ok guys.. today i'm going to go look at an 86 rx7 turbo, 5 spd with 152k miles. what's a decent price for this car? what kinds of things do i need to look at? i'm kind of hesitant to buy a car that old, how reliable are they?

 

i thought they didnt make any tII's in 86?

 

I didnt either.

Anyways, with that many milage you will want it to have a recently rebuilt motor or the one that is in there is probably ready to let go. Get a compression tester and remove that little valve on it which keeps the gauge @ max psi. You want to beable to see each compression pulse as there are 3 faces on a rotor. Seeing the compression of the good face isnt what you want. You want to see the worst face. Check the turbo for shaft play. Get an aftermarket boost gauge and hook that up and do a few up hill 4th gear runs pushing the car. If everything is stock you should see ~5.5psi boost for a stock series 4 turbo ii. Make sure no gears grind, make sure the lsd is working, make sure the clutch doesnt slip, make sure there are no leaks from brake fluid resivour/oil pan etc. Get the car completely warmed up then shut it off. Wait a few min then start it again. If it floods and wont start, that = bad. Can be caused by dirty injectors (costs ~100$ to have them cleaned). Ask how often buddy chances the oil and all that crap. Pull the dipstick out and smell it. If it smells like gas the car floods, causing the oil to thin. Not the best thing for these cars. Also ask about coolant/oil consumption. If he says the car doesnt eat 1 drop of oil hes lying, these cars inject oil into the engine to help lubricate. I think a rule of thumb is 1 quart every 2500 miles? Oil should be changed at about 3000m. Ask if he uses synethetic oil, make sure he doesnt, it causes excess carbon build up in the motor (its injected into it). Jack the car up and pull on the wheels to make sure the wheel bearings arent shot. Ugh.... make sure ALL eletrical switches work. Make sure all the washer fluid nozzles spray properly (they can be adjusted with a flat head), make sure everything is working right.

 

There were a few in the US, Official release wasn't till 87. but afew 86's came over in the initial shipments from Japan

 

No they didnt make 86 t2's so you might want to check up on the year or see if it was a 13bt conversion
reliability wise you need to see how well the car was taken care of if the interior is junk then chances are the owner didnt take care of the motor...150k and up is when turbo motors tend to go out so you might want to start thinking about getting it replaced and other than that you need to learn how to do your own work because chances are no one will work on your car or charge you sky high prices to do so....