Let's see- i have a vert- so sun damage abounded-

Worn seats
Cracked idiot light surround
Crumbling defrost vents
Trashed shifter surround

 

Baked rear-view mirror
toasted carpet (faded)
Rusted out window scrapers (put plastic on)
Surround crapped out
broken cruise (only thing I havent fixed)
Clock is intermittent
intermittent volt gauge
intermittent wiper malfunction

I think that was it....
Of course she's feeling better now!!

 

Broken stupid antenna...

 

Really nothing. I guess my greatest disappointment is that the red paint has oxidized some. Mechanically? No complaints.

 

When I bought my car the wipers only worked on slow speed and the antennae was broken

 

Anyone with a Vert will tell you it is the window motors and regulators. Trying buying used ones sometime. I tried for two months on the forum and finally had to buy them from a boneyard in Indiana. Which by the way,
Brickyard Salvage in Indianapolis has many vert parts and are good people to deal with.

 

I would add motor to this

 

Windsheild wiper switch/park is busted... right now only my Lo and Hi works... no intermittant and the wipers wont park when i turn them off.

im too lazy to resolder the connections...

Oh, and my Power antenna doesnt power anymore. fortuantly i was able to push it back down by hand so it wasnt prone to getting bent.

so far, tahts really the onlything thats "broken" on my Base.

 

wow... I dont pick up my first RX7 (91) till the end of the month.... but after a quick inspection, I cant find anything broken so far.... Not bad for $200 = )

Oh yeah, forgot the motor with a bad Front rotor.... lol but still, if I consider all the things listed here that I dont have to replace (yet) I can replace the motor and still be ahead of the game. (knock on wood)

 

Have had my 88 vert 5 months and so far have fixed:

replaced AC comp (died on the way home from picking up the car), dryer and converted to 134A
side window defroster grilles
clock surround
wiper switch
radiator & hoses
coolant temp sensor
thermostat & caps
oil cooler lines (twice)
P/S rack (twice)
stereo (stock tape and cd broke, radio was moody)
fan clutch (now pinned)
the usual brakes, tires
leaking brake line
upper center console (but my fault)
carpets were faded bad (but rit dyed them for $1.99 and look like new)
center brake light shorted out
BBS wheels refinished (had turned to crap)
fuel door release didn't work
stopped going into reverse for a few weeks
wheel bearings
air pump bracket and subsequent broken belts
top leaked bad, replaced


still broken:

cruise
rear defog
clock comes and goes
low fuel light
still leaking oil
no outside keys work except trunk (but had alarm put in with door lock actuators)
no heater core or heat, but in FL so who cares
gas smell


I'm sure there's more but I am in shock now that I see it all in print

 

For me it is: Radio Antenna, front wipers and the ash tray. Oh and one of the seat recliner handles are broken too. I say not bad for 214,000 miles.

 

Ive had my car for almost 8 months, and here is what I've fixed so far:
- 6PI (took several hours of calling around and almost 3 hours of driving to find the damn split air tube)
- seatbelt woudlnt retract
- speakers didnt work (bad wiring)
- assorted interior bits
- torn drivers seat (Ive got a racing bucket now )

Things that I havent had time to fix:
- Center console is broken
- Hatch wont open on its own, you have to push it open from inside
- Main interior light doesnt work (electrical problem)
- A/C broken (I don't want to fix it, though)
- Wipers only work on low, and won't park
- Idiot cluster rarely works
- Clock works about half the time, but its truly impossible to keep correct - almost every time I hit a bump it turns off and resets
- Antennae is bent - if it was ever powered, it doesnt work now
- winshield stripping is close to leaking
- even more internal bits than I've replaced

Mechanically its great, though, and thats what counts to me.

 

this thread makes me worry about any 2nd gens I look at. Every 1st gen I've looked at has all been intact and had everything working. Off to look at an '88 in a couple hours. This one,surprisingly has no broken interior bits. The door moulding on the driver's side door is peeling off,but that's the only thing wrong with the body. The seller says the heat doesn't work and the wipers just quit the other day.

 

the S4's have more brittle interior components. they are made of a hard plastic where the S5's are a softer rubbery material... however the demister triangle vents and face vents built into the door panels are still the same brittle plastic as the S4.

but the biggest problem are the cold solder joints i think... thats the most failure prone

 

Wiper switch
Rear hatch hydralics
Rear hatch doesn't open from inside

 

I did a search for info on replacing my driver's door lock and I wound up here = )

I guess I'm not alone. Where did you guys find replacements for the door locks? driver's side only works sometimes (very grindey) and I don't want to wait till it's completely broken before I get another.

 

you may have to either order one from the dealer or mazdatrix.com... or find one from a junk yard.

they are pretty easy to get out. if you need me to walk you thru it, i can.

 

notin for me yet but i got my car not to long ago

 

S5 GTU...

Both door handles (driver's side is fixed, still waitin for passenger.
Wiper Switch (only works on slow)
Antenna
All I can come up with at the moment.

 

For used FC's these are the most common problem spots

major problems:

na tranny
engine mounts
differential mount
6-port operation

minor/aesthetic:

defroster grill
shifter bushings
center console plastic on S4
dash-- lower plastic screw points usually broken
turn signal lever
black window trim (usually cracking)
antenna

 

well lets see,
the entire electical
most of the mechanical
all of the plastic
checking and savings
BUT we STILL LOVE our FC

 

As far as asthetic parts...
-center console
-seat belt sensor
-wiper switch
-power ant.
-right tail light, (when bronco II rearends you!)

Engine bay...
-fukin heater hose (bad design. being right below the oil filter, it gets little bits of oil on it after not too long, it softens and you blow it up like a ballon till POP... then you get the pleasure of listening to the ooo so anoying idiot low coolant buzzer!!!
This has happened on all FC's ive ever heard of, except for my dad's 91 with 44k orig miles and perfict glossy factory white paint! ***** has one scratch "little" and all seals everything is imaculate!

-Blake

 

I agree with most of the above. But again this is a 12 -18 year old car, it is going to have problems. But the joy and challenge of RX7 ownership is figuring out what is wrong and how to fix it and showing the car that you are smarter than it is, most of the time:
-The defroster vents can be bought new from Mazda, about $25 a set, all the old ones I have found are as brittle as mine were.
-The antenna stopped working because I put in a Blaupunkt. I found the information on installing a relay switch and it now works.
-The passenger side door handle doesn't work from the inside. I have a replacement that I have to install.
-I have been able to repair the vents in the radio surround with super glue.
-The ash tray lid and center console bin lid I was able to fix with the application of a lot of engenuity.
-The only problem I still have is the sun roof and I hope to tackle it this spring.

There is always a challenge awaiting you in your RX 7. New cars are so boring.

Bert

 

Well this is off topic but I have an 86 benz with 130K miles, so to make you guys feel better you wanna know whats wrong with it (and what Ive fixed)?

Major
-Needs head gasket
-AC condensor and dryer dont work
-Oil leak (i have an oil pan under it at all times when parked at my house)
-Idle drops down completly and stalls sometimes when its cold out

Minor
-Cracked dash pieces (many)
-Replaced power antenna ($200 )
-Stereo crapped out so I bought a sony xplod which sounds no better then stock
-Rear speakers blown (replaced with cheap *** JVC speakers which suck)
-Turn signals stopped working, turned out to be emergency light blinker switch was dead and it caused the turn signals not to work
-Drivers seat leather torn really bad and both seats are in generally bad shape
-Passengers lock doesnt work at all, have to unlock from drivers side
-Alarm goes off while driving every once in a blue moon (its wierd lol but i have to pull over shut it off and then turn the key in the drivers lock to turn off alarm)
-Paint is heavily faded, no rust tho!
-Sunroof sticks and is very unreliable so I never open it

So see all cars have their share of problems! And this car was like $35-40k new (i paid $1500 tho like 6 months ago)! And I bought it from the ORIGINAL owner (my neighbor who is an older woman like 50 years old) who gave me every receipt (like half of them are all faded out lol)! Yes it had regular maintence. There are a few problems I didnt mention (power windows work intermittenly), but hey it runs for now so it will work till I can afford my TurboII!!!

 

lol,well I bought that car I was concerned about a few posts up ^^^.

So,what exactly is wrong with it? Get out your reading specs gents,this is a novel.

Exterior:

Dents,scratches,dings,peeling mouldings,fading and peeling paint,right side headlight stuck in 'sleepy',2 of 4 vertical slats poorly cut out of grille,small crack in tail light lens.

Interior:

Driver's seat ripped,passenger seat not properly bolted in (it tips side to side...quick eject seat ) interior is faded in spots (doesn't make it any better when it's a burgundy interior to start with!) Holes in the carpet in the hatch,broken glass shards found under the hatch carpet,radio surround broken,missing centre arm rest,it smells like old man (lol,inside joke with chris at cp),there are wires all over the place from a HORRIBLE audio install.

Electrical:

Alternator/battery not holding charge,intermittent clock,wipers only work on low speed,radio and speakers removed.

Mechanical:

rear rotors need machining,front wheel bearings are worn/loose,battery is not tied down.

lol,and I paid $1500 cdn for this car and bought it from an old guy who said it was in good shape. Man,did I ever get ripped. I have since spent another $600 on the car in repairs alone. Man,I hate this car so much I love it.