general gen 3 ???'s
 

i am the current owner of a 1990 vw corrado. now granted, while it's a fun 'little' car to drive around, i'm tired of having a 4 banger. i've owned it for 3 years, plan on doing some more mods to it, but i've always wanted to own an rx-7 (maybe rx-8) or supra.

i've decided that dumping money into my front wheel drive 4 cylinder is going to get me nowhere in the realm of speed. i've been looking in the classifieds lately at rx-7's and have some questions for you guys.

what are some of the common things that go wrong with rx-7's? things to SPECIFICALLY check out when i'm looking at them? lots of mods available? how good are the rotary engines good for? mileage?

being a corrado owner i can go on and on about the specifics about corrado's (supercharger rebuild recommended every 50k, sunroof stops working, cracked fog lights, shitty windshield wipers, etc, etc).

i've seen 2 rx-7's i'd like to look at (both twin turbos)
1) 1994 45k miles, $15,500
2) 1993 12k miles, $28,500

are all 3rd gen twin turbos?

i looked through www.kbb.com and it looks as if the 93 is way overpriced. i guess if you guys could give me recommendations on what to look for, tendencies in wear, etc, that would be most excellent. much appreciated guys, thanks.......

Both those cars have great low miles and are probably in good shape -i hope. Do a search on what you're lookin for and go to
http://www.robrobinette.com/buyaused.htm

for good info on buying used 3rd gens.
Here's some basics.

COMPRESSION TEST: Mazda dealer will charge close to $100 for its but its a must. A mistreated rotary engine will mostly die quickly. And most owners who aren't rx7 enthusiasts will not treat it right. eg-frequent oil changes. But treated right they last a long time, depending on how heavily modded they are and how you drive.

Anyway look at that site and read some posts around here and you'll get a good idea of what you're lookin at. Best idea is to keep a daily driver on the side *just in case*

thanks for the info, that's a good resource site.

things that have gone wrong with my 3rd gen... EVERYTHING! This is the 3rd engine and 5th set of turbos (118,000 miles on the body). Since I've owned the car (11 months), I've replace the engine once, the turbos 3 times and tons of other stuff (ast, fuel filter, suspension bushings, control arm, ect) I just dumped $6000 into the new engine and turbos. The turbos are being replaced for the third time in the last month. It just seems to not be a very durable or reliable car (seems to be even more prone to rock chips). My battery tray even broke, haha! Out of the 11 months I've had it, its only been on the road 5. I really don't beat on it, just cruise to college and work. Plus since my street port and other mods, im getting 10 miles to a gallon ( I guess thats normal for 375hp though). I guess I'm just having some bad luck here. On top of all that I still love my car though, I guess that says something. There's nothing like cruising with the sunroof off. It just melts all my troubles away.