driftxsequence

iTrader: (8)

okay so im 16, i just got off my permit and i can drive on my own, right now im stuck driving my moms tahoe, and occasionally my dads x5 when my moms out..ive loved rx7s ever since i was like 10 and now i want to get one!

right now at this point i know an FD is out of the quesiton due to reliability and expenses (ill have a minimum wage job hopefully and have to pay 1/2 my car insurance) so im now looking at FCs...(theyre also more in my price range)

what my question is, would an FC be an OKAY first car? i know the rotary isnt super reliable, and ill probly baby the car if i get one. but do you think if i picked up one, not in mint condition, but something with some miles on it and some wear, would be okay? i dont need to drive across the country and back, just something for school and a little show off ( and something to dump money into instead of my never ending PC)

also ive lurked here for a while and understand the normal coolant flushes etc....OH one more thing, ive read more about FD's than FC's is there anything special i need to know?

so could i please get your opinions? drive me in the right way possibly? :]

veedubbed

I hope you know how to work on your own car or your dad does, because these cars wouldn't be cheap to have to take to a garage everytime something breaks.

boma

All you need to know is that you need to save money for tools because you're going to encounter problems on these cars most of the time if its stock. You don't want to have a headache of taking it to a mechanic if it not something major.

Especially the dreaded 3800 hesitation, both FD and FC's experience this, but in my opinion, its easier to tune a FC than a FD, but FD's are better looking. Just that nobody wants to spend more than 12k on a FD if its stock and have to deal with problems later unless you have a really nice-*** job (which you do not at your age). FD's are overrated in terms of price range, **** you can get a used WRX for the same price and less hassle.

FD's are for purists and die-hards, but in all honesty, MOST of us would like to own a FD at least once in our lifetime.

magus2222

iTrader: (22)

im with boma on this one, im on my second car, and my fc is by far more of a money ***** and requires more work, time, and devotion than my datsun, at least i can sleep at night knowing that my l28e wont die on me on the freeway the next day.
(if anyone knows anything about datsun, is that they run like ****, but they dont stop running)
anywho, back to the subject
ya, i waited till i have some good enough income for my fc, but datsun parts are harder to find in good condition, but are cheaper. fc's are great, but they are like an immature teenage girl, they require WAY too much time, and often money.
if you have a minimum wage job, you can get things to work out, good luck buying a decent car though, i basically stole mine at 1000$ but had to rebuild have the damned engine.
it helps that my father and i are into cars, and between us have over 5g in tools.

and i dont know boma, i would take my fc over an fd any day, i just need an FD budget, LOL.

peace

driftxsequence

iTrader: (8)

to both, yes my dad has a whollllle drawer full of stuff, he basically used to be a mechanic and did his own rebuilds when he was way younger. so that wont be a problem, the 3800 rpm problem can be fixed by grounding right? but does that require picking up the engine practically? or just other spots etc. and yes i would LOVE to own an FD and i know i will one day, its just right now thats way out of my area.

oh also....CAR INSURANCE...is it going to kill me? do you think theyll classify it as a sports car? or a classic since its over 20 years old??? what are your thoughts on that

xD thank you guys


also to what you said, money issue wont be too bad since im a good student and my dad would spot me the money in a pinch if i had a big problem like that. and i would love to be able to rebuild the engine and say hey..i did that!!

stupidkid0304

My first car was an fc. Same as you, wanted rotary but rx8 was too much, went down another notch and the fd was also too much but now i love my fc and so i think it should be no problem having an fc as a starter car. Don't baby it. I babied it for a while but i live for the moment that needle hits the red =]

Renton

iTrader: (17)

I've had my FC for a year now (its my second car) and its my daily driver.

So far the only problem i've had with it is a busted door handle (I think some homeless guy tryed to break in to it).

Anyway, if you search carefully you can find a good/ reliable FC.

With that said, I've got some friends with FCs that i've never seen running well at all...

DO YOUR HOMEWORK BEFORE YOU BUY! lol


oh and my insurance is like $50 a month (not bad huh)

boma

Its not that bad as it seems to owning these cars, just that you gotta have a 2nd car if you want to work on this on your own. I have a mitsubishi starion as a 1st car and its highly modified as a weekend beast, my daily driver is a 3000GT, and of course my dream car since I turned 16, my very own turbo II.

If you don't want headaches, go stand-alone, megasquirt, AEM, motec (sch-yah, right), or a piggyback like a greddy, apexi and HKS.

texFCturboII

iTrader: (17)

insurance is pretty cheap for these things. don't baby it, these cars love to be abused. get it, love it, get another one!

DaMaCCa

iTrader: (1)

yeah.. you guys say cheap insurance!! live in ny for a month ha!! 2000 a year on my baby ofcourse i have the young driver thing going against me. I believe it goes under sports coupe for insurance purposes, not sports car. My fc is my second car, im coming from a honda and have seemed to have no reliability issues. I have yet to fix my 3800 hesitation but everything else is good. Bought the car with only 62000 on it, so its got a way to go.
They are very good cars, ofcourse you are going to get much more reliability out of an N/A as apposed the the TII but that should be pretty obvious.

driftxsequence

iTrader: (8)

thanks guys just makes me want one even more!!!!

Eple

Read the FAQ, do research, read the archive, do more research, get a better job, then you're somewhat set. Personally I wouldn't want my kid's first car to be a 7, I'd rather them own something like a civic as their first car. If you're really adamant (spelling?) about owning an RX-7, the 1st gens are also awesome to look into. You can find them for super cheap, easy to work on, and not as many headaches as the other 2 brothers. Also the feel like a big licensed go kart