i just sold my car and im going to get this RX7 FD3S. the one in my avitar.
http://tampa.craigslist.org/hil/cto/1129555095.html this is the link to the car. its a cheap price. the guy is selling it because hes having financial issues and needs to get rid of the car before its repoed. thats why hes selling it for so cheap. the man was good enough to come to my house with the car and allow me to test drive it. we drove it to a local car show and it grabbed the attention of everyone there. its a beautiful car. the pictures do it no justice at all. but i need a good honest opinion of the car form someone on this website that knows the cars very well. i claim to know the RX7 very well but im still unsure about what im buying and i just want to make sure im not fumping 11 grand into something thats not worth it.

judging from my test drive the car runs and boosts fine. i dident take it to redline so i don't know much about that. the only problem i encountered was the BOV is hooked up so when it releases the boost it trails it back into the intake Via a hose. the hose clips into the intake right above the cone. well on the bottom intake, when you realy get on it, the hose pops out of the hole. dosent really do anything drastic, just makes noise.

i even launched the car and i heard no bumping, clicking or anything out the norm. it spun the tires real quick then took off like a rocket. (Big change from the lancer evo, witch juct chirped and flew away, lol.)

Whats you guys' take on it?

 

Mechanically it looks sound. I see no mention of reliability mods or chassis mileage. If you buy it, make sure all of the maintenance and reliability work is up-to-date rather than rely on this guy saying "it needs nothing". I have yet to see an FD that needs nothing.

The BOV is not a big deal, worst case you could give it it's own filter.

The graphics are definitely NOT my thing, so if I were looking at it I'd be stripping that $5k paintjob down to primer again. Too bad.

 

yea i was thinking about just sanding down the tribal and making it the stock black color again. like i said the the pictures make it look bad. in person they are a beautiful red. they look kinda pink in the pictures.

i know the shop he got all the work done. its a place called maztech. they are a very reputible shop in the ST pete area. they have a big brother shop in tampa called mazsport that does purely race tuning.

as far as the inside goes i was going to try and find the carbon fiber covers to replace the red i thought that would look pretty hot =]

*edit* oh and the chassis mileage is 103k

 

1. The graphics are painted and cleared on, so that would be a pain to remove and you would need to get the door and rear 1/4 panel re-sprayed.
2. Get a compression test, always. You really dont know if it has only 2,000 miles on it, other then going on what he says. I have seen motors blow with less miles. If he has less then 2000 miles, he should be in break in mode and should not be constantly getting on it.
3. Wheels and headlights look terrible, but that is a matter of opinion.
4. Find out who did the rebuilt, ask for a receipt. Call the builder and ask when he rebuilt the motor and see if his story matches up with the sellers.

First rule of buying a rx7, is you should NEVER buy one on an impulse because it is a good deal. Either way, it is a good price for what you are getting, just be cautious.

 

he has the receipts for all the work. he got the motor rebuilt at 100,987 miles and the odometer says 103,015 as we speak.

i really appreciate you guys' feed back by the way and im on the phone with maztek right now asking him about the rebuild lol.

i agree with your statement, by the way. i dident want to jump on it because it was cheap and end up spending more money on it then when i bought it on repairing it.

it seems like the guy takes Very good care of it. when he starts it he waits for the engine to get to 80F before he takes off and even then he dosent ride out all crazy and stuff. *i know i shouldn't go on what he says but* he said he hasent gotten on it in years, i mean the guy is like 35 years old. maybe some gas to pass someone on the freeway every once in a while but for the past 4 years hes been driving his sion TC. after he got the motor rebuilt hes kinda just left it be. he drives it every once in a while to keep it regular and thats about it.

*Edit* He still has the stock headlights. i don't personaly like that headlight conversion. looks crappy and at night they bounce and stuff.i was just going to switch them back when i got the car. af far as the rims go i was thinking about picking up some of these bad bears =] http://www.rhdjapan.com/images/produ...rmal/Image.jpg

 

Car doesnt look to be in too bad of shape......I'd ditch those headlights the day I bought it though.

That price is ok, but the engine bay concerns me a bit. Stock ast, stock intercooler, probably a stock radiator, probably original engine wiring harness, tranny/diff could be original/unrebuilt. I'd be prepared to dump some money into the car.

 

the wiring harness is brand new. i dont know if its stock but he said the old one melted. -.- im getting ready to spend a pretty penny on car. i want to do a single turbo swap. i dident swap out the turbo on my evo so im not too experienced in that field. it has silicone hoses because apprently the stock hoses crack and fall appart down here in florida. heats a bitch. it has a new street clutch, nothing too flashy. it had a Exeedy stage 3 in it before but he got rid of it, he said it was too much of aworkout for his leg -.-. ill have to get that changed too. ill call him later and ask him about the tranny, driveshaft and all that stuff.

i have heard alot of negative feedback about the stock twins. apprently if your looking for power you gotta ditch them and go single? right now the twins are sitting at 12 PSI on a street port.

 

buy it and DE-RICE it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

lol. ima buy a huge plywood wing and fashion a body kit out of wood for it! them im gonna paint it chameleon color and put huge chrome rims on it!

 

i personally would not consider it worth it. and idk wat the hell the owner was thinking with the whole paint job and interior setup he has going. completely ruined the look of the car

 

The heat under the hood has nothing to do with florida. All of us with stock engines get to watch our wiring harnesses, plastic solenoids, and rubber hoses turn to brittle glass because of the engine heat.

Stock twins can make a lot of power, up to 350rwhp safely. If you're new to FDs I'd stay with that for a year or so before going single. 350hp on this chassis is a lot of power.

 

To me the price seems a BIT high, what you have here is another example of a car 'customized' to fit the owner's taste, and that owner feels he has the right to exact compensation for these mods/customizations from the next owner. In a lot of cases, things like paint jobs or wheels or body kits actually detract from the car's value. In the case of this particular car, the paint and the headlights knocks off about $5K in my book (my opinion, if you like it, that is cool).

I dislike seeing the typical 'cold air intakes' which are anything BUT, in reality. And without the diverter assembly in place, that stock intercooler isn't getting much airflow.

As for the rebuild and odometer reading to 'prove' it, that really isn't "proof", but if the dates add up I wouldn't be too worried. What I am saying is, if the receipts are for a time period within the last 4 - 6 months or so, then it is probably genuine.

Lastly, what DRAWS you to this car, o.p.? Is it the only FD you have seen or the first? If you are content to pay the listed price, frankly I have seen some mid-western (read: no salt air to destroy things) cars for sale on occasion that rival that.

 

i have been to see a few FDs but they are all priced 15k or higher. i would love to tell him "Hey man i dont like your paint and the rims are ****" then get him to knock off a few grand but to tell the truth i don't buy cars too often and i don't think i have the ***** to tell this man "Bro your FD isent worth your already cheap price. ill give you 9k for it." lol.

What draws me to this car, i would have to say, is the fact that its one of the few FDs i have seen thats in good condition. out of the 7 i have gone to look at it is by far the nicest =\ the interior is in brilliant shape, the motor runs fine and the body has no scratches, nicks or dents in it. i only saw one other FD like that and it was 100% bone stock with an engine rebuild, no port, stock rims, everything. the guy wanted 14,500 for the car. i also think, to be honest, after months of looking i may be subconsciously settling for one. i like the price, i like the car and it makes me very happy to drive and im willing to spend the money to make it more "My own"

i also called him today after looking at this post and asked him about the trans and diff. he got the transmission rebuilt when he did the motor at Maztek but he dident mess with the diff, the drifeshaft or any thing elce back there.

What do you guys think its gonna cost me (Ballpark) to make this thing great! paint, interior, engine, areo ect. ect.

 

88rxvert thats the best thing anyone has ever said ever. lol. but im still gonna buy it =]

 

I hear you now. It is much like when I finally had cash in hand and, after wanting a 3rd gen for 7 years, bought the one I have now. Of all the cars I looked at it was by FAR in the best condition, perhaps because it was owned by the wife of one of the local MAZDA dealers. Interior was perfect, exterior was great. The only 'bad' thing was...it has an automatic tranny.
But after I bought it and have owned it for now over 8 years, I don't feel I compromised or 'settled' at all.

Go for it man....join our little brotherhood!

 

Woo! i feel accepted =] By the way. a manual swap for the 13b is relitivly cheap. i was just looking at them the other day =] back in the day when they came out with the 1993+ RX7 in America they made the automatic one cheaper so everyone was getting those and switching them over. saving a crap ton of money =]

 

I presume this is sarcasm, a joke? A swap in only relatively cheap if done with used parts with free (i.e., your own) labour - and it is still a huge amount of effort. When FDs were first released these used parts would not have existed so the swap would not have been cost effective.

 

your telling me you couldn't do a manual swap yourself?

*edit* me and my friend did his for under 700 bucks in his driveway.

 

Your original point was that people did this back in the mid '90s to save money. I've never seen this claim before and it does not make much sense given that the parts would have had to have been bought new then (a $5-$7k proposition).

 

im just going off of what the internet said. im sorry if im wrong, ok? the internets always right!

 

and lets not forget. when the RX7 first came out it was about 30 to 40 grand for a manual version.

 

If you like that kind of style...go for it. If you like it like it is get it and after a few months you can start to plan future changes. We ALL change things as time goes by. Point is; it's best to start with a FD that you are happy to drive and be seen in as it is if its your first one. Theres
's lots to learn about them...

 

Just for the record, the automatic cars were $800 MORE expensive than their manual counterparts. The claim of 'cheaper' is not accurate.

And after having the auto, I would not EVER trade it or consider a manual swap.

 

Well it appears i was misinformed =]


Information Fail.

 

yea i still have alot to learn. =] i think im gonna go for it. ill post up new pictures and stuff in a new thread when i get it =] probably just because im going to be so proud and im going to want to show it off =] but i could also use the tuning suggestions and any help you guys can dish out.