Mazda RX Coupe running costs

needcar

Hey all,
new here and need any opinions from experienced Mazda RX owners...:D

I'm contemplating buying a 03 Mazda RX coupe, 1.3. I have read reviews on it on 'whatcar.com' which the only downside seems to be the fuel consumption.
I have read that it used 26mpg, but I'm not sure what that is per 100 miles? Say with petrol at €1.19 per litre at the moment, can anyone give me a rough cost?
I don't drive very much- I walk in and out to work as I live in the city and use my car at the weekends mainly for food shopping. About once a month i visit friends in galway-about a 140 mile round trip.

Would anyone not recommend this car? I am completely in love with it, and everything else seems to get a great rating and it's cheap for parts and repairs etc.

Any help would be great!

Graham_B18C

My uncle has one, loves it but costs a fortune to run, costs about 60 quid to fill and gives about 19 mpg, he said he usually gets 160 miles out of a tank, the fuel consumption is awful.

He puts a litre of oil in every third time he fills the tank. Which I think costs about 15 quid.

Got his cat replaced about a year ago and that cost quite a bit...3100 from Mazda. At the same time he had to get something done with the spark plugs, cant remember what but that was luckily part of a recall.

There's rumours that you've to rebuild the engine every 30k or 60k like the older RX7 but I don't know if this is true as his is hitting 80k and still running smoothly.

It costs him a bomb to run but he loves it.

ION08

Hey,

I used to have an RX-8 (231) and absolutely loved it, it really is a brilliant car, would definitely recommend it!

Some people who dont know much about rotaries might tell you to run a mile and that they are temperamental and not very reliable but I covered over 10k miles in mine and never missed a beat or caused me any headaches! IT put a smile on my face each and every time though

To answer your question regarding consumption, 26mpg in fairness is a bit on the optimistic side - expect 18-22mpg on avg depending on your driving style and comute

I would get about 19mpg on avg. Generally short-ish urban drives, longer motorway drives at the weekend and I would also have a more spirited style.

I would generally get 190-220 miles per tank full (61 litres) - so you can do the maths yourself.

Check the oil every weekend/ 500 miles/ second fill up and top it up if needs be.

Only other point to highlight, to avoid flooding the engine make sure you don't move it a small distance and switch it off on a cold engine (ie. ensure temp needle has moved a bit before switching off)

Also, definitely go for the 231 model and not the 192!

Hope thats helpfull

Sids Not

..are you talking about an RX7 or an RX8...the 7 being the "coupe"....and finished in 2002..?

Eoin

Sids Not wrote: »

..are you talking about an RX7 or an RX8...the 7 being the "coupe"....and finished in 2002..?

The OP said a 2003 one. It might be a 4 door, but I'd call it a coupé.

mickdw

It will suit you because you drive so little. By all acounts, the petrol is the killer. One journalist wrote that while sitting in traffic, watching the gauge made him feel like he was just throwing cupfuls of petrol out the window as fast as he could.

Graham_B18C

Sids Not wrote: »

..are you talking about an RX7 or an RX8...the 7 being the "coupe"....and finished in 2002..?

If the 8 isn't called a coupe, what is it called? I wouldn't call it a 4 door saloon!

mossyj

ION08 wrote: »

Hey,

I used to have an RX-8 (231) and absolutely loved it, it really is a brilliant car, would definitely recommend it!

Some people who dont know much about rotaries might tell you to run a mile and that they are temperamental and not very reliable but I covered over 10k miles in mine and never missed a beat or caused me any headaches! IT put a smile on my face each and every time though

To answer your question regarding consumption, 26mpg in fairness is a bit on the optimistic side - expect 18-22mpg on avg depending on your driving style and comute

I would get about 19mpg on avg. Generally short-ish urban drives, longer motorway drives at the weekend and I would also have a more spirited style.

I would generally get 190-220 miles per tank full (61 litres) - so you can do the maths yourself.

Check the oil every weekend/ 500 miles/ second fill up and top it up if needs be.

Only other point to highlight, to avoid flooding the engine make sure you don't move it a small distance and switch it off on a cold engine (ie. ensure temp needle has moved a bit before switching off)

Also, definitely go for the 231 model and not the 192!

Hope thats helpfull

I agree completely with the above poster. I owned a 04 RX-8 (231 bhp) and the above figures are spot on. Awesome car, really feels sporty and you will struggle to drive a car with better road holding! U should be able to pick one up for very reasonable nowadays too!

gd luck

Sids Not

Grahamo999 wrote: »

If the 8 isn't called a coupe, what is it called? I wouldn't call it a 4 door saloon!

I just call it an RX8........;) ...great car though , get the auto with the paddles..SPORTY....:p

You

If your thinking of one then you should know about the lack of low down torque. This is not an issue when the engine oil is warm (and if you're only using it for the weekends, shouldn't be a problem),as you'll love to rev the back out-of-it. The reason I got rid of mine was the lack of power when the engine oil was cold (I just can't rev a cold car), and that made up my weekly communte (5 minute drive to work....damm). Still, I do miss those 9,500RPM weekend spins......

unkel

You wrote: »

If your thinking of one then you should know about the lack of low down torque. This is not an issue when the engine oil is warm

Yes it is as much an issue when the engine oil is warm. Low torque N/A cars like the RX-8 with very small engines need to be revved up to bejaysis to give any kind of performance. If you're into that, fair play - not many other cars would touch it in the very high rev band (a Honda S2000 would be similar?). Great on a racing circuit, but I would hate it as my daily driver. But I'm the first to admit that's just my personal view / style

That said, I admire your mechanical sympathy in refusing to go high revs while the engine oil is cold

ShadowHearth

Was thinking myself of rx8, then did some reaserch, and forgot about rx8 like about bad dream.

top up oil every second time , when filling in full tank.
MPG are just horrible, i better get cl500 then...
Services every 3k km
early models have alot of buggs
catalyst 3.1k eu.... ( that i finded out here)


they are cheap for a reason, they are rate hard to live with. They drive like a dream. Like clarkson said: "It looks like its not going on a petroll, but on double cream!". But costs are just too much...

You

unkel wrote: »

Yes it is as much an issue when the engine oil is warm. Low torque N/A cars like the RX-8 with very small engines need to be revved up to bejaysis to give any kind of performance. If you're into that, fair play - not many other cars would touch it in the very high rev band (a Honda S2000 would be similar?). Great on a racing circuit, but I would hate it as my daily driver. But I'm the first to admit that's just my personal view / style

That said, I admire your mechanical sympathy in refusing to go high revs while the engine oil is cold

The low torque is an issue when the car is cold as you can't rev the bejaysus out of it

tossy

You wrote: »

The low torque is an issue when the car is cold as you can't rev the bejaysus out of it

You can't rev the bejayus out of any engine when cold,well you can but you shouldn't,so no matter what the car you can't utilise its power when its cold whether that power be up high or down low,be the car a Gallardo or M5 you just have to be patient and sympathethical and wait for it to heat up,the bigger the engine the quicker that happens though.

The Mazda RX8 i could never get,the styling is too "children's TV presenters car" for my liking,but that's just my own opinion.

This craic of topping the oil up every other fill of petrol is a joke though,i mean if i wanted that carry on i'd buy a high mileage 1.4 VAG car

cheapskate

My mate has 191 version, really cool car, looks the part But having driven it and heard my mate complain about its consumption I would have to say No!

I did enjoy the drive though and I love the look of the car, if you're a low mileage user then it's probably the car to own as you obviously like the look of it and it is a spirited drive.

CS

Big Nasty

19 mpg! My 6.6 isn't a million miles off that!

Well it is but still! 19mpg!?!

Think I would rather be in an M3 or the likes with consumption like that!

Steoob

Whats the capacity on an RX-8? Always had my eye on the RX-7's. Absolutely fabulous looking cars. Comes in a 1.3 aswell. Surely it couldn't be bad for fuel consumption?

EDIT. Drool http://unearthlydesign.com/Images/rx-7.jpg

Atomic Pineapple

Steoob wrote: »

Whats the capacity on an RX-8? Always had my eye on the RX-7's. Absolutely fabulous looking cars. Comes in a 1.3 aswell. Surely it couldn't be bad for fuel consumption?

EDIT. Drool http://unearthlydesign.com/Images/rx-7.jpg

Its not a conventional 1.3 its a rotary engine, much more thirsty than a normal 1.3

what do you mean by capacity? power or the size of the petrol tank?

Big Nasty

Wenkel engine, completely different set up. Don't think 1.3 in terms of power, consupmtion and insurance. Think 2.6!

515

ShadowHearth wrote: »

Services every 3k km

WHAT?? Seriously? And how much are they?

I'm planning on buying an RX-8 imminently... should I be worried or just aware?

CianRyan

Steoob wrote: »

EDIT. Drool http://unearthlydesign.com/Images/rx-7.jpg

Man, that is very pretty.
It would be so unbelievably hard to find an RX7, that clean. I would love one though.

Eoin

515 wrote: »

WHAT?? Seriously? And how much are they?

I'm planning on buying an RX-8 imminently... should I be worried or just aware?

Here is a more recent thread that has some info.

Atomic Pineapple

515 wrote: »

WHAT?? Seriously? And how much are they?

I'm planning on buying an RX-8 imminently... should I be worried or just aware?

Just do it yourself and save a fortune, oil is cheap for them, just change the oil and filter every 3k yourself and keep an eye on the oil level.

Join an owners club and follow there how to's to save yourself as much as possible and keep the car in top condition

B00MSTICK

To be fair, if things like running costs and maintenance are high up on your list then you should probably forget about it, you can buy much more reliable/easy to live with sports cars.