173,000 mile 2008 RX8 for sale

[Monospace]

(mods: I have nothing to do with this ad, am posting for the discussion of an unlikely high mileage car)

A surprising find
In the market for an rx8 and checking the ads
Came across this which just came up for sale. Thought the mileage must be a typo
But mot history confirms it.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202212102...





Not even an early car.

Looks tidy for the mileage. Headlights have maybe had a polish, aren't they usually more faded?

I won't be buying a high miler like this, but question for those with experience: Am I right in thinking the engine rebuilds are actually pretty cheap? circa £2000? If so it's about the cost of a year's warranty or a couple of big services on my M5, so not exactly a big deal in the bigger picture. Especially versus depreciation and to own a bucket list rotary. And dependably rebuilers in the south east?

Edited by Monospace on Sunday 18th December 12:32

[Jester86]

Yes the headlights have probably had a polish or been replaced.

Engine rebuilds are variable but between £2k-£3k is a good sum to keep in mind. Depends on what needs to be replaced and obviously how far you want to go when rebuilding i.e replacing of bits and bobs.

I use TPS, The Performance Shop in Orpington for my RX7 & 8 who are a great bunch of guys. But also around the area you have Essex Rotary and Stu @ Rotortorque.

I believe everyone should experience a rotary at some point in their driving life. I am a firm fan.

[Monospace]

Thanks, interesting. Definitely keen to try rotary for some lightness, as the future is all heavy electrics ....

[WonkeyDonkey]

I had one of those R3 models. Lovely engine, great chassis but I couldn't stomach the fuel costs for the power over the 5k miles I owned it for! Don't want to even imagine the fuel bill doing that many miles!

[Paft Dunk]

Pretty much the same as previous poster.

Did 6k miles in mine, sold it in 2013 (1 yr ownership). It still remains per- mile the most costly car to run that I’ve owned - 16mpg over that time & nothing went wrong with it!

Glad to see a high miler one out here

[PJ_Parsons]

I budgeted about 25-30p per mile in petrol over the ten years I owned one. These days you are looking at 40p plus. So, 170000x0.40 = £68000. A Lotus Elise or warm hatch back would cost £30000 less over those miles. So, it is the crazy fuel bills rather than maintenance that means I would not recommend one. £600+pa tax as well. A good car, but not for our taxation system.

Edited by PJ_Parsons on Monday 19th December 19:06

[Nickp82]

The Performance Shop in Orpington or Rotary Motion near Chippenham have been around a long time and are reputable. In the case of Rotary Motion, I have had maybe 10 engines rebuilt by them (no not for the same car!!) without any issues so can personally recommend them , I have had the chance to compression test a few of them down the line and they seem to hold up well.

As stated previously, a decent rebuild is at least £2500, really £3000 plus.

Personally, I prefer to find a good example with the original engine and strong compression, some people think a rebuild is an inevitability with RX-8s but if looked after correctly the engines can last a long time, particularly so with the R3.

[350Matt]

I'm up to 133K on mine and I've had it 5 years and about 50K miles just switched to a professional rebuild and its better than its ever been

best not to think too much about the fuel consumption but the car is splendid to drive and generally a delight

[Jonmx]

WonkeyDonkey said:

I had one of those R3 models. Lovely engine, great chassis but I couldn't stomach the fuel costs for the power over the 5k miles I owned it for! Don't want to even imagine the fuel bill doing that many miles!

Just getting out of a 330i as the fuel bill is horrendous and reliability has been patchy. I thought about an RX8 as the rotary is an itch I haven't scratched, but settled for an NC instead, which has the RX8 underpinnings. The RX8 fuel consumption is what put me off, though the MX5 is hardly spectacular on fuel.