bacek

only two things that are 100% correct in this thread (not in the same exact words but the idea)

1. the FC is 20 years old and on a car that old there WILL be problems (not necessarily engine related but still problems)

2. used cars are only as good as the previous owner

now to the OP if your worrying about reliability get a 240, not only is the engine more reliable but the electronics compared to the fc seem to have less problems. i really want to suggest a miata but it seems that you are young and probably think miatas are gay.

adrock3217

Ehh...I think you skimmed over the REAL reason many people like to use rotaries in aircrafts.

When a piston engines blows, seizes, etc...they stop. They just plain STOP, by either physical means or complete loss of power.

When a rotary engine blows (please think AROUND carbon lock right now, thats rare)...they keep going. When a rotary blows an apex seal, it generally takes out the engine rotor housing, the other apex seals, etc. But a 13B...has 2 rotors. The other rotor will still be making enough power to land safely! When a rotary "blows a head gasket" (coolant or oil seal), they simple lose coolant or oil at an increase rate. AGAIN, you will be able to land safely! No real loss in power!

ericgrau

iTrader: (1)

"After about 200000 miles, a 240Z usually requires an engine rebuild. "
www.biopatent.com/engine.html

RX-7 engines often blow at about 170,000 miles, according to my mechanic. If well maintained I've heard of 350k, and that's probably not a record. A well maintained rotary will almost always go well past 200k, in fact. In fairness there are "legends" of 240Z engines going to 500k.

I asked myself "Why am I fighting this? The thought that the RX-7 is unreliable keeps their price down." Then I realized, "Wait, I have a '7. I want its price to go up even more so several years down the road I can sell it." I got mine when Kelly Blue Book said $2300, and I paid $2500. Now KBB says $4000. Maybe the RX-8 did it, maybe Fast and the Furious, maybe something else. Who knows. Whatever the cause it jumped during the 6 months at the end of 2005 / start of 2006.

sykminded

amen

sykminded

The best way I can answer the whole question, is that what you've heard "can" be right, and it might not. It seems to be the theme of what everyone else has said.

Unreliable? No way. Very reliable, but when the little things go wrong, unless you really know what you're doing, those little things will cost you.

The rx-7 is a faithful high maintenance bitch. haha.

Things going wrong with it that can't be fixed? -- What? They're machines, like any other. Parts, with parts, with parts. Parts go bad, might damage other parts, replace, upgrade, hit the starter, and purrrrr......

An rx-7 might be a peice of ****. My first one was. ran like crap, fluids leakin' all over the place, kept on floodin', liked to die at idle, curved to the left a little, engine blew at 130,000.

But that was my first. My second, and now third, have been great, they've all three taught me alot, and I've learned a lot about what not to worry about, and what TO worry about.



A car, is a car, is a car. They've all got problems. Seriously. They've all got problems. Is the rx-7 a pile of crap? Maybe, but there are way bigger piles of crap. It all depends on what you want.

You want reliable? Get a toyota, or a honda. A corolla, a civic, wtvr....

If you want decently reliable fun, a good lesson on how to think outside the piston, and a unique ride with a unique look, sound, and feel, hell yeah - that's why I fell in love with these 7's.

But it's kinda like, you can't get a cradit card without good credit, but you can't get good credit without a credit card.

You really have to judge these cars for yourself after you've experienced them, and you won't REALLY know until you HAVE experienced a few. Those who talk them down, either never really were exposed to them, or only ever owned one that was a falling apart pile of crap that wasn't well taken care of.

Like I said about the high maintenance part, if you pay up, damn that bitch will PUT OUT.

lol.

Yeah.

I love these cars, obviously a lot of people do, but it's true to say one thing.... they're not for everyone.

sykminded

I'll add this though. There's nothing like sending 1st gear into the red, and second keepin' it going... already breaking freeway speeds. It's just.... fun.

Rotarctica

I've owned two '86 GXL's. The oldest FC you can get. Forgive me if this sounds like a broken record, but they've been perfectly reliable.

Both have had high miles. My first one had 194k on it and never failed to start, never flooded, never smoked and always burned a normal amount of oil.
My second one, the one I have now, has 181k on it. Doesn't smoke, always starts, and only flooded once (My fault).

The first GXL I bought for $1,400 (talked her down from the $2,000 A.P.). Cosmetically, it kicked ***. The sunroof was sticking and the passenger window switch was being stupid. Ran great.

The second GXL that I currently own, I bought for $1,300. It has a few idle issues that I've temporarily patched by raising the idle speed a bit. It has 181k on the original factory build. But the tranny was rebuilt at 160k miles.

The N/As in my opinion are extremely reliable, even with high miles. My personal thoughts are , that if it wasn't properly taken care of, a Rotary would never make it into such high miles. Rotaries, as someone has already stated, are sensitive to neglect. They'll die quickly if you neglect to take care of them. 181k doesn't really worry me, but I'm prepared to rebuild it shortly after 200k as I think that's about when it'll finally bite it.

Go look at one you're interested in. Start it up. Does it start cold okay? Immediately get out , or bring a friend, to stand in the back and check for smoking. If the car has been sitting more than three weeks, expect a bit of smoke until it warms up. That's normal.
Pop the hood while it's warming up. Is anything mickey-moused? Is something obviously leaking? Look and make sure the coolant level is normal and then close the hood again.

Take a few minutes to look over the body. Dents? Dings? Rust? Don't be afraid to look like an **** bitch. They want to sell the car, so you sure as hell look it over with a microscope. Have the wheels been curbed before? Tires okay? Any obvious underbody damage? Holes in the exhaust?

Next, look at the interior. Move the seats about, open the storage bins, make sure the mirrors adjust and the windows go down, as well as the sunroof sliding back. Radio work? Antenna come up? A/C controls all functioning? Turn signals? Brake lights? Headlights? You can be sure the A.A.S. system is working (If it's a GXL) by selecting a mode and watching the charge meter. It'll fluctuate. Don't expect it to work though..

Now you can go for a drive. Check your gauges. Got gas? Temperature gauge should sit at 1/4, maybe a TAD higher, but not half. It depends on the weather. At idle, the oil pressure should sit at 30 or a bit above. Poor pressure is not at all good. Put it in gear and take off. It's normal for the oil pressure to rise as the revs go higher. Drive for a mile or so, making a few hard stops (First warning the owner). Any car I go look at, I first tell the owner that I'm about to do a very firm launch and do a 0-60 run, taking the engine all the way to the redline. You want to also make sure you drive at highway speeds so you can feel for any excessive vibration or shaking throughout the car. If the oil pressure drops below half at high speeds, I'd walk away. Do a thorough test drive, then go back to the owner's house and shut it off. Wait like a minute and then start it again. Hot start problems?

If you know anything about cars, you should be able to make a pretty well educated decision. But the oldest FC is now 20 years going.. Don't be surprised if something breaks along your Rotary-Path. In my personal experience, the RX-7 has been the most reliable car I've ever owned.

RLD90RXGXL

It boils down to whether you want sports car fun, handling, and if you dare enough to be appreciative of the Rotary design. Sure, I have a Camaro in the garage for classic night and a Suzuki beater for snowy days, but the 90 RX7 is my favorite. I've had it 7 years, still has the same engine and paint. It has 125,000 miles and still runs and looks like new. Like any car you like, it's as good to you as the service you give it. Get a well maintained stock one and you can happily modify it later.

KhanArtisT

iTrader: (2)

lol, **** that. An NA can be had for $2k now, wtf else are you going to buy with that? A tew fody or a Honda?

JSmith0101

iTrader: (6)

I'm 19, had my n/a FC for ~18 months now. For a car that's almost 20, she's bee ngood. The original starter went TU, and the last owner fudged up the rear driver's side caliper good enough for me to get a new one. After about 178,000 miles, the motor died, and a new one was put in shortly befoer I bought her. All things considered, she handles damn good, for stock suspension.

I've begun modding her, adding a catback setup, as well as a test pipe, and doing some minor intake and electrical.

Buy a 1987 Honda, you'll want a 7 more.

And on behalf of all young enthusiats, you really offended us. Some of us are true enthusiats, others are flash in the pan ricer losers, either way, we still deserve some respect. Now, if you buy a car that has just been fucked up, walk away, it's that simple.

A 45 year old can do just as much damage as a 16 year old.

Truthfully, both opinions are one in the same, that the 7 can't handle it. Believe us, all of us, everybody on this forum, the 7 can handle it.

Black91n/a

Yea, but on average an 18 year old will be harder on the car than a 45 year old. Even as a responsible youngster I say the same thing. I'm 22 and I do all the required maintenance and then some, and I don't senslessly beat on it on the street like some do, but I autocross and track drive it which is very hard on it. The key is to have some mechanical sympathy when driving. Being poor, having it be your only car and having to fix it yourself encourages that.

The worst things you can do is run a cold engine hard, run it past redline, run it with no or insufficient oil or overheat it. If those haven't happened then it should be ok as long as it's not too old.

As with any old car, condition is KEY to it's reliability.

sykminded

I remember on my search for a seven I walked away from SO MANY damn cars. Most of them, you could tell, just didn't know what they had, the poor car was starting to fall apart, and they were just trying to sell the problems. I felt sorry for the cars I had to pass up, but what can you do?

These people were young and old alike, it's true, age doesn't equate to anything. It comes down to the person. Ironically, all my vehicles, true, I bought from middle aged men.

When it comes to age, I think the reason it seams to lean toward older is that by the time you're middle aged, you've got a career down, you're probably making a good amount of money. All the vehicles I own, I had to go into the hills, the posh parts of town, and greet guys that you could tell had the money to take extremely good care of their stuff.

But it was pretty damn difficult to find a seven unmodified, and in good condition.

But I'm 21. I don't call myself an enthusiast. I prefer to call it an "obsessive hobby," but I love my 7, and I love my other cars too. I do my best to take care of them. I fix my own problems, I get my hands dirty and I learn the innards of my machines. I get involved, and I enjoy the pain.

But I will also argue "for" the claim that there are a LOT of young kids out there that just wanna get a fast car. Now, these people are usually the one's you see beating down civics, celica's, and some unfortunate 240s's with huge spoilers and a bolt-on muffler from Autozone(EDIT: and don't forget the altezza lights from ebay!). They think they're "cool" or something, I dunno. And it's some of these people that get their hands on rx-7's. They have no idea what they're in for, they have no idea how to really take care of any car, out of mere naivity and ignorance, and their rx-7, like any car, after all the abuse, falls apart. It can be true that simply for being "young" - they haven't yet been exposed to the "education" (not necissarily school) that they need to understand this ****. Some people are late bloomers.

Some never learn.

But this can also go for anyone. People young and old, that just don't know how to take care of a machine. People who just aren't inclined to learn this stuff, or for some reason (like my damn sister) think that simple things like oil, brakes, etc. are "over their head" or some ****. These people might not drift their cars, they might be the prudes that actually drive 65 on the freeway!

I think when it comes to any old car, (or truck, as I learned when I acquired my toyota 4x4) It's just a gamble. You have to search.

But a 7 is certainly no old f150. If it has been taken care of, it will show, it will drive strong. Mine do, and I hope to keep them running that way for as long as is in my capacity.

Word on "get an 87 honda, you'll want the 7 more" - I had a 91 honda accord. It was my third car, and I thought it was fast. lol. I had a lot to learn. I wasted a whole lot of money on that damn car too.

JSmith0101

iTrader: (6)

Okay... obsessive hobbiest works for me. I just don't ever let my GF hear me call it a hobby, it's something I do to unwind and spend lots of cash.

I'll admit, I knew this was a fast car when I bought it. I never thought of drifting though, I always saw mountain passes and twisty roads.

Being my first car and my only car, it's one hell of a trip. The last owner sucked the fun out of the car by making me have to fix things. Like $250 was spent righting the major wrongs. I still love my baby. A car is mechanical, you can fix it. I barely worked on cars before this, and still don;t have all the terms down that I should, but slowly and surely, you learn.

The 7 is a learning experience and a rush. Buy one, work on it, have fun.

Rule of thumb: Make it work well then make it look good.

ericgrau

iTrader: (1)

I had no money to get my first car, so I got an RX-7 at tow auction for $380. I got it mixed up with a Mazda 323 or something. - Just wanted something cheap & reliable to get from point A to point B. The RX-7 blew my mind. 200k miles, looked like garbage, ran great. Grew up in a Honda family, loved economical Civics, wasn't into sports cars. Not anymore.