bkm_rx7

okay...maybe its just me...but i always have bad luck with rx7s...actually...now that i think of it...maybe its just cars in general. Read on...

FIRST Rx7 - '82 base model...always had carb problems...it was pretty much gutless and ended up selling it b4 it died.

SECOND Rx7 - '84 gsl that i still have...engine went to ****...tried to rebuild/port it...ended up with 25psi and 35psi on the rotors...money wasted.

THIRD Rx7 (my brothers...but i was driving it) - '83 with an old skool 13b and lots of goodies...he gave it to me for the weekend to try and get it running right...and i put in DLIDFIS and tuned it a bit and it seemed to run fine...alternator died on it yesterday...so i swapped it...got stranded today when the clutch slave cylinder went out and i killd it trying to shift...wouldnt start back up...

MY DADS PICKUP - '91 chevy...overheated it not too long ago...blown head gasket...cracked radiator...fixed the radiator but it still overheated...so i tryed to swap the thermostat...bolt broke off in the block...

WTF?!?!? Is my luck really this bad? or do all you rx7 guys out there have constant troubles like me? i have no way of gettin anywhere right now...no job...not that i could get there if i did have one...and no money...ARGH!!!

txredneckmedic

sounds like you need to take the bus

bkm_rx7

FORGOT TONS OF ****!

in my first rx, the clutch went out and got me stuck at school once. in my '84 i got stuck in 3 ft of snow cuz my ******* fuel pump wiring came loose and i had no tools to fix it...so for about an hour (i live way the **** outta town) i would hold the wire that came loose on the fuel pump and let the fuel bowls in the carb fill up...then run the 7 outta gas...the starter on the '84 has gone out twice...both times with my ex-girlfriend at school...ive been stranded and had to call my dad for rides about 5 times and have towed the '84 about 3 times...

AM I REALLY THAT UNLUCKY??? i think the rotary gods hate me...

85rotarypower

Well, thats not too bad. I have had some real bad luck with cars.

-1991 Chevy lumina van that I blew the tranny, water pump, and alternator in. Also had to fix the exhaust after it broke just after the cat and a drivers door that wouldn't open.

-1988 buick lesabre that blew a starter that left me stranded in a parking lot late at night and breaks that didn't warn me they were getting low, so I had to replace the rotors due to metal to metal contact. Also had a slipped belt in one of the tires and that made the car VERY uncomfortable. Replaced all the tires. The biggest thing with this car is when the ignition module went out. Ended up replacing the module, coil pack, spark plug wires and spark plugs before it ran right again.

-1982 Mazda RX-7. Half the problems were expected with this car, but some of the problems have been a nightmare. Before the engine blew, I went through 2 carbs and 3 carb rebuilds trying to get it to right at least half right, and then it still had problems. Rear end started humming shortly after I started driving it. Had all kinds of electrical problems, a tranny that was hard shifting, and a finicky clutch. These are all problems that showed up in the period of a month and a half I drove the car. One problem that REALLY aggrivated me was the weak fuel pump. Car would suck the fuel bowls dry by the time I hit the top end of second gear under WOT. I believe this is what killed the engine. It was going WAY lean and I would get detonation, I just never noticed it. Also had a problem with this car flooding out WHILE RUNNING!

-1991 Jeep YJ. Had a few small problems with this thing. For some reason, it would just stall out and not start back up. Left me stranded a few times. Also broke a tranny mount, idler pulley, clutch master cylinder and the rearmost U-Joint. Lucky that didn't separate while I was 4 hours away from home. Also doors didn't like to unlock in the winter. Fixed all these problems though.

-1997 Ford T-Bird. Started overheating the day after I picked it up. Kept blowing the fan fuse, ended up needing a new fan motor. Front brakes rattled and squeeled like crazy due to missing anti-rattle springs. Had to get new pads to get rid of this. Now the upper ball joints in the front end are going out.

So, in short I've had more bad luck than you, and there is more than this too. This is all in the period of about 1 1/2 years.

RotorMotorDriver

iTrader: (1)

Shouldve fixed the head gasket too

~T.J.

bliffle

Did you buy the 7 new or used? With used cars the driver/owner is a more important factor than the car itself. For example, Mercedes owners often tell me how great the car is, and I know they are cheap guys who expect to get a lot of miles out of a car and they are caretaking so the car was always oiled and repaired and well treated, so it lasted 300k and is still going! On the other hand I've looked at some used Mercedes that are crap and that must be because the owner/driver ASSUMED it should last even if he neglected it. The same thing applies to any car. I bought my daughter a new Hyundai in 1987 when she entered med school (so she wouldn't be bothered by used car problems) and at $5000 it was the cheapest car in America, but it ran like new for 10 yrs and finally had to be wiped out by a hit-run driver before it would die.

I would trust my 83GS on any kind of trip because I bought it new and I'm the only one who's driven it, and I've maintained it, even tho it's over 120k. It's pretty much like new. I'm almost as trusting of the 85GSL because I bought it with 49k and after 2 years it's proven it's reliability.

I tell my kids: don't buy a car because of brand; look for a good owner/driver.

B

Hades12

I bought my 83 GS in April 02 got the tag and insurance on it in June, Put the tag on Saturday morning and the engine went on the way to a friends house 20 minutes later.

wklink

Boy you are right about the bliffle.

There is that rule that you don't buy a car from kids or old people. Kids hot rod the things and old people don't hear the pings that tell you the car is about to break something important.


This of course isn't always true, I've seen some cars owned by kids that have been immaculate and cars owned by 35 year olds that I wouldn't trust around the block. Generally said though the previous owner's driving habits will have a lot of effect on the car when you buy it. I have been lucky with this GSL-SE so far, it seems to have been fairly well taken care of, blows no oil, has no major problems.

I bought it on e-bay though so I could have really screwed myself. I should know better but that button on the computer tempted me sooooo much.

bkm_rx7

im 18...so i couldnt exactly buy my 7 new...which is why i tried to restore it and rebuild the engine...so it could be close to new...but that didnt work out too well...

and im kinda poor...(which is why i own a first gen...not that its a bad car by any means)...so its really hard to just throw money around and buy parts and such new...

im just really frustrated right now and was wondering if other ppl had as many problems as ive had...

Hades12

Let me add to mine.


When I finally got an engine. I broke almost every bolt I touched, Not on the junk car but on the one I wanted the engine in.

Some how I managed to mess up the Carb Linkage and spent two hours repairing it.

next, I go to put the battery in and hit the fender with it. Nice big dent.
next, I go for the first test run. runs good but I notice that it does not roll back. Yeap, both front calipers are stuck.
I loan the car to my buddy for him to run the Dog pee out of it and shake it out. He get sideways, takes out a mailbox and busts the side mirror.
I go to sale the car and the clutch master and slave are both about dead, have to replace them to sale it.
Next I pull the wheel stud kit off to change back to factory wheels and one is stuck. never did get it out, the guy drove it with 3 lug bolts and one lug.

He then drives the car for a bit and takes out the Driver fender, headlight, header panel and hood with a Dear.
Gets replacements and rattle cans it black.
Then the engine goes again.

I am afraid to get near the car. Some of the bad luck may rub off on me.

ray green

iTrader: (14)

It's about experience and getting ahead of the curve. You've got to get the car running right to begin with, which means you need to do the needed repairs and maintenance, maintenance, maintenance. After you've done this for a few years (I know, when you're 18, this sounds like a long time) you get to know the car and you learn how to see the problems coming before they become a major inconvenience (like clutch hydraulics when your picking up the girl friend).

Look at it this way, with your current situation you've got a great opportunity to get much better at keeping the car running. Without a job you can't pay someone else to do it and you've got some free time. Go on out there and fix something, one thing at a time and it will be running again.

Ray

d0 Luck

don't worry, i get bad luck too sometimes w/ my rx7. but that's due to the fact of lack of tools. besides that, i think i'm fine

Siraniko

iTrader: (13)

I hope bkm is not related to mr No Luck.

Kentetsu

I feel your pain! However, I look at it as performing 20 years worth of missed maintenance. Whenever something goes bad, needs to be replaced, or just stops working, I always try to make it better than before whenever possible. After two years, I figure my car is about halfway to being a new car again....

bliffle

You're not buying right. You don't have to buy the first 7 you look at, and you're only going to buy one, this time out. Take your time, and be willing to spend a little more time and maybe money. Look for a good seller and appear at his place dressed well in clean khakis and an ironed sport shirt. It helps to make a good first impression, because for a careful owner the car is a favorite for him and he doesn't want to send it to a bad home. Usually, for a good seller, the price of an old 7 is not significant to him.

My rule about used cars is that a car can only have 2 things wrong with it. Otherwise it's probably going to have a lot of problems. Often what happens is that an owner gets one thing wrong and learns to live with it, but when a second thing goes wrong he looks for a buyer. For example, a bad finish and slipping clutch but interior and transmission and engine and brakes are OK. Or a blown engine and a dented front fender (easy to replace or bang out).

I've bought 3 cars in the last two years: the 85GSL, an 85SE and a 74REPU. The 85GSL had a LF fender dent and a slipping clutch but only 49k. I went to the owners apartment in SF wearing clean khakis, sport shirt and a linen Armani sport coat, and I drove my very nice 83GS, washed and gleaming. The owner was a young gay man well dressed and with a nice Potrero Hill apartment, well appointed and neat, and his partner was similar. The low mileage was accounted for by the fact his father had bought it in 85 and driven it a few years to his office a couple miles from home, and then reverted to his mercedes whereupon the 7 sat until he gave it to his son who had no use for it in SF, especially since he had another DD and the 7 had to sit outside at the curb. He wanted more, but when I offered him $1700 he took it because, as he said, I could give it a good home. And I have. It's been my DD for 2 years and performed well.

The 85SE was a different matter. The seller was a mess and the car looked similar. The finish was totally faded and oxidized (but no significant dents), some of the interior bits were sun deteriorated, but the engine was strong and the transmission didn't whine and the wheel bearings didn't rumble or squeek, etc. I hate to tell you how cheap I got it. Oh yes, it also needed the water seal treatment, which I suspected since he knew I'd done it and he asked me about it, and there was yucky gunk in the radiator. I fixed the mechanical problems and will repaint it this summer, probably at Maaco.

The 74REPU was owned by a respectable guy in an upper middleclass neighborhood who had a driveway full of recent-model Mazda sedans and the REPU in his 2 car garage (a good sign), where it had sat for two years. It only had 120k and a rebiult motor 15k ago. He had bought it used many years ago when it was relatively new and only used it for occasional hauling. His teenage daughter loved the truck and wanted to have it when she got her license but I could see that dad wanted her to drive something simpler and with modern safety equipment. We rolled it out into the driveway, rotated engine by hand, I applied some MMO thru the sparkplugholes and it started immediately, sounded very good, but smelled of gasoline: there was a bad break in the fuel line hose. I paid him $1100 because it all added up right, returned the next day with a length of fuel hose and some aircraft hose clamps, fixed the problem and drove away. It's been a working tiger for the last 18 months, not a bit of trouble and strong as an ox. Fast and smooth on the freeway, too.

You can tell a car by it's owner.

B

Siraniko

iTrader: (13)

thanks for that summary. its hard to read without my reading glasses.

bkm_rx7

Bliffle...my kind of buying isnt really buying persay...

IM POOR

that being said...the first rx7 was $100...the second was $250...the third (my brothers) was $1000...but i do seem to put alot of work and time and some money (what little i have) into the cars...they arnt neglected by any means...and usually arnt in terrible condition.

ray green

iTrader: (14)

"You can tell a car by it's owner."

You can also make your investment better with maintenance, maintenance, maintenance. Buy a car with no brakes, out of alignment, with a rust free body and under 100K. Then do the maintenance and you've got a deal.

Ray

Aviator 902S

This explains everything. The problem with these (or any other used car for that matter) is that the lowest price ones are priced that way because they are almost beyond hope and the seller knows this. Yes, this means even (many of) those ones that appear to be "not in terrible condition or neglected." This is not at all surprising since the last 1st gens were manufactured at least 20 years ago. Truly pristine examples are few and far between.

As tempting as it is to buy at an extremely low price and then "fix a couple of things to make it worth more", it rarely works out that way. You may pay $500 for the car, knowing that the engine needs to be replaced soon. But then no sooner do you plunk down the 3k for decent rebuild (or $1500 for a second-rate one) when all the little unforseen glitches rear their ugly heads and ***-rape your bank account to the tune of an additional 2k over the next 4 months.

After which the car still needs a few minor (if you're lucky) rust issues taken care of, followed by a paint job. You figure you're already in too deep and therefore must see the whole restoration through, and so you go ahead and pay a friend with autobody experience to do the work for a bargain price.

Congratulations, you now have a very nice 1st gen. Not mint, but very nice. Now let's tally up the cost:

Purchase price: $500
Engine (installed): $3000
Various unforseen repairs: $2000
Body and paint job: $2000

Total: $7500.

A Showroom condition GSL-SE from an original owner with low (documented) mileage and all service records can be had for between $4000 and $6000. Non- SE models are worth a maximum of $4000 in similar condition. A restored non-SE (like yours) that is nice but not mint is worth around $3000 tops.

Advertise it for $7500, listing all that you had done to it as justification for your asking price? Good luck, pal. There is simply nobody that stupid and if there is, they probably live three states away from you in their parent's basement. Nobody cares how much money you sunk into the car --- they only care about their best bang for buck, and it's not the one you're trying to sell. Sad but true.

This means that the car you originally paid $500 for was actually worth negative $4500 --- the amount you spent minus its value after you sunk a fortune into it. This is why it is very unwise to buy a used car that needs ANYTHING AT ALL to make it nice, reliable and somewhat valuable. Even if you're an RX7 mechanic/ body worker/ guru it's very hard to come out ahead on such 'bargains." For an 18-year-old with little experience in all of the above (and stars in his eyes) it's vitually impossible. You'd be better off paying a little too much for a well-kept gem, even if you had to finance it, than buying a fixer-upper --- even if you enjoy working on cars.

wklink

Thats true for most hobbies like this though.

The two cars that I own (other than the FB) are worth no where near what I have put into them. I put the work into them for the enjoyment.

I am sure most of the other folks here do as well.

My advice? If you can't afford to fix up your car and you can't afford a better version of the car you love then wait until you get the funds to do it. You won't be a poor 18 year old forever. I sure couldn't afford the things that I can now. That is the great thing about being in your 30s. I can afford to buy what I want and I don't look pathetic driving a sports car around. Granted, it is a 20 year old RX7 but I really don't want a newer sports car.

Aviator 902S

[QUOTE=wklink]

The two cars that I own (other than the FB) are worth no where near what I have put into them. I put the work into them for the enjoyment.

I guess we could all say that, if we calculate regular maintenance, fuel and mods/ custom touches to the over-all cost of ownership. But my above example dealt mainly with the major unscheduled issues and costs that are over and above what is expected to maintain one of these cars. The occasional cluth slave cylinder or brake pad/ disc replacement wouldn't be considered a major unscheduled repair.

My advice? If you can't afford to fix up your car and you can't afford a better version of the car you love then wait until you get the funds to do it. You won't be a poor 18 year old forever.

Exactly. Sooner or later 4K is going to come to you way easier than it does right now.

That is the great thing about being in your 30s. I can afford to buy what I want and I don't look pathetic driving a sports car around.

LOL --- wait until you hit your pathetic 40s like I have! The good news is that by that time you won't care how pathetic you look in an RX7. I don't.

bliffle

I'm 68, look cool in a 7, and wiggling in and out keeps my 6'2" limber! It helps to own a couple Brit driving caps (linen for the summer and corduroy for the winter). And I could afford just about any sportscar but the 7 is the coolest. Everyone wanted one when they came out, and the ones who bought them look back wistfully to those good days. And young folk are amazed that they are so cool. Just ask the women. The only cars that compare might be a porsche '56 speedster, an RS550, Karmann Ghia, bugeye sprite, MG TC or TD, etc. Very new sportscars are a yawn: anybody can afford one, but only a cool guy has a 25 yr old 7 that is sharp and maintained.

B

wklink

My wife says I don't have to worry about a second childhood. I never got done with the one I have now.

Biffle, you are right. I always wanted a 1st Gen RX7 but could never justify it. First it was the money when I was younger (couldn't afford one), then I was married, then had small children. I can actually now justify getting something like this car. I have always wanted two cars, a 60's Thunderbird and a 1st Gen RX7. Until the last five years I couldn't afford either. Now I have both.

The sky is the limit with both these cars. I forsee my son getting both of them (including the Fairlane, my daily driver until gas hit 2.50 a gallon) when I go. I hope he appreciates them as much as I do.

ray green

iTrader: (14)

So don't get a junker, pay $1,500 for a 1st gen in good shape. Here's my new one, from ebay, an excellent car with only 85,000 miles:

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/479957/15

I've been putting the miles on my GSLs, cheapest transportation in town:

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/479957

Fewest repairs since my Volvos.

Ray

bkm_rx7

by poor i mean i have $400 to my name right now...no job...no car to get to a job if i had one...and pretty much no life...lol...so $1500 is about $1100 off...oh yeah...and i have no credit...so i cant get a loan...already tried...and no...my parents WONT co-sign...bastards...