today I went to see the Rx-7 Im wanting to buy with my dad, and he said to me that the XXXXX (<- insert name here.. the thing that counts how many miles (Kilometers in my case) the car has run) had allready went around (all to 99s then back to 0).. I was like, that's impossible! but it's also weird that a car with only 52000Km has its steering wheel pretty used up. then I noticed that the numbers are not aligned!! the 2 is a bit lower than the 5 to it's left!! and I noticed that there is a panel that is not screwed to place below the steering wheel column!
what U guys think?
would it help if I get a photo (cause my english sucks bad :P )

thx in advance

 

Do they have laws there like they do here? It sounds like it has been messed with.

 

get a VIN check.. they check for odometer roll back... www.carfax.com

its worth the 20 bucks if your going to buy the car... If it is cheated, say the car has had to pass emmisions it will say

"Car Passed emmisions in 96 with 123,000 KM"

It might not detect it because nothin has been imput into the computer in the time hes rolled it back. so it it has 52,000 and the emission test was passed at 123k you know somethings wrong...

 

His profile says he is in Portugal... not sure car fax covers overseas cars

 

IIRC you get to the gauge cluster from it's face, not underneath, so i wouldn't worry about the panel hanging loose, although I'm wondering what it is. Get a compression test done on the car, call whoever does the titles in portugal and ask them how many miles were on it the last time they issued a title. If that's fine then i say go for it.

 

That panel underneath has a tendency to break and hang down, so I wouldn't worry too much about it. If you can use Carfax in your country, then do it! It should tell you the mileage on the odometer each time the title was transfered, and if there was a problem there will be an asterix* by the mileage. Look on the title for anything that says "Not actual mileage" or "Odometer discrepency."

 

thx for the suport guys !!
I've just talked with the father of a friend of mine that has a s4 TII and he told me that someone told him to be carefull with that car cause it's engine had something else wrong other than the alternator belt... he told me he's gona try and get more info..
what U guys think about it.. what is bad enough to forget the car?

about the compression check, can any mazda garage do it ? even if they don't know **** about rotary engines ?

peace

 

When I look at cars like this, My first question to my self it "am I going to drive/mod it or restore it?" if it's the latter I would pass on the car but if I'm going to drive/mod it then I would get a comp test and make sure the car is in good con for that use the mileage as a price barganing chip. Since on cars this old (at least here in WV) the cars are mileage exampte as long as it runs and your looking to have a rare 50K classic car award car. do you really care about it? just make sure you check EVERYTHING on the car they might of rolled the od back to match a engine change or something

(just my NMHO)


Peace
MAge

 

thx

about the compression check.. can any mazda garage do it ? or they have to be rotary specialized?

 

Me, I wouldn't care.
I would give the underside and drivetrain components a careful examination.
If everything looks kosher, I would negotiate on the CONDITION of the vehicle and not the mileage.
These cars are all getting to the point where a rebuild is necessary.
A 20,000 miles FC versus a 120,000 miles FC, I'd still base my offer on the condition of the car.
Keep in mind, low mileage FC's are not necessarily a good thing.
Rotary engines which have not been used regularly is bad.


-Ted

 

regularly used
that one is stoped there for at least 2 years!!