Thinking of buying a FD
 

I am thinking about buying this FD in Idaho,

http://boise.craigslist.org/cto/2337464947.html

I currently own a 88' N/A RX7. But would like to upgrade to the next gen and the car in question seems like a good deal.

The listing says the car runs and drives, but after talking to the owner he tells me it doesnt start at the moment and has been sitting for a couple years. The car also comes with a Micro Tech, and I don't know anything about tuning and live far away from anybody who can tune (I live in Montana). Also I don't want to drive about 10 hours to look at this car and not buy it. Anything I should look for in particular that would be different from a gen 2 to this gen 3?

So would this be something good to get into if I can pick it up for about 4-5k?

Going to take a lot till you are satisfied. Mine runs and drives and I can think of tons that need to be done for me to be happy, I can only imagine on a non-running one. Find a nice one, have someone look at it for you. I know of one in good running condition for 7k in my area if it is still available.

I would not buy that car solely because the "owner" cannot even write a proper paragraph...

I'd take it for the price if it was close to me.. I paid alot more for mine and found out it had a bad rotor..

Be prepared to dump lots of time & money into this car. Buying other peoples projects is not usually wise. Especially if this is your first turbo rotary.

For $6k I would buy a clean TII. FD's are absolute money pits, and this one looks like it's gonna bite ya.

Buying an FD is usually the cheap part. If you are dead set on upgrading and feel up to the challenge, then look for a clean member owned car. Find something that has been taken care of, modified properly and runs great. Many people don't realize what they are getting themselves into when they purchase an FD. These cars are old, unreliable, and have lots of factory problems that need fixed. The nice examples you see or find on the forum are cars that people own and work on themselves, or have very deep pockets. Sometimes a bit of both.

If your comfortable working on the car yourself and are willing to learn then its not such a bad deal i guess.
I would consider it a roller though, and buy it expecting that its going to need some serious work. (and looking at it, it does need some serious work)

What you can check is semi limited if the car wont run.
If possible check engine compression, do the champaign test, test hot/cold starts and check the boost pattern if running stock twins.

There are so many things you should check but you may be limited as to what you can actually check before buying. (if possible also jack the car up, check for play in the wheels, bushings etc).

Bascially give the thing a very good going over.

I would ask him if he has recipts for the upgrades he mentions in the ad BEFORE you make the 10 hour drive.

After talking to the guy it sounds like he doesn't have receipts for what he bought for the car. I also have some more pictures of the car which I will post below.

http://i54.tinypic.com/ayripe.jpg

http://i54.tinypic.com/2mzxqtv.jpg

http://i52.tinypic.com/rsx26u.jpg

http://i53.tinypic.com/2r4s7pv.jpg

http://i53.tinypic.com/i4ok1l.jpg

http://i56.tinypic.com/vmuams.jpg

Some of my concerns are that the body color code on the sticker says PZ which I believe is a black body color, but in the pictures I can't find a speck on black, not even under the hood. Also one of my friends mentioned that the stamped vin number looks crooked, should this be a concern to me?

I also ran a Carfax on this car and it has a salvage title from California. So that has me worried a bit as well.

Any thing else you guys can think of that I should worry about?

Very very well said, and I agree with every word. :icon_tup:

Salvage Titles....

nooooooooooooo

The deed has been done, the car is at home now and hopefully will be up and running soon. Wish me luck!

Well... good luck! :)

this is a perfect example that many people just create threads in the hopes that people tell them what they want to hear. Because in the end they are going to do what they want to do no matter what everyone says.

Seriously op good luck with your car and I really hope you dont get any surprises. But hope and probability are two different things.

Wow.. I'm somewhat in the same boat, but've been shopping around for nearly 2y before finding what I feel comfortable putting money into. (which definitely isn't anything salvage, at least not FD) Good luck though! :)

At least its a cym under there.

PZ is black.

That car is a train wreck.

Oops, on my phone and didn't see the sticker. Thing is a mess, why not spend a couple grand more and get a decent car.