique; seems it's main point of failure sooner or later, akin to a time bomb.

Despite reading all these things, I still want one. I'm really not sure why confused as I haven't got endless amounts of money and I am not good at anything DIY when it comes to motors.

Short trips - Not great, but mine regualrly does 5-7 mile trips just fine.
Fuel efficiency - It's not exactly a Prius.
Flooding - Not a problem if you're not a pilock.
Engine life - There are several on over 200K that have just had routine servicing. It's significantly better than the RX7 was, but it will depend on how the previous owner treated it. Same as any car really

As for the DIY route. It's entirely possible with the 8. I did the coil packs, ht leads and spark plugs in an afternoon. Not the easiest of jobs. Ended up removing the airbox, strut brace and the passenger wheel for better access. There are the service manuals online and they are pretty good.

Mazda services are pretty reasonable, especially if you're near a dealer that offers the club discount. Mine is always serviced at the dealer, because my local one is a lover of the rotary and they treat them properly. Always good to ask on the owners club which dealers have a good reputation.

Why not a normal engine? Because then it wouldn't have been as much fun. It would have affected the handling and weight distribution. When your feet are on the pedals, they are pretty much next to the engine. It's that small and located that far back and down.

I just sold mine, but gave me 3 years of flawless driving. Not a single problem, nothing with the engine, nothing with the build quality, nothing. Absolutely awesome car and I miss it like mad (its only been 24 hours).... I was an owners club member as well, i recommend you join if you do get one, huge amounts of support and information, plenty of guys on there prepared to meet up and help other RX8 owners (so dont worry too much about the DIY thing)

Keep an eye on the oil, its nowhere near as bad as people make out. I used it for a 3 mile daily commute, so dont believe the horror stories about short trips. That said, if you do want to just move the car on the drive, make sure you rev it up to 4k and instantly switch off the engine. Also don't clutch down when turning the ignition (it floods the engine).

Seriously though I bought one for the same reasons, beautiful to look at, completely unique, drive's incredibly fun. Great Car.

If possible, get a warrantywise warranty on it (i know friends who have successfully claimed for the RX8 with WW).

As for why they didn't put a normal engine in it...it would ruin the car. Go and drive one, the weight distribution would have been wrecked by a "normal engine" ..also 9k RPM.

I'm in the 4th yer of ownership and can't think of anything I'd swap to at the moment.

Possibly a GT86, if they ever think about replacing that dreary boxer with something that is a bit more potent and actually sounds interesting. The only way the '86 could be less enjoyable in the engine department, is if they made it a diesel.

 

[Ravster]

Unfortunately my annual mileage went from 5000 to 15000 this year due to a new job so now running an e92 320d (manual) which is very nice but a completely different car....

 

[Ev0]

Have to say you always hear people going oooh unreliable engine that will break and cost a fortune to fix, but can't say I've heard that from any actual owners.

 

[2StepSteve]

I just sold mine, but gave me 3 years of flawless driving. Not a single problem, nothing with the engine, nothing with the build quality, nothing. Absolutely awesome car and I miss it like mad (its only been 24 hours).... I was an owners club member as well, i recommend you join if you do get one, huge amounts of support and information, plenty of guys on there prepared to meet up and help other RX8 owners (so dont worry too much about the DIY thing)

Keep an eye on the oil, its nowhere near as bad as people make out. I used it for a 3 mile daily commute, so dont believe the horror stories about short trips. That said, if you do want to just move the car on the drive, make sure you rev it up to 4k and instantly switch off the engine. Also don't clutch down when turning the ignition (it floods the engine).

Seriously though I bought one for the same reasons, beautiful to look at, completely unique, drive's incredibly fun. Great Car.

If possible, get a warrantywise warranty on it (i know friends who have successfully claimed for the RX8 with WW).

As for why they didn't put a normal engine in it...it would ruin the car. Go and drive one, the weight distribution would have been wrecked by a "normal engine" ..also 9k RPM.

Why did you sell your RX8?

When I said normal engine I meant a piston engine... I know.. I know.. You can tell that I'm clued up here . A few days ago I had to google what a rotatory engine is.. as I've never heard of one before.

The warrantywise looks like a good idea. Any ideas how much your friend laid down for it? They don't quote the RX8 on their website.

It is interesting the different views that the RX8 is pulling here. Comparing it with being mugged vs amazing car on the fourth year of ownership and wouldn't trade it for anything.

I really don't want to lay down 3k-4k on one and find out that the engine is on it's last legs. I think that would devastate me to be honest. Obviously it's down to researching and carefully picking one to (try and) prevent that from happening. I've learnt quite a fair bit from my few days researching. Amongst things I've read; a compression test is a must as it's results will give an indication of the state of the engine as to whether it is going on it's way out.

Short trips - Not great, but mine regualrly does 5-7 mile trips just fine.
Fuel efficiency - It's not exactly a Prius.
Flooding - Not a problem if you're not a pilock.
Engine life - There are several on over 200K that have just had routine servicing. It's significantly better than the RX7 was, but it will depend on how the previous owner treated it. Same as any car really

Again, some of the things that I have been reading make me think it's totally unsuitable for short trips. Plus there are some stories about how easy it is to flood. I am starting to think there is quite a bit of conflicting info out there about the RX8. Thanks for that Flibster. You mentioned that the Mazda services are pretty reasonable, that's something I wasn't expecting.
What exactly does a rotatory engine in? Apart from not keeping the oil topped up and feeding it synthetic oil? Booting it all the time?

 

[2StepSteve]

There is the very viable route of buying one with a dead engine, and getting it rebuilt. If you are willing to faff around with it you can have a fully warrentied (for 2/3years) smart looking modern coupe for under £5k. This is my present 3rd option along side a Z4/350Z at the mo.

My mate has recommended me a Z4 but I'm really on the fence as to whether I like the look of it, it looks... too small. That and the two seater aspect of it is nail in the coffin for me also.

 

[Ravster]

Why did you sell your RX8?

When I said normal engine I meant a piston engine... I know.. I know.. You can tell that I'm clued up here . A few days ago I had to google what a rotatory engine is.. as I've never heard of one before.

The warrantywise looks like a good idea. Any ideas how much your friend laid down for it? They don't quote the RX8 on their website.

It is interesting the different views that the RX8 is pulling here. Comparing it with being mugged vs amazing car on the fourth year of ownership and wouldn't trade it for anything.

I really don't want to lay down 3k-4k on one and find out that the engine is on it's last legs. I think that would devastate me to be honest. Obviously it's down to researching and carefully picking one to (try and) prevent that from happening. I've learnt quite a fair bit from my few days researching. Amongst things I've read; a compression test is a must as it's results will give an indication of the state of the engine as to whether it is going on it's way out.



Again, some of the things that I have been reading make me think it's totally unsuitable for short trips. Plus there are some stories about how easy it is to flood. I am starting to think there is quite a bit of conflicting info out there about the RX8. Thanks for that Flibster. You mentioned that the Mazda services are pretty reasonable, that's something I wasn't expecting.
What exactly does a rotatory engine in? Apart from not keeping the oil topped up and feeding it synthetic oil? Booting it all the time?

Sold because my annual mileage went from 5000 to 15000...running a diesel BMW E92 now which is nowhere near as chaotic and fun as the RX8 but lovely to drive nonetheless.

In terms of the compression test, thats a good idea. I don't know how far your budget car stretch but if reliability is your biggest concern then mazda zz+ cars are floating about at around 5-6k and you'll get a mazda warranty with it which can be renewed forever.

Warranty wise quoted 800 for a year or 1200 for two if i remember rightly, my friend bought it at list price but as I quoted it online WW called me up two days later offering me a 25% discount!! Either way, he's had an alternator and the CAT replaced under coverage (had to argue a little for the CAT though) but his is a 2004 with 70k on it.

As for what causes the problems, its not one specific thing, but the largest contributor is neglecting the oil top ups as it causes the rotor tips to grind and then "pop" goes the engine. But honestly, like anything on the internet you'll hear all the horror stories and maybe one or two "its been fine" stories.

I promise you this much, one way or another, if you buy one you'll never not be entertained


Honestly the flooding and short trips are so easy to avoid, just be conscious of it and it'll never happen.

 

[Yaka]

ive always wanted the rx8 as well lilke the OP but the horror storys are keeping me away. there a stunning blue up for grabs nearby an i always have to talk my self out of buying it. shame really if i could afford teh cost of any problems id get one.


so im looking for somat totaly reliable but some what boring, a shogun:/ compleaty different but if it snows in winter anything like has done past 2 years then it wont be a death trap either

 

[Maccapacca]

Engine life - There are several on over 200K

Out of 461 RX8s for sale in the UK there are three over 100k, the first five have dud engines and the majority seem to sell them when nearing 60k, warranty direct wants £1,430 for a years warranty.

I may not have owned one but know when a lemon is a lemon

 

[Lashout_UK]

A lot of people don't enjoy driving them either, so you'd have to try one. Just no fun in the real world, reputedly, because you have to rev them so hard to get it do anything - and then you get even more crippling economy as a result.

 

[Vanilla]

I had one for about three years and found it highly enjoyable. I bought it for about £13k back in the day.

- My daily journey was about 2.5 miles each way and it was fine.
- Flooded it once. Phone rang as I started the engine and I turned it off
- Fuel consumption was about 20mpg but I had a fuel card so didn't care that much
- I really enjoyed driving it. I did a track day at Thruxton an the first car we drove was an RX8 - kinda the reason I bought one, thought they were fantastic handling cars.
- Reliability was good, only issue I had was that my coils went once and that was a £400 fix.
- Eats a little bit of oil but this is a non-issue. If you can afford £80 of petrol per tank you can afford a little carton of oil every now and then!

 

[Xellos]

Great car when they work, amazing handling, sound, and they look great.

When i had mine i had a steering rack replaced as the Power Steering failed, then my engine died and 43k miles and need a rebuild (car was properly looked after and treated better than a baby) cost the warranty company £3,000 to fix. Then when i went to p/x it for a freshly imported Evo the power steering ECU died....

 

[DAIR]

I had one for about three years and found it highly enjoyable. I bought it for about £13k back in the day.

- My daily journey was about 2.5 miles each way and it was fine.
- Flooded it once. Phone rang as I started the engine and I turned it off
- Fuel consumption was about 20mpg but I had a fuel card so didn't care that much
- I really enjoyed driving it. I did a track day at Thruxton an the first car we drove was an RX8 - kinda the reason I bought one, thought they were fantastic handling cars.
- Reliability was good, only issue I had was that my coils went once and that was a £400 fix.
- Eats a little bit of oil but this is a non-issue. If you can afford £80 of petrol per tank you can afford a little carton of oil every now and then!

Agree with all of this.

I owned mine for just under a year. I've never loved to rag a car so much before lol. Just loved to hear that beep noise.

During ownership I never experienced any problems.... Probably wouldve been a different story had I kept it for a year or two.

Crazy at how much they cost now. I got mine for around 14k with well under 10,000 miles on the clock. Sold it for around 12k almost 12 months later.


By the way anyone who purchased their RX8 will all the docs present will have noticed the small booklet detailing how the engine is to be used. For instance it says the engine should be warm before switching it off... Has various other bits too!

 

[Eliot]

The thing is,
Yes they look nice.
Yes they are a good drive.

But for me, There are far too many "Things" with them that would always put me off and foce me to get something else.