2004 Mazda RX8 Touring from North America - Comments

ON THE THIRD ENGINE BY 23K MILES!!

Second transmission.

Tail lights fog over (no big deal)

Control for A/C-Heater malfunction (entire dash taken apart by dealer to fix this)

Sure Mazda (ford) paid for the new engines, but it was still a junker!

If the temperature ever drops below 25 degrees, you will need to do the following before leaving your house:

1) Call Mazda roadside assistance and have them bring the tow truck.

2) Call your local dealership and have them book your rental.

3) Plan on spending the next 3-4 days driving some atrocious PT Cruiser or Ford Taurus/Focus.

I had this process down so well that I personally knew service department at Bob Moore Mazda in Oklahoma City (Veronica Martinez is great) AND the staff at Enterprise rental car so well that I was greeted by first name every week or so. I was in a rental more often than in my own piece of "Winning Blue" junk.

I will say that this car was probably one of the most aggressive looking and simply beautiful vehicles that you will see on the back of a tow truck today!

I now own a new Mitsubishi Eclipse with a great warranty and I am happy to say that I have since never been back to a rental (or a Mazda). I look forward to driving this car well beyond 150k miles, like My father-in-law has on his 2001 Eclipse (all problem free).

Good Luck trading in the RX8, all of the dealerships know about the problems... It's like finding someone to adopt a leper.

Well, I can sympathize with you. I owned one of the older, Japanese-built RX-7's, and it was without a doubt the worst piece of garbage I ever had to put up with, with the possible exception of a Honda Civic.

The temperature had nothing to do with my RX-7 not starting. It chose to start whenever it felt like it. It was also very slow. At the same time I owned the RX-7, I owned a little 4-cylinder Dodge that would blow the RX-7 away going and coming. I bought mine thinking they were fast and reliable. I discovered they were neither.

Whilst I greatly regret to hear that you both have had very poor results with Mazda products, my own experience has been diametrically opposed to your own.

I have had nothing but exemplary performance and reliability from Mazda products I have owned, including 2 first generation RX-7s (the first was a badly abused beater that I paid a mere $500 for, and which served me ably for 3 years, the second was pristine the entire time I had it until it was stolen and stripped by barbaric ruffians), a 2nd generation RX7 (which protected me fabulously when I got sandwiched between an idiot who blew through a stop sign and a lunatic doing 50 in a 25 zone), and my 2004 RX8, which is my daily driver. It has never failed to start, and the only trouble I've had was that the first two driver side rear lamp housings leaked.

I have consistently found Mazda products first rate, and I am very sorry to hear that was not the case for either of you.

It seems that the people who buy the RX8 and have no problems with it, have also owned an RX7 at some time too. I have owned 2 RX7s, a 1980 and a 1988. The 1988 had been trashed before I bought it, and so it didn't run too great, although it had nearly 300,000kms on it. My 1980 still runs great.

There are things that you learn from owning these older rotary's that likely help when you have a RX8. The flooding problem has always been there, and the solution is actually really simple, red line it in the driveway before turning it off.

Also using synthetic oil is a definite don't do. From what I have been told, when the oil is super heated it can turn into an almost glass like state and cause your apex seals keep a seal on the housing.

I am currently driving a 93 BMW 325i, but can't wait till the snow melts off my 80 RX7 so I can drive that this summer. My wife and I like the BMW, but it is just a nice car that I feel lacks a soul. There is no real sense of passion in that car like there is in the RX7. So as soon as an opportunity arises, we are going to be getting an RX8. I was worried when I checked this site and saw so many people upset with their buy, but then I found comfort in knowing that previous rotary owners don't have the same problems.