Guys please give me your opinion on value
 

Hey,

I'm from the 3d gen forum and want to let you guys know how much I admire 1st gens.

I love my 3d gen but I am really interested in 1st gens also. Today I got a strange phone call from my dad telling me that he has someone that is selling a 1st gen. It was weird because my dad doesn't know anything about rx-7s he just knows I have one and I guess he overheard someone talking about having one for sale at his business and decided to tell me.

All I know so far is that it is an 83 don't know what model and she has the car just sitting in the garage and says it is very clean (but of course the seller would say this.) It is white and 5 speed and has ~100,000 miles and the motor has been rebuilt. I don't know how many miles on the newly rebuilt motor or the exact miles on the body. I think that 100,000k is amazing for a car 10 years older than mine and I have 70,000 on my 93 but I was wondering why the motor was rebuilt already I thought these could go into 150-250k miles.

Can you guys please give me an estimate of how much this car is worth? What should I look for to see if it is a solid car? I know about looking under the rear bins for rust. I am really interested in buying it and reselling it for a profit or keeping it for myself as my daily driver since my 3d gen is not feeling so good right now and is getting some upgrades.

Sweet cars you guys have. I hope to experience one soon!

Snook

man... I'm terrible at this, but check the obvious things, rust, recipts, etc.

The GSL-SE (came with a 13b motor and EFI)is the most valuable out of the first gens, but it was only out in 84 and 85.

Since I'm not very familiar with the 83 year, some body else should be able to help you there.

If you go and look at it adn it is REALLY nice... i'd say 1500. The low 2000 range is usally what you can get a good GSL-SE.

my 2 cents (and their green). check for rust under the bins and in the wheel wells, especially rear. check normal rotary stuff, oil change intervals, overheating, yada yada. depending on body shape, interior shape, and miles on the motor, i'd say 1500 up to 2,500 if immaculate.


wtf happened to that fd? in your avatar?

Poor mantianing might be the reason for the early rebuild, or a misinformed owner and interprizing mechanic. I couldn't give you a good idea on a good price to pay for a "good" car. I would try to stay under $1500 even for a good one, but I'm cheap. And like Jeremy said, go on a search mission for rust, one place he didn't mention is under/behind the rear bumper. With all the crevises there's alot of places for water to collect=rust.

If you have the extra money to spend a first gen is fun to have.

cool thanks guys

I was actually looking into making money off of this car after reselling it but unless I get the price down lower and the car is in perfect condition I don't think it is worth it

Is the demand pretty high for these cars? Say if I bought it for 1k and tried to sell it for 2k would it take a while to sell it if it was truly worth that?

The avatar is a kids car on the forum that resulted in a fatal accident...I use it to remind and warn people and to pay respect to his dad that died. I just think it's important for people of all ages to realize that a fast car is like a loaded gun ready to fire at any time.

alright, keep the opinions coming please!!
thanks

Snook

for a GSL or GS, in great cndition, i say no reson why the seller wouldn't take 1200 if you threw the cash at him. I got an 85 GSL in great conditoin, no rebuild, but perfect compression and stuff for 850 (he asked 1300, i basically begged to go down for like a month)

KEEP IT don't sell!!!

once you get it you will realize how fun it is and won't sell. i've driven all three and the 1st gen just has a certain personality that non of the others could comprehend.

$1200 - $1500 definately sounds fair if it's in good condition... and like Jeremy said, if you think it's worth it, and the car's pretty much rust free, perfect running engine, good compression, drivetrain, etc, then $2500 max.

Jeff

I got my 83 S with, at the time 96k miles, for $1150. So you should be able to get it for around there. Like was mentioned earlier, remove the storage bins behind the seats and inspect the wheel wells, almost every FB has rust there to some degree (all 3 of my cars do in varying degrees) if its just surface rust, or less then its fine. and yes, don't sell it, keep it.

you guys are much more responsive than the 3d gen section

I'm in college so I couldn't keep both cars and drive both of them...maybe I'll put the fd into an even deeper rest for a while....how can the fb be more fun than a modded 3d gen? if it is, wow I've got to drive one asap cause I just love my car! I think I'm too used to the speed of mine even and it was a 12 second car on street tires.

thanks....and if I don't end up getting a really good deal on the car and not buying it I'm learning a lot about 1st gens right now and that's always helpful for some later time.

word out
Snook

FB's are not fast cars, they are just really fun to drive, kinda like a miata is fun to drive. It's light has a decent amount of power that can be easily upgraded. So it might not give you a thrill like a 12 second 3rd gen, but if you drive it you'll most likely fall in love.

Having never driven a 3rd gen, I can't compare the two, but as a completely biased 1st gen owner, I'd have to say that the car has me hooked. I've actually gone out of my way to buy a second 1st gen after I sold my first one, so that says alot right there.

The '79 to '85 cars are more than the sum of their often sub-par parts. Sure the steering is numb and takes too many turns, but it still doesn't detract from the tossability of the car. The rear axle is solid, but the car still handles in a predictable fashion. The motor isn't speedy, but it's smooth and bulletproof.

I'd say buy it. You'll be hooked too, and then you'll keep it.

Matt
1979 SA22C

I read that post when it happened and cried :(. Its truly amazing how far around the net that went too. Its so nice of everyone to lend him their support about it. His Dad sounded like a real stand up guy, I really feel sorry for him :(.

~T.J.

as was said. its outright speed isn't going to impress you as a 3rd gen will dance circles around it while farting little turbo puffs of smoke. its the fun factor the car gives. the way they feel and handle is so different then the other two generations. its a go kart for the street basically.

you will also notice that we are sort of our own family here. no one is really stuck up or thinks that they are the god of knowlege. hell, i had to sell my sa and bought a 91 gxl. i still stay here majority of the time. if i get my new job i'll probably look at getting my r1 finally. but i'll still be here because this is my group. by the way, if you want your fd power with the darty 1st gen handling, take a look at mike-p and directfreaks cosmo single turbo swaps. mad par, dog. mad par. anyway, thats my rambling.

Yeah, that was the saddest post I ever read. I like the "loaded gun" analogy, it's sobering.

But on topic: One of the fun things about 1st gens is that they're great low-cost high-fun projects. If you like wrenching on cars, in the world of 7s you can't beat the Original for an easy to work on car. Parts are plentiful, even though they always seem to come with junk cars attached to them.

A good deal on a good FB is less than 1500, a great deal is less than a grand. As far as the engine thing goes, maintenance is everything.

So if you're not up to the cost of rebuilding your FD at this point in time, store it and get the 83 to toss around and hop up. We do lots of little home-brewed mods because we're poor, and we have a lot of fun here.

Another thing: drive a 1st gen, then a 2nd gen. You'll be suprised which one feels more closely related to your FD!

Well, having driven both cars in stock form (FD and FB), I honestly like the FD better. Better speed, better acceleration, cool looks, nice cockpit design, dostile yet beastly when you want it, better "thats a damn cool car" factor, etc. I have yet to drive a modded FB other than mine, and I dont really have that great of stuff going on. Just basic stuff. I wanna drivea suspension modded, aftermarket intake FB. Im not trying to turn you off of the car, its just that everyone makes it seem like these are amazing cars. They were in the 80s, but there are better things on the road not. Hell, my friends Honda Del Sol stock will out corner and out accelerate (only on the highway, its a Vtec) my modded FB. All Im saying that I have had more fun in FDs or Miatas. Just my $0.02.

~T.J.

PS - This does NOT mean I dont love my car, it just means I know it has room to improve :). I still wont sell it, not even for a faster car. Its just too damn cool :).

After reading what you guys would pay for a 1st gen Rx7, I felt that I had paid too much fro my 85 gslse. It was from an original owner with only 65,000 miles. The car was in prestine condition with no scratches anywhere. He had always garaged the car and everything on it was stock. He was anal in keeping all repaired records including all the extra items he purchased for the car. I figured this was a rare find so I bought it for $3300.00 The reason he sold it to me was he just purchased a Viper.

Jeff

From that description, I would have paid that in a heart beat if I had it. I believe Manntis payed close to that for his -SE, and its in immaculant conditon also. I dont remember though, I may be mistaking him for someone else. But just in case Im not, here are some pics of his car when it was in the condition he bought it in...Stock ;).

~T.J.
http://www.rotorhead.ca/mystuff/05.jpg
http://www.rotorhead.ca/mystuff/06.jpg

I just paid $800 for an '82. Recent rebuild (in terms of miles, not years), engine revs straight to 7k very easily, no rust, good paint, clean interior.

I thought that was a good deal...

good buy.

Jeff for a one-anal-owner mint low-miles GSL-SE that's actually a great price. Check e-bay and thepartstrader, anything in that condition is going for more than what you paid.
When I said "1500 was a good deal" I was speaking of the run-of-the mill dime-a-dozen faded-paint ratty-carpet 82-83 12a no options cars. The mighty -SE is a special case. It is the ultimate stock 1st gen.
Please accept my jealousy - 3 years ago when I paid too much for a supposedly mint '85 GS I didn't really know how much better a GSL-SE would've been.

i took my gsl-se to thunderhill (roadcourse) and with a really good driver in it he caught a single turbo fd. my gsl-se has 400 treadware tires on it....

mike

maybe the single turbo was spooling up the entire time :D

thanks for all of the input you guys are cool

I don't think I'm getting this car but now I really want to drive one, sounds pretty exciting
I've also always wanted to drive a miata just to feel the handling

i'll buy it for 3,000

i picked up my 83 for 1k. it has over 150k miles on it. check it out. you can never go wrong doing a 1st gen. hope to see you join the 1st gen family soon.