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1985 rx7 gsl-e with 160k miles on it, should I buy it?
As the title says there's a $5,000 1985 gsl-e that I'm looking at buying and I'm wondering if it's a decent purchase or not.
Some information
I haven't dealt with rotary engines before but I have done quite a few moderate repairs on my 03 mustang as well as helped some friends with their car problems.
I'd most likely be daily driving it as I don't have the room or the money for 2 separate cars.
I'd be doing most of the repairs myself.
I wouldn't be doing any sort of performance mods to the car, most likely I'd clean the engine bay, get it painted, put in a better sound system & maybe redo some of the interior bits to make it look a little better.
Some questions
What should I look for when I see the car in person?
Roughly how expensive would this be to maintain?
Is it hard to find parts for the car? Where should I look?
Here's a picture of the engine bay to get a better idea of the state of the car, one thing of note is there's some rust and it's hard to tell just how much with the provided pictures so most likely I'll update this thread with some more relevant pictures of the car.
Some more history of the car would be helpful. Is it a daily driver now? Any service and repair records available? It is a bit troubling that you have neither the room nor budget for a second car, because this car most likely will be a cash flow problem for you. Parts to a great extent are where you can find them in salvage yards, other RX7 owners, Ray Crowe (he will need to be on speed dial).
By all means get the Factory service manual and any other pertinent publications here Foxed.ca
1. rust ... with a capital RUST! look under the car, look at the suspension connection points, look at and around the sunroof, look at the doors and trunk drain points, look under the storage bins - look everywhere.
2. shoddy/shady electrical work
3. interior
4. oil leaks
maintenance:
it's really not that expensive to maintain. contrary to popular belief (and the Internet), these are actually reliable cars. they are fairly simple when you get to know them. the SE is fuel injected, so it brings some extra complexities with it, but nothing you can't handle without basic education (which you can get here on the board. )
that said, repairs can be costly. for example, if you look above, i mentioned oil leaks. those can be as simple as a gasket or seal, or they can require a complete engine overhaul. also, if you will need to have someone else do the work. you showed a willingness to learn, so that's definitely a plus. it can go a long way if you can do your own work, but the part of that equation that may be problematic is this will be you daily driver, and you have to assume poor previous care, unless you KNOW the contrary to be true. downtime may mean missed work days if public transportation is not readily available. something to consider ....
parts availability:
it really depends on what parts you're looking for. maintenance parts are still pretty good. most of the suspension and steering can still be found in one form or another, but there are some random things that seem to disappear (from what i understand, not experienced so far). if you have, or get into, a situation where you need interior parts or engine parts that might be more sketchy ... and costly.
If you can't afford to have a daily down for over a couple of days, I would never daily and first gen RX-7. If you run into an issue you can't fix yourself, your only choice is the dealership. How many Mazda techs know rotaries this day and age? And your in Minnesota. The cold weather is not kind to rotaries.
