edvc520

Hi, i'm thinking of buying a FD..
I just want to ask.. How reliable is this car? Will it have minor problems happen once in a while?
I've read somewhere that the average life span of the FD's engine is only 90k KM..
Is that true?

Thanks in advance

hal0gical

iTrader: (5)

They're not reliable at all.

You will have minor problems all the time.

You will have major problems as well.

The engine's life span is completely dependent on it's owner. Since these cars are too much fun not to toy with, you could say most have a blown motor by 90k, because toying with things is dangerous.


There's lots of useful info in the FAQ: https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/faq-3rd-gen-other-useful-links-68640/

Personally, I love to read: fd3s.net

RotaryRocket93

iTrader: (7)

My engine has about 89K on it and no rebuilds. im actually about to do my first silicone line job and replace all the commonly known faulty parts. Surprised it made it this long and it is running strong however I dont see it lasting much longer. 100% all honesty Right here. Not trying to offend you or anything of that sort, but unless you have a steady income, another (reliable) car, some local shop that can work on these cars, and a whole lot of patience youd be better off not messing with them. I bought my first Rx-7 back in November. I have since replaced about $1500 worth of stuff on it. In some ways i regret buying it because i could have some nicer stuff for my home, but in other ways im damn glad i did because its the most bad *** car I have ever had the oppurtunity to drive. I personally picked mine out all stock because i wanted to build it myself, the way i liked it. Not the way someone else like theirs. Big mistake. Im going to have to dump close to 8K in to the car to get it where most other already "built" cars are. But then again it will be 450 hp that i put the hard work and effort into. But if you do get one, prepare for plenty of sleepless nights and smiles on your face because this car is truly a beast when it runs, and a bitch when it doesnt. Hope that helped at all.

evot23

iTrader: (17)

+1

staticguitar313

iTrader: (2)

run for your life . . .

prrex4ever

iTrader: (3)

Like having a beautiful stripper girlfriend on crack. A lot of fun when they act right but total pain in the *** when they don't.

RotaryRocket93

iTrader: (7)

You could also compare it to dating Jessica Alba with split personalities. And one of them she is a bitch.

edvc520

lol... i'm interested to know how often does she smoke crack...

prrex4ever

iTrader: (3)

That's one of the problems. You never know when she's going over to the dark side. Good luck with your search.

RotaryRocket93

iTrader: (7)

Depends on how hard you ride her or how much maintenance you perfom. For the average person that takes care of the rx7 it can last a while without problems. You just need to do serious research on it before you get one. Search the articles on maintenance so you can realize how demanding it is.

DaveW

I've owned mine since new, and have had only minor problems. However, I do all my own maintenance, including annual coolant replacement and 2000-mile oil changes. Most problems arise from poor maintenance habits or performance modifications done w/o proper planning.

So, if the car has been properly maintained, and is mostly stock or properly modified, you should be OK. You will still have to do parts replacements as they wear out, etc., but that is to be expected on a 15-year-old car.

94touringFD

iTrader: (30)

I did minimal amount of research before I bought my FD, DON'T MAKE THAT MISTAKE! There is a lot of info on this site as well as links to other helpful sites. From past car experiences I decided to by stock and it bit me in the *** since I didn't know enough about the cars. I didn't know what kinds of questions to ask, plus I didn't look at the car first since I was in Iraq at the time. I paid full price for a car that needed work I wasn't aware of. You definitely want to be able to work on the car yourself or have the money and a shop near by that works on these cars. A LOT of money later I still yet to finish my car but after doing the right research I've spared no penny in upgrading along the path of reliability. To put it simply, it won't be inexpensive and if you don't do it right it won't be reliable. So research as much as you can and if you feel you can handle the responsibility of being a FD owner, by all means go for it!

Montego

iTrader: (1)

yeah this topic has never been covered before...

MrNizzles

iTrader: (5)

just put gas in it and you're good to go !!

moconnor

iTrader: (14)

In the history of this board has anybody that has posted one of these lame 'are FDs reliable' threads ever actually bought an FD?

Supernaut

iTrader: (83)

hahahaha dude now your just being mean.

gracer7-rx7

iTrader: (16)

Probably not due to all the half assed responses.

Original Poster - search for previous threads on the topic and read the FAQ. We are so tired of this type of thread that you won't get a balanced response.

vr4much

rofl I consider the 3000gt/GTO more reliable than the fd

sry

jkstill

iTrader: (11)

To put some of this in perspective:

Many of these cars have been ridden hard and put away wet.
eg. Misused, abused and not maintained.

If you can find one that is very well maintained, it can be very reliable.

That doesn't mean it shouldn't be driven hard, it should.

What that does mean is that it requires more maintenance than a Camry.

I know someone that has a gorgeous black R1 - it's rarely driven, and never very fast.

Mine get's autox'd and tracked, as do the FD's of a number of people here.

But, there is a price to pay for driving like that.

It isn't just FD's either. Any car driven hard will need more maintenance, or it will begin to become unreliable.

So, if you buy a 16 year old car with 80k miles on it, and maintenance has been spotty, and it's occasionally ( or frequently ) been driven hard, what would you expect?

If you can find a pristine car, that has been meticulously maintained, or one that has been very well restored, it should be reliable.

Spend some times in the FAQ section to find out what to look for.

#1 Compression check
#2 Check for exhaust gas in the coolant.
#3 Does it actually make boost the way it should? You will need to rig a temporary boost gauge in the car to do that if there isn't one already, but it's easy to do.