I have a very low mileage 81 rx7 in close to original condition. what are to determine the real value?

 

Sell it. If you don't want to do that, look for ones in similar condition that have sold recently to see what they are going for.

If you want to know what somebody on this forum might think your SA is worth, post lots of pictures and details about condition, especially mechanical.

Without that information any number is just random speculation.

 

I have some more if needed

 

Wow that is sexy....mileage?

 

These cars are very hard to judge a price on, so Ray's advice is the best.

 

Very pretty. I'd say about $4-5,000 if the inards are as good as the outards.

 

Mileage is 32936. All mechanically sound. Small oil leak in the engine case. New brakes and rotors. New shocks and struts. I kept all the original parts incase some one wants it all original.

 

I'd say $3,500-5,000 as well coming into winter. It's a pretty car, in awesome condition but someone's gonna have to store it and decide what they want the direction of the car to be.

 

Where in Michigan?




.

 

that is one sharp 7! hard to find a nice GSL in that condition

 

The car is in Livonia, MI. I belive the car is worth mid 7's. Haggerty says 6 to 8 grand.

 

The car does look well kept and pretty low miles at 32K. Value is driven by supply and demand. The supply of low mile, un-molested and well kept cars is as you'd suspect, fairly low which is good for the cars value. The demand however is also pretty specialized. Japanese cars in general just don't have the same broad appeal as collector vehicles here in the US. I can't help but feel this will change over time but for now, it’s a limited type of demand.

The fact is, most current interested FB buyers are younger and want a vehicle that’s affordable to modify in some way. The older, more affluent buyer who might want it to collect and pamper is a lot more scarce. This tends to keep the real world prices depressed somewhat, regardless of what places like Haggerty place values at. Besides, it’s in Haggerty's interest to inflate values as it also increases what they can collect for premiums.

My personal opinion as an RX-7 enthusiast with an eye towards collectability and keeping them stock is something like;

Up to $1500, for well used, mostly complete cars w/ moderate to major mechanical/cosmetic issues.

$1500 to $3000, for complete cars requiring some attention to fix mild to moderate neglect and issues.

$3000 to $5000, for nice complete cars with moderate to low mileage, maybe a few modifications but very minor issues that need attention or additional money.

$5000 to $10K, better be a pristine car with low mileage. Un-molested and stock, maybe a rare, early build SA or special model (79 Limited, 80 LS or 10A/E) requiring very little to nothing additional to be classified as a 'Gem'.

To me just from your description and pictures, (you did mention something about a small oil leak in the case?) I think Ray hit the mark at 4-5K as being realistic in today’s climate. I think I could justify that w/o much problem. But again, I am in the exception of opinion, not the majority on this site. I know of only two 1st gens to sell for over 10K, both SA’s. Here’s a link to a thread that contains some info on both cars;

https://www.rx7club.com/1st-gen-non-...en-sa-1043562/

Not sure if your interest in values is because you just want to know or if you want to know what you think you can get for it. Two different things. An actual sale is always a compromise between how bad the seller wants to sell vs. how bad the buyer wants it.

 

I'd say these guys nailed it - it's all in what someone is willing to pay. Much like every other financial transaction. And when it comes to selling a car, cash is king.

I have no doubt that I'm the exception to the rule for what these cars can go for. I was looking for an FB "as-close-as-possible" to the one I had so many years ago. We'll not get into just how much time has passed since the purchase of that first car and today. So, that made me a not-so-average buyer (Sucker, perhaps?). I was willing to pay a premium for a car that was close to my first car. And, it wasn't going to be my DD. But like these guys said, most folks are just looking for an inexpensive car to wrench on.

Your car looks great. I'd hazard to say that it looks much better than most of the ones I've seen in my neck of the woods. If you were closer, and if Supreme Commander would approve, I'd be happy to move that car from your fleet to my own.

There is an FB over in Raleigh, about 30 minutes from me, that has been on craigslist for well over a year. I looked at it, because it looked great - in pictures. In real life, not so much. Yours on the other hand - a beauty!

Good luck with whatever you do. Hopefully, if you do sell it, the next owner will take just as good of care of it.

 

That is one pretty and rare FB.

After reading Steve's full description, I'd have to up the ante to $5-6,000, maybe more if it's spiffed up (especially if that oil leak were fixed).



But you're keeping it, right Steve? Only a fool would let a once-in-a-lifetime jewel like that slip through their fingers.

 

I'd begin by dusting the thing and giving it a good vacuming. I'm always amased at pictures of cars for sale with bits of FOD sprinkled across the carpet....

.....jbheri2, just smooze up the POTUS and take her on a fall foliage tour to Mich. Its not that far and the best things always are more effort. I've come back with an empty trailer more than once but its the only way to really know.

 

Do the values change based on area of country?

 

+1. car doesn't have to be detailed to concours, but good vacuuming/dusting, and some pictures that have the whole car in it, are always good.

i look at a lot of car ads, and people use pictures that are just horrid

i wanna say that they do yes, it does seem like the high $$ cars tend to be in the southeast?

 

I'd say so. First-Gens have become as rare as hens-teeth up here in the Great White North. When I sold my SA five years ago, the classifieds were awash in decent FB/SA cars. Now there are just a handful and they seem to be divided into two categories:

1) Way too far gone for my limited skill-set.
2) Super-clean and priced accordingly.

Banzai's price-list is a good rough guide, all-in-all.

You also need a buyer who wants an RX-7, with all its idiosyncrasies. Some schmoe off the street won't pay $5-6k for a 30-year-old-car unless he's got the rotary sickness, no matter how clean the car is.

 

Thanks moses, i'll try and find banzai's list

 

Duh, his listing is above in the thread...