I've got about 10 grand and debating saving more to buy a lower mileage FD thinkin it might save me a engine rebuild or turbo rebuild. My question to you guys is if you hjave any horror stories or praises about the longevitiy of your FD engine, Turbos, Transmission. I doubt i'll hear praises but i'm from what i've been looking at the turbos are on there way out at 60k, and engine rebuild at 80k. give or take how the engine was beat on and the this is remaning on stock boost levels 10-8-10 if i'm not mistaken. And if not answer what do you think the optimal mileage to have on a 7 to save on intial cost vs. repair.


thanks in advance, i searched for about an hour and now i'd like to ask you guys

 

Remember just because it doesnt have tons of miles on it doesn't always mean you wont have to spend money on maintenance. Your looking at an ~11 year old car... lots of things can wear out, get dry rotted from heat and crack. You must understand that no matter what you will eventually have to spend money on it. It's just the factor of if you wana do it now or later :p

Also for example, my 7 when I purchased it had ~78k miles and was already on the second motor. This was a totally stock car owned by a woman with just a list of things being replaced. ie. radiator, fuel, vacuum hoses, etc.. fast foreward to now the motor is out again :p some minor bolt ons + ecu and boost = boom no more reman lol

*edit* also be careful what your getting if your looking for a 7 priced at 10k it most likely has some issues. Your best bet is learn all of the things to look for that can go wrong, go prepared to test the car... compression etc.. speak to the owner and see if they know their **** or are just jerking your chain.

 

sweet last name

 

original motor on my last fd went at 35000 miles.

 

I wanted an unmolested car...so I paid for one.

if you want something to build, I'd get one with a blown motor/twins and build a motor and go single.

I blew my engine on a dyno...well, at least I've got a plot of the blown engine run

 

There is no answer. Both low mileage and high mileage cars suck up money. 5 years ago, you could buy a low mileage car and have a 'get out of maintenance free' card for a couple of years. Now even the low mileage cars have issues due to aging and sitting for long periods of time. FDs age much less gracefully than other 12yo cars on the used market.

The best bet is to buy one with a fresh rebuild and good condition. I would budget 13-16k for one like this, and even still expect reliability mods and regular upkeep to chew a few hundred per year minimum. If you intend to modify the car, expect the annual costs to go into the thousands. Try cheating any of these things and sooner or later you'll have an inoperable car.

I hope this isn't going to be a daily driver - unless your idea of daily is flexible.

Dave

 

Public transportation is the daily FD driver's friend. Even if you have the cash for parts, they take a day or two minimum to get to you.

 

Do the reliability mods. You must address the cooling system.

1) Evans NPG+
2) Larger than stock Koyo Radiator
3) Aluminum AST
4) Water Temp Guage
5) Fan Mod(My fans come on at 86 C)
6) make sure that you have an Underbelly tray on the car(Mine didn't)

Ask me how I know....

Hell, I'll tell you. I am on my third motor.

The first one wen't due to bad coolant seals. Most likley due to over heating and warping the housings. I didn't know about the forum back then. So, I didn't knwo that the radiators shitty plastic end tanks broke(mine did). Or that I needed an after market water temp guage. Because the OEM guage is non-linear(i.e.: useless).

The second motor was a crappy reman installed by the dealer under warranty lasted less than 40k miles. It quickly developed a major front cover oil leak and eventually began to over heat.

For my current(3rd) motor I ended up going with a pineapple street ported motor w/ upgraded seals. And since I was paying for this all out of pocket I decided do all the reliabilty mods to protect this motor. PFC, Koyo, Evans NPG+, FAN mod via Datalogit. It has been 15k miles. So far so good.

Now, I need bushings.

 

Check this thread:

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/those-who-have-popped-fd-443304/

 

When I bought my car I took it to my mechanic and he told me I blew a seal. I told him to leave my personal life out of it and fix the damn thing!