hey guys, i havent been on rx7club since i lost my old rx-7 in february, but anyways...

some guy is selling his 87 base for 1600. i asked him if we could meet halfway and he agreed and he also lowered the price to 1400 after i agreed to pay 1600 if he would meet me. he hasnt sent me pictures yet, but says that it has been reliable for him and doesnt have that much damage. he says it has factory manual steering and modification or two. the only bad thing he said is that the passenger rear tire is worn. plus, he said that he will throw in a turbo, intake manifold, exhaust manifold, and other things needed for a turbo conversion. does this sound fishy?

 

That sounds pretty fishy to me. First of all, the fact that he lowered the price in order to not meet you doesn't sound too good to me. I don't know why he would volunteer to throw in the turbo stuff as opposed to selling it for extra money. I wouldn't get it unless you can drive it, look it over real well, and maybe even take it to a rotary mechanic if you know any around.

 

ask him the mileage, and what kind of maintenance he does to it on a regular bases (when he did a tune up, how often he checks oil, etc). ask what kind of turbo kit it is, basically who made it. and that price is somwhat high IMO. idk how hard it is to find an FC up there, but around here they dont usually go for more than $1k for even a gxl. you may want to look around for somthing else. good luck though

 

k i will ask him about maintenance, and the turbo, and everything. he says that the tire has no tread and the fuel filter and oil needs changing.i am kind of scared to have a car that eneds a oil change and filter change to drive across the state. i asked him why he couldnt just change those things. i think that is a decent price for an rx-7 up here. i havent seen many for sale around here.

oh and sideways7, maybe i phrased it poorly, but he agreed to meet me, but he also took off 200 dollars mysteriously.

 

if he took it off without you asking him, that may indicate he wants to get rid of it quickly. get the vin and run a carfax

 

the thought that the car is stolen ran through my mind... becuase i almost bought a stolen car a while back, haha... shook me up a bit, ya know?

 

if he has the paperwork and everything, i dont think you would have to worry about that. you'd be more conserned with a major accident making some frame damage that could be covered up. or worse. a friend of mine bought a car, and when he pulled back the carpet to wire up his subs, he found that the car had actually been cut and replaced with the rear end of another car and welded back together.

 

I still say you should do a thorough check of it and drive it. It might be fine, but never rely entirely on the owners word.

 

To be fair, thats not always that bad for a regular car. I was in a pile-up on the highway and had the front end replaced on my 626 and it drove better than before. It all depends on how good the body shop is.

 

yeah i will do a thorough check of the car, but i feel bad having him drive 2-3 hours for me to say no. do you mind pointing me in the direction of a checklist i should follow while examining the car? or giving me some things to look for?

 

he just sent me 4 pictures, one of the whole car and 3 of little dents. i just asked about maintenance, and title, and everything else. waiting for a reply. the car looks decent i guess.

 

search is your friend....FAQs

http://www.aaroncake.net/RX-7/buy1.htm
http://www.aaroncake.net/RX-7/buy2.htm

 

Read 1 or more buyer's guide(s) (thanks carzy driver), take notes on it, test drive the car, check for everything, then bring it to a mechanic for a final inspection. Don't blow $1600 without checking it out first.

I typed notes from a different buyer's guide, printed them, found a '7 and started checking stuff off. The look on the seller's face is priceless: "Where did you get that thing?". Got a good RX-7 w/ 100k miles. Paid $350 for a mechanic to replace the fuel pulsation dampener. Other problems were electrical issues, maintenance, etc. Nothing major. Great gas mileage (for an RX-7) and scored well above average on the smog test.

 

thank you carzy driver and ericgrau. i must have blanked on the search, havent done that in a while. umm good idea about the checklist.. the problem is, we are meeting eachother halfway because i am under the age of 18 and i need an adult there for the paperwork, ya know? and no one wants to go all the way across the state so we agreed on half way. its kind of hard to take the sellers word, but yeah...i dont think there are any rotary mechanics in ellensburg, (where we are meeting) because it is a little rest stop town. no more than 2000 people in the middle of washington. since he is in seattle area ish, i kind of want to send him some money to take it over to atkins in that area but then again, its sending money to a stranger. he made the car sound alright and everything, but that is what he is supposed to do. i dont want to be an *** and send him all the way home and everything. he was pretty forward with me, said it had the 3800 rpm hesitation, a balding tire, and a few dings. he also has a full folder of service records and the only time it broke was an alternator. ideas? thanks for the links.

 

Hmm... Personally I'd find a closer RX-7 or find some way to check it out. Kind of a gamble. At the very least you could bring a buyer's guide and your notes and check it out yourself. That's actually what I did on mine so I didn't find out about the fuel pulsation dampener until later (too bad, but I'm only down $350 from it). Once you get the car you can take it to a good mechanic (or 2 or more if you don't trust him), and bite the bullet on whatever else is wrong.

I found the buyer's guide I used:
http://www.rx7.voodoobox.net/infofaq/bguide/bguide.html

I really like it except I don't think it mentions a leaky fuel pulsation dampener, which is a common problem. Check for a fuel leak above the exhaust manifold, and/or the smell of gasoline under the hood or in the car. If it's leaking you MUST get it fixed ASAP, or at some point the dripping gas will reach the hot exhaust manifold, ignite, and start an engine fire.