So here's the deal...

My friend has a black 91 rx7, non turbo, for sale for $700 and I was wondering if I should buy it. As far as I know, the car has been sitting for about a year and a half and won't start. He had one of his buddies (not in any way, shape, or form a mechanic) check it out and he said it needed new fuel injectors, a new battery and a rebuilt transmission (the car is auto by the way). I was told the rest of the car works fine. I recently asked a mechanic I work with about it and he told me the injectors are probably fine and it might just need new spark plugs and stuff.I was hoping to get the car up and running for under $1200. I was wondering what you guys think and if there is anything that I should look for or anything that might come up from it sitting so long. Any advice will help, Thanks.

 

lol, how would his buddy know it needs a rebuilt auto tranny if the car doesn't start?

If you check the faq, please read the 'howto buy an fc' link. extremley usefull.

Not starting is usually a very bad sign, I would personally fear the worst in wich the engine is blown. Doing proper tests while your there will tell you if the engine is still good and its just something else.

Personally I would steer clear of the seven if its your first one ever, and it doesn't work. The auto trannys are pretty shitty, trust me you want a manual one..
Look around some more on one that actually runs and in wich you can test drive it. Print out the guide in the faq and do all the tests. Its better to learn about your car when its working than when its dead...

 

he's probably right about it having bad injectors. its super common and causes excessive flooding, which sucks. just spend the like 50 bucks total to have them sent somewhere and cleaned and rebuilt.

 

And do a transmission swap while you're at it.

 

Hmm... I also have a ‘Is this car worth it’ question. There is this convertible 89FC with 160k mi on it, it is an automatic and the seller wants $2.5k for it. The seller says there is no engine trouble, or mechanical defects. The only problems he is aware of is that every once in a while the stereo and turn signal/headlight switches don’t function properly, they don’t turn on, or it takes a few tries to turn them on. He says the car has no rust and is in very good condition.

I haven’t had the chance to check this car out myself yet, I would have to drive a little over 200 miles to get there, from this small bit of info, do you guys think the car worth the 2.5k? Do you think an engine with that many miles has much life left in it? And is the automatic transmission in RX’s really that shitty? (could someone explain why this is so, or give me a link to where it may have been discussed before on these forums please)

 

Or you can search and do it yourself.

 

I have searched, maybe I should have mentioned that. I wasn't sure if it had been discussed or not that is why I had thrown the 'may' in there when I wrote "where it MAY have been discussed before" Maybe I missed the topic when I searched... If someone doesn't know if or where it was discussed either, then dont worry about it. .. If someone who does think auto transmissions suck maybe you could be so kind to explain why you think that for me, thanks.

 

Arg, I was just saying search because its been covered thousands of times. Why should anyone have to do the same thing you can do?

Be creative in the search title.

They just plain suck and espcially in a convertable it'll be terrible. You will have the same HP ratings but downlow it will be pitifull. The convertable is also a heavier car, combine that with a ***** transmission, you're going to be lacking for performance and fun. (And will have tranny problems if you choose to modify).

For a 400 mile round trip car you can do better if you want performance. If you want a cruiser its fine.