ayyo so check it out.

Just got a red 93 rx-7 off ebay, 85000 miles mostly stock. No rebuilds to my knowledge... not quite what I was lookin for (wanted a silver one with lower miles) but it had that tight black cloth interior (sorry I am vegetarian please spare me any flames) anyway at the time, before reading this message board i thought 12,500 was a steal... I'm used to thinking that 85000 miles on an 8 year old car is not bad. I had a mechanic check it out... he said it was tight... but this board has me worried about reliability... I mean I will pay for a rebuild but i cannot afford it right now... and I have no steady job anymore (back in school).. so basicly what I am wondering is if i should turn around and sell it to spare myself some heartache or if you can point me in the direction of some self examinations and information on what i can do to test for reliablity.. see I can live with the quirks (i think).. I love mazda and like any logical person I love the idea of a tiny rotary engine giving me a G on a stock car that looks sweater than just about any other japanese car on the road.

any way so what i'm trying to say is i am a worried newbie lookin for some reassurance as my car is shipped to me trans continental (TN to CA)... any help would be much appreciated, thanks.

 

http://www.rx7turboturbo.com/robrobinette/

www.scuderiaciriani.com

Congrats on the new car...hope you can keep it. It truly is worth the heartache but money puts food on the table.

 

Keep the car and make sure you have a couple of friends ready to drive you to school if you need them to.

 

Just keep humming, " Don`t worry, be happy" and everything will be OK.
Seriously though, was the mechanic familiar with rotarys?
If he was, and I were you, I would relax and drive it awhile.
Then I would do a search on this 3rd Gen forum for reliability mods. and start doing them one or two at a time as you can afford them and continue to fun driving you`r new car. If it starts to give you to much trouble down the road (sorry about the pun) then I would think about selling it. After you drive it for the first time you`r buyers remorse will fade away.

 

I'd hate to say it toothpaste, but you could be in for a world of hurt. It really depends on the condition of the car and what has or hasn't been replaced.

Do you have a good rotary mechanic in your area or know of one? If not, are you handy with tools yourself?

The problems I've had on my car this last year have have been old hoses leaking oil and needing to be replaced ($1500). Mazda did the repair and then created another oil leak, the intake manifold ($600). All this in a span of 4 weeks, with me only having the car 3 days out of those weeks.

Granted, if I had a quality rotary mechanic to work on the car, it would have saved me at least the $600 and a lot of time.....

Repairs aren't cheap on this car, let alone any sports car. If you don't think you'll have the money to fix something if it breaks, then sell the car and pick one up when you have a more stable financial situation.

You could be lucky. The previous owner(s) could have taken good care of the car, or maybe not. Either way, with the car being as old as it is, things will begin to need replacing soon even just from regular driving.

 

Well, I appreciate all the helpful advise and great links I have recieved. Thanks everyone. I've calmed down a bit and will wait until the car arrives before I start to worry about its condition again. I've wanted one of these cars for so long, and if I have to, I can ride my bike or catch the bus, or borrow cars. I do believe I can find a good rotary mechanic around here. Anybody know of one in Northern California (near Santa Rosa or bay area) they could recommend? And while I have no experience with cars, part of the motivation behind this purchase was to get more handy with them. I've always driven very low cost reliable cars in the past (including a 93 miata, mazda kicks ***) so I never was motivated to learn about them. I guess another hobby can only enrich one's life. ... but are the 3rd gens less reliable than the 1st or 2nd gens? I see those cars all over the place...

 

I'm sure there are a few near you. You might try looking/asking in the Western RX-7 forum:

https://www.rx7club.com/vforums/foru...?s=&forumid=31

As far as the 3rd Gen verses teh 1st and 2nd Gen in reliability, I would say they are even. The 3rd gen is more "tempermental". If the mechanic who works on it doesn't know what they are doing, more harm than good will happen.

However, if you don't tweak it, have a good mechanic or become one, do regular mantainance... it's about as reliable as any true sports car.

Good luck.

 

Congrats on your new car!! 85000 is quite a bit for a 3rd gen rotary but if you had a compression test that was ok it should be good for a while. Do reliability mods when you can and if any problem arises take it to a rotary specialist only! Most dealerships will only take your money and leave you with bigger problems! Depending on where you live, having access to a good rotary mechanic is key. This car has the ability to lighten your wallet in a hurry. Just get use to how it is running right now in order to distinguish any problems in the future. Either way reselling should not be a problem. Anyhow enjoy every minute of it!!

 

Keep it, enjoy it, nuthin' like it on the road..............

 

Here are some simple and cheap rules that should give you better odds of not having the engine blow.

-change the oil every 3 thousand miles.

-unless the coolant has been changed recently, put in fresh coolant.

-change the fuel filter. (this should be changed every 15k miles. If I bought a used 3rd Gen RX-7, this would be the first thing I would do.)

-observe warm up and cool down procedures. When starting from cold, don't drive off until the idle has dropped to the normal idle RPM. While driving when engine is cold, don't exceed 4,000 RPM until water temp is up to normal.
After driving on a freeway, up a hill, or under any condition in which the engine has gotten really warm, allow for a cooling down period of at least 30 seconds before shutting off. (The turbos spin at such high RPM's, it may taken them a minute or two
to spin down to normal. Shutting off before then can coke your bearings.)

There are other reliability mods you can do, but because money is an issue, these are the things you can do right away.

FD engines blow for two main reasons: overheating or detonation. So it's important to make sure your engine is getting enough fuel, and do everything you can to prevent overheating.
At the first sign of overheating or a coolant leak, shut it off immediately and don't drive it until it's fixed.
Also used gas with the highest octane rating you can find.

Good luck.