Hello everyone!

I'm new to this forum so...
Lemme introduce myself,
I'm a young-ion about to turn 21, and about to buy my first car.
My knowledge to mechanics and car stuff is real amateur, I like to say Noobie. (have however read most of the FAQ and understand most of it)

Anyways,
Due to some overrated drama in 05, My down payment for a brand new RX8 drizzled down to a measly 4000 CAD (+/- couple hundred).

That aside, I would really like to have a car of my own and sometime soon (in about a month or so).

I'm been doing some searching in the second hand market and found that most of my selection for that price are bulky and problematic American cars or Hondas.
Not very exciting.

However I did came across a 87 TII rx7

they posted the following:

J-spec engine and turbo with 3 inch exhaust and down pipe K&N filter, recent tune-up. Car comes with lots of extra parts (body & mechanical), love the car but need to sell, $3,400 obo, 180,000 km.

First of all, I do believe this is a 13B and those things need a rebuild around 150-200K.
This thing is @ 180k, should I worry about a rebuild? How much is that going to cost me? What are the difference between a J-spec engine and a North American engine?

I also figure that this is a really old car (19 years! its almost as old as me!) with a really old engine, What is a reasonable price I can bargain this down to?

What are things I should look for or be careful about when I do go see the car? (rust? service manual?)

Realisticly, how much mechanical problem will I encounter after I buy the thing. Around how much will I have to pay extra just to keep it running?

Approx, how much am I going to pay for insurance, (20yr, first car, Toronto, Ontario)

Any advice is welcome.

Thanks in advance.

 

it's probably not a good idea to get a Turbo II as you first car AND a daily driver

maybe you really should get an Rx-8. The odds of you killing yourself in an 8 are a lot less anyway...

 

even though these motors typically need rebuilding after 150,000 (approx.) by the sounds of that ad I would say that the motor in there is more recent than the total number of kms on the chassis. He says "j-spec" which means hes probably put it in there...its not original...unless the ad is BS.

Things to be careful about would be actual running condition of the vehicle...TEST DRIVE IT...make sure its cold whe nyou get there and cold start it - look at the coolant resevoir and see if its puking coolant.......check the fluids out....

Also beware of rust
-on the sunroof (and around under neath on the roof pinch welds{visible when its open})
-in front of the rear wheels
-on the rocker panels(and under them)
-under the doors

Also I would verify that this IS a TII....get a buyers package from the license beaureau - 20 something bucks and the vin is all you need - tells you everything about the cars history....lein and ownership wise that is....


How much mechanical problems you encounter after buying it is dependant on a number of factors:
-How well you inspect the car prior to purchase
-How hard(or not hard) and frequent(or not frequent) you drive it

But expect that you will need to do stuff like wheel bearings, brakes and possibly even suspension......since these are the kinds of parts that tend to get tired even in light use and age..........where as a sway bar just sits there when the cars not moving - ya know what I mean? Dollar wise I would say in maintenance costs....oil, filters, coolant and such probably spend 300 - 400 a year approx. aside from any hard parts like brakes and the like

As far as insurance goes........a very wide spectrum of payments are made on these cars.....being 20 I would say you will pay in the neighbourhood of 3-4 thousand for PL, PD for a year.........I paid 4,300 last year with comprehensive.....
That is if you are putting it in your name. But a big factor is tickets and claims so you do your own math on that or just go to an insurers website and get online quotes.


good luck

 

welcome to the club bro

 

I am so glad I am away from the city, I have two cars on my policy and right now the monthly payments for basic insurance(plus fire and theft..you never know..)..it's under 100 bucks.and not to burst your bubble but consider gettin a second gen N/A ..you'd save money ("reliable"..loose term)...for $ 4k you could get a half decent car and insure it for a year..(i'm sure I'll hear flack on this one..but every one has an opinion,right?)

 

Hm, what's wrong with a turbo? How would I benefit from NA? (other then the fact that I have the extra money because its cheaper)

Besides the point, the other available 2nd Gen 7s are either the vert version or selling at 5k+. There was another, 1990 rx7 with 155k on the engine for 3k, other then the suspension its basically a stock car. (it also looked like its been sitting in a lot for a while)I figure for 400 bucks I get "some" mods (which I dont really know if its worth jack) and a turbo engine.

 

Turbos are typically higher maintenance, I think buying an RX-7 is like making a commitment, falter on that, and you will soon not have a running rotary anymore.