Hey guys =) so i currently am driving a 1995 ford tempo which i got for free. it has been a great car but its just no fun te drive anymore. i have lots of offers to sell it and am selling it tonight for a nice amount of cash. i also found a really nice rx7 that is near my house . ill post the link to it http://www.usedvictoria.com/classified-ad/11307886. the car is in great shape and has been looked over by a mechanic and he says its in great shape. i am just wondering about reliability. i have searched the forums for about a week to find the answer but nothing to much has came up. just little bits here and there. so i am wondering what you guys think about the reliability on it. its a strong running 12a manual choke and a 5 speed with brand new clutch. i am mgoing to collage and i cannot afford to have the car die as it will be my daily driver. any advice would be greatly appresiated

THanks Dylan

 

They are reliable if you know what you're doing. Plus 12a's are a lot easier to fix in my opinion, less computer parts, etc. 1st gens are all in all good fun cars to have
When things do go wrong you can't just take it to any old shop. Get yourself some manuals, and read up on the forums. Find some guys near you with 7's and I am sure they will help you if you ever need anything. Small hands are also a plus.

Your welcome,
Dylan #2

 

Ok thanks !

 

Consider this, how many other motors out there can regularly see 150,000 miles without a rebuild? Well maintained an RX7 has a long and dependable life. You just have to learn the nuances of rotary life.

 

Learn here and study, take care and repair yourself because few shops know what to do with one. Even fewer alignment shops know you can adjust caster and camber. Looks like you got a sweet buy, keep in touch!

 

stay with the tempo in my opinion

but to each there own

 

College? You will probably have a limited budget for gas. I love the RX-7, but it is not the most budget-friendly car. As GRM put it when describing their list of favorite project cars: "It could pass everything but a gas station..."

For a budget car, get something more economical. If you do get the RX-7, have it compression checked by mazda or a rotary mechanic. Just because a mechanic looked it over does not mean that they knew what to look for in rotaries and it sounds like you are not looking to pay for an engine rebuild any time soon.

Good luck either way!

 

the RX-7 is a very reliable car if you keep up on the maitenance. they are not great in the snow and have an appetite for fuel if driven hard. its not a car you can drive and forget about. it needs love and attention. and if you are on a limited budget, you may want to get a job. once you start fixing things and working on the car you wil not be able to stop. this is the power of the dark side...

 

^+1

They are very reliable for sports cars of their era and age, but 'reliability' is very subjective. They need more routine maintenance than a modern car, but that maintenance is more easily performed on an RX-7 than on modern cars.

Case in point: Spark plugs. RX-7's require much more frequent changing of spark plugs than a modern car, but it takes only a few minutes and a couple tools to do them. They're readily accessible, there's only 4, and the only things you need to move to get to them are the plug wires. But you need to do them regularly.

Changing spark plugs in my 350Z took me several hours, because they are not readily accessible; you have to remove a number of parts and move wire looms that are strapped down with one-time-use fasteners just to reach them. But they only need changing every 90k miles or so. My wife's Maxima, you have to disassemble the upper intake manifold to reach the plugs. But I'll maybe have to do them twice over the entire life of the car.

Same is true with all the routine maintenance; if you don't keep on top of it, it'll land on top of you.

 

ok you all say there reliable if you keep on top of it. and you all say gas isnt so good. do you mean like 10mpg or 20 or what ?

 

You should never expect to make a 30+ year old car a DD unless you
have a backup vehicle. Its just a dumb idea to assume it will not break down.

You should keep the Tempo and wait till you can afford an old sports car ( or a new one).

These cars were very reliable when new. Now, they are as reliable as they can be after 30 years of neglect

 

that is true to an extent. i've driven FB's as daily drivers for 12 years...save for the winter. the 7's are very durable given the age. i restored an 85 GS last year and it has been nothing but reliable. here is the thread on that: https://www.rx7club.com/build-threads-293/85-l6-gs-se-project-restoration-822222/. browsing through th ephotos that i posted will give you a good idea of some of the inner workings of the RX-7.

 

If you need a cheap reliable DD get a 90s Civic or something. That would be the sensible solution.

I would not get a first gen RX-7 as a primary car without a backup car. Bottom line these cars are OLD, and for $700 it was obviously not restored in any way. If something breaks down, you're going to have to fix it yourself, and if you're new to the car it will take you more than a day. RX-7s are toys. Sure some people use them as commuters, but that's no reason to assume that the one you buy will keep on working.

 

My 7 was getting around 20 mpg stock.

 

another thing to consider, you're up in british columbia? that'll be fun in the winter...

old carb'd cars are a bitch to start when it gets cold, especially one like an rx-7 which beckons you to strip EVERYTHING OFF to make it a hot rod. I could see this working out for you if you buy a haynes manual, download the FSM and make maintaining the car as it was built your passion. It's not difficult and will require discipline and vigilance, and I hope you have somewhere to do basic work when it's cold

^there are individuals on this forum with this mindset, and for some reason, lots of volkswagen enthusiasts come to mind. However, your full exhaust and lowering springs, while not disqualifying you from this category, does not bode well from keeping down the slippery slope of modding.

I daily'd my turbo once... and I honestly believe I could have kept dailying it... then I decided to make the turbo bigger.... then the interior came out, etc etc etc. Careful

 

The price tells me the owner knows it has something not quite right about it .

" ran fine when we parked it in october " ... also a heads up to me .

on the other hand might be a great buy.

If you really want the joy of driving a 7 , and since you seem to need a reliable car as DD, probably be worth paying $100 for the local mazda dealer to give it a 1 hr check over before you buy it .