Hi guys, stumbled across your awesome forum while doing a google search. (of course :D) Im 24 years old and i think for the first time in my life have fallen head over heels for a car.
Ive been driving for 5 years this autumn, will have 4 years no claims (token 1st year driving write off ><) and i really just wondered if i can afford this beautifull car.
I dont really want to spend more than 7k (paying cash) on the car, ive got a 52 plate fiat punto with 60k miles to sell or part exchange but before i can really consider the feesability of the rx8, i was wondering if you guys could maybe answer a few questions :)
I know from a bit of research the tax is now £300 a year and im looking at about 750 a year insurance on the 192 version. But what kinda life span do these awesome beasts have? Ive heard mixed things ranging from 20k miles (:S) to 100k, people mentioning rebuilds and such.
I know the mpg on them isnt great, but hey it is a sports car :D and apprantly they drink oil? Im a security officer on about 21k a year and even if i can only afford the car for a few years, i really would love to say i have owned such an awesome peice of engineering.
Any advice welcome pls :)
Mpg is 24-25 mpg most of the time. Oil consumption is about 1/2 a litre every 800 to 1000 miles. Engines last well although there are several instances of premature failure. Mine died due to a manufacturing problem at 70k. Replaced by Mazda under extended warranty. Lots go on for longer. Over 100k is not unheard of. Less 192s seem to have problems as well. There\'s plenty of advice on here about them, also worth checking out //www.rx8ownersclub.co.uk for their take on things! Other than that they\'re tough enough. Anti-roll bar drop links can fail but they\'re cheap enough to replace.
Hi Matt - can\'t add much more than Will; except I think his MPG is a bit optimistic (then again he has a rather large \'commute\'). I average 18MPG - not wishing to put you off.
Mpg wise, short trips hurt it quite badly as does exploring the upper limits of the Rev Range! Track days result in single figures. But most of the time I do get 24-25 mpg. Last three tanks have been 24.2, 24.5 and 25.1 not counting track days which were 9, 7 and 8.5!
Hi Matt & Welcome to the MRC :)
Can\'t add anything more to the above.
Hi Matt and Welcome to MRC
Yep, they have done a good job helping you above however its worth knowing that we operate a "no such thing as a stupid question" policy here.
BTW don\'t be put off buying a 192 instead of a 230 as there is very little to choose between them when they run down the road together,
Hope you find the car your looking for and have as much fun as many of us have had with Rotary Power :3gears-rh
The main difference between the 231 and the 192 is that the noise goes on for longer in the 231 as it revs higher! Fuel consumption is about the same and there is little difference in real pace.
Hence more miles per gallon :)
Removed content - wrong topic, sorry!
Thank a lot guys :)
im really itching to get one, im just slightly worried with the upkeep and / or the likelyhood of something going wrong with it. but i suppose the risk is there with any car. the £300 tax is a bit of an ouchy, i was considering (am i allowed to mention other cars on here ? :D) well its not a sports car, or even close but its a heck of a lot nicer than my little punto lol. That said, i have my heart set on an rx8, they are so so beautifull, im amazed how much i liked it.
theres 1 sitting in 1 of the car parks at work 2night, i keep walking past it and thinking arghhh i want you :D
but i still have a few months of saving to do before i make up my mind either way :).
could anybody give insight on to the upkeep of them btw? i mean how often should i be getting the cambelt and such serviced?
Cambelt?
Erm, do you know what a rotary engine is and why it doesn\'t have a cambelt?
This is a rotary engine http://www.animatedengines.com/....el.shtml as you\'d find in an RX8, RX7 or any other ....el Rotary engined car.
It doesn\'t have cams therefore doesn\'t require a cambelt to drive it. Therefore you\'ll never need to change a cambelt.
That\'s just wrong, the word filter takes the .... out of ....el, unfortunate for a forum dedicated to Rotary Engined cars with an engine created by a certain Dr Felix Masturbatel! :-)
Quote from: Will66;687309That\'s just wrong, the word filter takes the .... out of ....el, unfortunate for a forum dedicated to Rotary Engined cars with an engine created by a certain Dr Felix Masturbatel! :-)
I know - it\'s come up before. Problem is the swear filter is pretty basic.
You can put ....le but we know what you mean anyway :D
I nearly replyed to this with my expert knowledge of rotary engines! ;)
Edit: just tried it with an \'@\' instead of \'a\' and that got picked up too - we were obviously very though.
Well this is embaressing! I had read about rotary engines, i knew they had no cylinders and no vales so i should really have put 2+2 together and realised they donth ave cambelts, anyway :D
I was doing a bit of reading on the various parts and noticed a pretty heated debate reguarding adding a 2 stroke mixture before you fill up with fuel, to help lubricate seals, i guess its imposible to know for sure how much of what is said and claimed are true but is engine failure really such a common thing in the rx8? and how much are you talking about, to replace it?
if i do end up buying one, im so glad i discovered this place. i had no idea red lining was a neccesity :D thats like being told you must have intercourse with this beautifull woman to save her life! lol
Hi Matt,
Don\'t worry about it - as Clive says there\'s no such thing as a stupid question.
And yes you do need to red line (hit the beep) regularly :chat I had an RX-8 for five years, drove it properly and beeped it most journeys. It was a 192 and managed to do over 130mph through Enfield whilst being chased by the police no problem!
I\'ve just got an R3 as replacement and to answer your question about why the rotary engine isn\'t more common - they can\'t get the emissions down to hit the EU requirements. New RX-8\'s are just not in demand because of this and the tax on mine is £405.
After the thousands of years man has been destroying the earth, they wait until i decide to buy the most beautifull car ive ever seen in which to cut back on it! charming :D
thanks very much! any details on the red lining, as in for how long should i be red lining it for, any specific gears?
is the mixing 2 stroke oil recomended btw? i dont want to open up another war of opinions or anything but is it something you should do and if so, any specific kind of 2 stroke? alsooo since im here lol, recomendations for oils? and what sort of thickness.
ok ok i think thats the lot :D
ahh how much will 4 tyres set me back!
done!
In each gear when you get upto the \'red line\' a beep goes off - a lot of the guys say that\'s when you get ready to change gears. :chat You can\'t over-rev an RX-8 so as long as it\'s warmed up you can do it as much as you like. I used to do it in 2nd/3rd in my 192 as you\'re getting to high speeds in 4th - still getting used to it in my R3 as it\'s a 6 speed.
There\'s a thread somewhere on mixing oil - I don\'t know enough about it to recormend it or not.
The standard tyres on the old RX-8 were Bridgestone REO40\'s but I put REO50A\'s on mine and they were much better in the wet - and that\'s what the R3 now has. Not brought a set for a while so not sure how much they cost now.
Hi Matt
On tyre cost, I\'ve been using Vredestein Ultrac Sessantas, 245/40/18\'s (instead of the OEM 225/45/18 - almost same rolling radius) and those tryes cost £400 a set, delivered, if you shop around. Fitting typically £10 a corner.
I recommend the Vredesteins, but the other popular option (and I\'ve used them too - they are very good) is the Bridgestone RE050A - as AMH said. In 225/45/18 size you\'ll be looking at ~£540 for a set delivered.
If you rotate your tyres then you might get around 16,000-20,000 on a set, if you are lucky. Depends on your driving style! You may only get around 12,000 if you like to have fun around corners :Giggle
Quote from: Casey;687421You may only get around 12,000 if you like to have fun around corners :Giggle
or lots of trackdays :3gears-rh
I\'m currently running Toyo Proxes 4 but will be looking to replace with Toyo T1R
I\'ve got 20,000 miles out of my Falken FK452s. I use Toyo Proxy R888s for tracks now!
Awesome guys thank you!
One final question, am i better going for an older model (54) with like 21k miles, or a 56 with like 33k miles?
also, the imported versions are really lovely and about 2-3k cheaper, what are the drawbacks with buying them?
thanks once again :D
Mileage/age question. A tough one to answer. Personally, it\'s more about how the car has been looked after and driven that matters most to the health of the engine, so I\'d be looking for a car that is in good condition externally, and would want to know the car has a FSH. Ideally though, talk to previous owners to see how thaey have cared for the car. If it\'s low mileage and the owner has used it only for short journies to the local shops and never beeped the engine, then walk away. If the owner had no idea it had a rotary engine (yes, we know they exist!) then I suggest you look eleswhere as they probably haven\'t been driving it like it should be driven. We know the engine is capable of 100k+ as there are examples out there, if looked after and driven hard on a regular basis.
How the car drives is very important (does it pick up revs VERY quickly and smoothly, without ANY hesitation anywhere), as is the crucial hot starting performance. If it takes more than a couple of seconds to start when hot then walk away as it could be a sign of low compression - it could be something more straightforward, but not worth the risk. Lots of other advice on pre-buying checks can be had if you look around this forum and the RX8 Owners Club forum.
Imports - if I remember correctly, the two main differences are that the car is 210hp and the speed is limited to 110mph (no good if you want to do trackdays). I also recall many of the imports have an automatic gearbox? You won\'t get the best enjoyment form an RX-8 which an auto box!
Hopefully some other people who are more knowledgeable on imports might chip in...........
Yes I think imports are automatic - got smaller wheels I think?
There\'s a very nice RX-8 for sale on Ebay - my old one that was stolen! Worth a look if you\'re after a bargain.
Hi guys!
Well after a few months of saving nearly all of my pennys im about ready to finallyyyyy buy this dream car of mine!
Ive been ogeling them on a very near daily basis on auto trader, but now im about ready to buy one! I could have been buying this month but a nasty gym pass and holiday with friends setting me back.
Ive found myself drawn even more so to the even sexier r3\'s.... that i just cant afford, well not unless i want to save for another year (which i dont, i want one yesterday!) However the nicest part of the r3\'s apart from the more racing / angry look about them, is the spoiler. I was wondering how much i would be to get me a spoiler fitted to a standard 192? Nothing over the top, the r3 spoilers just finish what i think is a slightly naked rear end, perfectly.
Also guys, it seems nearly all of the rx8\'s on auto trader have had "1 previous female owner" which no doubt is a lot of ......, but it seems sellers have no idea of the need to red line these wonderful machines. So how am i to know if the engine is in good nick or not? In reguards to the engine seals i mean.
Thanks once again!
Hi Matt,sorry can\'t help on the Engine side :2Rolleyes,but if this helps regarding the Spoiler :),I believe Clive has the R3 Spoiler on the back of his Yellow RX-8 :cool
Glad you can finaly afford your RX-8 though :driving & look forward to seeing the Photos of your New Car in due course :D
Well ive started browsing for 1 of these beauty!
Though i stumbled across this
http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54786
What is the likelyhood of these things (all 4) dieing? And will this sort of thing be picked up in a mazda service? Seems such a small thing to replace to save your entire engine ><
Quote from: Matt Shepherd;705007What is the likelyhood of these things (all 4) dieing? And will this sort of thing be picked up in a mazda service? Seems such a small thing to replace to save your entire engine ><
I\'m no expert but I don\'t think all four have to go to potentially damage your engine - and I believe there have been examples where Mazda servicing has not picked up the problem (not sure if it can be picked up?)
Anyway I had mine replaced with a set from MRPs - can\'t really comment on weather it improved the performance as two weeks later it was half-hiched! But it was clocked at 130mph by the police helicopter so it was doing well for a 5 year old 192! :Giggle
As you say it\'s not a lot of money to potentially save an expensive engine re-build.
Any idea how much your looking at for them replaced and fitted? And a mazda garage is your best bet to get it done?
I had the coils changed on the wife\'s RX8 by WGT for uprated ones was told by Pip that mazda europe have loads of the original one that fail after 30k in stock and they will just replace like for like and charge the earth. The coils we had was totally shot poor starting and no power at all when they was changed we did not know how back the car was before the make over.
Quote from: Matt Shepherd;705016Any idea how much your looking at for them replaced and fitted? And a mazda garage is your best bet to get it done?
I got the Genuine Mazda RX-8 Uprated Coil Pack (http://www.mazdarotaryparts.com/brx-8-genuine-mazda-uprated-ignition-coils-in-stock-for-next-day-deliveryb-1399-p.asp), Magnecor Leads set, NGK RE8 C-L Leading Spark Plugs and NGK RE9 B-T Trailing Spark Plugs all from Mazda Rotary Parts. Clive very kindly fitted them for me at the Christmas Party - don\'t think he can offer that sort of service to Scotland though! :Giggle
Quote from: Matt Shepherd;705016Any idea how much your looking at for them replaced and fitted? And a mazda garage is your best bet to get it done?
Hi Matt,
This is a a very easy job that any garage or DIYer can carry out,
The 4 coils sit on top of the engine behind the air filter box,
On the side of the convoluted hose that comes out of the air filter box you will see a square plastic box held on with one jubilee clip,
Remove this box and you will see and have access to the coils then all you need to do is push the tag in on the grey electrical connection that goes on the back of the coil, undo the nut holding the coil to its base plate with a 10mm socket pull off the HT lead that goes in the top and you now have a dead or dying coil in your hand,
If you do this all one coil at a time you won\'t get anything mixed up.
All this should take 20 to 30 minutes to complete,
Hope this helps
Sad thing is Mazda often diagnose a problem, replace one or two coils (at extortionate prices), sometimes remember the leads & plugs... then two weeks later the others go. Best to always replace all 4 at once (including leads and plugs) :-)
Like always having a 4-wheel full geometry check done when changing rubber, I now believe that the coil-packs should be replaced at the same time as spark-plugs (i.e. every 3rd service). Don\'t know whether that will ring true for R3s though; they have a slightly redesigned mounting bracket for the coils, perhaps to address the issues the S1 has?
Quote from: seanp;705128Don\'t know whether that will ring true for R3s though; they have a slightly redesigned mounting bracket for the coils, perhaps to address the issues the S1 has?
I bought an R3 bracket so I could find out the difference as some people seemed to think this would cure the coil issue, turns out it just has big dimples pressed into the mounting bracket that makes it stronger :2Rolleyes
Hi guys!!
So finally after much searching and much patiencem im going to see my first rx8!
I hope im safe in linking auto trader links...if not can a mod please delete it asap!
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201030364580167
Ive spoken to the guy selling the car for about 40 minutes in total. Ive been checking autotrader pretty much everyday like a man possessed (like? :D) and the moment i saw it, i was straight on the phone! Sadly he had already taken a £500 deposit on it. It was due to be sold on the 21st (Id rung on the 4th), the guy buying it was away on holiday. Anyway cut a long story short, the seller said he was really sorry but took my name and number on the off chance it fell through.
So i got a phone call this afternoon! :D
Going down to see it saturday / sunday, with the intention of buying it providing it starts well and has no problems accelerating up through the gears? Is there anything else i should be checking for guys? The reason i was so drawn to this was simply because of the 22k miles, hes actually selling it on behalf of his wifes best mate. I dont think shes been red lining it at all, but hopefully it wont have done too much damage to a 22k car?
Thanks in advance :D
Hi Matt
I posted this up on the RX8 OC site today for another prospective buyer - its a bit wordy but hope it helps
Other than the normal things you would look for on any car you have got to buy on condition 22k may seem good and it may be a very nice car but...
Assuming that it looks straight and youve HPI\'d it and a recent MOT then there are 3 things you should look out for;
1. Service History
2. Service History
3. Yes you\'ve guessed it Service History
You really need to dive into this and maybe get details of supplying dealer and give the last service garage a call etc
Then you need to look into the non service items such as coils - these may need to be replaced within the next 8-10k miles
If your not used to a rotary then when you drive it for the 1st time it may feel a little short on power - this is because you need to go right thru the rev range up to 8-9k (231) to make it work
It must restart after being warmed up - try to get it started from cold - test drive switch off walk around etc and then start again (foot on clutch only) any problems with warm start - no matter how nice low miles etc just walk away.
It will be a firm ride but not harsh - no bumps or rattles etc
231 is a 6 speed / 192 is a 5 speed and the gear change should be quick and precise a little notchy but not clonky
If private - as the seller how much oil it uses - the answer is more to see if he/she is looking at the oil regulary than the actual amount used
best of luck
Alrighty! Let me check list this haha, so ask abouttt
- Oil - how often shes changed (i heard the casterol gtx was a good choice?)
- how shes been driving it
- i know it has a FSH but am i looking for anything specific?
- should start up smoothly even from cold? test it, switch off start from warm (should i always be starting it with cluch in by the way?)
Few other quick concerns guys and im sorry if i lack experience, i have been googling all the questions im asking, but well straight from the horses mouth is never a bad thing :) So please dont feel obliged to reply, i dont want to trouble anybody.
If she tells me shes only been changing the oil on services, should i be walking away? Ive read so many diffrent things about rx8\'s and oil, some change it every 2000 miles...some every 10000, people using diffrent filters...is the stock filter so terrible? Should i really be replacing castrol gtx oil every 2k miles? i appreciate its a high maintenence sports car but that seems slightly excessive!
Pre-mixing...again ive read so much on this but there seems to be no definitive answer, ive read mixing 2 stroke fully synthetic oils helps prevent carbon corosion in the engine seals, since theres only 2 injectors as opposed to the 3 in the r3? If it is all rubbish, will putting bike oil in my petrol tank kill my car? :( I know its very small amounts per litre but still, it has to go somewhere?
Im right in thinking i should always be fueling super unleaded? will this help preserve the engine or just give me some more ponys to play with? well maybe not ponys but faster ones!
Sorry for the flood of questions :( i just want to enjoy my dream car lol, i dont want to have to go to bed every night worrying that because my car was 5 years old its likely to die at any moment! lol sorry im getting carried away but it just seems theres so many people talking about the negativies...like they somehow forgot they are driving a technological and engineering masterpeice!
i feel so lucky to even be in a position to own one, why is it people are only happy when they have something negative to say :D
though having said that, knowledge is power i suppose and if it wasnt for the negatives we would all just be ignorant and blind :)
wow what a rant! my apologies guys :3gears-rh
p.s. the moment i get the car, im signing up as a full member!
Hi Matt, I read your post on my iPhone last night but couldn\'t log on to reply so appologies if I\'m repeating what\'s been said.
You really do need to speak to the owner and make sure she knew what she was doing with a rotary car, it may seem all ok but you need to know how well it\'s been treated. If she\'s not been red lining it then that\'s not a good sign :2Rolleyes plus RX-8\'s don\'t like short journeys all the time so if she\'s just been taking it a couple of miles to work everyday then that\'s not good either. If she clearly doesn\'t have a clue what a rotary engine is then I wouldn\'t be keen to risk it.
I won\'t get into the whole oil and pre-mixing debate but it\'s not about changing the oil (at services should be fine), as Jim says it\'s asking how much it uses as a test of wheather she checks it regularly.
Is there an RX-8 owner near you who could come along to view it?
Well as eager as i am to buy it, i wont throw 6k at her if she tells me shes been driving it a few miles to work everyday, stuck in traffic the entire time. Im hoping she travels at least once a week in it properly and has been giving it plenty of revs. Ill be absoloutly devastated if it turns out shes not been giving it any welly at all.
And sadly i dont know a single person who drives an rx8! Which i guess is one of the reasons, (combined with the fact it looks incredible and im madly in love with it ) that i want one. My only real concern is i wont be sure if the car is lacking in compression / acceleration or not, since i havent driven one before.
I also read quite a lot about recalls on the rx8, im assuming that will be covered in the service history - i read about the heat sheild for the fuel tank and the "flooding" problem. Is there any other recalls i should be looking out for?
Oh 1 more thing, didnt mazda extend the waranty to 8 years? will this still be covered by it?
there is a hotline number for mazda recalls I found it on the RX8OC site just give them your vin and they tell you there and then.
Hope this helps.
Quote from: Matt Shepherd;712005Oh 1 more thing, didnt mazda extend the waranty to 8 years? will this still be covered by it?
Not in the UK. It was 3 years standard and you can pay to extend it further, with some restrictions.
Hi Matt,
I\'ll give you my own account on my experience with the RX8. First and foremost it has been an amazing experience from the beginning, and don\'t be put off by any horror stories these all stem from lack of/bad maintenance of the car.
I purchased my RX8 (04 plate) just over 50,000 miles in June 2009 and all went swimmingly for a month or so until I noticed that the car kept juddering every so often. Took it to WGT and it turned out the spark plugs hadn\'t been replaced (brought the car from a garage, would have thought they would replace them).
The car was fine for a few weeks until it started again - being an absolute novice I didn\'t think anything of it and left it as that.
A few months later (it is now December 2009) I decided I would go for an aftermarket exhaust, rang up WGT they ordered the parts and fitted it. When I collected the RX8 Pip informed me that they normally give the old parts back to the owner but the stock exhaust had almost rusted away so it was useless. At this point I was concerned over the health of my car.
End of January 2010, driving to work on the M6 pulled out of the left lane and into the middle lane (going approx 68mph in 5th gear), suddenly the car pulls back hard and the check engine light lights up.
The engine now sounds like there is a bag of spanners moving around, power and torque has hit rock bottom. Panic sets in and I continue to drive another 30 miles to work and then another 45 miles back from work to my house.
Next morning me and my Dad take it down to WGT, Pip comes out to the car and gives it a check. He\'s very concerned and is surprised I managed to drive it so far in the current state it is in.
When Pip opens up the engine he finds that the little teeth around the rotor have been severely damaged (I never saw the damage as I was at work but my Dad ensures me it was horrific). Pip says the engine is beyond repair and we\'ll need a new engine. Searched for a used engine for a few months but unfortunately couldn\'t find one.
Start of April, we decided to bite the bullet and buy a new engine from Mazda and by end of April I got the car back. The whole ordeal was a financial nightmare (cost me in total £4k for a complete repair), this is also my second car and I\'ve never had to deal with anything like this before.
My car has had two previous owners, first owner was a male and owned it for 10,000 miles, the second owner was a women who owned it for the other 40,000 miles
I\'ve still got my RX8 with a brand new 2010 rotary engine (the engine is still shiny :)) and love every minute of it.
Now I know that it is a new engine and that I will properly maintain the engine and I haven\'t had any problems, even though I know I\'ve only done a small amount of miles on the new engine (12,000 miles) compared to the 3,000 miles I did on it before the engine keeled over.
Quoteshould start up smoothly even from cold? test it, switch off start from warm (should i always be starting it with cluch in by the way?)
Yes, my car starts up smoothly from cold (before and after the new engine). Don\'t start it up and then turn it off straight away, drive around for at least 5 minutes to make sure the engine is warmed up before switching it off. I always start with the clutch pushed in - I\'ve been told it reduces the strain on the engine upon ignition (applies to all cars)
QuoteOil - how often shes changed (i heard the casterol gtx was a good choice?)
My oil is changed every 3,000 miles, but I\'ve heard you can take it up-to 5,000 miles (I take it to WGT for an oil change I do not how to do it, I\'m a novice) avoid synthetic oil I\'ve heard it does terrible things to the rotary. I use 15w 40 mineral oil Mobil Super 1000 and Casterol GTX
QuoteIm right in thinking i should always be fueling super unleaded? will this help preserve the engine or just give me some more ponys to play with? well maybe not ponys but faster ones!
If you can afford 97 RON without it breaking your back, I throughly recommend it, the engine sounds and feels so different with 97 RON compared to 95 RON, but avoid supermarket 95 RON fuels like the plague, tesco 97 RON is meant to be pretty good.
QuoteSorry for the flood of questions :( i just want to enjoy my dream car lol, i dont want to have to go to bed every night worrying that because my car was 5 years old its likely to die at any moment! lol sorry im getting carried away but it just seems theres so many people talking about the negativies...like they somehow forgot they are driving a technological and engineering masterpeice!
My car has never flooded and I\'m beginning to believe it\'s a myth...just ensure you don\'t turn it on and turn it off, but that applies to any car as it can cause damage and doesn\'t help the car in anyway. It\'s all about proper maintenance
I hope my story helped and will help you make the right choice when buying your RX8. I can\'t stress enough how happy I am with my car. I love my RX8 so much that I\'m branching out and buying an RX7 from WGT this coming Friday.
If you live close enough to WGT I recommend you take your RX8 to there, they have always been helpful and do a great job.
Doesn\'t sound like you\'ve had much luck Bourno, but glad you still love the RX-8 and welcome to MRC. :wave
Quote from: Bourno;717080don\'t be put off by any horror stories these all stem from lack of/bad maintenance of the car..
I do agree but that\'s the problem with second hand ones - you just don\'t know how well it\'s been looked after.
Quote from: Bourno;717080My car has never flooded and I\'m beginning to believe it\'s a myth...just ensure you don\'t turn it on and turn it off, but that applies to any car as it can cause damage and doesn\'t help the car in anyway. It\'s all about proper maintenance.
The flooding isn\'t a myth, but you\'re right it\'s easily avoided. I stupidly moved my old car from the front of the house into the garage before I went on holiday and when I got back sure enough it wouldn\'t start. But I knew straight away what I\'d done and Mazda Assist had it going in no time - plus a check over by my dealer confirmed I hadn\'t done any damage.