Mazda RX-8

[Marc Salvaje]

Hey Guys,

 

I am considering buying a second-hand Mazda RX-8. The goal is to have a used, relatively cheap sports toy for the next 2-3 years. So yes, I am aware what engine it has and that it can cause problems, especially when it's over 100,000km and so on. I've read a few horror stories that it's not a reliable car that I'll have to import spare parts and so on... I don't really need a car to drive everyday to work or anything like this so with a few trips a year I might clock max 10k kilometers. I took one for a test drive today and it felt good. It drives perfectly, sounds great. Since it's a 8 years old car they give warranty for 30 days. I presume that if anything could go horribly wrong with an engine or something chances are it would happen in the first 30 days...

What am I not seeing? What's your take if you know this car?  

[Kwasaki]

1 hour ago, Marc Salvaje said:

What am I not seeing?

What's your take if you know this car?  

What you have already said that it's not a reliable car.

 

My take is it could be a big problem to own one in the west, in Thailand I would say it would be a nightmare.  

[Airalee]

If I was short enough, I’d take an MX-5 NA any day over an RX-8.  I rented one once for a weekend (had to wedge myself in) and have to say that without power steering it was the closest feeling car to my ‘88 Carrera that I have driven.  It’ll be much cheaper to maintain and probably easier to sell in the end.

[Swiss1960]

1 hour ago, Kwasaki said:

What you have already said that it's not a reliable car.

 

My take is it could be a big problem to own one in the west, in Thailand I would say it would be a nightmare.  

 

Your are SOOOO completely wrong, just shows you have no idea about that car.  I owned an RX-8 back in my time in Switzerland, drove it for 5 years with 130K+ kilometers and only ever had a single issue with the car.  The reliability issues were with the RX-7 but not the 8. The issue was my own mistake, I had to repark the car in a cold winter morning and after reparking, I did not wait long enough for the engine to heat up and burn the excessive gasoline in the rotary engine, therefore flooding the engine and preventing restart. The Swiss automobile club TCS had to drag me for almost 10 minutes for the engine to properly come back to life. 

The car was great fun (while I was still "fit" enough to fold myself into it and out...), horse power/weight made it a little rocket and the acceleration left many people pretty astonished AND behind me. Speed over 200 km/h, drives like a go-kart in the mountains (glued on the streets, but be aware when that glue gets lost...), specially with deactivated security systems...

Yes, the rotary engine needs care like the right special oil... when I used the car on German highways, I normally needed one liter of oil for one filling of the tank, the rotary engine burns LOTS of oil for cooling and lubricating during high speed / high rotation. During normal use in Switzerland, it was around 1 liter for 5.000-10.000 km. 

 

Problem in Thailand: IF you have an issue with the engine, you won't find a mechanic who is properly educated with that type of engine. And that would be the end of the fun with the car and the start of a nightmare. Can you find a mechanic with RX-certificate? Can you get the company approved oils for the engine or did the previous owner just use any "similar" oil? That will also influence the longevity of the engine.

[digbeth]

Do you know any garage that knows how to handle the engine? 

 

Ford/Mazda specialist garage I know seem to have a bunch of RX8 always in the bays for their apex seals or something done, there aren't many of these around

 

 

[DavisH]

How about a nissan 350Z - they can be had for 1-1.3M. There are garages that service them, and a number are for sale of the Thai 350Z facebook page. They organise track days also. 

[Kwasaki]

10 hours ago, Swiss1960 said:

 

Your are SOOOO completely wrong, just shows you have no idea about that car.  I owned an RX-8 back in my time in Switzerland, drove it for 5 years with 130K+ kilometers and only ever had a single issue with the car.  The reliability issues were with the RX-7 but not the 8. The issue was my own mistake, I had to repark the car in a cold winter morning and after reparking, I did not wait long enough for the engine to heat up and burn the excessive gasoline in the rotary engine, therefore flooding the engine and preventing restart. The Swiss automobile club TCS had to drag me for almost 10 minutes for the engine to properly come back to life. 

The car was great fun (while I was still "fit" enough to fold myself into it and out...), horse power/weight made it a little rocket and the acceleration left many people pretty astonished AND behind me. Speed over 200 km/h, drives like a go-kart in the mountains (glued on the streets, but be aware when that glue gets lost...), specially with deactivated security systems...

Yes, the rotary engine needs care like the right special oil... when I used the car on German highways, I normally needed one liter of oil for one filling of the tank, the rotary engine burns LOTS of oil for cooling and lubricating during high speed / high rotation. During normal use in Switzerland, it was around 1 liter for 5.000-10.000 km. 

 

Problem in Thailand: IF you have an issue with the engine, you won't find a mechanic who is properly educated with that type of engine. And that would be the end of the fun with the car and the start of a nightmare. Can you find a mechanic with RX-certificate? Can you get the company approved oils for the engine or did the previous owner just use any "similar" oil? That will also influence the longevity of the engine.

I'm pleased the car worked out good for you, my main point would be as you say trying to find a Thai mechanic here to sort any problems and source parts. 

[Marc Salvaje]

6 hours ago, digbeth said:

No, I don't. Can you share the details of the garage you mentioned for the future reference just in case?

-----

Do you know any garage that knows how to handle the engine? 

 

Ford/Mazda specialist garage I know seem to have a bunch of RX8 always in the bays for their apex seals or something done, there aren't many of these around

 

 

 

 

[Rookiescot]

Owned one for years. Was an absolute joy. Never had a single problem with it.

Maintain it properly and it rewards you every day.

IF you were the kind of person who would remove the catalytic converter and replace it with a straight pipe you are gifted with a jet of flame out the exhausts when you rev and lift quickly.

Of course none of us would condone such things. ????

[Marc Salvaje]

4 minutes ago, Rookiescot said:

I like your thinking! ????
---

IF you were the kind of person who would remove the catalytic converter and replace it with a straight pipe you are gifted with a jet of flame out the exhausts when you rev and lift quickly.

Of course none of us would condone such things. ????

 

[1FinickyOne]

14 hours ago, Marc Salvaje said:

What am I not seeing?

that maybe there will be 'stipulations' when you try and enforce the warranty?

 

That if you are planning on so little usage it might be cheaper to rent one when you do want to use it? 

[Rookiescot]

As a matter of interest is it a manual or automatic transmission?

 

[Marc Salvaje]

1 minute ago, Rookiescot said:

As a matter of interest is it a manual or automatic transmission?

 

AT and semi-manual in one.

[Swiss1960]

2 minutes ago, Rookiescot said:

As a matter of interest is it a manual or automatic transmission?

 

can have both, but no fun with automatic.. that car wants you to work for the fun ????

[Marc Salvaje]

3 minutes ago, 1FinickyOne said:

that maybe there will be 'stipulations' when you try and enforce the warranty?

 

That if you are planning on so little usage it might be cheaper to rent one when you do want to use it? 

No that little... just not for daily commuting as I don't need to commute. Rental is pain in the ass for me. I like the freedom for just going to the garage and riding somewhere when I feel like it. ????

[1FinickyOne]

1 minute ago, Marc Salvaje said:

No that little... just not for daily commuting as I don't need to commute. Rental is pain in the ass for me. I like the freedom for just going to the garage and riding somewhere when I feel like it. ????

sounds good... some things in life are worth paying for - up to your discretion - go for it.

[Rookiescot]

6 minutes ago, Marc Salvaje said:

AT and semi-manual in one.

 

Ah OK its the 195 HP version then. See if you can get the manual 230 HP version.

It revs higher and is noticeably faster.

 

Mazda RX8 car - What makes it a great car? | Car Review | Top Gear - YouTube

[Marc Salvaje]

32 minutes ago, Rookiescot said:

 

Ah OK its the 195 HP version then. See if you can get the manual 230 HP version.

It revs higher and is noticeably faster.

 

Mazda RX8 car - What makes it a great car? | Car Review | Top Gear - YouTube

Thanks. I'd love the 230hp version but haven't seen it anywhere for sale in TH.

[pedro01]

If you are looking for 2nd hand, can we presume budget is an issue here?

 

What's your budget for purchasing and your budget annually for maintenance?

 

Take that and then call Mazda and ask the price of a new gearbox or engine, also ask the price for new wing mirror, headlights, rear lights.

 

Gearbox & engine are your worse cases. Wing mirror and lights, sort of likely.

 

I presume Mazda will tell you to bu99er off @ some point if you give them too long a list. Also ask Mazda how much to check out an RX-8. Be nice to have them give it the once over before you buy.

 

If it's your dream car and you won't have it sidelined in a worse case scenario - doesn't matter what people here think - some will tell you that you are nuts, others will tell you to go for it. 

 

 

[DavisH]

35 minutes ago, pedro01 said:

If you are looking for 2nd hand, can we presume budget is an issue here?

 

What's your budget for purchasing and your budget annually for maintenance?

 

Take that and then call Mazda and ask the price of a new gearbox or engine, also ask the price for new wing mirror, headlights, rear lights.

 

Gearbox & engine are your worse cases. Wing mirror and lights, sort of likely.

 

I presume Mazda will tell you to bu99er off @ some point if you give them too long a list. Also ask Mazda how much to check out an RX-8. Be nice to have them give it the once over before you buy.

 

If it's your dream car and you won't have it sidelined in a worse case scenario - doesn't matter what people here think - some will tell you that you are nuts, others will tell you to go for it. 

 

 

I doubt any mazda dealer would want to deal with an old rx8. And any parts they could source would be sold at a premium. Its a case of finding good independent garages that deal with this car. And there would be some as a number of Thais own modified rx-7's and rx-8's. This would be a good place to start https://www.facebook.com/groups/1269128913115208

 

[digbeth]

8 hours ago, Marc Salvaje said:

No, I don't. Can you share the details of the garage you mentioned for the future reference just in case?

 

The guy I know is ABK Autoservice, search for him on Google maps, he's in a street behind the Ford dealership on Srinakkarin road in Samut Prakarn, does good work on Ford and Mazdas, The rows of MX5 and RX8s should be pretty good indicator that he knows what he's doing, seems to be ex-dealership guy that set up his own shop.

 

There must be other specialist that knows how to deal with RX8s in other parts of town too, best to hang around Thai RX8s clubs and facebook groups to find out, you might even find cars for sale from members too.  I'd prefer that to getting cars off a used car lot that might have had questionable history

[pedro01]

9 hours ago, DavisH said:

I doubt any mazda dealer would want to deal with an old rx8. And any parts they could source would be sold at a premium. Its a case of finding good independent garages that deal with this car. And there would be some as a number of Thais own modified rx-7's and rx-8's. This would be a good place to start https://www.facebook.com/groups/1269128913115208

 

 

I was thinking the dealer would accept money to give it the once over.

 

But owners groups would indeed be the best place to start, to ask these questions and - to buy one probably.

 

There's an RX8 that's often parked by Villa Sukhumvit Soi 33/1 - not that I advise hanging out there....

[hotchilli]

On 5/1/2021 at 8:48 PM, Marc Salvaje said:

Since it's a 8 years old car they give warranty for 30 days. I presume that if anything could go horribly wrong with an engine or something chances are it would happen in the first 30 days...

I got more than that for my kettle.

If they'll only give you 30 days I'd run away... tell them 6 months minimum or bye bye.

[sead]

You're not seeing those potholes on the road from the seat in a sportar...... 

[falang1969]

I had a brand new one as a company car in the UK when they came out.

 

In the 1 year I had it, it needed a new gearbox, under warranty that took 2 months to get.

 

It's just not a very good car, the rotary engine is annoying, no power under 5000RPM, forever changing gear trying to stay in the power zone. The only time it's fun is when you are around the rev limiter at 9000RPM.

 

To me it's very fragile and can't take much abuse.

 

Next I had a Nissan 350Z which was in a different league both in terms of build quality and reliability!

[VocalNeal]

17 minutes ago, falang1969 said:

The only time it's fun is when you are around the rev limiter at 9000RPM.

 

???? It's a sports car.

[Mansell]

Personally why would I buy a problem car, no matter how much I thought I loved it. Used to be a gear head in California and read all the mags. The rotary engine was considered a great concept, but in practice not such a good idea. Had a couple of Mazda Miatas, or MX5 in England. Now that was a fun car with supposedly a bullet proof engine. I’ve seen a few here, but watch out for those crappy roads especially at speed. If I could get one I would go for a Morgan or Caterham 7......fun classic looking cars.

[mrfill]

A recent article about buying secondhand RX8s

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/used-cars-used-car-buying-guides/used-car-buying-guide-mazda-rx-8

[JoeW]

If you live in Bangkok, then contact https://web.facebook.com/HnongRotor/?_rdc=1&_rdr

Super friendly and really knowledgeable. He also stocks all the oils and liquids necessary for the RX-8's rotary engine.

[pacovl46]

I wouldn’t buy it. That car 5 years ago sold for as little as 2000 Euro here in Germany because that engine is not reliable. There’s precautions you can take, like using a specific oil and doing frequent oil changes etc. (the information is online in case you want it), but if the engine fails it’s gonna be expensive to repair. So, you might get lucky or you might not, if you’re not then you face either selling the car for a fraction of what you paid for or an expensive repair bill and after that you can have the same problem again. It’s a nice looking car, no doubt, but I wouldn’t be taking the risk. If you want a reliable sports car then get a Nissan Z350 or 370. They sound much nicer, too, in my opinion, of course that’s subjective, and it’s not a rotary engine. 
 

Another alternative would be the second generation of the Toyota Mr-2, but the stock engine is prone to overheating and since Thailand is hot I can’t really recommend it unless you swap the stock engine for a V6 from Toyota which doesn’t have the overheating issue and is a popular mod. You can find information about that online as well. But you would need to find someone who can to the swap, depending on how much the Mazda is, it might be possible to get it done for less what the Mazda is and the MR-2 looks infinitely better than the Mazda in my opinion. 
 

Or you just get a third generation Mazda MX-5. Perfect 50-50 weight distribution, awesome handling, and it’s a convertible available with a retractable hardtop, if that’s your thing. The car was in the top 10 list of Car and Driver’s from 2006 until 2013. It’s available with 170 bhp.

Edited May 3, 2021 by pacovl46