For everyone who owns a 3rd gen RX7: What do you rank yourself in the area of RX7s and car mechanics in general? For the newbies out there, that know very little about rx7s mechanics: do you think an rx7 is ok for a person who is getting their first car and is going to mod it, at the same time is willing to learn about rx7s and car for the car?

I really just need to know if the rx7 will be fine for me. Since many people are telling me that it is unreliable, and that it is not a car for a kid going into college.

 

There needs to be a rank for someone in the middle of Amateur and Professional. I would call it the Weekend Warrior.

The reason is I don't consider myself an Amateur, as I understand my RX-7 and know how to work on all aspects, and do fabricate some custom pieces. However I also don't consider myself a Professional, since I don't do things like port my own engine, build subframes, etc.

 

I'm sure I could figure out everything...but I dont have the time...

So chalk me up as a amatuer (with potential )

 

I would have to say barely Amateur since I've had my car less than a year... I've done some things on my own and paid for work that I could have done on my own because it's my daily driver and I didn't want to risk not having a ride to work the next day.

I think I could have handled owning MY car while I was still in school but it really depends. All the "work" I've done on my car so far has been voluntary and I could have gone the whole time just doing maintenance work like changing the oil. Other owners may not have been as fortunate and sometimes things go wrong immediately like the radiator leaking, etc. If you really want one, I would say be prepared to pay a good amount for one in really good shape that won't give you (as many) problems. If you buy one that's got 100k miles for $10k, be prepared to spend a lot more time working on it to get it up to spec. In most cases, you do get what you pay for.

 

I would say newbie to amateur for 7's, weekend warrior to pro for boingers.

 

Probably weekend warrior for FD and FC- can do everything except internal engine work. Semi-pro for boring piston engines- a dozen or so complete engine rebuilds, from 1.1 liter MG midget to 7.4 liter (that's 454 cubic inches for us red-blooded Americans) Chevy. Oh yeah- I rebuilt the one cylinder engine on my Bolins lawn mower a few years ago.

If you are getting a car for college, you probably will get what you want, regardless of its reliability. I drove a Triumph TR-4 all through graduate school. Had fun when it ran, but spent a lot of time with it either not running or running poorly. The FD can be reliable, but keep in mind you will be getting a 7-9 year old car. Even one in good shape will need some repairs due to its age. Most of the ones in showroom shape that are maintained by fanatic perfectionists are NFS. My $0.02.
Ron A.