buying a 1980
 

well, I'm a newbie to this forum and fell in love with a black 1980. It is owned by a guy that lives down the street. The car looks great and there is only two small surface rust areas. One is near the windshield wipers and the other is near the rear glass on the driver's side. The car has 123k original miles and the engine was gone over at 80k. It runs great and had a blast driving it yesterday.

He wants $1800 for it. It comes with a car cover, two repair manuals, extra rear hatch glass, front headlight motors and headlight assemblies, a second set of rims, a front bra, winshield wiper assembly, extra ignition coils, and other trim pieces.

My only gripe is the brakes are soft until you really get on them. The first time I took it out I thought the brakes were gone until I really got on them.

Thoughts?

imho think that the price its very good.

hello?

thanks for all the input people. I really appreciate it. I needed help to know if this was an ok deal or not. With 18 views, there should be at least 10 posts.

You could give people time to post.





I would pay 1200. But if you really want it buy it. 79 and 80 are harder to find than the other years.

You probably have air in your brakes, try bleeding them.
Do you know about storage bin rust? Lift those wheel well covers, they are made of vinyl and right on top of the storage bins on each side. If you have rust, you could have problems. What about the engine?

I have an 80LE and would be pleased to get $1800 for it, but mine doesn't run, and also doesn't include all of the extras that he's throwing in, so you'll need to take that into consideration.

About the brakes, the 80's and other 12a models had rear brakes that required a very experienced hand to set correctly so that the car would brake as designed. If you didn't set the 'adjusters' exactly right, you'd get a soft pedal until all the brake cylinders expanded out to impact pads on disks and drums, and then, suddenly, the brakes would be tight and firm. This sounds like what you're describing with your test drive.

If it's the case, learning to adjust the rear brakes can probably clear this up very quickly. Might also try installing new brake pads and shoes and bleed the brake system to allow for bubbles to be voided.

The early SA's are a little different to troubleshoot, but the 80 is worlds ahead of even the '79 model year. The 79 still used points and condensor ignition, the 80 has mag induction ignition with ignitors which are used in the later cars, and are also much easier to work on and keep running well. The SA's body lines are a little different also, with the separate front bumper and rear bumper compared to the rest of the body. This makes for better low speed collision (<5mph) than later models, and is a good collector car - early in the series to restore, and more easily recognizable than the 81-85's.

You also have the air/oil cooler below the radiator, which is a much better solution than the 'beehive' water/oil cooler used in 81-85 12a cars. The 80 was ahead of it's time there, and the design was reverted to the 80 design (generally) when the SE's came out and needed a larger oil cooler that worked more efficiently.

I'd say talk him down a bit and get it - if you move up to another model, you'll have plenty of parts to work with.

Agreed: Take a look at the storage bins. Take them both out, pull the padding back and look with a flashlight.
If there's some rust there, you can probably get an even better price. If there's no rust, I'd buy the car
for $1800. If the rust is really bad, offer $1000 and go from there.
Also, take a good look at the channel at the bottom of the rear hatch. If those drain holes have no been cleaned regularly, there will likely be rust there as well.

I've bought 3 of these cars, in each case I've got big bucks knocked off due to rust the owner never knew was there. Good luck, don't forget to post pics if you get it!

I have a black '80, and it has had very few big issues in it's 23 year life. I'd say talk him down as much as possible, and go for it.

I wasn't aware that there was an "LE" model in 1980.
I've heard of a "Leather Sport" package that may have been in '80, maybe someone could clarify this?

Bringing an old thread back up since I cannot create my own yet.
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I have an opportunity to buy 1980 RX7 from the original owner it may be a LS (leather seats) but not sure if a Limited Edition also existed as the owner says its a Limited Edition. Asking ~2000 and claims no rust and new engine with low miles. Needs new clutch and brake seals (what's that?) and passenger seat has rip on it. Can you guys help me decide if the price is worth it?

I really would love to have a classic rx7 but don't want to get taken for my cash and pay too much. Thanks!

you now have your other post so we'll use that for reference to your question.

for all others reading this, the 79-80 DID NOT HAVE REAR STORAGE BINS so attempting to look at the inner wheel well rust will be futile. the 79 model year held the Limited and the 80 model year had the LS (leather sport) and the 10th anniversary which celebrated mazda's 10 years in the U.S.