Have to sell my 1st Gen & need help pricing!
 

Been a long time since I posted but getting a divorce & want to sell my 1979 GS Vin # SA22C 502780 that I originally purchased as anniversary present for the soon to be ex.

Bought it Nov 2006 with 95k miles was told everything was stock except the stereo & bezel. I believe I have original in the garage. It now has 98k miles on it. No rust, paint is original but dull.

Pics below:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...1&l=a791adf4fc

Let me know what other info you will need if you are willing to help me price it.

Thanks!

If he gets the money from the sale...$5

Nope..its actually going to pay some past due taxes. :)

How does it run?
Also, can you get pictures of the engine bay, the under carriage, and inside the rear wheel wells (With the rear wheels removed. Typical rust spot on the 1st gens is where a rear suspension link bolts up inside the wheel well, behind the wheel.)

Also, moving to the 1st gen Non-Technical. Might have a little more focused advice there.

I'll get the pics asap. Might be difficult getting under carriage pics without a lift. I'll try & get some video of it running as well. The car has not been registered for a few years now(because stupid DMV wanted us to make it historic & the soon to be ex was too lazy to go to Trenton for it) but we regularly start it. Besides the smoke at start up from sitting it runs good.

This is 1st Gen Non Tech! I also posted it in NE forum which is where Im located.

If $5 was an offer, then I'll go all out and bump it up to a solid offer at $6.25.

I'd even be a gentleman and take you two little ladies out on a date!

^ lol I got $100 on it right now :p

The paint is not all original, they did not come 2 tone like that. I'd guess it was sunbeam silver to begin with. Looks like an early build car (assembled sometime in 78) and from what can be seen, it appears it has some random issues with interior panels. I'm guessing that from your description of its lack of use and modivation to keep it maintained it could have some mechanical bugs to work out as well.

To me its a decent, solid looking car in average condition with 98K miles. A going price would probably be in the $1200-$2200 range, but under you current situation, if you need the money, you might have to take less for it to actually turn it into a sale.

I'm going to go ahead and give some actual pricing advice, since I would kick myself if you actually went ahead and sold her for $100, lol.

I bought my 80 SA, no rust, around 130k km for $700.
It had been repainted, did not have an original stereo, and needed a carb rebuild as well as a trans rebuild.

I considered it a good deal on since I am totally in love and enjoyed bringing her back to life, so looks like you should get close to what Banzai suggested if not better?

Manufactured 3/78. I believe it was one of the 1st 3000 off the assembly line. What interior panel issues are you referring to? There are no tears or cracks that Im aware of. For a 34 year old car I think it is in very good condition. Exterior body does not have rust. Will look closer at wheel wells & under carriage this weekend & take pics as an earlier poster suggested. I purchased it for $2500 in 2006. Since these stock ones (vs modded) are getting more rare wouldn't the price go up at some point? I in no way think $$ like the old American muscle cars so don't think I'm that naive. :)

Interesting article I just found from Motor Trend & one of the sources was the RX7club. 1979-1985 Mazda RX-7 Buyer's Guide - Motor Trend Classic

Another article that looks like it was originally published in 1978. 1978 Mazda RX-7 First Drive - Motor Trend

I payed $600 for mine. I put about $1800 into it to make it the way I want it.

An RX that clean would probably go for $2500 to $3500 here in L.A. (Assuming no major rust problems)

The build date should be on a tag on the drivers door jam. Early build cars are generally worth a little more due to small design and trim differences that occured during the 79 production run which ran from Feb 78 to Jun of 79. Subsequent cars changed in small ways as they finalized and changed some details. This makes the early original cars a little more rarer. The door panel issue I refered to was from your pic (attached). Maybe its my mistake, but from the pic it looks like there is some issue just under the trim line about 3/4 the way back.

Condition and value are always a matter of opinion and will always vary person to person. Yes, I'd like to think that values will go up at some point and I think have in fact, risen some in the last 5 years. The target audience however remains fairly specialized and comprised mostly of enthususts who like to keep the prices of their favoriate cars affordable. I do think that at some point Japanese cars will become a trend among the larger collector car community and untill then, values will not change significantly. It does not seem like you are prepared to keep the car for the long run however. I'd throw a line out there for $2,500 or so and see what bites you get. It gives you some wiggle room to go down and still not lose to much. More importantly, its a price range that is attractive and realistic enough to generate a sale.