Hello!
As you can see I am as new as they come to this forum and rotary engines SOOO... can you help?

I currently have a 91 Honda Prelude Si and I am looking to sell it and buy a FC. I found one on eBay today which is well in my price range because I am looking to spend what I get out of my lude (2200 - 2500). My job right now sucks and I get paid just enough to get by (gas, insurance, and random small things basically) but over the summer I make quite a bit. So if you guys could look at the car and tell me if it is a deal or no that'd be great. I am aware it will need the missing parts, I am okay with that, I am just wondering if I will need to dump and major amount of money into it within 2 months.

Thanks,
Joergen

 

If you're looking for tips and common problems to check for when buying an FC, the FAQ stickied post at the top of the forums has lots of good stuff. It is what I referred to when I was looking at the FC (rx7s in general actually) market.

If you are barely getting by and don't have a bunch of extra money, I wouldn't advise relying on an RX-7. They can be reliable, just as any other properly maintained car can, however they will usually be more expensive to maintain (vs a honda civic or your prelude for example); And for ~$2500 you're going to need to put money into a tune-up most likely which is a few hundred dollars.. not to mention the extra gas and oil it goes through.. and the higher insurance premium.. (vs your said honda prelude). Just keep these things in mind, it would suck to be out a crappy job because your car is broken down and you can't afford to fix it.. thats a crappy situation.

 

you took the words right out of my mouth..

 

Links to buyers guide in FAQ. You can also google them. You can also have a mechanic check it out to be safe, even after using a buyer's guide. It's gonna be, what, $50? And it could save you hundreds or thousands compared to fixing a lemon. After that I'd buy a Haynes manual and do every last thing in chapter 1 (scheduled maintenance) under the assumption that it hasn't been done before. www.kbb.com will give you blue book values. Right now it's around $4k. If you find one with problems it may cost much more to fix than what you save, so always check carefully first.

If you get a bad one you'll have to keep blowing money you don't have on repairs. If you get a good one I'd still set aside maybe $300-$400 in case something random comes up, and (only when you first get the car) a few hundred more on top of that to do all the maintenance mentioned. That'll save you money in the long run and keep you from getting stranded.

I've had mine for a year and a half. I've had 3 things go wrong, all 3 were bad when I bought it and then discovered later. Totalled maybe $700, only because I paid a mechanic for 2 of them. Bad fuel pulsation dampener, bad oil cooler lines and bad alternator. The fuel pulsation dampener lasts 100,000 miles, the oil cooler lines last a lot longer than that and alternators go bad regardless of the car you drive. Not a single new problem has come up since I bought it. In the mean time my dad spent $600 on a timing belt and water pump for his Acura Integra, plus a few other minor fixes (for a bit more $). My mom's Civic had a blown head gasket, $1200. My sister's Buick had a bad tranny; dumped the $1000 car and got another $5,000 Buick. The RX-7 has almost exactly the same scheduled maintenance as other cars, except there is not a single expensive item like the timing belt. My clutch is new, so basically I'll be waiting however many years until a brake cylinder or water pump or something goes out. Check the FAQ for gas mileage info.

Some people here buy lemons and blame it on the car Almost seems like half the forum members have reliable cars and the other half don't. That's why getting a buyer's guide is critical for any old car, not just buying any cheap running car you see. Otherwise you'll become like half the people here who pay a fortune on repairs. Even when they hear the other half say, "All you have to do is maintain it and it'll be reliable", they twist it and say "Ah, the maintenance costs more." No, scheduled maintenance is scheduled - you always pay the same since it is done when nothing at all is broken. And the schedule is pretty much the same for every car model. "Maintenance" is not "repairs" like you're trying to imply it is.

 

Thanks guys. It seems to be all the same stuff as a Prelude because both cars are older and that is what I was thinking. To Woode, my job now sucks job because it is my winter job and I usually don't have very many expenses in the winter but my summer job (starts in 2 weeks) pays really well so I'm not too worried about affording things after I sell my Prelude.
I will go check out the FAQS, thanks again.

 

autotrader for the win.. just make sure u go and look at it first :P

 

more or less cars.com... what do you guys think? I emailed him for more pics and other stuff. I will have a mechanic check it out first though.

http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail...4&aff=national

don't buy it pleeeasseeee

 

Umm all I can see is a pic of a turbo II. Check it out in person and find out yourself and/or get a mechanic to look at it. Price is cheap, so could be a great deal or could have major problems. Go find out. EDIT: looks like he got hit in the front right fender, might want to see if the frame's bent at all or if it's just superficial. That's just one thing, though. You gotta check it out in person.

 

Whichever FC you are considering, when you go to take a look at it, you might want to check these things out.
http://aaroncake.net/RX-7/buy1.htm
http://aaroncake.net/RX-7/buy2.htm

That should give you an idea about bargaining and about what may need to be replaced shortly after purchasing the vehicle.

 

Is Buy mine FTW!

 

^^ I'm trying to go boosted and you are about a 24 hour drive away....

Already did, thanks though.

Well where the car is located is a 4 hour trip so that's why I would want to just have a mechanic check it out. Obviously I would prefer to check it out myself but honestly I know very little about Mazdas, so a mechanic would probable do better. I did see the dent on the fender, I am going to ask about that. It looks superficial and repairable with a new fender so it's okay.

 

Any TII for 2 grand is going to be in need of some serious work. The bare minimum to get a running, driveable TII in decent shape is around 3 grand. But who knows, you could get lucky. Just make sure it gets checked out first.

 

That's what I am hoping for but if this one is no good, whatever, I'll keep looking.

 

Check the wiring, I got my FC for $750 and spent 6 days redoing the wireing, from front to back.

 

Wiring what... and why?

 

Be ready for major headaches!!!!

 

You do know that rx7's have rotarys right? I HIGHLY doubt, in fact I 100% GUARANTEE that the mechanic you go to will not have a clue about anything engine related.

 

Yes I know they are rotary... I am looking at a service that Cars.com offers (where the car is listed) to see if the car is in good condition.
http://consumer.sgsauto.com/(4akql5r...nspection.aspx

Yes? No?

 

Im also looking for an FC and autotrader seems to be the place to find a good one...

 

That car from cars . com sold. I did talk to the guy though, and he said that there was nothing wrong with it, he just really needed to get rid of it. Oh well, I'll just keep looking.

 

try to find some local rotorheads in your city or not too far from it. meet up at resturant or fast food place. post on your forum in the area your states in for ex. im in california so i'd post in the west forum for questions and such. go to a local meets.
read alot about the car i encourage you. know it like your prelude if you've done work on it. LOL your prelude a DD? at least it'll save you gas very good thing and have 7 as your weekend car = > hehe

 

scratch buying a haynes manual you could just use the factory service manual online located here

http://www.rx7city.com/88manual.htm

theres my input

 

Ya FSM works too, but I find a printed manual is more handy. Haynes is especially good for the basic stuff. For $20 it's worth it anyway.

An RX-7 specialist would be nice, but any mechanic should have little trouble checking the car. Most stuff is not engine related, and for whatever is engine related the symptoms will be similar to a piston engine car. He'll just misdiagnose it and won't know how to fix it. "Blown head gasket" is really blown coolant seals, etc. If he wants to check compression tell him to remove the check valve and look for 3 seperate bounces on the gauge. A piston engine compression checker with the check valve in place only gets 1 number per piston; you need 3 numbers on each rotor for a rotary engine. If he uses the compression checker as is, the check valve will make it hold the highest number and he won't know what the other 2 are. IIRC 90-120 psi is good (higher is better).

 

I'm trying my best to basically study these cars. It's the same as when i was looking into buying a Prelude except maybe a little bit more complicated. As for a DD... I live downtown, work downtown, and hang out downtown so my DD for probably the whole summer will be my bicycle. BTW downtown Traverse City is only a 1/2 - 3/4 mile long so yeeeaahhh, no car needed.

 

I went and test drove that car last September. Let's just say it's best you didn't waste your time looking at it. The thing seriously had more rust than metal on the underbody and under the carpet in the hatch. It would have made a great parts car, as the interior was immaculate and it had only 88,000 miles on the drivetrain. I wouldn't have trusted it as a drivable vehicle though. Good luck finding a TII, I'm looking for one too, even though I wasted all my money on my rust bucket Sport .