dlbchik

OK...I bought a 90 GTU 17 months ago for $4300. Weeks later, I had to put in another engine (used, but I was given a 1 yr warranty). It has been a great car but then I came across and bought a 91 for cheap needing an engine. Anyway, I recently put the 90 up for sale in the Auto Trader for $3000 OBO, and have only had only a few calls in over 3 weeks, mostly teenagers.
However, I went to the auction a few months ago and bought an 87 Firebird (V6) for $1000. Included in the LONG list of repairs it needed was an engine, so I just put it in the Trader, phone rang off the hook, sometimes 15+ times a day, and I still doubled my money. (A 17 yr old 6 cyl. GM !!!)
Is it because I live in Kansas City, asking too much,
or does the RX-7 have a bad reputation

Icemark

Easier to sell a $2000 car than a $3000 or $4000 car...

and:

Edmunds/KBB pricing says you were way too high:

1990 Mazda RX-7
2 Dr GTU Hatchback
Dealer Trade-In: $1,970
Private Party: $2,652
Dealer Retail: $3,788 (good to excellent condition/less than 80K miles).

To top that off you are in the midwest, where the import is 2nd class, and even the concept of a rotary engine baffles most mechanics.

Terrh

iTrader: (7)

You can say that again.. my mom's boyfriend (who is a licensed mechanic!) INSISTS that there must be pistons in there somewhere! And a camshaft!

Ericdrivesrx-7

I live in Kansas City also, I know what your problem is and it is what they said. We have the ford and gm plants and they have the strong belief that we should by american. Totally opposite viewpoint on the coasts. Are you in the kcrx-7 club? Send me a pm.

dlbchik

LOL...funny you say that...a potential buyer wanted a compression done at her Midas shop, and they told her the car had very low compression on ALL 4 cylinders. You should have seen the mechanic's face after he found out there aren't cylinders invovled with an RX-7 Needless to say, they admited to not understanding a rotary and did not charge the $70 for the test.

rotary>piston

before I bought my car it sat in the papers for about 3 weeks. I went down to check it out and decided to buy it on the spot. No problems in the last year, she's a great car.
Probably because everyone thinks that rotaries suck, they have a bad reputation (you can thank the fd's for that!).

Wankel7

Maybe the RX-8 will help resale

James

RX7withNitrous

i've been trying to sell my 91 for 3k for like 6 months now.

ra ra rotory

wait wait............... i have this one in the bag.... its simple, old firebird=hillbilly ride, where do hillbillys live? the south, such as kansas.......... maybe im just a post *****, haha all in good humer

Detriuch

iTrader: (1)

i think u may be asking a tad to much. also alot of the rx7 people now are going to the s4's. for some reason they turn out to be the quickest. (guess weight and luck)

DriftDragon28

he does have a point.
its all about supply and demand. and hillbillies want the us made, super heavy, semireliable, American iron.

dlbchik

I haven't put on any mods yet, but I have had 2 88's, and neither was quite the ride our s5's are. But that is just my opinion... and I am biased by the creature comforts and the styling of the JDM tailights, spoiler, and black interior. Yeah, I see that 3K is too much now, but seeing that 1st gens. sell in the 2k-4k range really surprises me also!!! Another reason I am baffled about the s5's demand!

dlbchik

I must admit that the majority of the buyers for the Firebird looked like they were still in the 80's.

Dvst8

iTrader: (6)

hey icemark, was wondering where you get this info?? have a link to share?

deltr0n`

everyone is afriad of the rotary engine, people that dont know any better hear from thier friends and loved ones that the rx-7 has many problems and they do not want to deal with it....which i think is a very good thing, because that leaves more for us!

Icemark

I use Edmunds... they seem to be closer than KBB to what is really happening for pricing out there... here is the link (you may have to copy the whole thing and paste it in, since some browsers don't understand puncuation:

http://www.edmunds.com/used/1990/mazda/rx7/3171/prices.html?tid=edmunds.u.mipmake.mippricetable..2 .Mazda*

eViLRotor

iTrader: (2)

Lets' face it, 7's just aren't that much in demand except with the small rotary community...

...and even we want them as cheap as possible. My TII is worth so much more than I could ever sell it for.

yearrgh

The turbo's are a whole different ballgame then the n/a's. It took me over a year to find mine. Right now, there isn't a single '90 TII for sale on autotrader withing 300 miles from me, except one heavily modded one. They're impossiblie to find stock and in good condition

slow87turbo

hehe i guess i was lucky then cuz my car found me...87 TII not running($5 ffuel line and the intake boot back on the turbo) and i had mine for $800...took 2 hours to get it home and get it running then drove it back the next day to return the gradge door opener that they left in the car.......so $805 for a TII...which i have scince but about a grand into. godda love that hood scoop!!!!

Icemark

That is also a big key... the demand is for well running stock or near stock cars.

yet everyone wants the extra HP or cool suspension or half dozen other mods, so again often times the mods drive down the value of our cars.

Electrikhead

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...&category=6327 Umm Period the end, i bet if he is a smart man reserve is at least 6,000 *motions for the crowd to let me borrow 7,000* that car is SEXKY

dlbchik

I just wanted to add that everytime I drive my 90 or 91, I am so happy with the RX-7! What could one better spend $2300 on? Surely not a Probe, 240SX, Eclipse, or Beretta. And 90 Rustang GT's, 300ZX's, and Corvettes surely cost a lot more than what you are getting, no?

RX7withNitrous

This is what kelly blue book for my car is.....

1991 Mazda RX-7 Coupe 2D
Engine: 1.3 Liter Rotary
Trans: 5 Speed Manual
Drive: Rear Wheel Drive
Mileage: 70,000
Private Party Value $3,875

SonicRaT

iTrader: (6)

It's those god damned electronic oil pumps! I swear to god satan himself developed those things!

Rx-7Addict

iTrader: (2)

Maybe people want S4s due to their superiority