Valkyrie

I looked at an FD for sale the other day. The first thing I noticed was that the tachometer was apeshit crazy. It didn't even come close to working. I was told they might have to replace the entire gauge panel, including the odometer. This seemed like overkill. How hard is the tachometer fix?

Also, the engine and exhaust are bone stock, other than a Mazdaspeed muffler tip (SIGH) and an HKS drop-in filter, as far as I can tell (there's a sticker on the air box). But the exhaust pops a LOT for a car with no significant mods. What's the deal?

I also noticed that the driver's side door lock won't let the key in it... WTF? Apparently they will replace the cylinders and make a new key, but I have to wonder why they haven't already done this, since they're a dealer.

I wasn't able to drive it because the guy was being a douche and it was pretty late (the shop was already past closing hours when we got done waiting the yay/nay from a loan company).

The fact that it's apparently bone stock was a bit disappointing...this being Japan I was hoping at least for some coilovers and upgraded brake pads. Even with a Momo steering wheel, the leg room was lacking and I would need a full bucket seat and a spacer to make it really click with me.

Drive away price was $7,500... a little too much for a car in that condition. I was hoping for more like $6,000. Shops in Japan list a really cheap price on the car but then add on average about $1,500 in Jesse James fees and mandatory taxes/insurance.

JamesVaughn3rd

iTrader: (3)

You are looking to take out a loan on a 7,500 dollar RX-7? That has bad news written all over it.

Valkyrie

Well, that's a fairly normal price for a 1998 here... if at little on the low side. The car itself is more like 5,000. But after a bunch of bullshit service charges, manditory fees, and a few months of insurance, it comes to like $7,000. The inspection will be up in three months and at that point, it'll be another $900 for insurance, taxes, inspections, etc.

More than likely I'll probably just buy a S14 with all the goodies needed for track driving and a lightly tuned engine. For less money too...

BTW, I could pay for the car in just a few months, but they won't do installments. It's either cash or a loan. And I don't have that much cash at the moment.

Reno_NVFD

iTrader: (2)

If your gonna get a loan you might as well get something good or in good condition at least. Dont take out a loan on a crappy car. Not only do you have a loan that sucks but your car that you bought sucks too.

If you can have it paid off in a couple months just wait and save your money. I wouldnt rush to buy a pos car.

Valkyrie

If I save my money long enough to buy it with cash, it will probably be winter. Then I won't be able to drive it until April or so. If I buy it now I'll at least get a good four months in before the snowfall.

And I'm only going to buy a car that I can afford to pay for with a few months pay...anything over that and it simply wouldn't be worth it considering how long I'm going to be here, and how many months out of the year I can't drive it.

Why do you assume that it's a crappy car just from having a bad tach (a common FD ailment) and me saying the exhaust pops a bit when I let off the gas?

BTW, can the tach be fixed just with resoldering or do you have to replace resistors too?

This is the car

http://www.kurumaru.com/kurumaru/net...dealerid=10241

JamesVaughn3rd

iTrader: (3)

I didn't mean to come off that you don't ave money. What I meant is that if an RX-7 is worth 5,000 dollars as you say, and you need a loan for it, you could be stranded sooner than later. I've heard many say don't buy an RX-7 unless you have the price of a rebuild in savings ready to spend. There are rollers out there for 4,500 that need another 10k in work (labor performed by self) before they are good to go. Just tryin to help prevent you from taking out a loan on a car that, based on the condition of cars typically at that price, could require significant additional investment soon that you might not have the funding for. There was a whole thread on "would you take a loan to buy an rx7" somewhere.

Valkyrie

Also, the average FD has less than 80,000 miles, and on average is two to five years newer than the average FD in America. And far more are in driveable condition since they sold more units over more years than any other market.

The average price for an FD here is typically between $5000 and $8000 for mid-year models (96-98) in average condition. This is what, 1/3rd to a 1/2 what an older FD costs in the states? The only reason cars cost so much more at the driveaway price is because the Japanese government charges car owners out the *** for road taxes, weight taxes, biannual inspections, and mandatory insurance. There's also a $100 recycle fee that has to be payed, although you get it back in theory if you sell the car. This covers the estimated cost of junking a car at the end of it's useful life. And that's just what you're legally required to pay.　　

When you buy from a shop, the dealer expects you to pay $500 for such and such (I was told for an inspection, repairs, and an oil change), $250 for such and such (registration fees?! didn't you just tell me I had to do the name change myself?), $100 for this (other stuff), and $150 for that (various Jesse James fees). And that's before they charge you $250 just to take your car to the inspection center, and god knows how much to do any of the repairs the inspection center tells you to do. The two years of inspection and tag fees and insurance would be another $800.

OTOH, you can save a LOT of money if you do all that yourself... although I don't see any reason to haggle until I have cash. My time is worth a lot...but not that much.

Still, I wonder if I can actually get it down to a price I'm willing to pay, or if he will tell me to kindly **** off. (This is coming from a shop that has a severe aversion to test drives and doesn't do warranties)


Edit; Forgot to mention I already have a reliable, practical 4WD, automatic daily driver with OK gas mileage. And it's paid for.

Valkyrie

I still want to know how much popping is normal on a stock FD with low mileage (60,000 or less). And whether or not it needs to have the timing adjusted or something.

Valkyrie

The dealer is giving me a hard time about test driving it (he thinks I'm 100% committed to buying it once I test drive it for some stupid reason), and their aversion to test drives and warranties (plus the retardedly high cost of basic pre-sale inspections and service) tells me I should tell them to **** off.

There is another white FD in Tokyo for the same price, so I'm going to look at it since I'll be in Tokyo anyway (otherwise it would be a LONG way to drive...). It's a 96 and has more miles, but it seems to have coilovers and an aftermarket exhaust, which is nice...