cloudy

As I always hear, "Dont get a RX7 unless your a mechanic"
I really love the looks and power of these cars, but i hear so many horror stories of how hard these cars are maintain. Engine breaks down easly? Are you spending $$ monthly or bimonthly to own this car? What does it require to actually own the car and keep it in running condition all the time?

windom

iTrader: (1)

Most of the parts aren't super high quality, because Mazda had to build this car for a reasonable price. A lot of things break easy from abuse or every day use.

EZFD

In my opinion, it is not that bad to maintain as long as you don't get greedy for power and you at least perform the safety/reliability mods. If you have a moderate mileage fd and you replace the AST, get a downpipe, radiator, FC thermoswitch and update the vac hoses to silicone, you should be fine. The only time a rotary becomes overly fragile is when it is not properly taken care of. There are people on this board that have ove 100,000 miles on their original 13b. I blew my motor in May because i ignored the fact that i was overboosting. It ended up being a faulty wastegate actuator and definitly something that could have been easily replaced. Lesson learned i guess. The main thing is to pay attention to the car and keep up on the basics and it will last a while. (rant over)

silverTRD

iTrader: (37)

if you have to ask...

RotaryDreamz

iTrader: (29)

its not hard to maintain... you just need to know what you are doing... the only thing im spending monthly is gas and insurance... if you want a hobby, this is a good one...

Joe Geiman

Actually, the did not sell new for a reasonable price they were expensive and because of this, the 3rd gen was sold in the US for only 3 years.

As far as part quality, nearly all pieces are very high quality. Most will go 100k miles no problem as long as the car is not abused and is driven reasonably.
A lot of the mods done have little impact on reliability.

Most problems occur because the owners lack of understanding of all systems in the car.

You really need to go to school on it, not do anything but reliabilty mods, and understand that if you push it, that is boost and timing, you need to have the fuel to support it. Because the result of detonation is engine death.

RX7LINK

iTrader: (3)

its not hard to maintain at all. if u do all the safety mods, check ur oil and coolent every other week or so and do ur oilchange regularly, this car have way less problem than a BMW

like others say, people's motors don't last due to abuse and also lack of proper understanding how the motor operates + over modifying w/out proper tuning

RX-7 From Heaven

iTrader: (4)

the only reason some people's rx-7s have been hard to maintain is because either A, they were abusing the **** out of the car (boosting like krazy or just doing nothing but pressing on the gas and then pressing on the brakes), or B, they haven't had any of the reliability mods done on the car. by reliability mods many people will argue that my list is a bit too much, but i'd recommend changing the radiator to an aluminum one and bigger one, changing the air seperator tank (ast) to an aluminum one, changing the oil metering pump lines (omp lines) to stainless steel ones, changing the downpipe to one that's bigger in diameter and one that doesn't have a precat on it, getting a better air intake setup, changing the oil cooler to a dual parallel aluminum oil cooler with stainless steel lines, getting an aftermarket ecu system (power fc recommended), and if possible and you have the money after all of these, get the engine rebuilt with 3mm apex seals and port all the intake and exhaust ports. getting a brand new wiring harness and taping the wires up with higher heat resistent tape and getting all other lines stainless steel will also add more reliability, but not as much as the previous mods i listed. other parts on the car usually break down because of 12 to 14 years of hard driving that the previous owners of the car have put on them, which is actually really surprising that these cars have lasted this long because most cars are made to have an average lifespan of 5 years without any problems, and then after five years most cars usually start showing signs of "wear and tear". as for actual maintenance of the rx-7, an oil change every 2000 to 3000 miles is all that's needed in order to keep the car up and running in top notch condition (obviously aside from the fact that rx-7s need the highest ocatane gas available in your area, haha). i'm gonna have two rx-7s available soon with all of the parts listed above plus a **** load more and they're gonna come with two to three year warranties, so let me know if you'd be interested. the price tag is 30k when i'm finished, or 28k if i receive some kind of deposit right now. sorry for the essay, and good luck with your car....
-erik

windom

iTrader: (1)

Most of the parts snap or break easily. I barely bumped into my gas cap one day and it snapped off. True it's designed to be light weight, but they could have done it in something lighter and stronger than plastic, but that would have cranked the price up.

JConn2299

We go around and around on this topic.

There is one all important fact: These are now old cars. The youngest of them is now 11 years old.

What you could say about them when they were new, or even 3 or 5 years old no longer applies. Condition and vehicle history.....how the car has been treated during its lifetime is all important. Many of them have been altered so much they are far removed from the original design parameters. Many are on their second or third engines. From what we see on the postings on this forum, the quality of these rebuilts varies widely.

If you can find an extremely well cared for original engine, or a very high quality rebuilt unit the routine maintenance demands can be low.....3,000 mile oil changes, 2 year coolant changes, 15 - 20,000 mile fuel filter changes and the like. But abused, highly modified, or high mileage cars means you're buying a crap shoot with a $4,000 - $5,000 engine replacement lurking around the corner.

windom

iTrader: (1)

I do agree with this statement.

cloudy

What do you guys consider highly modified (rwhp # wise?). And what do you consider beating on it? I have a evo right now, and I know I like to get on it sometimes, and I take it to the drag strip a few times. And if I got this rx7 Id like to take it to the drag a few times. Would I need to be worried?
And I plan to buy a moded rx7 with most if not all those reliability mods, and hopefully a new built engine.
Can I run 400hp, or 400rwhp daily without any problems?

MR_Rick

iTrader: (7)

For a daily drive I wouls stick around 325-350 whp and that is pushing the stock turbos. anything after that, you start looking at replacing fuel system and upgrading the turbos.

RX-7 From Heaven

iTrader: (4)

you can have that much horsepower that you're seeking and still drive the car safely, but you'd have to have all the mods i stated above plus a couple of other mods like intercooler and such. you wouldn't necessarily have to change the turbos to get that kind of horsepower. you could always have your turbos ported, your engine ported, have a nice flowing exhaust, get a power fc, and boost up from the stock ten pounds to about 12 pounds (which is very normal for an everyday driver and wont totally kill your mileage). the cars that i'm going to have done in about two months are going to make that kind of horsepower with around 12 pounds of boost on the stock twins. i'm too lazy right now to look for it, and i doubt you'd be interested with a price tag of around 28k, but if you search in the for sale section for a fully rebuilt and polished rx-7, then you'll stumble upon my thread and you can see what parts it'll come with. basically you'd be getting a 400hp brand new car that'll come with a three year warranty on the car and a lifetime warranty on the paintjob. if you don't like the setup that i'm going to be doing, i can make you a custom fd to your very own specs down to every last bolt. if you'd be interested and you pay some sort of deposit before the car is done, i can bump the price down for you. let me know dude....
-erik

RX-7 From Heaven

iTrader: (4)

i'm a nice guy so i found the link, haha. below you'll find the thread i made like a week ago or so. the price is said i was going to sell for was 26k, but it's been bumped up to 30k, but if i get some kind of deposit before the cars are done, then i can do cheaper than 30k. 30k is for EVERYthing listed in the thread; if you don't want some of those parts or don't want the engine or turbos ported or wouldn't want anything polished, obviously that'll decrease the price of the car. let me know if you'd be interested. oh and by the way, it says that the black fd that i got is sold to the guy who said he'd buy it in the thread, but he bailed out so the black one's available as well....
-erik

cloudy

Thanks for all your info ,rx7 from heaven, but theres no chance i will pay $30k for a rx7.
Especailly since theres some really nice built, engine and exterior ones on ebay only for 20k, and some for 25k.

RX-7 From Heaven

iTrader: (4)

yeah i know you can get rx-7s for cheaper (you can get them for like 8 sometimes if you look hard enough, but they're not gonna be in perfect condition, haha). i don't know if you checked out my thread, but you will DEFINITELY not find an rx-7 with those parts or even similar parts for cheaper. plus, you can take off any parts or exchange any parts on my cars if you're interested, but i wont change anything once i'm done. i don't know of anybody out in the world that sells rx-7s with a warranty either; that's how sure i am that the rx-7s i'm selling will last you a LONG time to come. let me know if you change your mind and as i said i can drop the price if i get some kind of deposit or if you don't want all of the options it comes with, but otherwise, good luck on your car search....
-erik

Juan

iTrader: (28)

I got my near-stock FD for 13k and it was in great shape when I picked it up. I did all the reliability mods (downpipe, radiator, AST, vacuum hoses, boost gauge & temp gauge) and the car didnt give me any problems for almost 3 years of daily driving and weekend racing. The engine let go at 90k miles and I just replaced it.

Prices have gone up a bit but you shouldnt have a problem finding one for 15k or so. You can also get one with a blown engine and have the engine built to your specs.

rexhvn

I recently picked up my FD, in good shape (compression is 105psi per rotor) I drive mine daily. Try to keep of boost some times but can't help yourself done the reliability mods and haven't had any trouble at all... I know i'm not a very good example, but the FD's can be a reliable car if you want it to be.

cloudy

On ebay you can find them with most reliability mods + sometimes built engines + always with upgraded turbos.
So i might just have to keep looking.
Iam guessing if you got a Rx7 with a Ls1 swap, your worries about reliability would be pretty much gone.

rexhvn

Yeah pretty much. LS1's are more reliable then the rotarys, but what's an FD without a rotary?

vellj001

Totally signed

kuning

I must say, like others have said. The FD is not that hard to maintain especially with current technologies and knowledge of rotaries.

Engine wise, it's as reliable as other cars you can find. But perhaps the problems you'll be face with are from aged and worn out parts being a 10+ years old car and a vehicle that's been driven on the road. Some of the issues would probably,engine (if it has high milleage), engine support system - plastic ends radiator pronce to cracking, rotten vacuum hoses,,etc- suspension(Bushings), gearbox synchros, clutch, totten engine harness and cables.

The rest would depend on how you drive and maintain the FD.
And oh, also bear in mind that I'm talking about a stock FD here, not a souped-up one.

But again...these are just the things I experienced from my old FD. I might be wrong.

silentblu

iTrader: (1)

i read it in another thread, but i liked what the guy said, it was something like "i no longer consider your car a RX-7, since its lost the rotary, its just a MX-7" i think that's what i'm going to call non rotary 7's, hahahha

and technically FD's are just the body type no? not strictly engine based? the 99 specs are still considered FD's even with the slight changes

elford_tim

I'd echo what's already been said a couple of times - get a good one, do the reliability mods and look after it.

They're not cheap cars to run in the sense of my OH's Jeep Cherokee, which will just soldier on with minimum maintenance. Treat it like the supercar it is (good oil, frequent changes, warm it up carefully before switching into "drive it like you stole it" mode and give it enough time to cool down again before turning it off) and it's certainly no worse than most other exotic cars in the same performance bracket.

As to the "must be a mechanic" requirement, it helps to have someone who understands rotaries to work on the car but with the help of sites like this you should be able to do a lot of the routine work yourself if you're reasonably handy with the spanners...