Mazda Offers to Buy Back RX-8s

Mazda •Transmission Failure •Engine Problems •Tire & Wheel Problems •Paint --- • Mazda Plans Recall of Troubled RX-8 •RX-8 Buyback Offer

September 5, 2003
Maza is offering to buy back all of the 2004-model RX-8 sports cars sold in the United States because the car's rotary engine produces 4.8 percent less horsepower than expected.

Customers who choose to keep their cars will get free maintenance for four years and $500 in parts and accessories, the company said. Letters went out to registered owners in late August.

Mazda initially said the manual-transmission RX-8 would produce 247 horsepower, the automatic version 207. But after making modifications to meet U.S. emission rules, the correct figures were 238 and 197, Mazda said.

Mazda, based in Hiroshima, Japan, began selling the RX-8 in July. It sold about 3,550 of the cars through the end of August, at prices starting around $26,000.

Another Asian manufacturer, Hyundai, ran into a similar problem last year. But unlike Mazda, Hyundai misstated the horsepower of various Hyundai and Kia models by as much as 4.7 percent. But instead of offering to buy the cars back, Hyundai offered customers a variety of benefits including free roadside assistance and extended warranties.

Hyundai faces numerous consumer class action lawsuits as a result of its misstatements.

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