FDs are sold in many forms and now that they are collector cars the bone stock examples are likely going to be the most expensive cars so you'll pay more and get less which pretty much makes them the worst possible DEAL but sometimes the cleanest car is the best option or may actually cost you the least in the long run. And there's the rub; do you buy the bone stock super clean FD or the heavily modded well maintained FD. For me if it's a track car I buy the car that's closest to meeting that goal. If it's a daily driver I buy the cleanest/lowest mileage FD I can find.

So lets get down to the brass tacks:

1) https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...clean-1133266/

IMO it's worth the asking price if you want to track this car and drive it to work on occasion. It will likely need all kinds of work down the road but most will and this one has a lot already invested and it appears to be well kept/maintained 50k mile FD.

2) https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=487770981&zip=22901 &referrer=%2Fcars-for-sale%2Fsearchresults.xhtml%3Fzip%3D22901%26modifyS earchId%3Dnull%26startYear%3D1993%26sortBy%3Dderiv edpriceDESC%26incremental%3Dall%26firstRecord%3D0% 26marketExtension%3Don%26endYear%3D1995%26modelCod eList%3DRX7%26makeCodeList%3DMAZDA%26searchRadius% 3D0&startYear=1993&numRecords=25&firstRecord=0&end Year=1995&modelCodeList=RX7&makeCodeList=MAZDA&sea rchRadius=0&makeCode1=MAZDA&modelCode1=RX7&clickTy pe=listing

Needs a new engine, has some paint work (from a small accident I believe). Has some good mods and it's an SSM R2 Like the one above would make for a fun driver and overall not a bad deal.

3) https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=494641515&zip=22901 &referrer=%2Fcars-for-sale%2Fsearchresults.xhtml%3Fzip%3D22901%26modifyS earchId%3Dnull%26startYear%3D1993%26sortBy%3Dderiv edpriceDESC%26incremental%3Dall%26firstRecord%3D0% 26marketExtension%3Don%26endYear%3D1995%26modelCod eList%3DRX7%26makeCodeList%3DMAZDA%26searchRadius% 3D0&startYear=1993&numRecords=25&firstRecord=0&end Year=1995&modelCodeList=RX7&makeCodeList=MAZDA&sea rchRadius=0&makeCode1=MAZDA&modelCode1=RX7&clickTy pe=listing

Another car with a bad engine for a good price. These are always good options because you can get it build right the 1st time with Banzai, IRP etc....

Those are my top 3 driver cars

Here are 2 investor/collector cars which are becoming super hard to find in good shape:

1) https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=484981046&zip=22901 &referrer=%2Fcars-for-sale%2Fsearchresults.xhtml%3Fzip%3D22901%26modifyS earchId%3Dnull%26startYear%3D1993%26sortBy%3Dderiv edpriceDESC%26incremental%3Dall%26firstRecord%3D0% 26marketExtension%3Don%26endYear%3D1995%26modelCod eList%3DRX7%26makeCodeList%3DMAZDA%26searchRadius% 3D0&startYear=1993&numRecords=25&firstRecord=0&end Year=1995&modelCodeList=RX7&makeCodeList=MAZDA&sea rchRadius=0&makeCode1=MAZDA&modelCode1=RX7&clickTy pe=listing

Looks super clean, original owner etc.......

2) https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...-area-1132002/

Low mileage, appears clean, rare color combo and priced to sell.

And that's it

These are the cars I currently see that combine value and quality.

I see prices moving higher as there are very few good cars currently listed for sale.

 

The #2 with new rebuild would be sweet, but if i were to get one it would be #3 . Keep it the way it is for weekend drives... its so nice...!

 

I think screenshots would be better for this thread than links, since links expire.

 

The point of creating this thread was really just to showcase good cars on the current market which is constantly changing.

There are 10 WTB ads in the classified and once a month someone is asking what we think a car is worth or should I buy this FD etc....

Rarely do I believe the buyer should buy and rarely are wtb advertisers willing to pay for a good car. Some people have been looking for years while others scoop up good cars. The prices are not going to go down unless you are looking for a junker and then you'll spend more and have a very bad time doing it.

That short list is literally what I personally would consider in the current market where your choice of color and body style will be limited, it's more about condition. 10 years ago that list would be 10 times as long and you could pick out your CW PEP, or your black R2 etc.... The good FDs are becoming extinct, so if you can't find one now or more likely don't want to pay for it, well good luck in 5 years.

 

yep!

 

If I was going to buy a "nice" car, the interior is the most important thing. Most interior replacement parts are no longer available from Mazda, and good used ones are difficult to find.

 

YEP...........the body and the interior are what REALLY matter. Body work is crazy expensive today and it's hard to find shops that do it right. If the engine is blown big deal buy a new one for 5k which most will need eventually anyway. Almost every FD I drive with over 50k miles needs a trans rebuild or it's become slow and notchy and it was never a slick s2k type to start with, it's a slow truck trans that doesn't handle abuse or increased power well.

The other really important thing is where you buy it and how it was stored because all the weather stripping and plastic is going to be fragile on a well kept car. BOTTOMLINE: if you are looking for a keeper then buy the cleanest FD you can afford. Good running clean FDs usually have low mileage (under 50k) and cost 30k plus.

I see WTB ads that read I want a nice FD and I'll pay 15k.........LOL........not going to happen.

 

I got my FD for 8K in April of 2016. 1994 Base Montego Blue 139K miles. Engine still runs smooth because it was rebuilt 6K miles ago by some shop in California. I forgot the name, it's in my paperwork that came with car.

Anyways I got very lucky with my car and I was one of the lucky ones to pick up a good one.

Here's the backstory. The car was sold from a guy that owned the car because his brother passed away and it was passed down to him. The car sold for 9,400 dollars on eBay from Oregon. (The car was only in Oregon for a year, was a California car it's whole life) The guy who bought the car was from Nebraska and owned it for a week and couldn't afford to keep the car because he won a house and needed money immediately for a down payment. That's where I came in and bought the car for 8K cash.

The car needs a paint job and that's about it. Everything else is there and was mostly OEM. Also zero rust!

Extremely thankful I got such a good deal, although I do feel bad about how I got the car for so cheap.
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Very true, this just doesn't sink in with many people.

Body AND interior, its nearly the same price to replace each thing- good deal on a quality paint job $5k, nice 94+ black interior $5k.

Also very true about the "truck" trans, I had a 5 speed '89 B2600i 4x4 I bought from @Pele and it was the same center "R" trans with different gears. It was very forgiving for shifting without using the clutch.

 

I would prioritize a good interior over a good body. You can find a good paint and body shop, it may be expensive to get the car painted, but it is at least doable and you have many options, from an inexpensive respray to a concours-level paint job.

Many interior parts are just flat out not available or are in worse shape than yours. God help you if you get a 93 with tan interior that's dirty as hell with all the panels crumbling, that would cost a fortune to fix IF you could even get your hands on the parts.

One good thing with RHD cars are interior plastics are much more available, there were way more RHD cars made and I think many of the plastics are still available new from Japan. But, driving RHD in a LHD world gets old, LHD will always command a higher price.

Dale

 

Yep, great deal for sure.

There are always good deals but just like clean FDs they are becoming extremely difficult to find (buyer beware is a major risk with any DEAL) and when you see it you better move fast. This one sold in a few days and great deals will sell within hours.

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...ia-sc-1133097/

 

That's what the AST and Twin Power that I got from u is going on Fritz. I didn't waste anytime and talked to the seller about the car.

 

YEP..........and thanks for the support!

Wise move and finding FDs isn't hard if you are willing to hunt them down like a cheetah otherwise you'll wind up with nothing but a WTB ad

 

Number 2 is my old personal FD. That car was meticulously gone through and everything put on that car was new or near new. It has had the passenger front fender painted and with the aftermarket hood I always believed it had been hit but never found any other damage. I put on the 99 spec bumper from another FD and the paint was slightly off. I'm curious what happened with the engine. I cant recall if I was still using ALS seals then or if that was after I decided to stop using them. Overall it was a very nice FD. I paid $14,500 for it when I bought it and it had around 60k miles if I remember correctly. Local Supra flipper took it in on trade and had no clue it was a R2.

 

I'd get the number 3. I must have a sunroof. Everything else can be fixed or swapped, except that.

 

We're the opposite. I've had 5 sunroof cars and now finally an R1, so much happier with a hardtop now.

 

I'm curious, why is that?

For me, I prefer the sunroof models because these cars turn into a hot box on warm sunny days.

 

The roof line does look much better on a hard top but I'm with you on actually enjoying the sunroof. I think it is just me getting old. I hate loud cars too which is hilarious owning a modded FD.

 

I just don't fit for crap into FD's with a sunroof (I'm 6'6'!). David can vouch for me . I do dig a sunroof, I used to love the one in my FC, but in the FD it just eats what little headroom is there.

Dale

 

Yep, you are one tall FD owner for sure. I autox'd a touring FD a couple times and it was a pain in the *** with a helmet on. I'm right at 6' and I could feel the helmet rubbing the roof liner.

 

I don't like a sunroof on any car, even my truck. Probably one of the few Ford Lariats in VA w/o one LOL.

I don't like the weight. I never use them.....EVER! If it's hot I turn the AC on. If I want air I crack a window.

MOST IMPORTANTLY; the FD has one of the best roof lines on any sports car and I don't appreciate an uneven square drawn on it.

However I'm an old cranky man and would put a hard top on an S2k.

 

Everything everyone else said, the weight, the glass lets in too much sunlight, it kills headroom, plus it doesn't belong on a race carrrrr

 

Gotcha. Other than for the tall folks (head room), it really narrows down to simple subjective preference. As in simply preferring the roof line, or feeling that a sports car shouldn't have a sunroof (though it doesn't make any difference in performance) and if that is the case neither does AC, ABS, radio, ect...

The only one I can't get on board is the weight argument. Yes it adds weight but honestly its just a placebo effect. If you considering how much these cars weigh, the sunroof only increases the weight by roughly 0.1%. Total placebo effect.

 

Thanks for posting this up. Nice to see everyone's opinion about what is currently available on the market.

Unfortunately I tend to overthink things, mull far too long, expect perfection, and have poor timing in general,
so I am still sitting on the sidelines searching daily. I went from wanting a CYM, to CW, to now a VR R1/R2.

I'll continue to follow this thread with interest.

 

One last thing to consider is maintenance/leaks etc....

Clearly people love sunroofs as the majority of cars have the option and most check the box.