Oats

My friend saw this a few days ago, and today we went ahead and talked to the owner about it.

It's an '83 GSL, one owner, and it's been garage kept since '86. Rebuilt 12a with 17k miles on it, new paint job 4 years ago. He's asking $5950, but said it was negotiable.

here's a couple pics, the rest are here: http://s17.photobucket.com/albums/b82/Otsaika/83%20GSL/

The pictures don't really do it justice though, my camera sucks and the car looks fantastic close up.











If there's anything else you guys would need to know to determine the value, I can hopefully answer most questions.

bshusted

iTrader: (1)

It's a beautiful looking car. How many miles are on the chassis itself? Did you take a look under the car to look for rust? Tap around on the front side of the rear inner fenders or if you can pull up the carpet and bins to look at the inner fenders from the inside to look for rust. It's a great looking car but the price seems a bit steep to me. Good luck.

Oats

158k on the chassis, and yes I looked under the car and inside the wheel wells, couldn't find rust anywhere.. The owner tapped on the fenders as well to show it was solid. He said when it was repainted, the painters couldn't find rust anywhere.

nobodymv

iTrader: (3)

Of course this is all in MY opinion:

1. As BShusted stated, pull that carpet in the rear as well as at the extreme rear of the hatch to check for water damage/rust/etc. That moonroof is a nice water collector and rust producer as well, so lift that and take a gander.

2. As for the price...an item is only worth as much as someone will pay for it. From reading your post, it is evident you really want THIS car, so step back and take a breather. You will be happiest after that educated decision ;-)

The $5950 price tag IS steep IMO. A quick glance of eBay reavealed:

A 79 GS with 6030 original mile sold for $5250
You can get a '85 GSL with 93K for $4500
An '84 GSL-SE with 35,421 original just sold for $6700

So basically shop a little and decide if THIS RX7 is the one you REALLY want for the $$ and go from there. If I was buying this, I would want to know who did the rebuild, the shop where it was painted, the prepwork performed, etc. I lived in various parts of Virginia over the past 22 years, and know their weather patterns. I would be interested in talking with a bodyman who stated he could find NO rust at all on an east coast car from VA. I could go along with no rust through, but not even surface rust? Not even the 4 screws under the hood holding it to the bracket? (Just going extreme, but you get my drift) If this is thrue, you found a rarity for the region.

Although I personally am one of those "Anti-burgundy" RX7 guys, the car looks great for a Virginia car from the pics I looked at. Good luck in whatever decision you make !

Oats

You're probably right. I was also thinking last night that maybe I don't want one that's in such good condition, since I don't have a proper place to store it right now (I live in an apartment in a college town). I think I would be better off finding one that's got some more wear and tear on it, and making it better gradually instead of getting a great one and risk anything happening to such a gem.

Thanks for your input!

comet909

I think that's the most rewarding avenue. Be patient and shop around for the right one. (of course I'm also a guy who bought the first 7 he drove)

yellow_jacket

I think the price is totally acceptable. Knock him down a grand just to be an ***, though.

Unless we as a community start paying higher prices no one else will. Fifteen years ago you could buy any 240Z for $1k to $4k. How else are we going to drive the values of our cars up? They are too expensive to keep in pristine condition for most hobbyist drivers anyway.

Buy it and only drive it on non-rainy weekends without modification. And to everyone else. When you go to the BMV tell them you paid more for it than you really did and pay the extra tax.

Yellow's Ten Year plan to make his car worth ten grand.

jinxed4dub

iTrader: (7)

me too. then I found a nicer one for half the price But I'm still happy....sort of

7aull

iTrader: (2)

An alternative argument to the "buy-a-cheaper-one-and-fix-it-up" route is in many cases you end up chasing your tail down a money-pit hole. The age old creado for collectors is "buy the best you can afford". It will almost always cost more to get a car to the condition your "better" choice is in already, add to that the yrs of driving the cheaper one in its compromised condition, the hours (and hours) you will have to put into it and the down-time for major work.

Finally, as too storage concerns, its nothing a nice decent quality car cover can protect - been keeping mine outside over Alaska winters for years this way with no probs...

Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska