FD Seeker

Unfortunately: I think the only REAL qualified FD buyers out there are current or previous FD owners.

artguy

two cents or more

any rotary can last a shi%load of miles if it isnt TWIN FARKING TURBO. haha

its the heat or the fuel probs that kill these suckers...or as common sense would say..its the high horsepower.

honestly though..Id rather buy a car with a good IC, Radiator, ECU, Downpipe, Hosejob, Y pipe, Aluminum AST, Catback and Guage cluster than one that had the same miles and was bone stock. The stock car has way too many design flaws. Youll blow the **** up because you pay attention to the stock crap temp guage instead of your own warm feet cooking from the engine bay heat after hard driving.. (i.e coolant seals charbroiling. . .and side seals....rotor damage...housing damage... eventually leading to thousands of dollas spent) . those mods above can save that from happening if the owner is smart enuff or poor enuff to run those mods for that safe reason. If that is the mod list then its worth having because its obvious that the owner was educated.

the owner that runs his dream machine at the autocross because he read about it's performance in a magazine...and before he knew squat about it, how to drive it, or how to mod it shall find out things the hard way....the more expensive way...and often the way to learn for himself....if his pocket book can hold on for the ride then his car will kick *** and he will have some good experience with the machine. Research....and listening can go a long way to the bank however.

good luck all...

still trying to follow my own advice...


j

Tad

I just wanted to second what the guy in the
first post said.
CAR SELLERS ARE EVIL BASTARDS!!

Some might recall my story from a while ago,
some might not.
But anyways, I situation, except mine was much
worse(mainly due to my luck, and lack of proper precautions).

Basicaly I bought an FD a while ago,
and looked it over myself. The exterior was very nice
interior was very nice(but needed some cleanin).
I looked in the engine bay for leakin oil it was very clean(hehe, the ****** steamcleaned it). I hooked up a boost guage, it was boosting fine.

So i shelled out 14 grand.

1 day later, a vacuum hose popped off and i practically shat myself, so i take it to an awsome mechanic who rules the rotary.
He fixes the hose(yay..) and tells me whats up with the car.
It's been totaled and the front end was completely rebuilt, and it had been in an engine fire, and the cooling system was fuct up.

So i think to my self(after thoroughly wetting my pants)
i should take another look at the title... so i do, and what do I see?... SALVAGED !!! at which point i think all my bodily fluids left my ***.

Basically this guy fed me a huge load of BS about
how the car runs perfect and hes had it for years without any problems, when in fact he just bought it
at a salvage auction a few months prior. Plus he
gave me a nice fake adress and information so i cant
find him to beat the snot out of im.

long story short, the engine blew soon after, and i sold it for 5k.

Moral of this story: always run a carfax.

FD3S LIGHTNING

Amen to the carfax, brother. I want to thank everyone for their invaluable input into this thread. I'm not a FD rookie but never plan to stop learning about the FD. Thanks again.

ttb

carfax is NOT reliable. i know people who've been in accidents and had major repairs done to their cars and the carfax reports NO accidents. one guy i know had 3 accidents on his prelude and the carfax was still clean. the same with my fd (the owner was actually honest about this).

about buying a fd, i just bought one a few days ago. very impulsive, spur of the moment. i did do my research to know that fds have problems, so i knew that coming in. but i got suckered in because these cars look so great.

definitely do not get this car is you cannot afford to spend big bucks on it or (as in my case) you have a reliable daily driver so that worst comes to worst your fd will just sit there looking pretty.

gf and others have given me a lot of heat about buying a unreliable car that requires so much maintainence. the only thing i can say is yes, it's not the most financially responsible decision i've made, but hey, there's like less than 6,000 of these babies on the road!!!!

Rx-7Addict

iTrader: (2)

this is great information for first-time buyers

But, even so , this only lists a few things. mostly things that give signs of abuse/mods.

Always ask around for a rotary mechanic in the area to check it out. Even if the car has been babied, surely the mechanic can find something. It could be major or minor.

Even if you want to still buy the car, what the mechanic says can drive down the price. You could find little mechanical problems that can be used in negotiations for price.

Good luck buyers

rotary-tt

Good advice but here's my suggestion. When you buy an FD, always consider the price of replacing the engine. You never know what you are going to get, so make sure you can afford a new motor.

2nd, I have 2 sets of stock wheels. The main reason is that my originals were scraped up and needed paint. I got a second set from an FD with 18,000 mi. And yes I've autocrossed it a couple of times. That doesn't mean much if you take care of it properly. It is easier to do more damage to the motor by running it hard when cold and just plain beating the crap out of it daily. Usually you drive to the autocross and the motor is warmed up. The thing you're most likely to do is warp the rotors from braking hard and sitting to the next round...

I think starting the car from cold is important. They managed to get away with this on me and I've had both an FB and FC. Many FD's will smoke when cold started so many people just run it for a few minutes before the buyer comes over...

Tad

Just wanted to add that carfax IS very imporant,
it is true that there are alot of things that wont
go on a carfax report(dont rely on carfax alone)
but IF there is something, it will be HUGE
and if you miss it your SCREWED.

Z Zoom

Before I bought my RX-7 I did the usual research for about a year. When I finally found one it only took me 2 days to decide. The inside was sharp and there were only a few minor dings in the hood. I did notice the massive oil residue in the engine bay and on the transmission. For the price this didn't sway my decision, I knew there would be a new engine in my future. Now I'm replacing the motor and I still love my car.

Quik 93 FD

After the carfax returned only a fail in emissions ( no cats) and a check on the boost/vac, i bought my FD. It only took me a measly 9 months to find one that was worth buying. Patience is a virtue.
Moral of the story-Dont just buy the first one u see.

RedR1

iTrader: (5)

I waited almost 1 1/2 years to buy mine, and i still ended up getting a lemon. God knows i looked over the motor, and test drove the car, idle tested it after a 3 hour drive, took the car into a shop and had it lifted up on a lift to check for chassis repairs, etc.

Everything looked Kosher, so i dropped the 13k for my car. Now im happy to say every cold morning, my car smokes more than Patty and Selma from the simpsons. Coincidently everytime i arrived to scope out the car, the previous owner had just gotten off of work. . ..

Anywoo, heres my 2 cents from what i have personally learned. Even if you get a compression test, and show up unannounced, the truth wont always be revealed until after you drop 5 years of saving from balancing college/rent. But then again, the best part of owning an FD is learning what the car is all about, and going through the trials and tribulations with your car. It sorta makes you feel "one" with it.

If i could do it all over again, i'd still buy my current car, as i have learned more than i ever would have with my old 240sx. Sorta like a Supermodel girlfriend, you always have to get things for her, spend tons of money. But when she puts out, yer always happy and beg for more

RedR1

iTrader: (5)

Hey Gordon, that thought never occurred to me until you just posted it. I always heard that any car that has been in a previous wreck will never handle/accelerate/perform as good as it "could" have if the car was never wrecked, but i thought that was just idle chatter or wives tales. . . Also, is it just limited to structural damage? i.e. fender crushes or front fascia indentation (but no apparent signs of underbody stretching to original specs like in totals and salvage titles?)

G69ING

I have disagree with those saying carfax is 100% true. I have family members who own car dealerships and they know ways of changing a salvage car into a clean title one . It'll still say accident or whatever, but it just wont be salvaged

dgeesaman

iTrader: (7)

No kidding. I'm a potential buyer (saving $$ for a buy this winter), and I read and read, but there's no way for me to _get to know the car_ - what is normal, not normal, etc without having an engine bay in front of me.

Dave

dgeesaman

iTrader: (7)

I've thought about doing this - leaving a blown car with KD Rotary and saying "do your magic", but...

Doesn't a blown engine indicate other components are maybe shot or abused? I can fix stuff, and I don't mind spending time on it, but is a well-repaired rebuild going to be trouble because of the abused components that didn't get replaced? In other words, which components outside the engine itself will also need replaced and about how much $$ would you plan?


Dave

twntrbo

Man i feel your pain. I took my time also before i bought my 94, and still the seals went two months later. Just goes to show how hard it is to predict what is going to happen when u buy an fd. But i did go into the purchase knowing full well a new motor would more than likely be needed sooner or later so it wasnt much as a surprise when it did. you will just have to come up with the 3 or 4 grand to replace it with. The 93 that i have now is stock except a dp and am very happy with the purchase i made.

Brian P

I didn't read past the first few posts, but the reason I think that people have problems with the coolant seals is because you are supposed to change coolant every 6 months.

How many of you do that? how about the origional owner?

ubernoober

What's wrong with the glovebox being open more on left than right?

revsteve

iTrader: (6)

Now I just got my rotary about 4 months ago, but all this talk about white smoke coming out of the tailpipe on a cold startup is scaring me a bit.

I live in MD (where it is currently 0 degrees) and when I start her up in the morning there is a breif puff of white smoke then she starts spewing exhaust like she is farting nimbus clouds. To the best of my knowledge (and thats not much) - these emissions are exhaust, not smoke.

The exhaust does not smell like anything but... well exhaust. However I read a post recently saying this was just a part of the normal cold start process - something about burning water and it turning to team.

After about 1 or 2 minutes of this she settles in nicely and purrs like a kitten.

Oh yeah - no coolant/oil/or any other fluid leaks here (except what I leak into my shorts when I stomp the gas in 3rd).

Someone plese tell me i'm paranoid

Roar 629

same here...

Kento

You're paranoid.

I need to ask though: what does this, or especially ubernoober's post, have to do with the topic of the thread?

jdhuegel1

**Reads username (coincidence?). Chuckles at the fact that this thread was brought back from the dead ...for a question that hardly goes with the topic but will keep the thread alive for another 3 pages....**

SpoolinRX

iTrader: (6)

Its like this. I think if all of us would of known the probelms we would have with our FD's, we would of prob never bought them. But once you have one you never want to get rid of it. I guess like Jay would say, its a Gift and a Curse.

revsteve

iTrader: (6)

I suppose nothing - but thanks for the comfort.... I almost cried like a baby.

Mazda99Nikon

Been looking for a year, almost two. I have to agree with the poster above who said, "factor in the cost of a replacement engine."

I have come to the conclusion that anyone who pays book value or more for these monsters is digging his own grave. I believe the last time I looked at KBB the cost of a decent 94 was about $14,000. I have made up my mind. I would never pay more than $9,000. I have owned an 83 RX-7 purchased new, followed by a new 91 RX7. The only two real cars I have ever owned in my life. Think about, 22 years driving rotary engined cars. They were great. I dreamed of owning a 94. But the fact is, the car in the current market is a ripoff. Unless, of course, you are hobbiest who has no limits as to how much you have to spend on your hobby. Good luck all. I'm saving for a new 350Z - or maybe the next Supra. (I have also come to the conclusion, watching the RX-8 club forum, that those cars, as well, are time bombs waiting to go off.) Hopefully, my FC will last another year so I can save up for the downpayment.