I am considering purchasing a 1979 RX7 LE. This car is unique as it has 5500 KM original on it. It sat in a garage from 1981- 2014 and is in show room condition. Of course the tires were replaced from sitting so long, but that's all it really needed. Any ideas what it is worth.

 

Greets from an (ex-) fellow Calgarian, and welcome.
Presuming no hidden mechanical issues, with that sort of mileage - and assuming condition to match?
I would guess you could be looking at a pre-Corona value in the $15K-20K US price range. A wild-assed guesstimate without seeing the car.
Now that we are, for the moment, in the Apocalypse, with a notable chunk of the buying public either unemployed or not in a car-buying mood, probably 1/2 that...or worse.

Show.Us.The.Car.

Stu A
80GS
AZ

 

As Stu says, upper teens seem to be the top end of the 1st get market up to this year. Cars that have achieved this in the last couple years are pretty exceptional both cosmetically and mechanically. A vehicle that has sat for this long may look the part, but would most probably need some sorting and basic maintenance completed before it would be valued the same. The first step is to post some good shots inside, outside and underside of the car.

 

The car was my aunts and it was an inheritance to a brother of mine. Since he works for a guy who works exclusively on imports they changed the following. Alternator tires battery etc. I will try to get some photos and send to you. It was offered to me for 20 k Canadian

 

Egads. Your brother "offered" to you at $20CDN? This is the family discount? Crikey. Afraid to ponder what he would ask the buying public...

But - yah, we all would love to see the car!

Stu A
80GS
AZ

 

Hey Stu ... This is the car the Poster is talking about .... There are 2 Threads about it at the moment ....

 

That is why i am on the forum, to have someone who knows the biz, tell me what they would pay.

 

Your brother inherited it from your aunt, and now wants you to give him $20K Canadian for it? ($14.3K USD) Ouch.

Looks like a nice $7K car ($5K USD) except for the aftermarket sunroof. The car is hard to get parts for, including brakes, shocks, glass. Just know that going in.
For the money you could get any # of newer, better sports cars. RX7 owners are a special breed, that don't like doing things the easy way.

 

All due respect to Max-
I have had no problem getting the parts he has indicated. Really the biggest problem - and this is not one unique to 40yr old RX7s - is trim items. A problem you will have with most cars, sports or otherwise, of that vintage. Its really part of the ownership experience with Oldies.

And my own experience with truly nice 79 RX7s, never mind the even-rarer (and most desirable!) Limiteds, is they are, or CAN be worth well north of $12K. But that is a general valuation, not necessarily of your RX7. One rain photo (where even bad cars can look good), and nothing of detail, or of the interior, leaves any accurate estimate by the Forum members as mere guess work. Too many varibles. The mileage, if it were true, would be Epic. But the photos do not really support this. It could be 105,506km. Unless you have some documentation to back it up?
Pics-pics-pics. We can't help you (much) if you can't help us with more data, Hammer...

Stu A
80GS
AZ

 

Stu and OP,
Sorry for my negativity. People at work are getting stressful, people on the street are stupid, and my family at home is going stir-crazy and I'm getting grumpy. Sorry.

So value is in the eye of the beholder. But as we all know, parts are hard to find. Stu you've been into these cars for quite a while, and so you know where to get parts. Sometimes its Mazda, sometimes its junkyard/ebay because the part is NLA.

I am assuming most people new to these cars don't expect to have to search junkyards and rebuild items that are commonly available for other 80's cars. Got an 82 Camaro or Mustang? Doesnt matter what you need, they have it at NAPA. Not so for us.

For shocks and struts you can get KYB but that's about it for direct fit (by my quick google search). Mazdatrix also has the NOS dampers, but the ones they sent me were leaking oil and I didnt use them. As you have been maintaining these for 30 some years you have seen the shock options dwindling down. And the popular mustang rear / MR2 rear-front are not direct fit either. Not everybody wants to buy $450 in new shocks/struts and then have to take a porta-band or cut-off wheel to them so they fit. This is what I meant about shocks.

Glass is available, but not easy to get. I recently read the thread about it and seems the Safelite glass is inferior, and to get good stuff (new) everyone is driving 6 hours for it. So again, not readily available if your coming from a Miata or 350 z background.

Brakes. Yes, pads shoes and hub-discs are readily available. But what about when one of your calipers gets sticky and starts to cook? I've had to replace all 4 of the calipers on my truck since 2003 and it was easy. Just went to NAPA and got a reman off the shelf for $60. But for your rx7 there are no remans anywhere. Are you confident in rebuilding it yourself? I'm sure you are Stu but most people aren't. And what if the piston is rusty/pitted?

This is what I was warning him of. Maybe he's a great mechanic and loves projects. But maybe he's just a cool guy that remembers riding in his aunt's cool car. Things that are weekend projects for mustangs or z cars might be month-long projects for us, waiting on parts and supplies. There are no RX7's in junkyards where I live. "Cash for Clunkers" saw to that 10 years ago.

There I go getting uppity again. OP - they're great, fun little cars. But they're specialty cars at this point.

 

All good points Max. I have had many of the parts experiences you have had. I was advising in the context that parts for any old Japanese car is going to be more challenging, but not impossible. The RX is no exception. Ya def gotta love one to want to own one!


Stu A
80GS
AZ