2004 MAZDA RX-8 Complaints

I OWN A 2004 MAZDA RX-8 AND HAVE HAD SEVERAL RANDOM BREAK-DOWNS & THE CAR WOULD NOT RESTART. HALF THE TIME, MY CAR IS JUST PARKED AND WILL NOT START UP EVEN AFTER SITTING FOR AWHILE. MAZDA HAS REPLACED THE ENTIRE ENGINE, BATTERY, AND COILS. I WAS WITHOUT MY CAR FOR 22 DAYS. I RESEARCHED THIS ISSUE AND FOUND 11 OTHER MAZDA RX-8 OWNERS WITH THE EXACT PROBLEMS. SEEMS TO BE A DEFECT IN THE ROTARY ENGINE. I WROTE MAZDA CONSUMER COMPLIANCE AND GAVE ALL DOCUMENTATION RELATED TO MY CAR AND THEY OFFERED AN EXTENDED WARRANTY AND GUARANTEED MY CAR WAS FULLY REPAIRED. THEY SENT ME A CONTRACT FOR EXTENDED WARRANTY AND BASICALLY SIGNING THE WARRANTY EXCLUDES ME TO EVER SEEK ANY MONETARY OR JUSTIFICATION FROM MAZDA AGAIN ON THIS VEHICLE. I DID NOT SIGN THE CONTRACT. I PICKED UP MY CAR AND 6 DAYS LATER MY CAR WOULD NOT START (SAME AS BEFORE). I TOWED IT BACK TO THE DEALER, WITHIN 2 DAYS THEY CALLED ME AND TOLD ME THAT MY UNDERCARRIAGE WAS COMPLETELY TORN APART AND I MUST OF RAN OVER SOMETHING VERY RECENTLY AND IT WOULDN'T BE COVERED UNDER WARRANTY. THEY ARE NOW CHARGING ME $250 FOR A REPLACEMENT OXYGEN SENSOR. I CAN CARE LESS ABOUT THE $250, IT'S JUST OBVIOUS THEY WILL NOT ADMIT THAT THEIR ENGINE IS DEFECTIVE BY DESIGN. I AM SURE MY VIN # IS FLAGGED AT THE DEALERSHIP BECAUSE OF THE LETTER I WROTE TO THE MANUFACTURER, WHICH IS UNFORTUNATE BECAUSE THE LETTER WAS JUST AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THEM BEFORE I SEEK LEGAL COUNCIL. I GUESS NOW THEY ARE IMPLYING THAT I AM PURPOSELY HARMING MY VEHICLE, WHICH IS ABSURD. I HEARD THAT THERE WAS A NEW RECALL FOR THE MAZDA RX-8 COMING OUT SOON BUT THEY ARE WAITING FOR NHTSA TO APPROVE IT. I AM HOPING IT'S FOR MAZDA TO BUY BACK THE VEHICLES, ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY HAD SUCH A RECALL FOR THIS SAME VEHICLE IN THE PAST DUE TO FALSE ADVERTISING OF THE HORSE POWER OF THIS VEHICLE. IT'S UNSAFE TO HAVE YOUR CAR RANDOMLY DIE ON YOU. I JUST HOPE SOMETHING GETS ACCOMPLISHED BEFORE SOMEONE DOES GET HURT WHILE STRANDED ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. *JB

DRIVER'S SIDE SUN VISOR HAS BROKEN FOR THE SECOND TIME IN 3 MONTHS. THE TOP SEAM SPLITS RENDERING THE VISOR COMPLETELY UNUSABLE. IT LOOSELY HANGS DIRECTLY IN THE DRIVER'S LINE OF SIGHT. THIS IS A SAFETY HAZARD. *JB

DT*: THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE TRYING TO ACCELERATE FROM AN INTERSECTION, THE VEHICLE LOST POWER, AND THE ENGINE LOST ALL PICKUP. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A SERVICE DEALER, WHERE THE DEALER WAS UNABLE TO SPECIFICALLY DETERMINE THE PROBLEM. THE ENGINE WAS REPLACED, BUT THE PROBLEMS CONTINUED.

SUN VISOR SPLITS IN MIDDLE WHEN FOLDED DOWN ON HOT DAYS AND BLOCKS WINDSHIELD WHILE DRIVING. SUN VISOR IS ELECTRICALLY WIRED AND HANGS FROM WIRE OBSCURING MOST OF WINDSHIELD ON DRIVERS SIDE. DEALERSHIP HAS REPLACED SUNVISOR SEVERAL TIMES FOR SAME PROBLEM. ON INTERNET COMMUNITY MANY IF NOT ALL OTHER USERS REPORT THAT THE SAME THING HAS HAPPENED TO THEM. HTTP://WWW.RX8CLUB.COM/SHOWTHREAD.PHP?T=12572. *NM

I BOUGHT MY RX8 IN AUGUST OF 2004. AFTER THE FIRST 16000 MILES I STARTED EXPERIENCING PROBLEMS WITH THE CAR. IT STARTED OUT WITH CHATTERING COMING FROM THE ENGINE WHEN THE CAR WAS BEING ACCELERATED. THIS WAS FOLLOWED BY A LOSS OF POWER DURING ACCELERATION. I FIRST TOOK THE CAR TO THE DEALER ON 1/09/06. THE DEALER PERFORMED RECALL 3305G AND TOLD ME THIS WOULD TAKE CARE OF THE PROBLEM. THERE WAS SOME IMPROVEMENT BUT LOSS OF POWER WAS STILL OCCURRING. IN THE MORNING OF 4/17/06 CAR WOULD NOT START. DEALER WAS NOTIFIED AND CAR WAS TOWED FOR REPAIR. DEALER ATTRIBUTED PROBLEM TO POWER TRAIN MODULE (REFLASHING). ON 5/23/06 CAR WAS AGAIN IN THE SHOP FOR THE SAME PROBLEM, DEALER PERFORMED COMPUTER CHANGES. ON 5/25/06 THE CAR WENT BACK TO THE DEALER FOR THE SAME PROBLEM. THIS TIME THE PCM MODULE WAS REMOVED AND SENT OUT FOR REPAIR. ON 6/19/06 CAR EXHIBITED THE SAME PROBLEMS (VIBRATION, STALLING AND LOSS OF POWER). THIS TIME I INFORMED THE DEALER THAT I NEEDED THE CAR FULLY REPAIRED OR REPLACED. I CALLED MAZDA AND STARTED A COMPLAINT FILE (#107953120). CAR IS STILL IN THE SHOP AND I AM DRIVING A RENTAL PAID FOR BY THE DEALER. *JB

I PURCHASED MY 2004 RX-8 IN AUSTIN, TEXAS, 8/19/03. MY FIRST PROBLEMS OCCURRED 2/18/04, PCM AND COOLANT PROBLEMS. ON 3/29/04, I BEGAN HAVING RECURRING PROBLEMS WITH THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT. I ALSO TOOK MY CAR FOR SERVICE FOR CHECK ENGINE LIGHT PROBLEMS ON 4/12/04, 3/3/06, 3/31/06, 4/3/06 AND 4/5/06. ON 7/19/04, I TOOK MY CAR FOR SERVICE BECAUSE THE DRIVER''S-SIDE SUN VISOR FELL APART. I TOOK IT IN AGAIN ON 7/29/04, FOR MORE SUN VISOR PROBLEMS. IT IS STILL LOOSE. I TOOK MY CAR FOR RECALL SERVICES ON 1116/04 AND 9/1/05. ON 7/1/05, I TOOK IN MY CAR AS IT WAS RUNNING VERY ROUGHLY AND DYING. ON 8/9/05, I AGAIN TOOK IN MY CAR FOR CHECK ENGINE LIGHT PROBLEMS AND THE FACT THAT IT WAS CONTINUING TO IDLE ROUGHLY AND DIE. I TOOK IN MY CAR ON 9/1/05, BECAUSE IT WAS STILL IDLING VERY ROUGHLY AND DYING. ON THAT OCCASION I WAS ALMOST ''T-BONED'' BY ANOTHER CAR THAT MANAGED TO SWERVE AT THE LAST MOMENT. DURING THIS 22-DAY-LONG SERVICE VISIT, AT 27,534 MILES, MY ENGINE WAS REPLACED. I TOOK MY CAR FOR SERVICE ON 5/22/06, BECAUSE MY CAR WAS IDLING VERY ROUGHLY AND DIED 3 TIMES ON THE HIGHWAY. EACH TIME I NARROWLY AVOIDED BEING REAR-ENDED BY TRAFFIC BEHIND ME. THIS VISIT LASTED 10 DAYS. ON 6/12/06, MY CAR BEGAN IDLING VERY ROUGHLY AND DIED 4 TIMES. AGAIN I NARROWLY AVOIDED BEING HIT BY TRAFFIC. ON 6/13/06, I TOOK MY CAR FOR SERVICE, WHERE IT REMAINS, AS OF 6/16/06. ON THIS SITE FOR 2004 RX-8'S ALONE, THERE ARE 9 OTHER COMPLAINTS LIKE MINE. WHEN I DRIVE MY CAR, I CONSTANTLY FEAR THE NEXT INSTANCE WHEN THE CAR WILL DIE. FORTUNATELY, I HAVE ESCAPED SERIOUS INJURY AND SERIOUS DAMAGE TO THIS POINT. HOWEVER, I AM CERTAIN THAT SHOULD THIS PROBLEM CONTINUE, AS IT SURELY WILL, THAT I WILL NOT CONTINUE TO BE SO FORTUNATE. DESPITE ALL MY COMPLAINTS MAZDA CONTINUES TO DO NOTHING TO REMEDY THE PROBLEM. THEY NEED TO BUY BACK MY VEHICLE, AS IT IS QUITE OBVIOUSLY IRREPARABLE. *NM

MAZDA RX-8'S HAVE SEVERAL DOCUMENTED CASES OF WHAT THE DEALERSHIPS REFER TO AS "EXPLODING CLUTCHES". IT SEEMS A MANUFACTURERS DEFECT CAUSES THE CLUTCHES TO FAIL PREMATURELY (5-20K MILES) LOCKING THE TRANSMISSION IN GEAR. THIS HAS HAPPENED TO A FEW INDIVIDUALS AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS WHERE THE INABILITY TO SHIFT THE TRANSMISSION CAN BE FATAL. MAZDA AND ITS DEALERS HAVE IGNORED CONSUMER COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS MATTER. I'M HAVE COMPILED AND CONTINUE TO COMPILE DOCUMENTATION INDICATING THAT THIS IS FAR FROM A FEW ISOLATED EVENTS. *JB

I HAVE GONE INTO MY DEALERSHIP ON MORE THAN 6 TIMES DUE TO MY 2004 RX-8 AIR CONDITIONING NOT WORKING PROPERLY. I HAVE A CHILD IN THE BACK SEAT OF THE CAR, AND IN THE SUMMER TIME TEMPERATURES CAN REACH 105 OUTSIDE, AND MUCH HOTTER INSIDE MY CAR. MY AIR CONDITIONER FAILS TO WORK. EACH AND EVERY TIME I'VE TAKEN IT IN, IT HAS BEEN ON A DAY WHEN IT'S NOT THAT HOT OUTSIDE, AND THE TECH. SAYS THE OUT PUT OF THE A/C IS UP TO PAR. IT'S NOT TRUE CONSIDERING I'M DRIVING, AND SWEAT IS POURING DOWN MY FACE, AND MY BACK STICKS TO MY LEATHER SEATS. THE DEALERSHIP EVEN STATED THAT BY PUTTING IN A NEW A/C IT WOULD DO NO GOOD...THAT MAZDA WAS HAVING PROBLEMS WITH ALL OF THE A/C AND A NEW ONE WOULD HAVE THE SAME PROBLEMS. THE IS INCREDIBLY FRUSTRATING CONSIDERING THIS IS A NEW CAR. THIS IS A BIG ENOUGH PROBLEM THAT I WILL NEVER PURCHASE THIS VEHICLE AGAIN, AND I TELL ANYONE WHO ASKS NOT TO PURCHASE ONE AS WELL. WHAT GOOD IS A CAR IF IT WON'T COOL DOWN??*JB

3 MONTHS AFTER PURCHASE OF 2004 RX-8 BATTERY AND SPARK PLUGS NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. *TS ONE SEVERAL OCCASIONS THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT START. THE VEHICLE'S BATTERY WAS REPLACED TWICE AND HAD TO BE CHARGED THREE TIMES. THE SPARK PLUGS WERE REPLACED THREE TIMES. THE COMPUTER WAS REPROGRAMMED. THE ENGINE WAS REPLACED TO ALLEVIATE STALLING. THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER, 02 SENSOR, AMPLIFIER AND STARTER WERE ALSO REPLACED. *NM

DT*: THE CONTACT STATED WHILE DRIVING IN NORMAL CONDITIONS AND NO PARTICULAR SPEED, THE ENGINE VIBRATES. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE LOCAL DEALERSHIP FOR INSPECTION. THE DEALER DISCOVERED TWO MOTOR MOUNTS WERE BROKEN. THE REPAIR PARTS ARE ON BACK ORDER AND NO REPAIRS WERE MADE.