My (nonexistent) RX8
There it is, a shiny new 2004 Mazda RX8. By this time, I was hoping to have a picture of MY RX8 up, but unfortunately I don’t have it so this is just the closest picture to it I could find on the interwebs. Red metallic exterior, grand touring edition, spoiler in the back, red and black interior (from the looks of it, this one just looks like a black interior. Oh well close enough!). A spectacular sight in my eyes; I’ve always been a fan of red, sporty Mazda’s. Enough so, that my current car is a red Miata. My Miata is a 91 however, and it is falling to pieces. Paint is chipping and heavily faded, ripped convertible top (which patches that have bleached in the sun, yikes!), drivers side windshield won’t roll down, tire treads at maybe 10%, and interesting sounds coming from the engine. Not interesting enough to make me think it needs a mechanic, mind you.
After years of dealing with the Miata, I think it’s about time I deserved an upgrade. So I bought this RX8. Well kind of. I found a seller for this car back in April who agreed to sell it to me, and received a loan for the car immediately afterwords. So what’s happened from April till June? Why, I’ll tell you my friend.
I decided to go with a service called CarChex. It’s a great service that I would highly recommend for purchasing any used car anywhere. Whether it be from a private seller or a dealer. For about 150 dollars, (for me it was 160, i think it varies slightly depending on your location) they send a mechanic down to the car you’re wanting to purchase. Wherever it may be in the United States, whether it’s your next door neighbor or the next state over. The mechanic gives it a comprehensive inspection, inside and out. Engine, paint, leaks, drive test, rips, stains, chips, scratches, you name it he checks for it. Basically everything you can check without disassembling the engine. Just to see how in depth the report is, you can view a sample report Here.
Conveniently, before the mechanic CarChex was going to send arrived, the seller states the check engine light came on the car (saved me a 3 hour drive down to it and discovering it was on for myself). So the car went into the mechanic. Before I start on this story, it’s probably important to know these cars have a rotary engine. Very different from a regular engine, so maintenance is always harder and most likely more expensive.
The mechanic checks out the car, after a couple days says “it must be the spark plugs and ignition wires”. Those get changed out out, check engine light still stays on. His next guess is the last coil (3 of them were just replaced). So the fourth and final coil was replaced. Still check engine light. His third and final guess is the computer, which ends up getting shipped to Florida and back for repairs. This took almost 3 full weeks. The computer comes back, still the check engine light is on! Being a relatively smart guy, this seller figures out he should probably not take the car back to the same mechanic, so it’s currently in the dealer. It’s been there for a few days with no word. I’m hoping to hear back by tomorrow, and then maybe, just maybe I’ll be able to pick up the car I’ve already made payments by this weekend!
That’s right, you heard me, I’m already making payments on this baby! Unfortunately, I don’t have cash flowing out of my pockets so I had to get a loan. Even more unfortunately, it’s now set in stone (well, almost). I can’t modify the car, change the name on the check to a different seller, or cancel the loan. If I don’t want to go through with the car, or the seller decides not to sell, the only way to ‘cancel’ is to pay it off.
So to pass time, I’ve been looking for ways to beef up my not so existent car. For those who know me, you know I like gadgets. Electronics. Naturally, I like putting gadgets and electronics in my car. There’s a lot of cool web sites out there for stuff like that, but the one I found the most interesting is called Espow. They’ve got everything from solar chargers and battery packs, backup cameras for your car and LCD screens to replace your rear view mirror. Awesome stuff. Unfortunately, until I get the car it’s all just a dream. Just a dream…
-Kyle
