Hello, I'm a former FB owner looking to buy my first FD. I looked at one yesterday and promised the guy an answer by the end of the week. Here's the car:

White '94 base model (not touring edition, e.i. no rear wiper, bose cd player, fog lights, etc.) The car has 110,000 miles, but the engine was replaced w/ a Mazda reman at 83,000, and the turbos have about 50,000 on them. It has an aftermarket downpipe and a new OE clutch.

It ran perfect (at least it seemed to) with a smooth idle, really strong power. No smoke (that I could see, anyway). I did notice the oil pressure gauge wasn't smooth in it's operation, but it made 60-80 psi above 3000 rpm. The brakes were a little weak when I made an emergency stop, but when I pumped them again, they were fine (air in the line?). I said the rear brakes were new and the fronts were less than 1 yr old. The tires appeared to have plenty of life left.

It's faults: The paint on the front is more than a little pitted, it's got some quarter-sized pieces flaking off. Also the passenger side headlight cover has a 1" crack. The interior looked well-used, with a hole in the driver's side seat bolster and a cheapo cigarette lighter. The trim around the gauges was flaking off. It's been his daily driver for 5 years and it's been smoked in a lot. All the accessories (cruise, windows, locks, A/C) seemed to work. The engine was filthy (dirty, not oily). There was an oily spot underneath, but he said he had the rear seal replaced a year ago, so it might be left over from then. It needs a new muffler right away, as the original is all rusted out, but it wasn't loud. There were a lot of interior squeaks over bumps.

It comes with some parts (original turbo's included) and a factory service manual. He's got receipts for the big items like the engine, clutch, etc.

He was asking $12K, I offered $10,500 he said $11K takes it. I promised an answer by the end of the week. Please tell me, what do you think? Is it a fair price? I promised my wife I wouldn't buy another money pit like my FB was. I'm a competent mechanic, but I don't want to be working on it more than I drive it either.

 

haha you think a FB is a money pit.

BTW did he get a silicone hose job?

 

yeah, if you promised not to buy another money pit, don't get ANY FD no matter what the condition is. i'd like to think mine is in pretty friggin good condition and its still rediculously expensive

 

Yes, he did replace the hoses with silicone when the new engine was installed.

If I was looking to keep the car all stock, what makes them so expensive to upkeep? The FB was money-hungry because it was 20+ years old, stuff was worn out and parts were becoming obsolete.

 

I'd say the price seems fair with what he's done maintenance wise. Just general upkeep of these cars is expensive little things break or quit working and they are expensive to fix. With mine it seems I fix one thing and then another problem springs up.

 

As long as you keep it fairly close to stock, maintenance it won't be too bad. The main problem is that stock parts can be damn expensive and most of the time there is no substitute that can be used.

As for the car, sounds like you'll spend a little bit in the beginning with this one, but 11-12k, IMO, is a damn good deal on a "running" FD. The rest of the stuff is going to be normal wear and tear on a 10 year old car.

Here's about what you could expect:

1. Most likely the suspension hasn't been touched. If so, you'll want to replace the bushings to get all the squeaks and clunks out of the car. You could start with the Pillow bushings and see if that takes care of it which would run you about $300-350 or so for the parts. If you pay a shop, I would guess about $150-200 for the install. Maybe new shocks/springs, but the bushing will most likely be the best bang for the buck at first.

2. Replace the gauge cover with the bevels. It's $65 or so from Malloy Mazda.

3. Recover or replace the seats. You can get aftermarket seats from Corbeau for about $600 or so for both sides.

4. Maybe replace the brake lines if the pedal still keeps feeling soft. You can get SS lines for about $120.

5. Last but not least, a new paint job. That can run you anywhere from $2500-5000 depending on how crazy you want to get.

Seems like a big list, but for a 10 year old car, that's not bad!

 

Very common problem with the FD's. The oil pressure gauge is very inaccureate (almost looks unresponsive). Replace with an aftermarket in the future.

 

The gauge is fine. The sending unit is mounted in a place that tends to get dirty and fail over time. Most of the time the sender only needs to be cleaned, however, there are instances where the sender needs to be replaced.

 

everytime i change my oil i clean the sending unit. that makes a huge difference on the gauge. also the little connector was in horrible shape on mine so i replaced it.

 

We've settled on $10,750 and I'll take delivery on Friday!

 

Congrats on the new money pit!!!

 

wohoo congrats!!

 

but its a beautiful money pit

 

what is a good oil pressure #, because im only reading like 45-50 PSI.

 

good luck man i hope it works out for you

 

I'll post pictures when I get 'er home. I'll have all weekend to wash and wax, clean and polish since I won't be able to title it until Monday at the soonest.

Expect to see more of me around this forum from now on... Howdy folks!