Should I buy a 2004 Mazda RX-8

[Yaris PAVEL94]

Should I buy this car or not?

http://detroit.craigslist.org/wyn/ctd/2515161616.html

http://www.topgearz.com/prog-02.asp?carId=512

[thebarber]

04 rx-8's have engine issues...

[Motorhead6T5]

Engines seem to only last 50k miles.

[DMZ]

A friend of my daughters' has one. It spends a good deal of time at the dealer's shop according to my daughter.

[kimona]

No!!!

[nemelek]

How many miles does it have on it?

[thepartsmancometh]

I was under the impression Mazda extended the warranty to account for the engine issues. I might have dreamed that though.

they are good handling cars, but seem plagued with issues

[Yaris PAVEL94]

well this one has 159K on the engine and body, but I sold my suzuki aerio today and im picking up a 2007 Scion tC tomorrow morning. I dont have to sell my yaris

[detroiter]

If you had to pick one up, I'd go with 2005 and up. They worked out a good amount
of the bugs with the 05's and up. But 2004 are not all bad either as long as all of the TSB were taken care of.

Don't let people fool you with the stupid "oh they only last 20,000 miles" remarks. They will only last that long if the owner is incompetent on how to actually take care of the thing. They rotarys are meant to be driven HARD and don't take kindly to being babied.

Mazda extended the powertrain warranty to 8 year/100,000 miles

[Black_griffin6]

I'd rather get an AP1 S2k. But that's just me. :biggrin:

[yaris rs]

don't get it. first few years had major issues with oil and seals. oddly enough, they would gain more power as the seals were stronger with engine use but they eat oil like no other and engines start visiting dealers often after 75k miles. I haven't seen many past 110K...

6K better spent else where

for the record, they are said to be amazing handling cars, when i test drove them, i was not impressed; a well modded yaris drives better.

[detroiter]

I wouldn't say using a quart of oil every 2-3000 miles is "eating oil like no other". They are designed to use oil. It lubricates the inner rotor housings so that the apex seals do not drag on metal-to-metal and rip out, then getting tossed out of the exhaust port.

And of course a WELL MODDED Yaris is going to handle better. There's one guy here on the forum who has a WELL MODDED Yaris and he finished second place of the day in autocross, behind a Ferrari. That should tell you something.

Only reason I can't suggest you getting the car is because once you do, you'll be an addict for life. There is NOTHING like the driving feel and sensation of a rotary engine. Smooth as butter and can be abused like a red headed stepchild, yet they just beg for more.

Oh and don't forget, Mazda extended the warranty for Rx8's to 8 year/100,000 miles regardless of how many owners. BUY IT

[PROX4x4]

I'd pick up a Miata MX5.