Hey i’m new here and i was looking at buying an FC. It’s an NA GXL with 130 000 kms on it so engine will need a rebuild in the near future. there’s a dent on the front fender/bumper and only aftermarket parts are a magma flow exhaust and an ecu that was swapped in because of an old failing metering pump. 3rd owner had it for a year and before that was an old guy since 1992. I have a friend who’s been helping me with looking for a car but he’s not as familiar with RX7s or rotary’s so i came here. My dream car is an FC so im willing to deal with the headaches but im not too sure if i can afford the headaches. An engine rebuild will be needed soon and that’ll probably run me around 7-10k. I was planning on a body kit but my friend recommended not to as stock ones are worth more and it’ll cost a lot to find new body panels when i’m done with the kit. I don’t mind keeping it stock but is it worth it? It’s listed at 11k and a 3 or 4 hour drive away. All prices are in CAD and i am in Greater Vancouver. I plan on winter driving it unless it gets bad. Good snow tires and an underbody spray down once a week is what my friend does with his winter cars.

 

seems a bit high for a car with some significant body damage. in the US i think a good clean non turbo should be in the $10k range USD but i have been seeing more folks trying to get that for boned out hoopties lately than not. i've also seen some decent cars that need some TLC for significantly less in price, so the market is kind of all over the place right now.

personally i would just do maintenance and drive it until the motor is done. 110k km isn't near finished for a rotary non turbo, i have seen plenty with 300k km on clock.

the rebuild price also seems high but i am out of touch with current prices. 10 years ago i was rebuilding engines for $1500 plus $1k for engine removal and reinstalls. inflation really has gotten out of hand though.

 

Does it NEED a rebuild, or are you just making an assumption that it does? Do you have accurate compression numbers, is it burning coolant? Miles alone do not dictate rebuild intervals.

Is it worth it? - I don't know, it's easy for other people to spend or not spend your money. I will say this, if you don't have reliable transportation as your MAIN daily driver then my advice is no. Anything 40 years old is going to be unreliable, rotary or not, by most standards.

These cars have transitioned from fun, cheap sports car to unique enthusiast owner cars. I don't recommend them to anyone who wants to casually own one. It requires money, time, research, dedication and all in heaps beyond the casual type, bordering on obsessive. Otherwise, it'll end up another rotting hulk in a driveway.

 

can't put enough emphasis on this last part. rotaries have never been the most reliable cars, add in their current age and level of their arthritis and i would never recommend one as a daily driver.

you basically need to be a mechanic to own one nowadays. paying a shop for repairs will financially sink you(IF you can find a shop that isn't scummy scambait. NEVER pay in full up front, if your rotary specialist requires full up front payment they are going to sink like the titanic and take you with them). hauling a car hours to thousands of miles every time an issue pops up is a great way to learn to hate your car.

granted i think the FC non turbo S4/S5 is probably the most reliable rotary EVER made, they still have plenty of quirks and common issues.

 

Yes i would assume i’ve got maybe 20~50 000 kms before a rebuild. Not pushing it would get me to the higher end of that so roughly 5 ish years? Damage is just cosmetic and minimal rust, that’s why im really considering it. other options around me are 30k CAD for a clean one or 20k for a rust bucket but completely riced out.

 

As far as i know nothing is burning and compression is fine *for now*. I’m just assuming with how rotaries are that in the next 5 years it’ll need a rebuild. As for the daily driver question, school will be starting up soon and the most i’d drive it would be a couple times a week to drop off at my girlfriends house before i take transit because parking on campus is just stupid. So it’ll be a weekend car that i take out occasionally during the week. If worst goes to worst i might be able to take my dads car and if not then im taking the bus anyways.

 

that's kind of ridiculous, i could see those numbers for near mint cars, maybe...

 

what makes you say that shops that make you pay in full will ruin you? just curious because i’ve never heard that before