I'm looking at at 1988 RX7 Cabriolet with 126k miles. Actually, my son is drooling over this car. It brings him to tears to see it disrespected. It's his first car. For what it's worth, I'd enjoy having it myself, or at least driving it from time to time, though not for racing, drifting or anything like that. I was hoping he and I could bond over working on the car together.

Having said that, while I'm a sucker for anything from the 80's, I'm new to the rotary and mostly have experience with run of the mill rather than performance cars. The closest thing I've ever enjoyed was a 1983 Toyota Celica 5 speed manual. I'd rather go into the purchase with some wider eyes. Assuming the car is as good as reported, and we'll have it professionally inspected by a mechanic first, how much should we set aside for repairs? I called one mechanic who said he'd refuse to work on it partially due to age, but also the rotary.

I'm told that getting parts is almost impossible and it's a bit like Mad Max to cannibalize whatever parts car might work. The seller is asking about $4500. Considering its age, aesthetically it's in good shape. I'm going to look at it this Saturday and would appreciate any guidance the RX7 crowd can offer.

 

there are weird complicated old cars. we had a local shop here who used to do nothing but rotary cars, and then once he started doing hondas and subarus he kind of stopped working on Rx7's, the honda is easy money (and then someone made him an offer he couldn't refuse for the building)

Mazda is just about the only place to buy part for these things anymore. they have everything you need, with a couple of exceptions for things like belts and shocks

 

There's actually plenty of parts out there, problem is they will cost way more than you're likely willing to pay. Atkins Rotary and mazdatrix have a ton of stuff still, and what you can find usually shows itself on ebay. There's even a cargo cover on ebay right now. As for having someone else help you with the car, forget about it. Only way to have a drivable rx7 is to learn how to work on it yourself.