Verruckt32

For those of you with FDs, I pose this question to you all... With all of the experience you have and the things you have learned during ownership, if you could go back to buying your FIRST FD all over again, what would you buy? Would you buy a stock, good condition, 50,000 mile-ish car? Or would you buy a higher mileage (100,000 mile-ish), car with some "reliability" type mods, and possibly a rebuilt engine?

Assumptions:

You can get both cars for about the same price
This is your first FD
It will be a second vehicle
You have to mod it slowly (no dumping $20k in it right off the bat)
You plan on keeping it for a long time


Look forward to hearing what you guys think, and why! Thanks

anderdick88

iTrader: (3)

i WOULD BUY A GOOD MODDED 7 INSTEAD, LET SOMEONE SPEND THE MONEY FIRST AND U JUST MAINTAIN IT

JP's 93 fd

iTrader: (28)

From what I learned from my experience, I would get an fd close to stock that hasn't been modified or tampered with before. My first fd was a handful but it was a great love/hate relationship.

hal0gical

iTrader: (5)

The quick and cheap way would be to buy modded. It has a good amount of risk involved, as they cars are easily destroyed. I originally said 'quick and easy' but checked myself as nothing will come easy here.

Personally I bought stock because I'm too skeptical of modded cars. These cars in particular are quite simple to sentence to death with one single mod alone. Unless you know who you're buying from, it's really hard to take over someone else's project.

I think the best part about buying stock is watching the modification process happen. Doing the work yourself, breaking everything at least twice before getting it right, can be a truly awarding experience. It will cost a LOT more in the long run, but it will be your car.

You'll love and hate either route you take, but my vote is for stock.

rotorooter93fd

iTrader: (6)

I really like having a stock car its always nice to not have to back track others peoples mistakes and also the service manual becamoces a lot more useful.

Speeder165

iTrader: (7)

I think I will go with stock here also. If you have a really goofy problem that is hard to fix, at least you can take it somewhere & have somebody who has seen the car before & knows how they work ( hopefully ), work on it. Try driving that same car with mods into a dealership & tell them you need something looked at because the car isn`t running right. When they pop the hood, "Oh Man!" says the mechanic. "That thing has this, this, this & this! We can`t work on that!". "We don`t know anything about this ( Insert item here ) either!". You`re pretty much on your own at that point unless MAYBE you have some kind of a Specialty Performance shop local in the area that could look at the car. If you mod it yourself, do each thing one step at a time so if the car "freaks", you will know where to look & why the problem is occurring. You will also get a good feel for what YOUR mods are doing performance wise for the car.

GTR-guy

I would also have to say go for a stock one! I think FD's are pretty fast in stock form. Also a few things to keep in mind of you buy a modified FD or any cars for that matter: Aftermarket parts do wear out and needs replacing too, So unless it's been a fresh build, with receipts to show when and by who the parts were bought and installed you need to keep in mind some of the stuff may be worn out or broken. Secondly, modified cars are usually driven by enthusiasts and those people don't modify the crap out of there cars to drive them like a grandma. So the whole drivetrain and chassis should have been stressed a lot by the previous owner. Thirdly, I think the whole idea of owning an FD or any sports car you like is the satisfaction of buying parts and modifying it yourself. I think that's what this hobby is al about! I bought my FD completly stock with the exception of an HKS Super Dragger exhaust (which I don't really like!) and I'm pretty happy with her! I know I have a lot of money and time to spend to make her the way I want, but it will be satisfying to see the end results!

Verruckt32

Thanks for the responses so far! Some interesting things to think about. Some of the arguments for staying with a stock car are along the lines that I am thinking. A few things came up that I hadn't though about. Like the fact that if you buy a modified car, then parts of the service manual may be thrown out the window, and if you don't know the trail of modifications, then it will be really hard to back track to figure out the problem. Thanks for the responses so far guys! Keep them coming!

arghx

iTrader: (3)

the biggest problems you encounter with a more than mildly modded car are wiring and vacuum routing/emissions hackjobs. And those can be nightmares to track down.

Railgun

I agree with those who say close to stock. Yeah, a modded car is nice and all, but were those mods done properly? Is it what you really want? What if you change it anyway?

I was lucky as hell to find mine in the condition it was in. Lightly modded...intake, DP, high flow cat and exhaust. I later found out it had a reflashed ECU as well.

Yes, if it's stock, you need to spend more to get it to where you want it, but it's what YOU want, not what someone else wanted.

In the end, it's all up to you. Also keep in mind that you're not going to spend everything it will take to get it how you want it overnight. It takes time, especially if you want to do it right. No need to rush into modding the hell out of everything. It's taken me seven years to get mine to where it is now and I'm nowhere near complete.

To each their own...

themcneal

iTrader: (1)

I would agree that stock would be the way to go, and besides the drivetrain, remember on buying a car this old that regardless of mileage, suspension bushings and other items wear over time also.

Supernaut

iTrader: (83)

I would take the stock car just on mileage alone. Unless the higher mileage had receipts for all the work I wouldn't even look at it.

DriftDreamzSS

iTrader: (4)

stock or a modified one only if it had receipts from a reputable 3rd gen shop for basic things such as upgraded ast, radiator, silicone vac lines and a down pipe. Anything further than that especially any mods that up airflow or boost pressures I would avoid.

BrownBoy

iTrader: (7)

Unless the modded car is VERY well documented and meticulously kept, I'd go for the stock car.

As mentioned above, it'll be more of a pain (and usually more money) to fix someone else's problems rather than just modding the car yourself.

Good luck!

Dudemaaanownsanrx7

iTrader: (23)

It depends on how modified. If its solid and ready to go with good quality work, and has basically everything already done that i would want then i would go modified. If it's just a radiator, ast, downpipe and a vacuum hose job i would go stock. The less mileage car will typically have a lot less wear on everything in general. Less driveline slop, less bushing wear, better condition wiring. All that adds up. I bought mine stock with 70k on it and a rebuilt engine when i was 18, that was 7 years ago. It now has 500+ hp, in a rebuilt and ported engine. It cost a lot of money to get it where it is now.

TpCpLaYa

iTrader: (10)

I agree with going with a stock car, UNLESS, the modded car just got a new motor. Chances are that ANY original engine in a stock low mileage car won't last too long if your plans are to mod it...these cars are getting OLD. I think that and the trans are probably the biggest things to consider the condition of when buying...because they will cost you the most to to replace if they aren't up to par.

RX7LINK

iTrader: (3)

STOCK

easier to find problems if the OEM parts have never been messed with. and lesser chance of damage caused by overboosting or aftermarket mods. most importanly, you know what's in the car w/out surprises

djseven

iTrader: (56)

If correctly modded, you will save thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours of headaches. I would find a car with a good rebuilt engine, nice paint, good bushings, some quality mods , nice down pipe and possibly a new wiring harness if possible. Those are the expensive things to deal with. Its kinda the luck of the draw when buying one of these cars, I would just make sure the one you buy doesnt have any electrical gremlins or any electrical work that looks half ***.

KaiFD3S

iTrader: (37)

Another vote for Stock....You can enjoy modding it yourself and watch the car grow up from a pretty little girl to a mean *** bitch...LOL...

arghx

iTrader: (3)

The problem is that a potential new FD owner just isn't knowledgeable/experienced enough to make a good judgment on how well a modded car was put together. There are lots of FD's that local shops mess with and do mediocre jobs on.

oo7arkman

iTrader: (2)

You have really asked the million dollar question... This also may really depend on your taste. Personally when I was looking for my FD more than 3yrs ago I knew I wanted a very close to stock car with a recently rebuilt motor. I ended up finding exactly what I was looking for, car had only 12k mi on a rebuild (all documents, recepts, shop records), it had a dp and a power fc. PERFECT.. This was my personal taste b/c I believe half the fun in owning a car like this is doing all the work myself (although I keep EVERY reciept incase hell freezes over and I sell the car). I really enjoy working on cars. I could have saved thousands by buying a decently modified very well documented and taken care of car, but that is not truly MY car.

BUT, if you do not really enjoy working on cars yourself (you would rather pick out parts and have a shop install them) then you may just look around on here in the for sale section. You can find some good, well-documented modified cars that I am sure are worth the money.

In any case (some cars are modified and then returned to stock to fool buyers) I would heed the advice listed above. REALLY check out the electrical system, look for places wires have been tapped, and how cleanly they are performed. Things like this can speak volumes. Most individuals who are careless often neglect wiring and do it half-assed and it looks like hell. Most who take pride in whatever work they are doing, even if it is meticulous, horrible wire-ups, will perform quality work and at the end of the project it will look clean as if performed by a real proffessional.

Good luck searching for an FD, it isn't the car for everyone, but those who love 'em nothing else really even comes close to comparing..

Verruckt32

Thanks guys! All of your responses are really helpful! I will not have crazy money to dump into the car, so my modification process will be fairly slow. If I end up with a stock car, I'll do the typical DP, Radiator, Gauges, SMIC, AST, PFC, etc. Once I do those things, I'll have to wait a little while before the next round of parts. My idea of what I am going to look for is really shaping up. Thanks!

Red95FD

iTrader: (3)

Find a nice stock car(that is clean enough for you) and have a compression test done to see how healthy the motor is.
Then, like you said, go slow with the reliability mods.

And wait for the color and model you really want. It is out there.
then you will be happy.

ProjectD_

iTrader: (1)

Stock is definitely the way to go. You don't really know what people have done with it if its modded, i mean they could have screwed up a mod and thats why they're selling it. (some people are bastards like that.) Also, depending on what mods (performance), the previous owner might have been using the car for some higher demand tasks like racing and such. Which is gonna mean the engine probably wont last very long. On the other hand, stock isn't completely fool proof either. If a owner has kept it stock, its either that they didn't know anything about the car, or they don't need it modded (daily driving). I would hope its the latter, because at least then you know the car hasn't been neglected.

Bottom line is, I think you should look for a car thats really CLOSE to stock, but with maybe a couple RELIABILITY mods. At least then you can assume that the previous owner knew a little bit about the car, or at least they had the sense to take care of the 7

MOBEONER

iTrader: (18)

I would buy modded.as long as the compression is good you can save your self thousands and a few strands of hair over the stock one.