CKD

Hello,
I've been looking around for a 3rd gen RX-7 for quite some time now, with not the greatest budget in the world, and haven't had much luck. I'm in AZ and I found a deal on one going for around 4.5k. Something is wrong with the compression and it is not drivable, but it might or might not crank over. Is this a bad idea to get into? Should I possibly wait? Thanks for any help

gafu mazda

its kind of an oximoron when you say 3rd gen(fd)and not the greatest budget.These cars are VERY high maintenance and for the most part,once you fix something thats wrong,another is bound to fail.Reliability and rx are in my opinion two more words that dont belong in the same sentence.Please use search here and just read a few pages or threads about the third gen and maintenance.Overall,Good luck.

jeff p

a 4.5k. FD as you put it. is going to need 10.5k. or more to get it into shape. this ain't the car for you with not the greatest budget. " your a smrt man to ask before you buy"

Jeff

djseven

iTrader: (56)

I say buy it and resell it, or send me the link or contact number for it

parid

I'd expect to dump at least 8k into it.

baggedoutmazda

how many miles? any service records? not only does it need a rebuild probably needs suspension work & probably lots of other little things u won't find until it's running, how much did u say your budget was? 10-15k

CKD

to be honest about 10k. I love the rx-7's but it is seeming that others think otherwise that this is not a reliable car to get. Did you have another Idea for me? It is hard to escape the thought of the beauty and just the thought of having one. So most of you suggest looking into a different rx-7, or is whole idea a bad one?

ToMaC

First of all, what do you want out of the car? Do you want an FD, or do you want THIS FD? How long do you plan on keeping it? And the deal breaker, is this going to be your daily driver? I hope not.

Smitter

Buy the Car along with a bus pass, so u can get your *** to burger king for the nite shift.

"Buy your Car to drive to work, Drive to work to pay for your Car"

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

no way a $4500 FD is going to be reliable without major work. if you dont need it to be a car, and the body and interior arent trashed, then it might make sense.

if you're expecting to drive it everyday, you're not going to be a happy camper....

themcneal

iTrader: (1)

FD = Financial Disaster

Owned mine since 1996, trust me it's not cheap to own & maintain.

CKD

Haha, alright, so it's lookin like I should start looking towards a different car apparently.. I am looking for a car that I can put care into and add too it, make it look nice, and the car I currently own is definitely not a car that I want to put money towards. It's good to hear all the information from you guys, and yes, I am looking for a dd. So is any fd that is under or around 10k going to be a bad decision?

parid

IMO, any FD is a bad decision. It just not daily driver kind of car. You should look at other turbo imports like a WRX/STI/EVO/MazdaSpeed3.

Smitter

Any fd, wether it cost 5000 or 25000 is a bad decision as a daily driver and for someone who is on a tight budget. If you wanna own an fd there are a few things u have to come to terms with first:

1. knowing it can and will breakdown @ any given time
2. that its gonna take time and money to fix it when it does break down, so it shouldnt be relied upon for transportation
3. when it continually breaks down and it gets overwhelming to afford, the ability to park it and leave it alone for a while.

The Fd is not a car(in the general sense of the word) its a Toy

CKD

hmm... it seems that my "dream car" will be further pushed back until I can have it as my toy. Sure is good to get the feedback like this though. So what is it that normally goes wrong on FDs?

MrNizzles

iTrader: (5)

^ Everything!

For starters, the engine compression will determine how soon a rebuild is necessary for coolant seals or if it's really bad, then apex seals are blown too. Apex seals are bad because it means the rotor and housing are 99.99% toast and those parts are $$$. Other tests to help determine the health of the engine would be a coolant pressure test.

Engine rebuilds, depending on parts needed, can range from $3k up to $5-6k or more, and that may or may not include a street port and 3mm apex seals.

Stock turbos usually fail on mid to higher mileage cars for various reasons; turbo seals leaking or sequential control system malfunctioning. This can be seen by lots of oil in the intake tubes (from turbo to intercooler). Also, smoke out the exhaust can indicate failing turbos. Rarely do stock turbos function correctly, ie. seen as the 10-8-10 boost patthern.

Rebuilding stock turbos gives shotty results and it's expensive for this unreliability. So, the only "real" alternative are NEW turbos, either '99 spec or BNR's, roughly around the $2500 mark. OR you could go single turbo which involves more knowledge, supporting mods AND $$$.

And there are many, many other things most important would be reliabilty mods, including a downpiper, radiator, new ast, fuel filter, silicon vaccum lines, replacing solenoids & check valves, replacing fuel pump with a quality unit, replacing fuel pulsation dampner, quality gauges and ... the list goes on.

Just to give you an idea, after about 1.5 years of research, I bought my FD for about $6500, which was a roller with a few suspension upgrades, then I put another $15k or so for a new engine, BNR turbos and lots of stuff I mentioned above. I had a shop do this for me, because I'm really only knowledgeable about what needs to get done, not doing the work myself, so labor costs of $90-120 bucks in CA can add up. In AZ, you might save a few bucks.

Now, my FD is in very good condition and "could" be used as a daily driver, but I only drive it for fun, hence the Toy name. It is always garaged and have not driven in the rain.

If an FD is what your REALLY want, then keep learning, reading, saving and don't make it your DD, it will last longer after you spend your life savings on it.

rotarymaz

iTrader: (1)

Any thing you can think of and everything that you don't expect!! I love driving my FD, but like most FD owners, I have a reliable daily driver. I think that a reliable DD and a couple of thousand spending money in the bank is a requirement for ownership if you ask most FD owners. If you have a good DD and ~$10K to spend and plan on doing alot of the work yourself, the $4.5K FD could be a good project.

Another route is, get a nice FC. I had a 91 T2 vert as a DD for the longest time and it was alot less expensive on the up keep (minus the T2 conversion of course). I learn alot about the rotary cars on the FC and it was a very fun car to drive and got lots of looks. The FD is an awesome car, but it's also a very expensive toy!

RIX-7

iTrader: (2)

I paid about the same price for mine with a blown engine,It had zeal suspension,apexi pfc,gauges,dump valve,hks induction,feed hard pipes,feed stainless exhaust,I then spent a total in $12000 ,repaint,new engine,and leather,I say if you want it and the body is good n you have dry storage buy it,keep it as a toy.At that price

CKD

Kinda bringin this one back. So where does most of the maintenance that you guys are talking about come from? Is it mainly the engine? I see fd's that have only 60k miles and have low compression already?! If it's not the engine then what might it be?
A friend of mine has the earlier body style rx-7 and I don't see him having too much problems with it, at least nothing yet. (just gotta watch that oil)
Thanks again

dgeesaman

iTrader: (7)

The maintenance goes everywhere.
Fuel system, cooling system, sensors solenoids and actuators, suspension, interior, and more.

Comparing to older RX-7s, 3rd gens have more problems due to heat in the engine bay. The boost really roasts things.

Dave

CKD

So most of these problems come from the turbos in the 3rd gens? So it's pretty much unexcapable to get a FD without experiencing problems? haha, it's just so weird to think that these beautiful cars have as many problems as you listed. "suspension, interior..." hmm..?

Azcamel

iTrader: (1)

it does not matter IMO how many miles a car has, it how it was taken care of. 10k should be your min budget when buying an FD, with that you might find one with ok condition and runs good, you can slowly mod it and keep on maintance. if you want a turn key monster then now is the time to buy but i would expect 15k, people are cheap right now and are selling great cars for cheap.
its acutally not the rotory or rx7 that has problem, it is any car that has double or close to double the factory HP output. anytime you get into that HP range things are bound to go wrong, and more so if you dont know the signs and what to look for, constance maintance goes hand in hand with high HP cars, no way around it if you want to keep it in tip top condition.
Im in tucson and you can come check out my monster if you want.

CKD

Awesome dude thanks. So do you use your fd for your daily driver? I agree with the maintenance. I really don't think I can spend anything over 10k though. I want something that I can take care of and enjoy, but I can't afford constant maintenance problems if that's the case. I have been wondering if people have this many problems because their romping on the throttle all the time or something along those lines? Anyway thanks again guys

CKD

Oh and possibly coming to check out your car might be nice. Where in tucson? Southern or Northern just to get a gist. Thanks. I'm in SV if you know where that is (south)

Azcamel

iTrader: (1)

im on the eastside, off of houghton and golflinks. its hard to fine a well maintained FD for 10, if you spend less then 10k then the car will most likely have some proplems.