Hello brain trust!

Just to be clear – this is not a for sale thread, I genuinely am looking for some advice. After much discussion, my wife and I are planning to move overseas again. Our plan is to liquidate everything (house is already sold) ahead of the move. This means the RX7 also needs to be sold and I have a few questions.

A couple of important items to note:

• Car is currently in heated storage and will collect it in April/May once the snow is gone to put it up for sale.
• The car is 25 years old in June 2021 and would therefore be eligible for USA import.
• The car has done <2,000km since it arrived in Canada. Therefore, all the work done in my build thread is still like new.

The project is still not finished to the standard I planned. In my opinion the following items still need to be addressed:

• New/Rebuild transmission – the existing transmission has ~ 145,000km (~91,000 miles). Other than being a little notchy getting in 1st, I have had zero issues, No bearing noises and no grinding. My only reason for wanting to rebuild is peace of mind/wanting it to be like new.
• Rear suspension bushings – I can only assume these have never been replaced and therefore also have ~ 145,000km (~91,000 miles) on them. I am experiencing no clunking noises associated with bad pillow *****. Again, I just want to replace them for peace of mind/wanting it to be like new.
• Rear wheel bearings same as the above, no issues, just on my to do list.
• The one large job is my desire to pull the rear subframe and paint the entire undercarriage. The car does show small spots of rust here and there, but mainly its just dirty. I wanted to paint the undercarriage and all components, then replace all hardware to make it show car perfect. Like what I achieved with the front suspension and wheel wells. ( for those who have not followed my build thread, there are photos of the rear underside plus before/after of front suspension work below).

So my two questions are as follows:

1. Do you think I should address any of the outstanding items on my to do list? The big one I am curious about is the undercarriage paint. I am trying to understand if a potential buyer would be put off by it not being as clean/perfect as the rest of the car. Or if a potential buyer would see fresh paint as “hiding something”.
2. What you think is the best method of selling my RX7? Here on the forum? Facebook? Bring A Trailer? If it has any bearing on your advice, I will be looking for a price in the $75,000 CAD (~$60,000 USD) ball park. Obviously the market will dictate the actual price. I am very keen to avoid a part out.

I appreciate your time reading this,
Thanks Tom.



*Rear undercarriage - this is before installing the new diff



* front suspension before replacement with new parts and reapplication of undercoating/paint



* front suspension after replacement with new parts and reapplication of undercoating/paint





* Photo of the car for those who haven't seen my build thread - 1996 JDM FEED Afflux Ver V #11 of 17



* Fully customized engine

 

I don't think any of those things are necessary to do before selling. The car doesn't have a problem, it just is stuff in your mind that COULD be a problem. If the suspension isn't clunking, trans sounds good, there's no big rust on the rear subframe, you are fine.

Yes, you could do something about those things but they won't affect resale value IMHO.

I'm not one to ask on pricing as I don't keep up to date on that, I think other people can chime in with some pricing. Upside is it's a meticulous, well-sorted car, downside is it's not a stock FD. You will have to find just the right buyer and it should command a premium price, but that all means you may be waiting a bit to find the right buyer.

Hate to hear you have to sell it, I know this has been a passion for you!

Dale

 

So what specification is the car? Canadian spec LHD, or a JDM right hand drive, or some other oddball spec?

 

Agree with Dale 100%

 

It is a 1996 RHD from Japan. Full FEED Afflux ver V kit (#11 of 17) assembled at the FEED shop in Japan. Sorry I just assumed everyone had likely seen my build thread - so I added a couple of shots of the car to the original post.

 

Thanks Dale, that seems to be the consensus - not much point in doing any more work prior to sale. Agreed this might be a slow sale as the car won't be for most people, but hopefully someone out there appreciates it and is happy to save $60-$70k CAD by buying this one rather than building themselves!

Yeah it sucks that I am selling it, but taking all emotion out of the equation it needs to be sold. My wife and I have spent many years in a very tough industry and sacrificing far too much of our personal lives. Now that we can afford to, it is time to leave that chapter behind us and make out next move, which unfortunately does not involve this car. My new home will be remote and not have suitable access for a vehicle like this, plus I am not interested in hauling it overseas again. Time to buy a rally car

 

Where are you moving to? 4-5 years ago, a guy here, in Nova Scotia, moved back to the UK and shipped his FD with him. I don't know if he's still on the forum but his instagram is "my rotary life."

I don't know what kind of price you should ask. In my opinion, $75k CAD is low for your car as there are two highly modified FDs on Kijiji for $80-$90k.

 

I am admittedly biased due to my good experience, but if I had your car and was going to sell I would go with Bring a Trailer.

Put up a ton of pictures, video, and receipts and I think the car would get a good reception.

 

I am moving back to New Zealand. The issue is less the hassle of transporting it to another country (after all I brought it here from Japan), it is more the location I will live when I get there. We are looking at going self sufficient - specifically at very remote locations - think 100km down a rough unpaved road or boat access only. It just doesn't make sense to have a nice car like this for that lifestyle.

As for price, it's a tricky one. I am into this car for about $125,000 CAD....I have the receipts. If I had installed the body kit and painted it would have cost me even more, I estimate in the $150k-$160k range. I would really like to try and get 50% of my money back if possible. I took a look at those cars on Kijiji and I feel that my car is easily worth as much if not more than those examples. Primarily because the body kit is far rarer and much more expensive, but also because I feel the overall quality of work is higher on my car. The electrical rewiring and cleanup for example really makes a difference in the engine bay presentation and is great peace of mind for the new owner, but its an expensive task to get done and not everyone realizes. Also I have a lot of over the top rare parts - the price of that FEED 94mm full Ti exhaust and mid pipe is pretty ridiculous.

Here is a summary of the current high priced modified RX7 for sale in Canada:



* $88,000 CAD – 1993 – LHD - 101,000 km – engine rebuilt 15,000km ago




* $80,000 – 1995 – RHD – 92,000km – engine not rebuilt




* $48,000 – 1992 – RHD – undisclosed #km on body/chassis– engine rebuilt 40,000km ago




* $45,000 – 1993 – LHD – 166,000km – engine swapped undisclosed #km ago




* my car - thinking of asking $75,000 – 1996 – RHD – 145,000km – engine rebuilt at professional shop <2,000km ago



The usual issue applies here, these are asking prices, none of them have sold. Although I feel my car should be worth more than the other examples shown, the question is are they all overpriced? I guess the market will decide.

 

Thank you - yes i think BAT will be the way to go. I will get in touch with them. But I would really like to pass the car on to a forum member/long time RX7 enthusiast if possible.

 

IMO BAT is probably the best forum to get top dollar, but generally top dollar goes to unmodified low mileage examples. Your mods are tasteful (IMO), but is there someone out there that wants those same mods and willing to pay your price. Also, high dollar examples are nitpicked, i.e. the underbody should be in the same condition as your engine bay. Yes it may be functional, but it's not pretty (which is what people want even though nobody can see it). Also, RHD may affect value in non RHD countries

All my opinion. You may just get what you are looking to get

Good luck

 

There is an undertow in Vancouver of persons buying stock (mostly LHD mind you) and spending BIG (BIG!) money to customize. If you can tap into that market, you may do well.

These cars are going into private collections or may well be ending up back in Asia. You don't see them bombing around.

Soon as the flights come back we are all moving to New Zealand, so you better act quicki.

You have likely considered media blasting those undercarraige bits. That would be more revealing than concealing.

 

very cool/unique car you have there. Sorry to hear you have to sell. I agree with others and would list it on BaT. I wouldn't be concerned with the minor things you mentioned. At the end of the day it is a 25 year old car. It looks like you completely rebuilt the motor recently, but if anything I would get a good compression test completed to include with your BaT or for sale here or anywhere. Will help bring top dollar.

 

If you have any questions about my experience or the BAT process let me know.

-Norm.

 

just to add to this, i find that as long as the buyer understands what they are getting its ok. or to put it another way, the whole rear suspension could be completely knackered, but as long as its in the ad, its ok.
its one of those things where surprises are bad.

since its just well kept original, i would think it doesn't effect the value. (plus it might give the potential next guy something to do, which is a plus)

 

Thanks for the wishes of good luck!

I agree, modified and RHD will be a barrier to many buyers. If nothing else this will be an interesting sale and should set some kind of benchmark (good or bad) for a heavily modified RHD. There are not many of this quality I can find that sold in the past 5-10 years.

 

Thanks for the recent PM you sent me - much appreciated. As for media blasting - yes that crossed my mind. I have cleaned quite a bit of the underside by hand since those photos were taken, and I will review again once I get the car out of storage

 

Thank you for the kind words

Yes the engine is all freshly rebuilt by a reputable shop, but I will get compression numbers ready fro the sale. I will take it in for a reputable rotary shop to do compression and a general check over the car and use the opportunity (and the lift) to take lots of photos for a BAT listing.

 

I will, thank you

 

Agreed, honesty is key. In all my car sales I am overly critical (probably to my own financial loss) about the condition of the vehicle - I am very detail oriented.

 

its better that way. BTW sale price and the stuff wrong with it are kind of loosely connected. it seems like if you point out the "bad" stuff, you don't need to take the price deduction. in this case its not even bad, just dirty

it will be interesting to see how it sells, finding the right person might be the hard part.

 

I'm the same way. I think the question you gotta ask is does it *need* to be fixed, or is it really broken to the point of effecting anything?

For me the answer is often no, and its something thats in a normal condition for an item given its age/amount of use, whatever.

I guess all of that is to say I wouldn't list something saying "Everything is great, like new from the factory" but I also wouldn't point out all the things that *might* need work in the future. I'd just list the work I have done on the car, and list anything that I know is damaged. If something is on the bad side of marginal I might mention something along the lines of "rear suspension is fine, but you'll probably want to replace the bushings at some point in the future they are getting to be around that age"

 

You should consider working with a car broker to curate the car to the right buyer. That kit is very unique and will cater to specific groups that enjoy Japanese tuner shop culture and taste. I don't think your proposed items will bring a return on investment, besides maybe making the car sell a bit faster if the buyer doesn't have to figure out how/where they're going to remediate those problem areas. Consider your buyer may not be mechanically inclined, or may not have the resources to do the work themselves.

As someone who has done a firesale to get rid of everything including a house and cars in 90 days to relocate thousands of miles away I highly recommend a broker to help manage things. It gets extremely hectic with coordination.

 

Best clean up that underside. Put your best bottom forward!

Even if you do not get more money, It would reduce the chances you get less.

 

If you are interested in the U.S. Market, I would suggest contacting an importer or two here in the U.S. I spent about 6 months looking to buy an FD and found a bunch in Canada that I would have purchased but every importer here in the states wouldn't touch them. I had a few offer to import as "gray market" but that is not what I was interested in because I want to be able to be 100% legal.

From what I understand, the vehicle would need ALL the initial importation paperwork from when it was imported to Canada such as customs (country of origin and Canada), port fees (country of origin and Canada) shipping information (vessel and voyage#) and fees as well as all the Canadian paperwork you have for titling and registering up there. If you have all the paper trail since the initial sale and such from Japan (or whatever country it came from) then you "should" be able to export to the U.S. and have a 50 state legal export. Every car I looked at didn't have that paperwork. You may find someone here in the states that wants to buy it and is ok with Gray market but it will most likely drop the value considerably.

Very clean car BTW. I'm not into body kits but that looks to be very well done