Hello,
My husband is currently deployed and we are trying to sell his Rx-7 so I am left to do all the work. I don't know much about this forum or the best ways to go about finding a buyer who appreciates the value of this car. Any tips or thoughts someone can share would be great. We are in the San Diego area.

Thanks in advance!

 

I just bought a RX-7 in the San Diego area around Nov. if you need questions on how the market is in San Diego PM me.

 

I don't know a lot about the American market, but I'll help out all I can. To start off, we could use a bit more info. What do you know about the car?

Year?
Miles?
Color?
Mods?
Automatic/manual?
Condition?

The more we can know, the better and we can go from there.

 

Here is the info that he typed out for me....

1994 Mazda RX-7 twin turbo, touring model, 5 speed, white, 44K original
miles, 3rd adult owner, thousands invested in modifications all focused
on making the car more reliable and not to cut corners to make it
faster, 300WHP@12psi, professionally tuned, good compression numbers,
well maintained and all work done by rotary experts, never raced or
abused and always garage kept. The car runs and drives better than the
day it was brand new. I still have all the stock parts and they come
with the car.
PFS intake
PFS intercooler
Bonez downpipe
Bonez high flow cat
Racing Beat cat back
Efini Y-pipe
Reworked turbos
Apex'I ECU with commander
Apex'I boost controller
Boost and AFR gauges
Wideband O2 sensor
ACT clutch
ACT flywheel
Pettit AST
B&M short throw shifter
Fluidyne radiator
RP oil metering lines
Greddy throttle elbow
RP fuel pump
Pettit BOV
New coolant hoses
New brakes
Optima battery
99 spec front bumper and lip
NGK plug wires
New vacuum lines
New Z rated tires

 

As it sits today, has it passed emissions? Will it pass emissions without swapping parts or doing any other such hassle? This is important because you are in California and these cars can have trouble passing. A buyer from out of state may not care.

 

White 1994 and 1995s are highly desirable. And, while stock cars can be easier to sell, the modifications described here are decent. Have a look at SpeedForSale for an idea of what these cars are selling for now.

If the condition is as mint as described, it may be one of the few ~$20k FDs out there, though you may have to wait a while - and settle for several thousand less if you are in a hurry. If I were looking and had $25k to spend I would want a 1994/1995 with about 1/3 of these miles, though. Some very low mileage cars have sold for ~$20k recently.

No matter what price you list it for, be prepared to deal with lots of lowballers offering $10k.

 

Okay so I will put up pictures I took. I'm not sure what the important parts are but I will post them. I got to talk to my husband and tell him what everyone said so here is some of his response. Yes those are the original miles on the car. He is willing to wait around for someone to pay that amount. All the stock parts come with the car at the listed price. He is pricing it at 22,500. We haven't done the emissions test on it yet but he thinks it will pass but some stock parts may need to be put back on it. Yes the white is the original color.
I know he was in a low speed fender bender. The front bumper got scratched up so that is why he has that new one on there. All repairs were professionally done. I don't think it was even enough of an accident to be on the carfax.
Overall, he has taken excellent care of that car. He may love it more than he loves me. It has been garage kept and he has only let rotary-specific shops work on it. That is why I need advice on where best to try to sell it. It's important that it goes to someone that really appreciates RX-7's. So is this site the best place to post it for sale? Are there any other online rotary sites? Any advice it greatly appreciated!
If there's something specific I should take a picture of then please let me know!


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Gordon is spot on, from the pics it looks like a Chaste white.

 

is that a good thing?

 

Looks like a great car. For what its worth, I paid $16,200 for my Chaste White FD when I bought it in 2002. It was bone stock, and had 42,500 miles on it. Your car has some mods on it, but they don't usually add much value to the price of the car.

 

Thanks for the info..I will mention that to my husband. I don't think he wants anything less than 20K but I'm not sure.

 

yes its a very good thing, chaste white from factory is rare. i have not looked into the market on one, but if very clean and great running condition to the right buyer they are worth a nice amount of cash.

 

I paid about the same for a 44k mile car in 2004. As I mentioned, you might get $20k for this car if you are patient but for a quick sale several thousand less is realistic. Car will probably be on the market indefinitely for $22.5k. I'd want a ~10k mile car for that price.

 

+1

 

THanks you guys are pretty helpful. I will pass the opinions along to him.

I have a somewhat unrelated question then..why modify it if it doesnt add any value? Just for fun?

 

Yup.

A lot of people do think that modifications add value, but the market usually sorts them out when they try to sell.

 

We modify them because we think it makes the car better. Faster, more reliable, more fun, or just to make them different than the others. There are lots of reasons to modify them.

 

Thank you Gordon! You are so helpful! I will let my husband know! He once had a guy offer him 30K for it because he wanted one so bad, I guess he should've said yes back then!

 

I would say your best bet for selling the car will be to post an ad here on the forum. Or post on craigslist in San Diego and LA.

Ebay is kinda good in the sense that it is a national audience but it will take multiple listing/relisting to get a sale.

 

That's a great question: why modify the car if it doesn't add value?? I'm one of those "torn" owners of an FD....that is...I'm reasonable, but I'm still modifying the car. Why did I spend $1200 on coilovers and installed them myself exactly without much mechanical know-how you ask? (Especially since I've never taken it to the track and really learned how to drive this car...AND it doesn't add value!) I really cannot answer that question.....but I did. And I don't feel too much guilt about it. Well, one day it'll get on the track....once it's "perfect"....whenever that is. The oxymoron is: you cannot own an FD and be a reasonable person. It's the weirdest thing these cars. And the forum is my "support" group. hahahahah.

If the mods truly don't add value to the car...and you have the time and access to an RX-7 mechanic, and you have all the stock parts...I would do a swap of the stock parts and mods, sell the car, and then sell the parts. It would be a royal PITA....

But then again, paying someone to do the swap probably offsets the profit from the after-market parts. Those are good mods......very similar to mine. Guess that's why I'm chiming in....trying to block out the thought that I'm just throwing money away at my mods. There's just no reason for it.

Good luck with the sale.

 

What ever you do please don't take it to CarMax

 

Thanks everyone! I really really appreciate it.!!!

 

I am stationed in pendleton if you need help lmk

 

if i were going to be putting that car up for sale for that price, which i believe the car is worth, i would drop the 500 to have the car professionally detailed. i have always had better luck selling a car when i put some money into a quality detail before i showed it.

 

These cars run extremely hot under the hood. Anyone who bought them new can attest to this, After 45K+ miles all the vacuum hoses are brittle and either breaking or popping off. So some mods ARE necessary to maintain engine life. Now for power mods, everyone has an opinion. I bought my 93 in Aug of 92, had 6 miles on her. I ran it stock for 13 years. I have now rebuilt her from the ground up. I added some mods, porting etc. because speed is actually quite fun. Some even go as far as V8 swaps, To each their own, so I have had a blast driving mine for the last 19 years and plan on doing it for as long as I can. Good luck on your sale and I hope you get what the car is truly worth. Not what someone wants to give you for it.