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Buying FD with original 12,000miles is a bad thing?

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Old 08-26-07, 08:34 PM
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Buying FD with original 12,000miles is a bad thing?

I was told this by an RX-7 owner today.

Quote: "I wouldnt purchase a car with only 12,000miles because that means a
hell of a lot of sitting which is the easiest way to leaky seals"

Is this true?
Old 08-26-07, 08:54 PM
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The apex seals and any rubber parts will still be 12-15 years old.

Yes I would absolutely buy it but you still have plenty of maintenance to do.

Dave
Old 08-26-07, 08:56 PM
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I see that you're from Canada. What year is this FD?
Old 08-26-07, 08:58 PM
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i agree with dave i would buy it. but maintenance reqiured
Old 08-26-07, 09:25 PM
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I would pick it up be be very careful, my freind bought an older car once with very low miles, thought he was getting a deal. Belong to an elderly person who really didnt drive it . First time he got on it hard he blew the motor, seems the past owner had never taken the engine past 4k RPM. Not saying thats the instance here just be careful low miles doenst mean new car just means it hasnt been driven which can be good for a collector bad if you want to pick it up and drive it.

Chris
Old 08-26-07, 09:36 PM
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Maintaince is required regardless of the amount of miles on the motor. More maintaince is required depending... but with 12,000 miles, I would buy it!
Old 08-27-07, 12:07 AM
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I would buy it too but it will need all new fluids and yes it can be bad to let cars sit thats why they say 3,000 miles or 3 months for oil
Old 08-27-07, 12:50 AM
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If it was prestine cosmetically, I'd buy it in a heartbeat and deal with everything else when I got it home.
Old 08-27-07, 01:19 AM
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+1 on buying it
Old 08-27-07, 01:22 AM
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If the body is clean i would buy it. But make sure that you dont pay top dollar for it. The coolant seals are probably all dried up amongst many other possible problems.
Old 08-27-07, 01:38 AM
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Whats the most that can go wrong, bad engine,trannie shot, rubber parts rotted, wireing mouse eaten, i say go for it! Be like the rest of us roll the dice.
Old 08-27-07, 06:41 AM
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definitely worth a buy.
worst case scenario, you can always drop it off at my house if you dont want it.
Old 08-27-07, 07:39 AM
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Bought my 93 FD with 12,847 miles on the odometer.

No problems untill 88,000 when a coolant seal gave way. Got a new block and continued to drive on until I sold her with 127,000 miles.

Great car, lots of fun.

Enjoy!!

Super77
Old 08-27-07, 09:11 AM
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Buy it,

replace the fluids and resume a temp. "break-in period".

have fun.
Old 08-27-07, 09:04 PM
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haha, this is great. All of these guys posting about not to pay top doller for it, dont get on it hard. Bs, you all know as well as I do, we would give out car and left hand to get out hands on an unmolested 12,xxx mi fd. Thats the stuff dreams are made of.
Old 08-27-07, 10:55 PM
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I would recommend signing a bill of sale with the owner subject to a ppi. I bought a 13k mile '93 cym last year and just bought a 15k mile black/black r1 a month ago and couldn't be happier--but I did have ppi's performed on both to confirm the compression, seals and boost levels were good...

good luck!

Daniel
Old 08-27-07, 11:39 PM
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definitly buy it. Take the car to mazda and do ppi. onece you have the car, go single soon as you can. Don't waste time on twin crap.
Old 08-27-07, 11:48 PM
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everything depends on the price = O

if its first owner, unmolested body, it should be worth a bundle, however, be careful about mileage rollback =O

not that hard to change a cluster, and run that mileage back up u know?

specially when he has illegal smoke hook ups =P

so just check carefully. originial paint, originial everthing.

if all's ok, 12k mile fd is a DREAM for every fd owner =O

i would so pay straight cash for 1 = )
Old 08-28-07, 01:15 AM
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Buy it!

I bought mine with 12xxx and have had no problems. I drove the car home and let it sit for the week. On the weekend I changed oil, coolent, gear and diff oil, as well as P/S fluid.

Car looked like it had the og tires on it. No problems. Going single now with out porting engine . Checked the seals by feel after removing twins look and feel good. Car has 25k on it and wait for single kit from A-spec.

Have a PPI done to be a little safe. Meaning the car is what it is.
Old 08-28-07, 10:34 AM
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Buy it!!!
Old 08-28-07, 11:10 AM
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I've seen some nasty things happen to sitting engines. Most recently on my FD, which sat for nearly 5 years some kind of corrosion or electrolysis had eaten into the main bearings, but not the rotor bearings.

The enigne had fair compression and no coolant leaks.
Old 08-28-07, 11:19 AM
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i think i took the biggest gamble of my car in rx7 history. i finally found a black on black touring in sacramento, flew up and drove it back down here and it took 8 hours. take the gamble!
Old 08-28-07, 10:07 PM
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Don't take a gamble, take it to a dealer and then it is no gamble! Your are going to pay much higher $$ for a low mileage sample and need to ensure it is in good mechanical condition for that $$.

Keep in touch and let us know what you decide to do...
Old 08-28-07, 10:42 PM
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Originally Posted by Danvh
Don't take a gamble, take it to a dealer and then it is no gamble! Your are going to pay much higher $$ for a low mileage sample and need to ensure it is in good mechanical condition for that $$.

Keep in touch and let us know what you decide to do...
I love your car list Excellent choices

Trev
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