I'm going to be looking at a 94 rx7 sometime next week. was wondering if there was anything obvious or major that i should pay particular attention too. i think it's pretty high milage. ~120k, i'm assuming the motor is about ready to go?

any help is appreciated, i've been yearning to join the fd community :-)

Thanks

 

@ 120k mi. you should definitely look at the price of the car knowing that you will have to replace the engine soon.

the only other thing i can think of off the top of my head is to drive the car. Make sure it doesn't grind into 5th gear(or any gear for that matter), have the 3k hesitation, boost leaks, etc.

Lastly, remember that there are other rx-7s out there. don't buy this one just because its the first one you looked at(?), people sometimes "tend to fall in love" with the first car they go see. Don't get me wrong, it might be a great car, just don't over look its quirks.

kyle

 

Hope you are getting it for a cheap price!! Unless the owner has been keeping up with the maintenance quite a bit it will be a mechanical nightmare.

Now that said, it is very possible to have a car this old in really good shape with this many miles on it, its just rare. At this point the engine should be rebuilt or changed out, turbos need to be checked (simply watch the boost up and down) and scrutinize everything, every leak and strange noise, anything out of the ordinary. Personally, if you don't know a lot about these cars, take it to a dealership or a Mazda mechanic (in Houston this can be Mazda Max) to do a once over. The price you pay here will be worth it!!!

To give you an idea, mine had 95k miles on it when I bought it. Tons of probelms slowly poked their head out to include the engine, vacume and other hoses (usual wear and tear due to heat) radiator (wear and tear again) and the list goes on. Mostly I believe that this happened because it went from a once in a great while driven car to a daily driver car.

Finally I have mine in shape but I wish that I would have been much smarter in the beginning and put the money up front in the purchase of a solid car rather then going cheap and then spending months putting it together and fixing everything. Don't get me wrong, I can tear apart an RX7 pretty well now and 'really' know my way around a lot of the parts of the car either from tearing it apart or working on it. I got to know a number of sites and places to get parts, quality people to talk with and web sites to get information on everything that I need to fix my FD. So I got the benefit of that knowledge but it would have been much more fun to drive the car rather then fixing it every weekend when something else broke.

All that and check out this sticky post for new FD 'potentials'

FD Newby Sticky Post

 

well, their asking for 11k, but i think i can talk them down to 10. I do have some experience with rotaries, just not on an fd, I've helped my uncles a few times doing engine swaps on their TII's. Do you think even 10k is too much?

Thanks for those stickies!

 

See the write-up on this on my site: FAQ --> Buying a Used 93 - 95 RX-7.

Cheers,

 

how much can you afford???....i would look for one in solid shape rather than be frustrated for months afterwards trying to restore it!....