What do YOU look for when buying an RX7?
 

Just to start off, this isn't a "I want an RX7, what should I look for when buying" thread. This is a "I'm looking to sell my car and want to know what you, the buyer, looks for when buying an RX7."
What things are most important to you?
Overall, the question is vague and hard for me to get a good answer without describing my car in its entirety, so maybe I should list a few things to consider.

Exterior condition: Paint (color, condition), dents, etc
Interior condition: Color, seatbelts, seats, interior pieces, condition of interior pieces, carpeting, how much interior is there/isn't there
Suspension: Stock, upgraded, condition of springs/shocks/bushings
Stereo: Stereo/receiver, speakers
Chassis: Mileage on chassis
Engine: Mileage on engine, rebuild, porting, mods to engine/efi (tuning), fluid leaks

It's hard to categorize this and to think of all possible details or scenarios, but what I'm asking is 'what you, a potential RX7 buyer, looks at when buying a naturally aspirated 2nd gen RX7?'

casio

Me personally is the exterrior and interrior. I don't care what vehicle your selling, if it has a nice true interrior with no rips, gaps or cracks, it REALLY makes a car shine. Even for the people who know what they want like me, if I see a nice interrior and good exterrior with no rust, I am very interested in the car.
A clean engine bay is also a good sell point, usually this is mostly effective for people who don't know much about cars, if they see a clean non corroded engine bay with very little oil, they think "well kept car" and it adds to the buying power.

With those things in mind, I then look at running capabilities. A good idle is what I'll look for, and no hesitations in throttle movement. The compression check will most likely seal the deal, and a coolant compression check as well.

The color of the interrior I don't think really matters, just as long as it looks really clean and mint like I mentioned above.

Oh yea, custom mods that look sloppy are a big turnoff to me when buying a car. Like if I see a piece of wood holding up or bracing a particular device in the engine, that tells me that the owner does the quick fix and not the important fix. Also plastic bag wrapped around vaccuum nipples with a zip tie is a no go either ;)

Hmm, fair enough. Sounds like you're looking for a car in the $5000 or so price range, though. I guess that should have been another variable; what would matter most on a car costing around upwards of $3000 (3200 at most)?

Your selling your car man?

depends what i can get for it. i can't sell it and leave myself in a financial rut. the car isn't a beauty or anything, but i haven't quite hit 6000 miles on rebuild.
i'd like to see what people really care about when looking for a car. if there's work i should do to increase the value without hurting me too bad, then i could do that. not much i can do about the paint (which isn't that bad, but nowhere near great) or interior without killing my wallet and not making enough back.

most people go for looks first then worry about how well the car runs, if a car has neither it isn't worth much. i sold my '69 elcamino with a 400HP balanced and blueprinted stroked out 383 for $3200(the short block work alone cost me near that...) because it was primered but in good shape, it wasn't beautiful but it scared the pee out of the lady when i took her for the test drive, she was the only one who looked at it who seemed truly interested...

it's easy to build the drivetrain, it isn't easy or cheap to have the exterior/interior look good however. i hope this gives you a new perspective, you could have a 500HP engine with crap body/paint and you would still only bring people who could see the diamond through the rough, i can see potential in things, most people cannot though.


i bought my '87 T2 with a blown engine for $1350 off ebay and i was as happy as could be about it when i won the auction. :) it's all about timing, luck and who comes to look at it.

I don't really care...I guess it comes down to a "fair" price.
Anything bad, I will start to knock the asking price down.
I can pick apart an FC (turbo) that will probably make the owner cry.
Hey, not my problem if they can't hide it from me. :)

Hurt engine - I can rebuild it.
Dents and scratches or bad paint - I got friends who can take care of that.
Anything else I can replaced.

I guess RUST would be a pain in the ass, but I know people who can take care of that.
It's just a matter of time, labor, and money.


-Ted

low mileage, and reliable. everything else dosen't matter

some people call their 7's reliable but personally i don't think reliability and rotaries mix unless you know your way around the car. eventually almost all rotaries suffer from flooding problems which can be caused by a handful of problems.

I'm a looks guy... If I were to consider buying another Rex, I'd want a pristine s5. The condition of the motor etc. must be well kept, but if it's not running or running perfectly, that's ok.

Other cars (which I don't know much about) I'd only buy if it were in perfect running order.

good thing about rotaries is the scarcity of engine parts, most people want one running in good shape though so that does add to the value if it is in good running shape.

good running; this is what i was expecting as an answer. if i'm lookin at an rx7 (2nd gen) for less than $3000, i'm looking for a good engine. i'm surprised so many people said looks. great condition (exterior/interior) RX7s, with good engines, are rarely less than $3000 from what i recall. i'd rather have an engine i trust to last awhile with not so great paint on the outside than great paint and an iffy engine. but, for me, i don't always have a couple extra grand laying around to take care of a rebuild. rust i understand as a concern. lucky for me, i live in texas and rust isn't a big deal.

so would someone pay upwards of $3000 for an FC with a recent rebuild, but not so great interior/exterior (decent, but not great) ?

to be more descriptive, here's a few things:

rebuild with ~6000 miles (bdc)
minor streetport (bdc)
removed aux sleeves
S4 intake manifold (S5 included seperately)
ported throttle body with 'tb mod' (bdc)
Racing Beat uncollected header
custom 2 to 1 exhaust pipe with Catco cat (no airpump connected; air pump included seperately)
Y exhaust (old RP?); looks relatively stock
solid engine mounts (scalliwag)
Koyo radiator (same mileage as on rebuild)
S-AFC II (black)

Intrax springs
Tokico Blues
convertible wheels

almost 180,000 on chassis

1991 Brave Blue Non-Turbo RX7


and mods, if you see this as just another "whats my rx7 worth" and you see that as clogging the forum, let me know or close/delete the thread. i was trying to keep this from turning into a 'for sale' ad or 'what's my car worth?' ad, but it's starting to look like that's exactly where it's headed. my bad! =/

sell me that safc and u can sell it for less ;) btw location also matters, for instance in socal you can sell your rx7 probably for more because of the drift scene.

-Andrew

a good paint job is more expensive than a rebuilt engine.

I look at price. Anything else is repairable.

Certain parts that rust could be 'unrepairable'

but which is a necessity? when my engine died, i couldn't drive. if you can't drive with a bad paint job, you belong in a home. :D

well yea. i could part it out and likely make more, but unlike some people here, i don't own any land and i can't feasibly part out a car.

i'm starting to think i should have thrown the car in a paintshop when the engine died and spent the money on that. seems more people want a nice seven than a running one. doh!

luckily that's not the case here.

maybe tomorrow i'll post some pics.

It's just a safc ;)

I look for a straight body with no RUST basically. Sure, a dent in fender or door is fine as long as its minor because they can be replaced easily. But any dents in the rear area of the car is a PITA to fix. I will also never would consider a car with previous frame damage.

I'm more on the mechanical side and "good" bodywork requires experience...which is something I don't have. However, we can all turn a wrench. :D

Oh yeah, I also look for cars that aren't "mickey moused." Like rigged cars where wirings weren't spliced right, "quick fix" jobs, too much bondo, etc, or a modified car running a full exhaust with no upgrades to support fuel. Stuff like that... If its modified correctly, then it'll add value to me.

I don't know much about FCs, but i DO know that an FB with those kinds of mods could easily sell for 3K. . . .

well hell, maybe i'll throw it all in an FB and sell that !! FC owners are the cheapest of the bunch. what was i thinking?! ;)