Well, to make it short, my 8 that I loved and cherished was totalled this weekend (http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=75997 pictures and info here) and I'm starting to do research for my next car.

The 8 was a graduation, bday, and xmas gift to me from my parents, I put around 5k into the car at the time it was totalled. Although we are going to be getting insurance money for my car, I still feel extremely bad for ruining a gift my parents gave for me, so I am going to tell them to keep the money. I am 19 years old and raised well enough to learn that this is my life and I am not going to live it off my parents money. Yes, I could take the insurance money and have mommy and daddy buy me another 8, but that isn't the type of person I am, nor the type or son my parents raised me to be. I want to stay in the rotary club, and I cannot afford a RX-8, so I was thinking maybe coming over to an RX-7.

My range is around 18-20k for a RELIABLE 93-95 FD. Now I have heard that FD's are not very reliable and have a lot of problems, but there have got to be some that no one have messed around with the engine.

I wanted to know all of your point of view in what I should do. I probably will not be purchasing any kind of car until Chirstmas, as in college, I really do not need a car at this time.

Should I stay within the rotary family or step outside and get a different car? I will NOT got anything with a V8 as my insurance will definatly sky rocket after this accident, so V8's are most likely out of the question.

Thank you for your time.

 

well... FD's are faster and tend to be a bit less forgiving than 8's...

they will cost a lot more to maintain, and don't bother looking for one that doesn't have a rebuilt engine, you want those coolant seals replaced anyway. the same regarding reliability mods...

 

your insurance will skyrocket with an rx7 they are sports cars.

oh and read the faq

 

insurance will be a lot for an RX-7, so you should check that before you do anything.

 

you think insurance for an fd will be cheap? haha. my v8 is less to insure than my 7. better be prepared to buy a civic.

 

Hard call. Big thing is you need to look at your life and what you're looking for.

The FD is a high-strung sports car. It's not terribly reliable, it drinks gas, it's small, and it's expensive to maintain. Look beyond the inital cost of buying the car - what is your income like? At your age, I'm assuming you're heading to college, which typically means zero income. Can you afford the car over the long term? I assume you'd want to keep the car nice and well-maintained.

But, that said, you can EASILY find an FD for that price. About $10k gets you an entry-level running car, about $15k for a very nice, clean, low-mileage solid car, and over $15k gets either super-low-mileage cars or crazy single turbo/bodykit cars.

I hate to say it, but you might also want to look into a high-performance driving school or the like. An FD is FAR less forgiving than an RX-8, and I'm sure you wouldn't want to wreck another car. The FD can be an intense car to drive, and has bitten VERY many inexperienced drivers.

Dale

 

Not to shabby, what did you get last year?

Didn't seam to matter to you the 1st time..................

Have fun with whatever your parents deside to purchase for you.
Im sure they would feel extremely bad for you if you were forced to ride the bus.

 

You dont need a sports car. Get a FWD car thats good on gas.

 

Based on your story from the other forum, safety may also be another issue for you as well. I'd imagine after your experience that you may want to at least get a car with better safety features than a 7. As people have stated in this thread, because of the turbo system, it can get tricky in situations where you have to act fast. Should worse come to worse, you wouldn't want to face anything like this again in a car that is more powerful, lighter and less safe. Your insurance company may also quickly hike your rates with such a vehicle. I'd get a quote if you had to have one, otherwise I'd suggest you pass on it.

The rotary has its ups, but it also has its shortcomings- simply put the 7 is just an old car, and its a stretch to believe that it would be reliable without some time and/or money invested to keep it in top shape. You may want to consider something thats cheaper to maintain, fuel, and insure because in the longrun the cumulative effect of these will be the bigger burden, no matter how much you payed for the car.

Btw, sorry to hear about your losing the 8, but if you're walking around okay (it will probably hurt later) then at the very least be happy for that.

 

Man, no offense, but you're barking up the wrong tree with the FD. If you want an RX-7 get an FC 1991 NA coupe or convertible. They are sporty, fun to drive, not too bad on insurance and won't overcome your driving skills. Coming from one who has an RX-8 and two 1994 FD RX-7's right now... if you can't handle the RX-8 safely there is no way in HELL that you will be able to control the FD 7 close to it's limits. The 8 is a very forgiving car and the 7 is NOT.

It's the wrong time to have a maintenance intensive rocket to take care of. Wait until college is over and take your time shopping for one.

(If you REALLY want one though, I've got a black FD with reliability mods up for sale. All it really needs is a 5th gear synchro replacement and some new rubber.)

 

...aaand the sales pitch.

 

I agree with the above 100%

When you're in college the last thing you need is a car that is expensive and needs lots of care like the FD.

Either get an FC or a Miata. Both are great sports cars, reliable, cheap to buy and a LOT of fun.

 

HAHAHAHA... I have no shame.....

 

get a yugo for cheap insurance and do a rotary conversion

 

please don't get a seven...I feel like I'll see a thread in the Z06 forum next..."totalled my 7, moving to a Z06"

you're 19, get a cheap car and learn to drive.

 

Reliable FD hahaha... I'd stay with the RX-8. I think you might be dissapointed if you jump to a car that is 12 years+ older and might have a ton of problems.

 

I second that.

 

$25k rx8 is reliable,
but tell me you can't build a nuke-proof fd for $25k!! you could build it and have a few motors on stand-by

 

na it will still break

 

I tried to push the 7's cornering limit while boosting the other day (safe environment). Came with a conclusion that my driving skill is far far suitable to drive an FD and would surely crash it if I keep my heavy foot habit. Keen to join a skill driving course but then my aussie bucks have gone to fix the car. It has done 118,000 Km and maybe soon enough it will need a rebuild, just a timebomb waiting to explode. My exterior is due for a respray. Then there's also the dead suspension.
Now I'm left with little money to feed me and pay the bills so I have to put more working hours.
Haish...the fun of having an FD......


Oh btw, I'm 21 and I wish I've never liked the FD.

 

or catch on fire


20K will get you a VERY nice FD or you can buy a blown engine FD and rebuild it with reliability in mind. Like others have stated before, FDs are less forgiving for a novice driver than an RX-8 especially if you live in an area where it rains alot. A non-turbo FC will be a great car while you're in college. Theyre reliable, better on gas and are cheaper insurance wise. If I were in college and had 20K for a nice newer sports car, I would probably pick up a used S2000. Otherwise I would get a nice FC and put the other 17K into the bank.

 

I highly recommend the non-turbo FCs. reliable and fun. mine last 190k miles on original engine and finally it was the gearbox that jammed.

FYI .......Premium to insure an FD is more than a BMW 745!

-ray

 

I'm still fuzzy on hitting the divider? You talking about the 3 or 4 inch raised concrete to the left or are you talking about the 4 to 5 foot kind since you were worried of other cars coming around the corner and hitting you since they wouldn't see you until the last second?

Tim

 

the divider, splitting the highway in the middle.

It wasn't that I couldn't handle the car, it wasn't like I was doing anything harsh with the car. The turn was not even considered a turn, just a curve of the highway, and I hit a divit, making my car lose control. It was not that I was making a sharp turn trying to corner and I lost control, it was just something in the road that made me lose control of the car.

 

I am building my car to be reliable as possible but it is not cheap at all just to let you know, including price of car I will probably have $30k invested into it (car has some questionable things done to it so a lot of the OEM parts had to be replaced) when all is said and done. Guess the insurance being high is a good point, except you might be able to find it for cheap, I know mine is cheap as ****. If you are willing to spend all your insurance money on a really old car, pay a lot for upkeep, pay a lot for insurance maybe, and have an alternate vehicle to drive when the 7 goes down then go for it, probably won't be persuaded otherwise anyways.