Can you guys (and gals) give me some advice? I have a 2004 RX 8, 80,000 miles. I'm not a motorhead, strictly a dilettante, but love to drive it. I was just told by my local Mazda dealer that the compression is low and that, not to put too fine a point on it, I need a new engine. Cost: $6,000. The car blue books for —guess what?— $6,000. Standard economics tells you that its not worth spending $6,000 on a car worth...$6,000. But, I'd have to spend $25K to get something comparable (e.g., Scion FRS). Does use-value trump conventional economic wisdom? If I spent the $6K, I'd have a new engine, but I'd still have a car worth $6K, and how much else could go wrong in the near future, necessitating getting rid of it and buying something else anyway? If I buy a new car, it'll be, well, new, have all the current navigational stuff, updated tech, new parts, etc. Can anyone here give me some advice —pros, cons, unorthodox points of view, etc.? I'm in a conundrum.

Thanks.

 

Well Gary, my first advice is, go to a different dealer, do some shopping , because 6 grand is a rip off should be around 3 to 4 grand but it all depends how much shopping u do and much u want ur car. I know a guy who replaced his motor 4 times since 04.

 

Other than low compression is the motor hard to start low on power running rough?

 

I think the only thing wrong with it is low compression. I'm not sure it's harder to start; there may be a millisecond lag but it may also be a misperception based on my paranoia — I'm scared shitless of it not starting instantly and flooding, which is what happened earlier. I can tell you I can't feel any compromise in performance — a couple days ago I took it out and really punched it because I thought I may not be driving it for much longer and it really moved. Had that nice rotary whine when I transitioned at high speeds (it;s a manual, of course). It's possible I'm not sensitive enough to notice a slight compromise, but I sure didn't feel it.

I'm taking it into my non-Mazda mechanic of 20 years whom I trust for a second opinion. It's a Catch-22: If it floods because it doesn't start right away, it's a huge hassle and expense — I need to have it towed, spend $500 de-flooding it, find a way home without a car, blahblahblah. I had to take my wife to the ER because she as having an appendicitis three nights ago and I took my company van because I simply didn't trust the RX8.

I test drove as BRZ yesterday and it made me appreciate my RX8 all the more. But it ain't reliable, well, it's gotta go.

Replaced his motor 4 times since '04? Ay yi yi. What's the problem? Do they just suck? How in the hell can a manufacturer make a car whose engine dies at 80,000 miles, or earlier?

Demoralizing.

Thanks.

.

 

I have a lot of faith in rotaries. So much that I bought my 04 grand touring with a terrible idle and check engine light.

Weak coils are a very common problem for the rx8
The coils get weak the plugs fail and the car builds carbon leading to rotary death.

Buy the LS2 coil kit. I put mine together for about $350. The ls2 coils are far superior. Most importantly replace your l plugs every 20-30k

 

I would personally go with the bhr kit, but that's just my opinion. Taking nothing away from Ls2 coils. Actually from what I read bhr coils are truck coils and I believe ls2 are corvette coils.. The ls2 are the race roots coils. Both great, however, the ls2 are cheaper, but have no heat sink. The bhr is a little more expensive but have a heat sink. So when choosing I would go with what the majority of the people with rx8s have had over the years and that is bhr.