krm197

Hey guys, First time poster, long time reader for the boards.

Moved out here to California, and I'm in need of a car. After test driving a third-gen, I fell in love, and decided to pick one up.

There is a person selling a nice condition FD which has been babied by tripoint engineering, 94,000 miles on the chassis, recently rebuilt engine. Most of the reliability mods have already been done to the car; silicone hoses, Aluminum Air Separator Tank, an Aluminum Race Radiator, and hard intake pipe.

The guy is asking 18,000 for it, which in my opinion is a bit high. I was thinking of offering 15,000, but would like to get a second opinion from people who have good knowledge about the worth of these things.

Here's a pic of it:

rzograbian

umm... more info would help a lot.. if not, i say offer him 12...

krm197

Sorry, kept the post kind of short. What kind of info would be good?

1QWIK7

iTrader: (33)

has it ever been into an accident?

what year is it?

how is the tranny? 5th gear synchro mostly?

the motor was rebuilit, by who?

how does it run? any leaks, are the turbos original? rebuilt? does the car smoke?

we need more info

but from what you said, 12-13 would be a reasonable price..

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

Offer what ever you can or want to afford. If he thinks its worth more, he won't sell it to you.

KaiFD3S

iTrader: (37)

yup 12-13 is what you should offer him, but 18 for that I dont think so

areXseven

iTrader: (1)

Q's):
- Who did the rebuild (or is it a Mazda Reman??)
- How many miles on the new engine?
- Any boost related problems?
- Are Maintenance records available?
- Straight body ((vehicle history; wrecks/body damage)
- Interior condition?
- Suspension related problems (pillow-ball bushings replaced?)

adam c

iTrader: (2)

18 seems awfully high. I suggest that you look at a few of them before buying. Its very unlikely that the first one you see will be a good car at a good price. Patience is a virtue.

krm197

Tripoint Engineering did the rebuild, not sure how many miles are on it. Turbos are original, he says the turbos are still running well, and do not need a rebuild.

I'm going to take it out for a drive, to see how the boost is, and if there are any 5th gear synchro problems, as well as ask a few more questions.

I've definitely been looking at quite a few 7's, and this is why I thought this price he was asking was pretty high. Mahjik had a good point though, in that if he thinks it's worth more than what I offer, that's all that matters in the end.

Hopefully this guy will come down from his asking price, but I think he's really attached to the car, which is why he's asking so much.

1QWIK7

iTrader: (33)

if he is really attached to his car, why is it selling it? and at such a high price? might as well not sell it cause i doubt someone will buy the car at his asking price...

then again, some idiot would..

krm197

He's selling it because he wants a motorcycle, and says he can't afford both.

Fumanchu

On the plus side, the car has been serviced by Tri-Point. They do A+ work there. I have never heard of any complaints about them except for their steep prices. You could also call Mark at Tri-Point to see if he has anymore info on the car.


Being it's a '93(i think) and the high miles, stock turbos and tranny, 12k would be reasonable.



Also you could buy my car, I will sell it to you for 13.5k obo
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.php?t=340817

SteveB

Recommend you take it to a shop that works on/ knows the 3rd Gen. (If you are going to buy one you might as well do some research on the best shop to take it to for major maintenance/upgrades). Have them do a complete diagnostic on the car. It might cost you some $$ but it sure beats buying the car and finding out later on that it has major problems. The report you get from the shop should help you in deciding the best price. BTW, if the owner balks at you taking the car to a shop, just walk away.

moconnor

iTrader: (14)

For comparison, I just bought a minty 1993 R1 with 44k miles for $16.4k in CA. For $15k you sould be able to get something nice with 60k miles or so. $18K makes no sense.

The Kelly blue book for that vehicle in 'Good' condition is $11k. I would not pay more than that. I would urge you not to buy a car with close to 100k miles either because if you decide to sell in a few years it will not be easy.

krm197

Well, hopefully I won't be selling it at all, but being realistic, this is all very good advice.

I've looked at probably a dozen 7's already, and it's eating up alot of my work time, lol.

I'm hoping something works out for me soon, as I'm losing sleep from not having a car here.

1QWIK7

iTrader: (33)

let me also add that you shouldnt limit yourself to your area.. if your "perfect" rx7 is located 500 miles from you, its worth the little extra dollars to go and get it rather than getting something just cause its near you and you end up spending tons of cash cause it was a bad luck car..

krm197

Yea, I wouldn't mind getting it shipped, or even flying out to pick it up, but it has to have a smog certificate from california for my Credit Union to hand over the cash.

Not sure if the smog laws are the same in all parts of CA either.

LAracer

Well, I paid almost 2x blue-book for my car. Since I've had it (2 years exactly) the only money I've spent is in adding a few more reliability mods and in regular maintenance, while I know that some others on this forum have spent thousands trying to get their cars running (and looking) right. Now, I'm not claiming that I've saved enough money to cover the premium I paid for a car in great shape, but to me it was worth it since I'm also not the most experienced mechanic.

My advice: if the car really is in great shape, then (as Mahjik said) offer what you think it is worth to you.

neuro

For comparison, I just bought a minty 1993 touring with 71k miles for $12.7k in CO

Fumanchu

Thats all fine and dandy, but you have to leave more info than that. rebuilds? accidents? mods?