I'd like to start off by apologizing for my last post of the same old "what to look for when buying a 3rd gen"

I have done a bit more reading and it seems like everyone says not to buy one because it will break down. apparently they're unreliable, cheaply produced and I will regret buying it.

does anyone have anything positive to say about these cars besides that when they run, they are amazing?

is there anyone out there who has had a (mostly) problem free time with their car?

 

i love my FD i wouldn't trade it for a anything. my theroy on the FD is if u can deal with a rotary then u can deal with any woman. but as far as reliability there is such thing as reliability u just have to take care of all the little things.

 

I like a saying that I saw posted on here by a member a while back..

With your FD,there are 3 options..

Reliable...Cheap...Fast

But you can only pick 2

 

ive got two fds. one more of a toy thats getiing built. but the other is a 93 and ive only just run into some problems. ive had it for 3 years now, and its only a small thing thats wrong. need to to the rats nest lol.
i think your got to be really in love with them to own one. but if you do all the small things and look after it, you will be fine.
i dont think they are unreliable, just to many people dont know what they are doing.

 

only thing that has ever failed me...is the throw out bearing. But that was probably my fault.

Oh and I fried a leading coil...but that was my fault for sure, I'm too damn curious.

 

I think that any of the owner/maintainers/mechanics/maniacs of fds do so out of a compulsion that's very hard to fight. My son bought an fd and I saw what a money pit it was, not by necessity but by desire, I broke down and bought one of my own! Our cars haven't really broken down, oh, after drag racing my son could no longer get his car into reverse, but it still went forward like a bat out of hell!

I can only speak for myself, but if I drove my other cars (6 of them) like I do my fd, I wouldn't be surprised if they had problems, but as it turns out, my fd doesn't! It just keeps going and going and going...

If you buy a high performance car, and drive it like a maniac, be prepared to fix it when it breaks. If you don't want to drive it like a maniac...why buy it?

I don't mean to imply that anyone should drive irresponsibly, but if you join SCCA or another club and can really push your car to the max. An fd as a daily driver... good luck. It'll kill you long before it breaks!

 

If you need other people's positive comments, then perhaps this isn't the car for you. More so than almost any other "affordable" car, this is a car for dedicated enthusiasts. Enthusiasts don't mind additional maintenance or fragility.

If you are someone who is going to get all worked up over a boost leak or regular maintenance, do not get an FD. If you can enjoy the FD for what it is, an incredibly fantastic sports car with it's share of cost-cutting/old school engineering problems, then enjoy!

 

I haven't had a single problem with mine, only problems really start to come when the car gets modded. And I didn't know these were cheaply made cars either; personally i think the quality is pretty darn good considering most of these cars are pushing 15 years.

 

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones around here. But then, maybe luck has nothing to do with it.

My car has been almost trouble free for the three years I've owned it. The secret was that I started with an almost perfect car to begin with and made only very carefully thought out mods. I've tried to stay within reasonable limits everyone takes about on the board. Reliability mods, custom air intake, light weight race flywheel, downpipe etc. Yes, the car is probably dependable enough to push it beyond 280 hp. but why? It's a daily driver for me. I've put on almost 30,000 miles. The only thing I had to as far as unexpected maintenance do was install a new battery.

The problem as I see it with these cars is that people aren't willing to let a good car alone. There's always that midpipe, or big injector project or ill-thought out turbo install that blows these things up.

It's a good car right from the factory with a little help. Leave it alone, for sakes.

 

Anyone who has taking a basic physics class knows that work = FD. My car is far from problem free but I'm an engineering student and love to take things apart to see whats going on and how to improve upon it. I wouldn't trade this car for anything.

 

don't get me wrong, I love working on, and messing around with my car, (I've got a non turbo second gen that I've been driving and messing around with for 6 months) but all the literature I've read has made me think that the car (a third gen) is going to break down and be undrivable every other week and require some ultra complex, super expensive, professional mechanic completed repair.

I'm looking at a 1992 with 115,000 kms on it that is bone stock accept for an air intake and a set of rims, and that's pretty much how I intend to keep it.
I know there is a chance that every car is a lemon, but do you realistically think that I will be able to get about 11,000 'trouble free' (small things excluded) kms out of it? or should I spend a bit more and find one with less kms?

and for all of the people who said that their car has been relatively problem free, what year is it, and how many kms did it have on it when you bought it?

 

Bone stock isn't always ideal.....you'll definitely want a downpipe right away, and an aluminum AST and radiator sometime in the future, depending on the condition of the current ones.

 

202,000 miles, still going strong.

(Though I'm updating the motor mounts, rear diff, clutch right now, but that's by choice).

 

It seems like you asked a question and didn't like the answer, so now you've changed the question to get the answer that you want. Sure, there's some of us who have had less problems than others, but the idea is this isn't a Supra, 350Z, Mustang, or S2k. It's a 12-14 year old car now and you will constantly have little problems. For the most part, you will very rarely have a problem in which you will not be able to get from point A to point B, but there are just constant little things that tend to go wrong. I'm not saying every week, and maybe not even every month but it would certainly be dumb to not budget in case of these problems.

I hope that helps a little bit.

 

^^Well said.

Case in point, recently my FD was making an odd clicking noise and didnt want to start. It finally fired up, but after a short trip it wouldnt start at all. Turned out the connector on the portion of the wiring harness that goes to the relay for the starter had cracked and broken, so I wasn't getting a good connection. After cutting off the old connector and replacing with a butt connector, problem solved.

Keep in mind I've replaced many many components on the car, and still these little problems develop, in this case a pretty serious one if I was far from home with no tools.....if this would have happened at Deal's Gap, I wouldn't have been too happy.

 

I think you're right. I was so excited to buy this car, and then I did a bit more research and didn't like what I found. now I'm just trying to convince myself back into it and I think I've found out everything I need to know, it just comes down to taking that leap of faith and either buying one, or finding something that I think will suit my needs (well really wants) better.

 

If you are this worried about the FD's unreliability,and have to try so hard to convince yourself that this car is for you,then you're going to worry yourself sick about it.Think of it as a car..That's what it is.With any car,you set aside money for any potential problems it may have,especially being 14 years old.A lot of things you read about people talking about how much maintenance our cars need is partially to deter 17 year old kids who just got finished watching Tokyo Drift and want to turn a FD into a Mad Tyte Dorifto Machine.

 

They're just as reliable as any well maintained, high performance, 12+ year old car can be. Push any car to the limits and you run into issues. These cars run hot and you just need to learn how to treat them. Drive for the extra few minutes to let it cool down. Have an ECU that is tuned for the mods you want. Don't over boost or run crappy gas.

For the most part I spend the same amount of money no matter what car I have, so I decided to get the 3rd Gen.

It's sexy, rare, fast and there's nothing else, shy of buying a Ferrari, that I would want to own, new or used. (I'd still keep and drive the RX7)

 

As you read through this forum you'll see that this question has been asked and answered many times, but it sounds like you've already made up your mind to find something different, so be it.
I've recently picked up a 93 R1 (after 10+ years of lustfully wanting and waiting) with just under 100,000 miles on it, but I feel fortunate that the previous owner had meticulous records and receipts of tune ups, oil changes, and maintenance in general, and it still runs like a dream.
Even though mine isn't totally factory stock there are things that I'm doing to make it even better in the reliability department.

My best advise for you though(as plagiarized from many concerning the FD) is to find a good one to begin with, and add the reliability mods and keep on top of normal maintenance beyond what the manuals say.
You'll find that most common problems can be avoided by paying attention to your car and following the list of recommended mods "in order".

If you want big power expect a rebuild and big hole in your wallet.