Reliability of a Mazda RX-8?

[TNurburgring]

I read a lot of negative things about the RX-8, but I am not sure what to belueve anymore... Some have high milage cars without any problems and other have had several engine replacements. Does anyone here own(ed) a RX-8 that can tell me more about its reliability?

[ecsrobin]

It's half term isn't it.....

[TNurburgring]

ecsrobin said:

It's half term isn't it.....

What do you mean?
English isn't my main language...

[GregK2]

Bombproof. Never ever fail.

[TNurburgring]

GregK2 said:

Bombproof. Never ever fail.

I see a bit of sarcasm here.
Have you ever owned one?

[MrAverage]

i'll try and give a sensible answer....

there is a fundemental issue with the rx8's reliability but i imagine it is luck of the draw and how the car has been looked after.

my dad's mate bought an rx8 brand new and only got rid of it about 2 years ago it was still on its original engine and gave him no issues (not that im aware of) but he treated it like a princess and has had rotary engines before but i am led to beilive they are having issues even when people looked after them like he did.

[southendpier]

I've got one. Really Great car. General view is change oil at 3000 miles rather than 12k. Treat the engine hard when warm. Rev over 6k to get oil flow to cylinder and burn off carbon.

R3 cars have redesigned oil management.

buy a car with good history and a compression test if you can. If it is cheap then the engine is likely to have issues. A lot of the old ones have. Because they are not looked after. Buy from a dealer if you're worried.

[marcosgt]

southendpier said:

I've got one. Really Great car. General view is change oil at 3000 miles rather than 12k. Treat the engine hard when warm. Rev over 6k to get oil flow to cylinder and burn off carbon.

R3 cars have redesigned oil management.

buy a car with good history and a compression test if you can. If it is cheap then the engine is likely to have issues. A lot of the old ones have. Because they are not looked after. Buy from a dealer if you're worried.

I _might_ be the longest RX8 owning person on the forum.

I've had mine 7 years now, it was 3 years old when I got it.

I had mine properly serviced, but the engine failed at about 70K. In my case the rear engine mount failed which destroyed the rear bearing and caused lousy compression, so oil isn't the be all and end all.

The trouble is they're so smooth that even on their last legs they will spin up to 9K without too much trouble and you only really know things are going awry if they start to growl or don't like hot-starting. Usually by the time the trouble shows up, it's too late.

I ummed and ahhed, but in the end had my engine rebuilt. The rebuild was £2.5K, but with all the odds and sods and a new clutch it was nearly £4K.

I decided that £4K (or even £8K) wasn't going to buy me anything I liked better that would be guaranteed trouble free (all the BMW 3 series I looked at, for example, were low spec, high mileage models).

I'm sure lots of people will think I wasted my money and I certainly won't see much of it back if I sell, but it made financial sense to me and I've had 2 years more out of the car and it's running like a train still.

So, expect trouble and budget accordingly. Buying from a dealer won't offer much protection, imo, so you're either better to buy from a rotary specialist (who will offer a proper guarantee) or buy the cheapest one you can find which is structurely and internally good and have the engine rebuilt ASAP and then enjoy the engine rebuilder's warranty.

Biggest issue, even with slightly cheaper petrol, is that you're lucky to better 22 MPG any time.

I've been intending to sell mine for the last couple of years, but I suspect (unless something major fails) I'll still be driving it next year as I still can't think of anything as much fun and so practical for such little money.

M

[TNurburgring]

Thanks a lot for the comments!

[Liquid Tuna]

marcosgt said:

southendpier said:

I've got one. Really Great car. General view is change oil at 3000 miles rather than 12k. Treat the engine hard when warm. Rev over 6k to get oil flow to cylinder and burn off carbon.

R3 cars have redesigned oil management.

buy a car with good history and a compression test if you can. If it is cheap then the engine is likely to have issues. A lot of the old ones have. Because they are not looked after. Buy from a dealer if you're worried.

I _might_ be the longest RX8 owning person on the forum.

I've had mine 7 years now, it was 3 years old when I got it.

I had mine properly serviced, but the engine failed at about 70K. In my case the rear engine mount failed which destroyed the rear bearing and caused lousy compression, so oil isn't the be all and end all.

The trouble is they're so smooth that even on their last legs they will spin up to 9K without too much trouble and you only really know things are going awry if they start to growl or don't like hot-starting. Usually by the time the trouble shows up, it's too late.

I ummed and ahhed, but in the end had my engine rebuilt. The rebuild was £2.5K, but with all the odds and sods and a new clutch it was nearly £4K.

I decided that £4K (or even £8K) wasn't going to buy me anything I liked better that would be guaranteed trouble free (all the BMW 3 series I looked at, for example, were low spec, high mileage models).

I'm sure lots of people will think I wasted my money and I certainly won't see much of it back if I sell, but it made financial sense to me and I've had 2 years more out of the car and it's running like a train still.

So, expect trouble and budget accordingly. Buying from a dealer won't offer much protection, imo, so you're either better to buy from a rotary specialist (who will offer a proper guarantee) or buy the cheapest one you can find which is structurely and internally good and have the engine rebuilt ASAP and then enjoy the engine rebuilder's warranty.

Biggest issue, even with slightly cheaper petrol, is that you're lucky to better 22 MPG any time.

I've been intending to sell mine for the last couple of years, but I suspect (unless something major fails) I'll still be driving it next year as I still can't think of anything as much fun and so practical for such little money.

M

Good post. You've got me looking at them in the classifieds now