Citrux

Hey everyone, I am really considering buying a third-gen rx-7 as my first car and would like to know if you think that this is a good deal:
here

There is plenty of others but this is the only one that actually tells what the mileage of the car is and is a fairly low...

And if I did buy a car in this price range what do you think the maintenence would cost me? I'm hoping that later on besides a full engine rebuild I wouldn't have that much big stuff to worry about.. would it be reliable enough to take me to and from school?

I'm not that interested in racing it, just maybe take it out once and a while with friends. I know I forgot to mention something, but I'll probably remember later.

Oh yeah, I also wanted to add that I'm not planning on being a totally ignorant person when it comes to the mechanics of the car. I am probably going to buy a few books on the rx-7 to better understand it before making a purchase. The largest concern here would be money, which is in short supply for me right now.

Talek

That's a good price, pretty low actually... There may be a reason for it. Drive it before you buy it, get a compression check, get a boost gauge and test the boost pattern to make sure the primary and secondary are spooling properly. May want to do a search for "reliability mods", 3rd gens can be reliable if you do it right. But regardless of the condition you have to go into it knowing that you may have big (3k+) repairs pop up without much warning, especially if you don't know how well the previous owner treated it, so be prepared.

Mr rx-7 tt

iTrader: (5)

It's an automatic...this limits your ability to mod. I would buy a 5 speed.

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

Just a tip.... You might want to get a quote from your insurance company before you go out looking for a car....

Citrux

Hmm well the quote that I got from progressive was 1600 a year and that was the most basic. It was more like 4600 a year if you were sufficiently protected... do I just go to AAA and ask them if they could give me a quote for a certain vehicle? Not really sure how to go about doing it.

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

Yep, I was afraid of that with your age. When you are young and looking to have a sports car, insurance is the first thing you need to figure out.

Yes, just call around to the different companies and tell them you would like a quote for insurance on an FD.

However, I will tell you that your best bet is to get on the same insurance policy as your parents. It would be even better to put your parents as the "primary driver" on the car and you as the "secondary driver". That will be the most affordable way for you to get insurance.

BATMAN

hey im 19 and i pay like .. 512 every 6 months for insurance in my FD =P

aufklaren

Yes, get on your parents insurance with them as primary drivers. I've been doing that for years and I'm 24! I pay about $50 month for my FD "weekend driver"

If there has been no reliability mods done to the car, the engine may be a time bomb at 64k miles, depending on how the owner treated it. If the asking price is ALL you have, I wouldn't do it because if something goes wrong and you can't afford it, you'll just have a pretty hunk of metal holding down your driveway. How much $ do you have to play around with?

Go to the recommended newbie sites on the top of the 3rd gen forum and check out those links, thats what I did.

909 area code? thats where I'm at. I'll go with you for the test drive hehe ;-)

r0t0r-rooter

Don't forget the Carfax!
U might also want to talk to the owners for a bit on the phone before coming all the way down here. Gotta look for any accident indicators (most of the cars in that price range around here have been into a few fender-benders). Ask if the owners have all the records, including the 60k service (and where it was performed at). If you don't get the carfax, make sure that the 60k is referring to chassis mileage & not "rebuilt engine" mileage. Some less-honest people will switch the 2.
Good luck

BTW, I have progressive... In getting an auto loan, the leinholder will require you to get a certain level of insurance, guaranteed to be above "most basic". I'm 25 and pay $2200 per 1/2 yr, but I have special circumstances that require it

adam c

iTrader: (2)

This isn't going to be a popular reply on this site, but................... I don't think anyone should buy an FD as their first car!!

It's a very high performance car that demands some experience. I recommend getting something a little more basic for a first car. Then get an FD later, after you have a few thousand miles under your belt. Also, an FD can be very expensive to maintain. If you don't have extra money for repairs, do not buy an FD.

Adam

Steel

Go for an FC first, a lot cheaper to start with and cheaper to insure. Not as quick as an FD, granted, but still pretty peppy. After that, when you learn how to deal with all the ridiculously aggrivationg problems of the RX-7, and have enough money, you should get an FD. That's (hopeflly) my route.