I just bought a 94 FD. It was going to be my car when the weather got bad. I bought it from a nice older woman that took great care of the car and it was in amazing condtion. I drove it home 147 miles and the motor went. Turbine seperated from the turbo and went throuh the motor. Do not buy a RX-7 unless you have $4,000 to $5,000 in the bank and about 2-7 months free for the car to be down. I bought my car in January and it has been in th shop sence then. look and see if there is a shop around that works on a rotary. Not many places do. Just something else to keep in mind.

 

If you are tearing up your Scooby-Doo that easily, I wouldn't even consider touching an FD.

Seriously. Don't do it. You will hate yourself for buying one - especially once the thing starts breaking. And, BTW, they are a pain in the *** to work on (especially in stock form like mine).

Scooter

 

Well here's how I see it...

In the next couple of years I'll be making serious money, so when the kids/idiots who buy them but didn't read up on maintenance can't afford to keep them I'll be the one low balling them and playing clean up. Hopefully have enough money to save them all!

Btw ~ IF YOU "THINK" YOU MIGHT WANT ONE THE CAR ISN'T FOR YOU.

 

Or, we could look at it another way;

Let the kids continue buying up most of the cars and trash them, hopefully giving the excellent condition cars a chance at gaining value in the future. A long shot, yes, but you never know.

Scooter

 

The world isn't sunshine and cupcakes all day every day, you asked for peoples opinions and they gave them to you, bottom line. These cars are not always a joy to own, and if some maintenance issues with a WRX (a car known to be fairly reliable) is sending you running then you may want to think twice before stepping into a car that is known for being fairly unreliable. If you are asking the question "so whats the deal with the hole rotary engine rebuild thing?" you obviously haven't done enough research to own and properly maintain a car like the FD rx7, again bottom line.

What you really want to hear is a bunch of other people telling you how awesome it is to own an RX7 and how cool you would be for buying one, admit it .

When I was looking into buying an FD one statement really stuck out from the rest. Owning an FD isn't like most other cars, it takes a lot more time, care, and attention than anything else you will likely ever own. If you're not ready to devote that much time to your car, then you need to keep looking.

 

I think FD is a pretty cool guy. eH likes to be in the shop 2 times in one month and doesn't afraid of anything.

 

lol "kidsSLASHidiots" I love how you tie them into the same category. But I agree, I'm 17 and if it weren't for me not having to pay rent insurance or car payments I'd be in pretty big trouble right now. The car's turbo's have aspolded twice, and I think an apex blew last night. Either that or my mechanic forgot to put the secondaries on right. but anyway, I've been on the forum for as long as I've had my car and it's already been down for two month periods.

What would have made this topic golden, is if he said he had to pay for school

 

now I understand the hate of ricers....i hate them too. but that doesn't mean all young drivers are ricers. Im 15, been working on cars at my dads shop for 3 years, and saving for around 7 to afford an FD. I don't like ricy exhaust, or massive GT wings. I admit though I like the body kits a lot. anyways, I'm not rich, and my parents didn't pay for any of it. (they payed 1000 for my jeep CJ i had before this) anyways to the topic starter, be ready to work on it constantly. At best you get a few thousand miles before something goes wrong, if best. Thank god I have a shop to work at and A-spec a 1/2 hour away. It is a money pit. sometimes I can't even drive it because I had to buy parts instead of gas or the (incredibly high) insurance. In short, you have to love it, want it, and live it for an FD to be worth it.

 

You guys are all douchebags and the reason why nobody wants to be on this forum anymore. I assume that nearly all of you had no prior knowledge of how a rotary engine TRULY works or how to work on one. Yet you berate and put down a guy who wants to get into the community. So sad.


Oh, and I love how someone said earlier that FD's were 'Rich Boy' cars. Lol, stop being so full of yourselves.

 

^^^^

I will be the first to admit that many FD owners tend to talk down to other owners (especially other generations of RX-7s), but I have an issue with the fact that the OP did not even make an attempt to research this topic. I am also willing to bet that the OP is much more computer savvy than I am, but I know to search...

What I would like to see is that when someone registers for this site, they see this:

"You must read the stickies in each section prior to posting", or something along those lines. I keep trying to tell people that pretty much every issue has been covered by someone already! After all, this car is @15 years old!!!

Just my $.02

Charlie

 

an rx7 is more of a hobby or passion then just a car you get in and drive to work in. You need to have more then just a "like" for these cars to put up with everything that comes with them!
maintenance, high petrol costs, girls
For me my rx7 is something fun that i do on the side, its not just car-- same way people would go to a movie or something, ill go for a blat in the FD, thats my enjoyment..when im in my FD im not commuting im usually on some kind of insane speed mission

 

i would like to apologize if what i said offend some of the older forum members in this forum. Some of you guys have make a varied point after all the talk down and talk smack. Props to you guys on that. All i'm saying is this, all of us that joined this forum only because of one reason, we are fans of the 7. instead of talking smack and talking down, you guys might give constructive criticism where the OP will realise that owning and maintaining an RX7 is not as easy as owning a WRX. Also some people will realize after they got into ***** themselves. Hey, you know what, we have done our jobs as a forum members. we already give him the advise through our own experience, if he still want to pursue in purchasing the 7's, it will be his responsibilities. if he decided to cry and bitch about all the problems with his 7 then it's time for us to tell the OP:" **** you bitch, we told you so"

c'mon why do we need to get ourselves so mad for some one like him, we did not gain anything by being pissed and mad at him anyway.

Just my $0.1

 

I am going to have to agree here guys.

We all know that many questions have been asked over and over and that not everyone is going to do all the research themselves. Why not guide these new members with a little more tact.

Not everyone that owns a vehicle is capable of repairing or even maintaining it themselves in the beginning. However some guidance in the right direction like pointing out some key issues then giving a link to the FAQ and maybe a relevant thread could go a long way.

 

Bought my rx7 August 2007..... wished i would have done my research a little more before buying.

Check the interior thoroughly.... these cars are just not sitting around in junk yards waiting for you to come get scrap pieces to put your haggard interior back together. If you need a new interior piece be prepared to spend atleast a hundred most likely depending on the piece and up to 300-600-1000 depending on what condition you want to get the used part or if you want to spring for the out-of-this-world new parts from a dealer. Go ahead and amuse yourself, call a mazda dealership and price out a set of door panels, or the AC panel with the HVAC controls.

Also hopefully you find a 94, because the 93 panels were covered with this cheap like paint, but not.. and it scratches/smears off and makes the panels look like ****. Of course the alternative if you get a 93 is replace the panels or have them refinished.. (see above about the small fortune)

If you plan on sticking with the rotary, make sure you have somebody within a decent distance for tuning, rebuilding if you are not capable yourself, repairs.. etc.
The closest place to me was about 300 miles away.

Just personal opinion, but i would have never bought this car if i had to daily drive it. I find myself taking things apart a lot, fixing.. refreshing etc.. a lot of the times i find that a part i need i have to order.

I may be the only one to notice, but these cars are like puzzles.. it seems to get to one thing you have to take 80 other things apart. Want to take that HVAC panel out for some reason?? Thats an hour ordeal. Remove plastic steering cover, remove gauge hood (i cringe everytime i remove it at the sound it makes i swear its broken every time) pop the shifter surround off unscrew all the screws, and finally you can take it off.

I have only driven my car for about 2 months.. there is no cup holders, there is no room to do much of anything except drive. I went to the drive-through to get some food with my buddy the other day and then pulled into a parking spot to eat. Good thing he wasn't eating because he needed to hold my drink while i maneuvered around in my seat to eat. Needless to say that may be my last drive-through experience in the FD.

I know there is tons of other **** im not remembering, but thats just my rundown from when i was you thinking about buying this hot *** ride, till now. Be prepared to invest a lot of time and becoming very creative. My electrical skills, mechanical skills, and general ingenuity have grown by leaps and bounds in the past year. Also note i tried to spill most of the bad ****, its been fun to drive for the short tiime i have been driving it, but i like to work on my cars more than i like to drive them i think.

 

this man speaks the absolute truth, tho the cupholder problem can be remedied for 50 some cents at walmart with those crappy window cup holders, but god damn do they work!
my mechanical skills have also grown by leaps and bounds in the past year, and I wasn't too shabby to begin with.
the interior on my 93 looks like ***, I'll admit it, but i knew that when i bought my car, thank god locally, and the paint on 93s, especially red ones, are known for being terrible as far as fading.
something WILL break, I guarantee it, you think you're having problems with a lightly modded WRX? throw intake and exhaust on an FD and something will probably go wrong without a PFC to accompany it.
I hate to say it, but go buy an LS1 FD if all you want it for is the "style"
If you want to learn about the motor, start with an FC, turbo if you really want boost.

 

Good job reviving an old topic, but to add on:

-This car is terrible for bad weather (snow, rain, etc.).
-Replacing interior pieces are a pain in the ***, you can't just take out the dash, you have to take out everything else that's on the dash. Same with the rear panels.
-The cars are getting up there, and the suspension might need some work if you want to up the power of the car
-A lot of stock cars have been dogged on. Badly, so keep an eye out. DJseven usually has nice ones
-Save up a lot of money. These cars won't be cheap as everyone else has already mentioned.
-These cars aren't super cars, they aren't lambos, they aren't ferraris. Don't go around thinking you're better than everyone else, because there are people that are better than you.

 

 

my bad, didn't even check the dates, I was reading a thread somewhere and it had a link here, and I couldn't help posting,
at the thread necromancer