New member!

[Paul R]

Hi all!

I'm new to the forums, but I'm not new to PH! I thought I'd introduce myself.

I'm Paul and use been into jap sports cars since my early 20's. I've had over 30 cars in my driving career - I get bored easily!

One of my latest purchases is an rx8 231, which is up for sale again now due to a change in circumstances and getting bored. I am trying to sell the rx8 on pistonheads classified and I have to say it's one of the hardest cars to sell that I've ever had!

Why are people so scared of the rotary engine. People don't seem to realuse that low compression can just as easily occur in a piston engine if not properly looked after! Anyway, small rant over!

I'll have a mooch around.

Cheers,

Paul.

[PaulB81]

Welcome.

I also bought a 231, after 1 week took it back because the engine was fked

[Paul R]

Haha! Dont you start.

I spent months finding my current car and I paid over the odds for it as it ticked all the boxes. Then I spent a grand on it, replacing items that need replacing at the 62k mile service and sorting all the known faults.

Luckily I did a deal with a dealer for the car and a website his way - otherwise I would have been really annoyed if I had paid the full asking price!

Paul.

[ChipsAndCheese]

Welcome

30 cars? Impressive! Get adding them (both past and present) to the 'My Garage' feature on here so we can all have a look at the the list!

[SSBB]

I have never driven one, but have noticed on these forums that a lot of people reckon that the RX8:

• has high running costs compared to its purchase price
• has low power for its running costs
• is a torqueless wonder
• drinks both fuel and oil at an alarming rate
• eats rotor tips for breakfast
• engine repairs can't be done unless by Mazda specialist

Whether any of this is true, I don't know and am not endorsing any of the above. Its just what I have read. Certainly look like a bloody nice motor to me.

[Paul R]

SSBB said:

I have never driven one, but have noticed on these forums that a lot of people reckon that the RX8:

Let me answer/dispell some myths then. I think people get a bit mixed up with the old RX7. The RX8 has a much stronger engine - it just needs to be maintained properly.

• has high running costs compared to its purchase price

it's 230bhp and does between 20 and 30mpg - sounds good to me!

• has low power for its running costs

230bhp isnt to be sniffed at?

• is a torqueless wonder

correct - no torque. but you need torque or revs, the rx8 has revs. The 231 model revs to 9krpm and pulls like a train with a flat torque curve. Keep the revs up and it's a quick car.

• drinks both fuel and oil at an alarming rate

As above I'm getting 25mpg out of mine on shortish runs(obviously less if you boot it everywhere!) Rotaries do use oil - normally only about 1/4 a litre for every 1k miles - now thats not alarming to me! :-)

• eats rotor tips for breakfast

complete myth - if not maintained and topped up with oil then of course it's going to damage the engine, like any piston car.

• engine repairs can't be done unless by Mazda specialist

Anyone can do an engine rebuild. kits are available off the shelf, there are lots of specialist rotary experts as well, that will do the job for much less than a mazda dealer.


I think the main problem and the reason why we are seeing some engine failures now is that people dont maintain the engine properly. I spoke to a mechanic at a Mazda dealer recently and he said that nearly every RX8 that came in for a service had no oil in it. People just dont understand that they need to be topped up and treat them like a piston engine.

Cheers,

Paul.

[Paul R]

Ooops, looks like I've upset someone already. I didnt know asking for help with an ad is against the rules.

[300bhp/ton]

Paul R said:

Ooops, looks like I've upset someone already. I didnt know asking for help with an ad is against the rules.

In answer to your question. There are several reasons.

General:

-cost of fuel
-cost of tax

RX-8 specific:

-fear of rotaries
-cost of potential engine failure

Your car specifically:

-price


I hate to tell you, but I think it's massively over priced. Parkers who are normally optimistic with values reckon about £2500-3100 for a private sale RX-8 like yours.

So yours is £1000-1500 over priced.

Personally I can't see prices stabilizing just yet either. RX-7's are worth almost nothing, even the liked FD variants. But Gen 1 and 2 RX-7's are worth £300-1100. I see no reason why RX-8's won't continue to drop. Not while fuel prices keep on increasing and while road tax keeps going up.

Personally I'd have a good think about what you'd really take for it. Maybe hang on for another week or two if you can and see if you get some interest. But I'm willing to wager that in 6 months time the values I've quoted above will have dropped further.

[Paul R]

Hi,

I really dont get it. When I bought it 6 months ago, I couldnt find another one for less than 4k and the ones that were 4k, were dogs - I went to see quite a few! Even parkers valued them at £4500. It upsets me that they have suddenly dropped so much!

Paul.

[Paul R]

Oh, i just checked parkers and that is for the 231 model without elec heated leather seats and the bose 6 cd changer, which were options. They bump the resale value up quite a bit!

Paul.

[wolves_wanderer]

Paul R said:

Hi,

I really dont get it. When I bought it 6 months ago, I couldnt find another one for less than 4k and the ones that were 4k, were dogs - I went to see quite a few! Even parkers valued them at £4500. It upsets me that they have suddenly dropped so much!

Paul.

Yep, its a bit annoying but I'm either going to turn mine into a track slag or supercharge it and use it as a weekend toy. No point selling it for the amount I would get.

[Paul R]

I thought about that - supercharger kits are quite expensive though arent they? Dont think it's worth spending the money on the car really!

Paul.

[300bhp/ton]

Paul R said:

Oh, i just checked parkers and that is for the 231 model without elec heated leather seats and the bose 6 cd changer, which were options. They bump the resale value up quite a bit!

Paul.

I don't pay to make the adjustments on Parkers. I agree better spec = more money. But only slightly at this level.

I am sorry and I hope you get what you want for it. But I don't think it's worth over £4k. Not when there are 275 RX-8s for sale in just the PH classifieds and quite a lot under £3k, even 231's..

[Paul R]

Yeah, depends if you want a shed or not though! I've reduced the price a bit to see if that helps. even if I sell the car at the price I have it at now, it still owes me £1500+ in the last 6 months!

Paul.

[wolves_wanderer]

Paul R said:

I thought about that - supercharger kits are quite expensive though arent they? Dont think it's worth spending the money on the car really!

Paul.

About 6-7k, but I look at it as giving it the power to justify the car's thirst, also it is probably the cheapest way into circa 350bhp and 1300ish kg with a modern car.

[Paul R]

Wow, thats a lot of wonga.....How does it affect the reliability of the engine? Mazda reduced the power from 250 to 230 didnt they? to increase the life on the engine. God knows what 350bhp would do?? lol

Paul.

[300bhp/ton]

Paul R said:

Wow, thats a lot of wonga.....How does it affect the reliability of the engine? Mazda reduced the power from 250 to 230 didnt they? to increase the life on the engine. God knows what 350bhp would do?? lol

Paul.

I think Mazda reduced the claimed rating of the engine as it didn't actually produce 250hp.

[Paul R]

Apparently the Jap imports still produce 250bhp.

I seem to remember that there was an official statement that they reduced the power on the earlier models to increase engine life.

apparently the power on the 231's is rarely on par either.

[300bhp/ton]

Paul R said:

Apparently the Jap imports still produce 250bhp.

I seem to remember that there was an official statement that they reduced the power on the earlier models to increase engine life.

apparently the power on the 231's is rarely on par either.

Don't know about the JDM ones, although I know in Japan they use 100 RON fuel, so maybe it's just a matter of tuning.

I believe Mazda encountered some legal issues in the US though: http://consumeraffairs.com/news03/mazda_buyback.ht...

[wolves_wanderer]

Paul R said:

Wow, thats a lot of wonga.....How does it affect the reliability of the engine? Mazda reduced the power from 250 to 230 didnt they? to increase the life on the engine. God knows what 350bhp would do?? lol

Paul.

As stated, Mazda reduced the claimed rating to 231 and AFAIK the JDM cars have different maps and emission restrictions so may well still produce that much power. I'm not aware of any extra problems due to supercharging either here or in the US, it is supposed to be kinder to the engine than sticking a turbo on there (plus it costs a lot more )

Nowadays when the car would cost 3-4k I think they are a bit of a bargain if you supercharge in terms of the power/handling you get compared to the age of the car. Look at it this way, the power would be similar to an E46 M3 and the weight a fair bit less, maintenance is certainly a lot less.