I have a 84' gsl-se and it seems like i drive it for 2 weeks then it's being repaired for another 3 weeks!!

3weeks ago i had a problem with my header and that took about 2 weeks to fix, then on the way home i found an oil leak that is squirting oil onto the header making blue smoke but then i had to take apart the top of the engine to find, which wasn't 2 bad since my little brother did most of it (he knows his way around my car pretty well for only a 15 year old!!)

How long do you guys drive before repairing it?

 

To be honest there hast been anything actually wrong with my car since I bought it. The only downtime its experienced is for upgrades and go fast goodies and replacement of most mechanical wear items.

 

My car has been really reliable since I first bought new ignigters in 93. except for when my engine was going out and it was hard to start. I drive mine about 3 - days a week now. My other car is a fully loaded Miata

 

I Don't Have Any Problems With My Car,I Drive It Every Day Too.
Once In A While The Overheat Light Comes On For The Cat.
Then Goes Off.So I'm Going To Need To Replace,Or Remove
The Cat.Because They Do Get Cloged,In The Future Here.
That's It

 

About once a month for me. But I do have to spray the steering coponents ever day so it wont making this irritating sound. I know, I need to get it fixed.

 

Why did it take three week to fix? Is that the cars fault, or the mechanics, or a parts availability issue? How many miles you got on the clock? How long you had the car?

Mines just a toy car, cruise an Expedition during the week, would drive the P.O.S. Racer more, but the A/C is DOA, I have yet to have an on the road / track failure (knock wood).

 

longest stretch is 8 months without a prob, sometimes it just seems to fall apart for a month straight (the car knows when you have extra money!!) since i got the motor rebuilt a few years ago i've had very few problems...just the wear n' tear stuff after 260,000 km 's

 

Something will actually break on my car maybe once every 6 months if not less often, but its all the small improvements that turn into huge projects that constitute the majority of my car's downtime.

Cody

 

Longest my car was down was about 2 months waiting on someone :::cough Chuck cough::: to ship some parts...

 

man for mazda always take 2-3 weeks to get a part in no matter what. cause usually the things that go bad are components that only mazda has. brake sliders, idler arm and ball joint assembly, 6-port actuator sleeves, spark plugs just to name a few. Thats all I hear from them 2 to 3 weeks, so the car is down at the shop for that time. but as for leaving me on the road that did happen a few times. car looks good on a flat bed tow truck but the skirt always scrapes!! But those times were mazda mechanics that messed up the work so the car was towed back. I guess it's just my car then, the previous ower threated the car like ****, It's like he never did any mantaince. It was a salaom car but brakes where all seazed, rusted to hell, a/c ripped out, tires all bald, and the exhaust was was like a flute with many holes producing many beautiful notes!! The body looked alright until I drove it for the first time in the winter (b4 i put plates on it) everything in the rear was wet, the rear wheel wells were gone too. The body shop took a little hammer around the body of the car looking for weak rusted spots, trust me the was was full of holes to the point the rear fenders had to be re-created in steel the body shop had the car for six months to do the job right. since then I had mazda put a new motor and almost everything has been replaced only thing left is the tranny. Other than that every part has been removed and cleaned and put back. Needless to say thousands of dollars were already spent on this car, exceeding what this car was orginally worth. Ofcaurse I'm adding every little extra I bought for the car. But thats the way it goes. here is the car www.portugesethug.homestead.com/jim.html my old user name was jimmy540 but my password was lost, and that lost password icon doesn't work the email comes blank -note to moderators.

 

man u need to check out another Mazda dealer , i've always gotten everything i ever ordered from them within 1-2 days. one of the trim pieces above the windsheild flew off on the highway last year (and was promptly crushed by an 18-wheeler!) Mazda had to ship one from the U.S. and it was still there in 2 days!

it's a pain around here for parts cause the junk (sorry 'salvage') yards here suck for 1st gens (or any rx7 for that matter) and all the heaps get bought up fast buy the few shops that specialize in them. Mazda has suprised me with some of the stuff they have come up with for me. but i still wouldn't get my car FIXED there......."oh yeah, they said i might see one of these one day"

 

U live in aurora, you'll probably see me up there sometime I met some people from around there.

 

The longest mines been down is 2 months searching high and low for an axle. not just any axle, a 83" gsl disc brake axle. apprently 83" bearings are smaller than all the other versions of the same axle, or the axle themselves are larger in diameter, so pressing the bearing on was out the window as well, not to mention even if it would possibly work, they (the axles) would be out of balance from each other. I finally found 2 sets at the swap meet,(pull-n-save...lol) and promptly greased them up and stored them in some old sheets....hehehe

 

i get a good 4-5 months out of my car before i HAVE to replace something.

usually it's a easy, 1-day in the shop deal.

but every 2 months or so, i buy it a new present. most recent was a tranny, next will be a new quarter-panel.

i've got 171k miles on the clock and it's been pretty reliable all in all.

/edit: and it is my daily driver

 

I have driven my car without any problems for almost three years now. Only once in the four years I had the car was down for U-Joints and rear bearings. Other than that it's been down only for cosmetic enhancements...Pretty Good for a 20 year car.....My New Dodge Stratus was in the shop more than my Rx.... Go figure that out... A six month old car being in the shop more than a 20 year car...No wonder these cars are outliving just about everything on the road....

Love my Rx-7.... Would not trade it for nothing.....
1982 GSL

 

Guess mine is the lemon of the bunch, or the guy in the production line for quality control left to take a dump. And my car pasted. LOL

 

I Have only 1 Problems during 2 years.
Broken oil hose-pipe between motor and radiator

 

Until I run out of gas. Then I have a problem. Besides that nothing serious in the last 3+ years

 

The '80 I could drive forever without problems... the only times things went wrong were due directly or indirectly to my tinkering with it

 

when I got my car about 3 months ago the waterpump went out about a month later. other than that I have had no problems.

 

gas tank problem. everything else is age related (79). new tank coming in and hopefully i'll be able to sort out the rest of the problems from sitting.

 

On my vert seems like it works like this, drive for a month or 2 everything is fine, a day later, something breaks and then something else breaks, then its fine for another month

I think my problem is the 85 has been bragging to the 88, and the 88 wants attn

 

I'd get a run of about two years of trouble free running and then it was either time for a new engine (except for this last one built by Ari and Chris that has been through two bodies now...) or I totalled it...

 

My car was a b¡tch to me for the first 4 months when it was parked, but then I put it on the road (a month ago), and the only problem I've had since was a dent in the gas tank, and basic stuff like new plug wires and plugs (because of age).

Seems like every month there's something wrong with her, but it's minor, like clunking noises that I ignore until they become a problem...

Jeff