A quick overview:
I just started looking into getting a used RX7. I like the 2nd Gen Turbo-2 and love the 3rd Gen RX7! I hesitate seriously looking into 3rd Gen though because of all the horror story's I have read about reliability. So my questions are:
How many of you guys use your 3rd gen as your daily driver? How much money do you spend on average for upkeep per year? Would I be crazy to buy a 3rd gen RX7 without hardly any experience working on cars?? Most of the used RX7s I see have over 100k miles, on a car like that should I just assume I am going to need to rebuild/replace the engine and if so how much would that cost?

Thanks for any help guys!

 

search this one, i know there's alot of discussion out there on it, as i've participated in it a number of times.
this is going to vary so widely its not really even worth asking... it depends on mods, driving style, climate, frequency of drive, if you take the proper precautionary measures, preventative maintenance or just wait till it breaks.
crazy, no... will this be incredibly expensive? HELL yes.
not if the engine has already/just been rebuilt or replaced which is often the case... it all depends on the quality of care the car you are buying has been given.

 

What I was trying to get at with that question is: how difficult is it to learn as you go with a 3rd Gen RX7 or are they very difficult to work on without some experience? The reason being that as far as I know there is no shops in my immediate vicinity that work on rotary engine, and I'm not going to tow my car 100+ miles to get it fixed every few months .

 

if its your only car, my advice to you would be NOT to do it. I have it as my only car and have "limited" mechanical ability... but i have a dealer around here that is VERY good with rotary cars (they actually have two Mazda certified rotary specialists) and if that isn't what i feel like doing, there's a gentleman about and hour from my office that is a self-taught master of rotaries.

if you don't have a shop nearby and you might not be able to fix it yourself, either be prepared to spend alot of money getting it done, or be prepared to be without your car for extended periods of time... periodically

 

I have another car, so at least I wouldn't be completely dependent on the RX7. If you don't mind me asking, what problems have you run into that you felt you couldn't/didn't want to handle on your own? Also how regularly has your RX7 had significant problems?

 

Since I don't have time to repeat myself, read

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/faq-3rd-gen-other-useful-links-68640/ Read the last section (FAQ) first

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ght=learn+work

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ght=learn+work

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ght=learn+work

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ght=learn+work

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...threadid=27094

http://www.epinions.com/content_92709097092

If you buy one from TurboJeff (Eugene I believe) you'll get a beautiful car that got a second chance. I wish he was closer to my area.

Dave

 

i really don't enjoy dealing with engine/fuel/coolant related issues. i had a bad experience while working on the engine of my Triumph back in the day and do not wish to repeat it... especially since i DD my RX-7. I'm just paranoid about the coolant with this car because i'm afraid that i won't do something right and overheat it (i.e. destroy the engine).

i've had one issue that required downtime each spring so far so that's twice now. the first was when i had it in for 2 recalls that had not been completed, a coolant leak was discovered so naturally, i wanted it fixed... well, the parts took a while to come in and i didn't have the car for around a week in a half. my car is currently in the shop because i'm a dumbass and flooded it chaning the plugs (its a long story, look for the thread i posted recently "trouble after chaning my plugs" if you wanna know what happened. two more tiny leaks were discovered, one oil, one power-steering, so i had them fixed... and should get it back today. total down time of about 3 days but, its still annoying. i, however, have been VERY lucky with my car as far as issues go though (compared to the horror stories we always read about). for me, its been little issues that cause annoying headaches. i'm not saying to buy one, i'm not saying to not buy one just know that nothing is cheap with it and unless you truely love the car, you may find yourself wanting to sell it again, very soon, just to be rid of the paranoia and headaches. personally, i've never regretted my decision.

AMEN TO THAT!!!