Renzol

Well you probably figure I'm asking about purchasing a FD that I have found in my area and I would like your opinion on it.

First off let me tell you it's automatic, and yes while this will brand me as a failure I can no longer drive stick due to an accident where I damaged my left knee and shifting is a bitch now and nearly impossible to do smoothly without pain in that position. Related to that why is a manual loved over an auto? I'm just curious on your thoughts.

Alright, now to the actual car. I'm looking at an Auto '93 FD touring that's in excellent condition, only one previous owner, intact title, and has had oil changes and whatnot like is recommend by the previous owner. Carfax says no damage on it at all, no collisions etc. The compression and turbo tests have been done by a mechanic I trust and it all checks out good and there's seemingly no problems anywhere, save for the broken coolant sensor (it's on backorder at the moment). Now the asking price is upper 15k to 16k, it's all stock, except for the tranny which was replaced in '03. It also has about 94k on the engine.

Question is, is it worth it? I've been a fan of rotaries ever since I was driven around in my mother's Sa22c as a child and this is rare to find an auto in this good of condition (and it would be replacing a '86 Toyota Van, yes that one).

Any input would be appreciated.

turboIIrotary

iTrader: (9)

i have seen autos on the forum go for 12 or something in that area...15 to 16seems kinda high in my opinion.

FD3S2005

iTrader: (11)

people IMO like manual better because look at the car its more of a sports car and you dont get a sports car in auto.. kinda defeates the purpose in my eyes.. but it does help people who have troubles.. what kind of accident happened if you dont mind me asking?? my uncle had an accident and been shot through his leg/knee.. he has a 87 911 slant nose porsche that he almost had to give up till he got a softer clutch or what ever makes it softer (wouldnt know havent gotten a new clutch yeat)to help him out.. just to keep that in mind.. If you have funds for the car.. and can maintain it, and have extra money in the bank for a rebuild or anything else go ahead. i bought mine for around 14k..

SLOASFK

iTrader: (5)

$10-12k is a fair price for an automatic 93. He's asking way too much, imo.

Renzol

I'm not sure if I can edit, but as an edit to my original post, the car is owned by a dealership.

As far as the auto goes, I've driven a good number of auto vehicles that can outclass a good number of what is considered sports cars before.

As far as the accident goes I was driving in a friend's car home one night and I got hit from the right side hard and it pretty much jammed my knee into the shifter and well I couldn't walk for a while. The car was right hand drive but this wasn't in the US so losing the car wasn't disastrous. Anyway I do have a FC and I did try doing all of that, the softer clutch, to the point where it was feathery. I learned it wasn't the pressure of pushing, it was the motion the leg went in, and it's like that whenever I'm sitting down. I know the FD will be fine because I have driven a friend's a few times who is also auto, except his knee got screwed up thanks to an IED during Desert Storm.

Renzol

I'm not sure if I can edit, but as an edit to my original post, the car is owned by a dealership.

As far as the auto goes, I've driven a good number of auto vehicles that can outclass a good number of what is considered sports cars before.

As far as the accident goes I was driving in a friend's car home one night and I got hit from the right side hard and it pretty much jammed my knee into the shifter and well I couldn't walk for a while. The car was right hand drive but this wasn't in the US so losing the car wasn't disastrous. Anyway I do have a FC and I did try doing all of that, the softer clutch, to the point where it was feathery. I learned it wasn't the pressure of pushing, it was the motion the leg went in, and it's like that whenever I'm sitting down. I know the FD will be fine because I have driven a friend's a few times who is also auto, except his knee got screwed up thanks to an IED during Desert Storm.

Super77

I don't see anything wrong with the car other than a potential catastrophic engine failure due to an Apex seal giving way.

Seriously, a 93 touring, which I have owned, is due for an apex seal failure at 60-80,000 miles. So I have been told and experienced at 88,000 miles. Needed a new block @ total cost of $4,000 installed.

Need to be aware of this. Check the FAQ section.

Good luck.

Super77

Renzol

That's not a problem seeing that I've worked on rotaries nearly all my life, rebuilt a 12a, a 20b (with help on this one) and a 13B, I have access to a garage and I actually have 8 apex seals sitting downstairs in my workbench. I'm not lacking in knowledge of the cars themselves, just the pricing.

Phread

In my pricing of FD's (looked for a long time before I finally got mine) I've always seen the automatics consistently going for less......

IMHO, it looks to high...

Authentikdit

I must agree with the rest..I picked up my automatic '93 touring for $8k..Granted,it quickly needed a rebuild due to me being an idiot and not having it compression tested,but even with that $8k and my $5k for a rebuild at Pettit,that's only around $13k,making this dealer's asking price seem a bit too high,like everyone else has stated.

MADDSLOW

iTrader: (11)

I think that price is far too high. You can find one with much lower mileage for a lot cheaper. My manual 93 Touring cost me $18,000, 95% stock, owned by an old man, with 43,000 original miles. A high mileage auto should be a LOT less.

Super77

RENZOL, YOU DA MAN!!! 8 seals in the garage!!! Your set for a life time. I wonder if the automatic tranny is faster than a standard manual tranny??

An auto with 94K miles seems high to me.

Again good luck.

Super77

TpCpLaYa

iTrader: (10)

well I originally bought my 93 touring, auto, with 104k on everything but the new streetported motor (500 miles) for 9500. I drove that for a year and had a good time till the trans went out.

Being stupid and not wanting to take on the task of a swap (or the outrageous labor cost for a swap at the time) I had a close friend rebuild the Auto with a custom shift kit. I didnt know alot at the time and ended up reusing my original converter. Well a few mods (dp,cb,intake, fresher turbos) would lead to a dead trans about 6 months later. Well i thought dead trans untill it turned out that the converter was shot.

blah blah blah, didnt know the condition of the trans after it went out and didnt want to even mess with more money on the auto so i did the swap. After selling all the old parts my total cost was sumwhere near 2500 for all the labor, all the parts, 9lb flywheel, ACT ss clutch kit, 0 miles on rebuilt trans, short shifter, ect ect

Now i have been driving the 5spd for almost 2 years and have NEVER looked back.

However, in your situation the auto would still be awesome. The only real downsde the the auto has VS the 5spd is the launch. The auto is a dog..plain and simple until about 2 secs after you start moving then it raises hell like a 5spd would ONLY you dont loose boost on shifts and theres no chance of error.


Auto Pros:
Once moving it is just as fast as a 5spd
No boost loss between shifts
No chance for shifting errors

Auto Cons:
Tend not to be able to handle BIG power unless built for it
Nothing special from a launch - your ALWAYS gunna play catch up
unless built to launch --- higher stall, ect
Lower redline and once ur in higher gears the trans shifts hella early instead of
being able to use the high rev to ur advantage
the trans will also put u out of ur power band or sweet spot
sometimes when u want to be there
3.90 gearing KILLS low speed acceleration compared to the 4.10

5Spd Pros:
Fun Factor
4.10 gearing - going from 3.90 to 4.10 i felt a major difference
Higher redline
Ability to shift/downshift or not shift whenever you want
Ability to launch like a ****
I believe theres less drivetrain powerloss on manual as well

5Spd Cons:
Traffic sucks when your inching along or get stuck sumwhere
More wear on drivetrain from hard shifts/launches/ect
Boost is lost between shifts....only a sec tho
Error is always there.....especially without a engine torque brace
generally a heavier clutch is in place so your always getting a leg workout



i think thats about it from my own experiences and pretty much should cover everyone elses experience between an auto and manual FD

and to answer ur original question....No, that price seems to high. I looked at a few local 7s at dealerships and they were just like that...higher mileage, original engine,and overpriced because that engine is going soon. Maybe not from apex failure (compression test) but maybe for coolant seals.

Thats another 4 gs ontop of the asking price. You could find a built single for that much

Renzol

Well I took what you said and I found another one, 12k for this one with a rebuilt engine, I am going to be checking the engine out a bit more this time, seeing that it was rebuilt, from what I can tell there's no accidents or anything of that sort, so we'll see.

SLOASFK

iTrader: (5)

TcP, all those cons you listed for the auto...isn't that what the hold button is for?

I've never drive an auto FD and I don't know what exactly the hold button is, but it was my understanding that the hold button would keep the tranny in whatever gear it was in. for instance, keeping the tranny in neutral while you revved up for a launch and keeping the tranny in 3rd until you hit the redline?

bajaman

Even considering the Cali market, which it seems dictates higher prices, the asking price for the first car seems a little high. Should be more like $14K or so.

To settle the performance debate once and for all, the ONLY drawback to an auto is the initial launch, where the 3.90 final drive and the deadness of lack of torque contribute to a less-than-stellar take off. Otherwise, the auto is awesome when driven right, meaning manually shifting it and knowledgeable use of the 'hold' button.
Once under way, from 15 - 20 mph or more, the auto will flat *** MOVE, and the absolutely flat and consistent power delivery is a ******* thrill, for sure.

Let's just put it this way: Never, and I mean NEVER has anyone ever ridden in my car and even NOTICED the automatic tranny, it is always "oh-my-God-I-have-never-been-so-FAST" with a dozen other expletives thrown in...lol!
For anyone with physical limitations or who just prefers and auto, the FD with an automatic is a truly impressive car.

theorie

iTrader: (31)

that price is pretty high.

i picked up my '93 with 30k original miles for $17k

Moejoe

iTrader: (1)

A dealership that sells higher end cars sold a 94 touring with 11,XXX and was auto. The sale price was $17,999. Your deal sounds pretty high.

Hitokiri_Gensai

iTrader: (2)

I agree with everyone else here, thats pretty high for the car.

as for an automatic trans, theres a number of advantages to it.

first off, youll get consistantly better times than a 5 speed because of the almost instantaneous upshit. You dont need to break the power flow like you do in a manual trans.

second, as mentioned before, there no chance for a misshift or grinding the gears or burning the clutch.

generally, Automatics lose more horsepower, but its not like it cant be gained back with simple modifications.

Simple modifications like a higher stall speed will allow for good launches and building the trans up will be able to handle a lot of power flowing through it.

CantGoStraight

Price is subjective. Don't feel slighted by it being an AUTO, since that's what you need and the car strikes your fancy if it's running properly it will be more than a handful. With 94k on the motor and no rebuilds to speak of it's a time clock with a short hand. You never know you may get another 20k out of it 0r you may get another 2k. Prices seem to be higher in Calif. (there's a surprise) and being a one owner is a plus (he must have done some things right to get 94 on the clock with no rebuilds) So the rest is up to you....haggle on the price and if it falls in your range get it.

13Foxtrot

I bought an auto 93' FD touring about a month ago in addition to my 5speed FD touring... and I was specifically looking for an automatic. Yes, I was skeptical too about buying an auto, but I absolutely love the auto now. The only thing not OEM on it is a Kenwood CD player. EVERYTHING else is bone stock with 58,790 original miles. It makes for a super fun DD. Hell, it even gets 25 mpg on the highway and 21-23 around town if I can control my right foot. The Hold function on the Auto is the coolest thing though. Since I pretty much twisted my PPF on my 5spd into a twizzler, I ended up taking my Auto FD to an SCCA sanctioned AutoX. With the shifter in 1 (L) and the Hold button on, I was able to break into sub 29 second runs. Never thought I would take an Auto FD to an AutoX, but it was too much fun anyways. With it in L and the Hold button on, the car is extremely responsive at low speeds. "Manually" shifting the tranny around town or getting on the highway is super smooth and powerful. My only gripe if you could call it that, is how hard the tranny shifts at low speeds. Very pronounced to say the least. Like a kick in the pants.

CantGoStraight

+1 on the Auto being a fun drive. Funny thing about the hold button. you put it in 2nd gear press the hold button and it stays in 2nd gear, even if you hit redline and think pushing it into 3rd is going to advance it....won't happen, it stays in 2nd gear no matter what gear you move the shifter into.

Renzol

Well, the second person who is selling the Base model FD for around 12(lower after we talk about it) is a rotary fiend like myself, and has owned about 6 or so other cars, so she's taken good care of it. I just gotta see if I can't get my co-signer to well....co-sign on it.

One thing on it though, the engine was salvage titled out due to an engine fire, and the engine was replaced a couple of times, the first was through a normal Mazda dealer (lol) and the 2nd time was by a professional rotary team which I know a couple of the members and right now it only has less then 1k on it, the only things are the AC needs to be repaired and the front left brake rotor needs to be replaced, i'm planning on putting some aftermarket brakes on anyhow. Oh and the tires are bald but I have a few lying around.

BigWillieStyles

the autos were a still a fast car. And quite simply what attracts most of us to the FD is its gorgeous looks. I reckon, buy it!

rc51king

I paid 11,900 for mine. Thats after i juked down on the price