I saw this thread over at the RX-8 site. And it started me to think about what it's cost me to operate my 1991 FC since purchasing it new. Why you ask? Well, I am seriously considering purchasing a 1994 FD as opposed to a new RX-8. I think it is possible the cost of operating the FD may be cheaper. You need to see the cost of replacements parts on the new 8. Jeesh. Here is what I found on my FC.

TOTAL PURCHASE COSTS

Initial Cost $15,000
Dealer charges $ 350
Service Contract $ 1,500
Interest - $ 2,800

TOTAL PURCH $19,650

ROUTINE MAINTENANCE

Oil changes $ 750
Other routine $ 300

Total routine $ 1,050

REPAIRS

Engine repl . $1,000
Exhaust $ 450
Rotors and brakes $1,200
Belts, odds n' ends $1,000
2 batteries $ 200

TOTAL REPAIRS $3,850

TIRES
2 sets $1,000

TOTAL TIRES $1,000

Car INS. $7,800

Gasoline and oil $9,166

SUBTRACT TOTAL RESALE VALUE OF CAR = $1,000

TOTAL COST $41,516.00

TOTAL MILES 150,000

TOTAL COST PER MILE = 0.28

I am wondering what you FD owners have found, particularly those of you who bought your cars, lets say about 5-6 years ago and haven't gone nuts on the mods.

Thanks for the help.

 

Please don't make me think about this as I have only put about 10,000 miles on the car and in my head I can think of about 40K in expenses (including cost, mods, insurance and gas). OMFG maybe I should sell. I am ******* serious.

 

You might want to read through this thread:

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...hreadid=251252

 

He already posted in there

 

Uh, no "Mazda99Nikon" did not post in there...

 

That thread should be a nooB sticky.

 

hmmm cost per mile

$17 for oil - 1500 miles
$27 for plugs - 1500 miles
8mpg
3 motors 20k miles
full rearend replacement
breaking just about everything on the car

ehhh it looks likes it's about $318 per mile

 

I'm one of those crazy mod guys.

Car 4 years ago $18,000
Single turbo system $3000
Fuel system $800
supporting mods. (Exhaust, computer, etc.) $2500+

Driven roughly 3k miles in 4 years....I'm going to stop now, while I'm still in love with my car.

CJ

 

This is sad. The previous thread is depressing. As someone who has watched this site for the past year I am beginning to think most of the owners here are young, middle class people who have spent every last penny they have to fix up some rich kids' broken toys.

I can understand the teenage desire to want to hotrod cars. It was done in my day, too, when we did it to 1966 Olds and Chevys but is I recall, I still had money left over for college. There's something inherently bizarre about the desire to turn a 10 year-old, poorly designed , financial black hole of a car into a 400 hp monster that will maybe run three miles before it sets you back another $5,000.

It's really got me thinking twice about buying something I've always wanted. I love the the way the car looks. Do I need 300 hp? Do I need 250 with the twin turbos? I'm inclined to believe for me, at least, if I did buy one I'd cap off the turbos and detune it to run reliably at 150 hp N/A.

This is probably heretical to some of you. But Seriously, has anyone here come to the same conclusion? And, is there anyone here who runs the car stock, and has not dug themselves a financial grave driving it daily?

 

LOL... was a joke/hard time refering to Senseny.

Making the FD naturally aspirated is very dumb. The engine will be a dog and the car will be no fun.

Back in 98 my buddy had one and we only replaced the AST, Radiator and did the silicone hose job. He sold it in 02' but we hardly had any down time. And that was in the AZ heat and daily driven to 110k. So no "black hole" there.

I have observed this forum since back in 01' (don't know what happend but I had to re-register back in 02') I have wanted one since 98' The 7 is a car that attracts many and you have to have the funds and desire to stick with it. I remember watching back in 99-00 as all the rice bois bought them up after F&F came out and then 6-12 months later I saw the largest group of Blown engine/reman cars for sale.

For me working on cars is a hobby and I enjoy spending money to make them go faster/drive better.

Simply put, this car is for a die hard enthusiast and spending every single cent on it is fine to them. I once read a post that said... "high performance cars require high performance money" I use it to this day for every single person I meet who says "RX7? Now that's a money pit"

Jonesie -

 

these cars arn't for everyone. Although i've spent a lot on the seven in the past year i've owned it I certantly (daily driver 300 rwhp) havent dug myself into a "financial hole." There's a financial responsibility everyone should take on when when they purchase a sports car. Just b/c many people have gotten careless with how they spend their money on mods and repairs doesn't mean every owner is going to go broke owning these cars. You need to be aware of the problems that may arise and be prepared to handle them.

 

You really can't think of these cars in terms of finances. They are financial disasters (some would even tell you thats what FD stands for). But if you go into it knowing that you're buying an expensive toy then it's a different story.

Cost of operation/mile is probably ridiculously high for many of us, but again, thats not why we bought the car. We'd all be driving Hondas if we wanted cheap well made cars that require little to no maintainence.

 

Then you need to start looking for a different car. The FD is more than just a looker.

 

I thought it was a looker until I test drove the car I own now...and now it has 300rwhp @ 10psi - bulletproof.

 

Cars are my toys, and one of my passions. Family/friends is first in my life, then cars/fishing. As long as you know what you're getting into, and know that a car is by no means a investment....everything should be fine.

Be nice to the n/a guy.....I can understand wanting a fast/good looking car while trading performace for economy.

CJ

 

Whenever I start thinking of all the money Iv'e spent and the down time the car has had I get sad. But once it's running again all I have to do is get in it and drive it and I fall in love all over again.

 

have you driven one yet Mazda99Nikon? Once you have, tell use how much you paid for your car if you are worried about how much dollar to mile its going to cost go buy something else. But nothing drives or looks and feels as good as a FD IMO lets not forget all the girls that like the FD

 

The only time it ever bothers me about how much I spend on the FD is when I itemize the costs, and that is rare. When I saw this thread I did a little quick math and was mortified, plus I need more work. After a night to relax and a drive the next day the desire to sell wore off. I budget properly for the car and it doesn't stretch my finances, so what the hell. I guess that night I just was a little down. I also own a small business and the health of that business sometimes affects my thinking about how much money should go where.

 

The problem here is that if you only just read the 3rd gen forum (even "for a year" like you say) without specifically searching for answers, you'll often come away with the "beginning to think most of the owners here are young, middle class people who have spent every last penny they have to fix up some rich kids' broken toys" impression that you have currently. Even though the search function here is pretty good, it's a busy forum, so it takes a lot of time to weed out all the bullsh*t from the meaningful stuff. If you just "watch" the forum, all you'll notice are the posts that either contain horror stories, or the ones talking about mods, because if someone's got a stock FD that's running fine, they don't see a need to post. But if you search for specific answers, after some work you'll find that the car is like any other 10-year-old, high performance sports car that packed so much performance into such a light and small package; it just requires patiently looking for the right car, some careful maintenance and a few minor reliability mods. Accomplish all that, and you'll have a great car that will give you a lot more enjoyment than newer cars that seem so much better on paper.

 

KENTO and RX7WEE: those are fair statements. No, I haven't driven one, yet. I hate to drive other people's cars unless I'm just about to plunk down some money. Your advice and others to drive 3 or 4 is well founded, however. I have driven an 85 FB with turbo charging and other suspension mods, so I suspect I know what I'm getting myself into.

I can understand the issue of the hobbiest. What I spend on my hobbies is usually pretty little, however, as I just got done putting the wife through 5 years of divinity school, a step-son through private college, another is a freshman and a step-daughter who is headed off to an out-of-state school, as well, next fall. Son number 1 is off to law school - there's no end in sight. So you get the picture. The wife is not willing that I spend much money on anything right now, so I've got to plan my Financial Disasters. LOL.

 

mine was about $18,000 with 75k miles on it
i put about 5k into it (brakes, tires, dp, radiator) and then drove it for 18k miles. so i'm at about $.080 per mile.

vs $0.09 for my 83 limited (i did tires, brakes, engine, radiator etc too)

vs my fc which is like $2 a mile, i did a 20b and dont drive it much though

this doesnt include gas, or insurance