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My FD was $0, although this is a cheat since it was never actually for sale. My parents didn’t drive it anymore and wanted to make sure it wouldn’t waste away and was well cared for, so they gifted it to me on the condition that I wouldn’t sell or modify it. It’s been in the family since new, and I intend to keep it that way. It’s still in the stock configuration apart from reliability mods.
I have an immense sentimental attachment to my car and feel incredibly lucky to have the chance to be its caretaker for as long as I can, and I’m enjoying every moment of it.
I bought my first one in 2015 for $9kNZD. a 1998 Type RS, in Chaste White. Miiiiiinty Interior. Tidy exterior, and an electrical problem that caused it to foul plugs all the time... Turned out to just be the primary and secondary injector plugs swapped on the front rotor. Swap em back, and 20,000k's of delightful motoring later I foolishly sold it, hah.
I have no stories that would be considered that great, but my first one I bought out of highschool for 14.5k I want to say. It was a very good condition 93 VR with a freshly rebuilt engine. My second one was a 94 BB base for 14 I think, and then I bought a VR automatic for 15 about two years ago, sold it. My current one..well.. I paid much more than that. By a lot.
Last edited by SwappedNA; Jan 6, 2022 at 03:08 AM.
A good friend of mine bought his '93 type R with loads of Mazdaspeed parts for 1500, he spotted it in a field... It had been parked up with a blown motor but all main parts were reusable when it came to rebuild it. Nice car now!
i bought mine, a CYM back from the insurance company for $320.00...
my friend bought a nice one owner 60k mile AUTOMATIC car for $3500 once. it had a couple of oil leaks and needed a wheel, so cost of repair was kind of high, owner thought of it like a normal car
Early 2000's it was common to find one with a blown engine for $5k or so.
I bought a '94 red base manual that had the drive train taken apart for $4500 about 8 years ago. Rebuilt the engine, fixed up a bunch of things, sold it for $15k or so. Had relatively low mileage if I recall.
@cymfc3s might remember this better than me, but there was an FD floating around, and if you made the payments, you could use it, so several people did.
the part i do remember about that car was it ended up in my friends yard with a broken tie rod that nobody wanted to fix, and then after like a year or something someone wanted to drive it, so we had to move it.
start it up, let out the clutch and it promptly sank to the frame rails. we spent hours trying to get it unstuck, and eventually used a come along tied to the house to get it free.
maybe you had to be there, but this is in the middle of the most dull suburb you can imagine, and just minutes from Apple and Google.... most people have the decency to get stuck in the mud, you know in the mud, with a truck or something
I paid $10k for a clear title cym with new engine, trans and turbo. Had a dent in one fender but otherwise clean. Seller had totaled a prior cym and I got a ton of parts and mods with the car. By the time I sold the extra parts and mods I was driving around in a free cym. Sold it to a buddy for a price below market and he enjoyed it for several years before selling.
ive had probably 10 FDs over the years I was driving around on the street with less than $5k in them.
4 years ago I bought a blown engine highly modded 95 CW for $26k and people thought I over payed. Funny how things change.
4 years ago I bought a blown engine highly modded 95 CW for $26k and people thought I over payed. Funny how things change.
Not IMO you didn't. Back in 2017 I personally knew someone that sold his 94 white touring, glass sunroof, rear wiper, stock bodied (except for nice wheels), GT35R FD, for $24K with a blown engine. I will say though the car was well built, well taken cared of, and beautiful.
In 2015 RHD were regularly being sold in BC for C$8000~10,000. Local importer probably sold about 15. Likely he was picking up at auction in Japan for sub-$5000. Would bring them in in containers, 4~5 cars per container. Containers were about $2000 at that time. About 4 years ago there was a red LHD up for sale for $6000. 250,000km. No one could believe the price and so did not bother to go take a look.
Someone swooped in and picked it up. It was an automatic conversion with bodged up electronics.
To my knowledge the car is still not on the road today.
In 2016 I was offered a complete car and a shell for C$1200. Both very early RHD. I did not pick up for lack of storage.
Seller got the motor running in the complete car and sold to a friend. Friend did a DIY paint job. upgraded the interior and sold for C$16,000 plus into the US.
Bought my '95 BB PEP with 35k miles for $15k in 2012. Fikse wheels, new engine harness, dual R1 oil coolers, a fresh rebuild that we had completely recently at IRP, and some kind of insane sound system which is now sitting in a box in my basement
One picture I had on my computer a zillion years ago that I always wished I could find again was a picture in Japan of an FD body literally sticking out of a dumpster. I think you could pick that one up hella cheap.
One picture I had on my computer a zillion years ago that I always wished I could find again was a picture in Japan of an FD body literally sticking out of a dumpster. I think you could pick that one up hella cheap.
Dale
Chances are slim, but if you still have that same hard drive, there's ways to *possibly* recover it if it was deleted. Assuming you haven't done multiple reformats of it, etc, and the drive isn't failing. Even then, it's a crap shoot, but I've had luck previously.
@cymfc3s might remember this better than me, but there was an FD floating around, and if you made the payments, you could use it, so several people did.
the part i do remember about that car was it ended up in my friends yard with a broken tie rod that nobody wanted to fix, and then after like a year or something someone wanted to drive it, so we had to move it.
start it up, let out the clutch and it promptly sank to the frame rails. we spent hours trying to get it unstuck, and eventually used a come along tied to the house to get it free.
maybe you had to be there, but this is in the middle of the most dull suburb you can imagine, and just minutes from Apple and Google.... most people have the decency to get stuck in the mud, you know in the mud, with a truck or something
Oh boy, I had forgotten about that car!! FDs were never throw-away cars, but some were definitely more disposable than others. And when abused, neglected, I can't think of any car other than say a 300 SEL 6.3 or anything Italian that is more expense to keep running and resurrect when seriously neglected.
1st one had a reman engine installed by a dealership or shop. the car did not run correctly after the engine install. He took it to another shop or dealership that could not fix the issue. Finally took it to a second dealership, that told him it needed a new engine. If I remember correctly I paid $2,500 for it. Needed a new wire harness.
the 2nd one, I purchased for approximately $7,200, His dealership told him it needed new turbos. It needed a LIM gasket, the turbos were fine.
Five years ago I sold a clean title RHD rolling shell for $1000CAD ($750 USD). I bought my first, fully stock, FD for $5500CAD and my second one (running, driving, etc.) for $8000CAD. There was a time when you couldn't give these cars away. No one wanted rotary cars. Now, I see cut up shells listed for $25,000CAD.
I bought mine for 6 grand in 2005 or so. It was keyed down one side, dented down the other, with a stinky 150k mile interior and rock hard cracking tires.
It ran, drove, passed smog and boosted great though. Here's a pic I took the day I brought it home.
The Cheapest FD3S Ever Sold?
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