I am in the process of gathering information to sue the dealer, who sold me my car.

The story is, i bought what i thought to be a 1986 RX-7 (series 4) Turbo II, with 150,000 kms.

I am sueing on the basis of misrepresentation. I wish to sue for the amount which will cover legal costs and the difference between the representations.

I have substantial evidence that the oddometer was turned back from 197,000kms+ to it's current figure (150000+).I currently have investigators gathering information on the 'odd' oddometer. Which has a fingerprint on it.

A quick check on the car's history revealed it's had at least two engine transplants. Which made me suspicious of the originality of the turbo. The first engine number i found was: E23031 . This engine is no longer in the car. The engine currently in the car is: E31437.
The car has black molding on the side (black strips). Black mirrors. I have searched through the archives and found some usful information. But beause the main component, being the dash was changed i could not find out anyting beside the differences in suspension setup. It's currently a toss up between the GXL model and the turbo II. Differences are shown below:
AAS (auto ajdusting suspension) - I have a sport/ normal button on the console next to the e-brake.
Heavy duty suspension - I don't know how to look for the differerences.

I also suspect there is no LSD, i corner hard, with heavy throttle, but very little chirpping noise from the tyres.
Also there i think there is a difference in gearboxes, i would like to know how to find out.

If it helps the VIN number on the car is: FC1031100993. And it was claimed to be an australian delivered model. I looked the VIN up in the owner's manual found on iluvmyrx7.com and it does not correspond to the turbo model.

any info would help, i need as much as i can because it will be used in court. Thanks alot for reading and/or contributing guys.

 

Dude, Mazda didnt even offer a turbo in 1986 in the U.S.(not sure about aus.), that should be your first clue. And the moulding and mirrors were color matched on all models but the base. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

I don't think I can help you out much, but it sux that someone would do that. Anywat, the few things I can tell you are as follows:

LSD Check - Jack both rear wheels up and make sure the e-brake is off. Rotate one wheel. If both wheels rotate in the same direction, you have LSD. If they rotate opposite each other, you have open. I didn't even know any 86's came with LSD.

Suspension - The two different suspension setups are generally referred to as "hard" and "soft." This is easy to check for unless the hubs were changed out. the "soft" suspension has 4-bolt 4x114.5" pattern, and the "hard" or sport has 5-bolt hubs.

i don't know about the color matching (I have base and I have the black trim and mirrors). i would also agree that there was no turbo in '86.

 

How much did you pay for the car and is it in good shape?

If so why are you sueing again.

You did buy the car didn't u?

 

The moldings were not color matched on the 86-88 cars. Unless you have an 88AE.

 

thanks for the quick replys guys
will check for LSDs soon

moldings i'll let pass
is there any other differences in brakes?
clutches?
etc?

and can someone confirm the gearbox differences please.

suspension seems right, 5-stud, but could have been a brake conversion.

I paid 11,500 AUD. Lower than average price for aussie s4. It's about 6000 USD.

Apart from a trashed interior It's in good shape

obiously you don't love your car as much as i do:

I AM SUEING BECAUSE I'M A CAR ENTHUSIST AND DEMAND THAT THE CAR WILL PERFORM.

senario for you: you buy a hot little lancer/ mirage coupe, with a heavy modified legnum engine. no brake upgrades just a gawd damn quick car. sooner or later you will have an accident. brakes not capable, gearbox gives, clutch gives, drive shafts give. Any number of things can happen. If you want a turbo car, you buy a turbo car, not some cheap mock-up.

if this guys sells a few of these a year, he'll make a few bucks, and he'll **** a few people off in the process.

It's MISSREPRESENTATION!

 

Now I see why you're so **** off.

$6K is kinda expensive for a car like that...

 

This car sounds like the hybrid result of 16 years of parts swaps and upgrades.
If it looks good - runs good - has good stuff in it, the exact model description is not a big deal.
Unless your are a purist collector, just drive it & grin..

 

You can tell if you have AAS by looking at the front strut tops. They will have black dust caps with wires running into them. You may or may not have the switches for that run into the cabin....


How much did he charge you for this car? If it was an australian delivered car, It's possible that it was a turbo since j-spec was always turbo.

 

Most of these things have been said already but I will restate them:

-Turbo models started with the '87 model year
-Mirrors were "aero" shaped with a hole in them and were body color matched.
-I believe the seats were a little different than the GXL (I am not sure about this one)
-Turbo transmissions were a little larger and had more ribs on the outside, where 86-88 N/A transmissions were more smooth (89 and up were a little different). Do a search on Ebay if someone is selling a turbo one and an n/a one you can see the differences.

 

i know in japan that they did not have color matched mirrors, and that they were all turbo regardless of model. i also know in aus you got the na versions like we did, but your packages might be different. in the us all turbos are fully loaded, but in the rest of the world this is not the case. you can buy a t2 with no sunroof, base model seats etc.
good luck, this is something you should have checked for before you paid for the car

mike

 

very hard to find info on australian models guys
can someone do a match on the VIN

according to the US manual it's non-turbo

i have AAS

and we do have n/a's (though rare) in australia.


purist collector/ keen mountain climber who needs money for equipment. (if you get my 'drift')

 

That is only for US spec models. Turbo RX-7s were available since 84 in Japan/Aus/NZ

 

The AAS was available on Jspec and Espec Turbos as well as Aspec and Espec NAs. I don't know enough about the austrailian models to know what models they got, but I imagine you got a mix of Espec and Jspec cars.

Normally all 86 models had black side moulding and black mirrors including the Turbos.

This is all the 86 Jspec models that I have pictures of:




And it should be pretty easy to tell if it was a Turbo, does it have the vented hood???

 

The VIN coding would be the way to go. I think the coding is universal for all countries, but you may want to contact Mazda USA and Mazda (Australia) to be sure. They should be able to look up the stock "features" for the car.

Ask them to send you a document/letter (on company letterhead) which would state the basic "features" of your vehicle.

That will handle the LSD, suspension, and "turbo" engine issue.

After that, run a Carfax to check the past automotive history. Smog checks (along w/ odometer readings) usually show up. Also, check w/ the DMV to see if you can dig up a odometer history on the vehicle.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

 

In Case everyone hasn't figured it out yet this car is in Aus, not North America.. carfax and the like don't exist in AUS.

 

It sounds like he already has too much time and effort put into this to just drop it, and if he can get a bum dealer to stop selling b.s. cars then good for him. There are enough used car lots trying to rip people off as it is.

 

I know, but it seemed like the car was imported to the US

"And it was claimed to be an australian delivered model."

[YMMIJ]: Where is the car currently? Are you in the US?

 

You should have your attorney do this research. This web site is primarily used by North Americans, and you will get conflicting information due to differences in vehicle models. You may want to contact David Morris for leads on information that you can actually use in court.
http://www.dmrh.com.au/

Also, note that ISO 3779 and ISO 3780 cover international VIN codes, but your local Mazda dealership will probably be able to provide better information.

BTW, the user profile fields on this web site are for your benefit. The less people know about you, your car, and your location, the less they will be able to help answer your questions.

 

I would go to a Mazda dealer and have them run the vin number and all that good stuff. OR I would go to a reputable rotary shop or two and ask them about your car. Those two sources should give you good info about your car.