Its been my dream car for 10+ yrs, and I've gone through an RX8, a Boss 302, and an E92 M3 to come full circle looking for an FC to keep forever. I have found 2 black 88s for sale, for similar prices, and with similar mileage. Both are out-of-state, but one is modded and the other one isnt. My question is, and I tried to find a thread with this topic, which is wiser to buy if the price were the same.

1st choice:
88 T2 68k miles. 3 owners
Blue Cloth interior 6/10 shape
Black exterior 7/10 shape
Turbo-back exhaust; silicone lines and hoses; BOV; alum radiator; 30k on new engine (Atkins, no receipt); S4 taillights
Supposedly runs and functions perfectly other than passenger window and rear wiper
Asking $6000

2nd choice
1988 T2 72k miles. 2 owners (current owner 20+ years)
Black leather interior 9/10 shape (other than cracked drivers seat leather)
Black exterior 8/10 shape
No mods other than a radio that supposedly doesn't work for being overpowered.
4K miles on Mazdatrix rebuild
Asking $7500, will take $6500

It'll be my DD and eventually to take to Hallet raceway for some HST days. Id like a 250-300 whp DD eventually and can throw ~$1500 a year in mods at it.

Would you buy the modded FC and save on mods you might do anyway, or go with the clean stock T2?

Thanks

 

does the second one have the receipt to prove it was rebuilt by atkins?

if so, to me its a no brainer, second option

 

Well this is your choice practically, I mean via interior color and all that. Honestly if I were you I'd get the 2nd one. You're at 4k on a supposedly "rebuilt" motor (I believe he has receipts) so it's just barely had any fun on her... Yes you're spending more on a unmolested one, but you can do the mods YOU want. I bought my FD modded and I wished I would have waited, but since my rebuild I was able to choose what I wanted. But everyone is different =)

 

2nd one was rebuilt 4k ago by Mazdatrix in CA and has receipts. The other one doesnt have receipt for the 30k old rebuild, but i guess has a transmission rebuild receipt.

Thx for the feedback, folks.

 

^ This

Receipt or it didn't happen.

 

'88TII didn't come with black interior, only in 10AE.
Also, finding '88 cars with mileage that low, the cars should be in great condition????????

 

i think the first one is my car because of how you described the transmission rebuild, rear whiper and passenger window, but mine has 69k miles, s5 tail lights, and grey interior
if it is my car the price isnt final, was mainly looking on trading it for a sr20 240sx or a 300zx tt, daily driver , runs without any problems, have tons or receipts showing maintenance



1988 Mazda RX7 TURBO II with Low Miles

price is obo

 

Yeah, it is yours! Haha small world.

Anyway, I am leaning towards option 2 in CA, even though it is quite a bit more $$$. My friend that lives in CA saw it for me today. Compression test and PPI scheduled tomorrow. Turns out AC doesnt work, though. May have to re negotiate..

 

ok man, good luck!, hope you get it because these are great cars and i dont see many with low miles like these two.

 

Thx, good luck with your sale.

 

John at Rotary Reliability and Racing said compression is 105 on front, 110 on rear rotors at WOT and engine hot.

A/C isnt working, but doesnt know why and "doesnt do ACs."

Fan clutch is disengaging early and so it gets hot easy if not driving. Needs a new fan assembly?

Sellers are firm on the $6500. I am thinking of walking away, even though i dropped $145 on the PPI and compression test =/

Opinions?

 

 

Where is that located? I would pick that up in a second.

 

That's hella clean!! Well the A/C we're talking about 88 so that's 27 years let alone R-12 so I wouldn't be concerned about the A/C (though you might delete it anyways)

I'm sorry I don't remember too much on the 2nd gen, but didn't the fan attach to the waterpump? I think the single pronged sensor was always a bugger? But switching to a electric fan is usually a common thing anyways

At least you're out on $145 now then $500 later down the road.. It's good that you go the compression tests and all that done before purchasing.

I would definitely wait for someone else to chime... I'm by a piston guy trying to learn doritos

 

Its in SoCal. Id fly out and drive it back. My CU already cut the check... I'll see if they come down $500.

 

Yeah, no kidding. If you do find a 1988 car with a working AC, then it is probably only a matter of days before it stops working, lol. There is no fixing this, either, as the entire system needs to be replaced, which typically costs over $1,000. That is why so many cheap bastards on this forum say that they removed the AC in order to "clean up the engine bay" or "increase power".

Yes, it probably needs a new fan clutch. If you can even find one it will cost about $250, so yet again this is another opportunity to be a cheap bastard and convert to an e-fan in order to "clean up the engine bay" or "increase power", lol.

It looks like a $6,500 car to me, so I don't understand why you would want to walk away from it. The Mazdatrix engine rebuild alone is worth $3,100 to $7,600, depending on the level of rebuild. If you want a cheap piece of junk beater car then you can get one for about $500-1,000 if you look long enough.

 

Thx for your thoughts, EA. They said the rebuild was around $6500.

Also, the mechanic said there was a fire due to the pulsation damper, at one point. They replaced the engine harness, fuel injectors, and the PD itself obviously. This was 10+ yrs ago. Seemed like cause for concern, no?

I have been looking all over CL, auto trader, and ebay to get an idea of the market, and it seems to be priced fairly with a working AC. However, I've not studied the market on FCs in over 5 yrs so I thank you for the input.

 

I read about the PD fires, and it seems they were a regular occurrence. I just dont know if i want to buy a car that had an engine fire at some point, unless this is super common and not a big deal? What am I missing here?

 

if they replaced all the stuff that got burned, and it looks like they did, there is no real cause for concern. it must have been a small fire too, as the hood insulation and the paint on the hood itself is fine.

the A/C may or may not be easy, as its an old car and the guy you took it to doesn't know anything about a/c.

for the over heating, start with the thermostat and go from there. if its giving a symptom of a bad fan clutch, its probably the radiator. if the radiator is plugged in front of the fan clutch the fan will never turn on. fan assemblies are pretty easy to come by though, plenty of people taking off perfectly good ones to go electric

 

Having committed both of the aforementioned sins- and a multitude of even more egregious offenses- I proudly accept the honorific "Cheap Bastard".

To partially atone for my trespasses, I'll offer this potential nugget:
Searching the junkyard recently, I noticed that some Ford trucks (specifically, Broncos) used thermoclutch fans that looked identical to the FC's.
If so, replacements from a junkyard would be more abundant and maybe new from Ford would be more reasonable than Mazda's price.
If one is dead set on an original fan, this may be an option.

Never be as good as a proper efan setup though.

 

Lol, nice. I'll keep that in mind if I can agree on a lower price with sellers this weekend.

Salutations

 

buy it, or I will. Not kidding.

 

Oh, I bet you are.

 

I'd fly out and drive it back. Then my garage can have ever eternal racial strife between white and black.

 

Seems like a counterproductive aspiration.