i am looking to buy a 3rd gen rx7 for a reasonable price and i was wondering if it could make a good daily driver cause i cant afford two cars. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

The short answer is no. The FD is the most unreliable car ever built, and any one sold for a "reasonable price" will require quite an investment to make it reliable.

 

All other issues aside, if you can't have 2 cars I wouldn't recommend an FD. A sports car by its very nature requires a lot of maintenance and an FD is no exception.

The FD is said to be unreliable mainly for 3 reasons, the first is the large amount of heat it generates and the consequences of that heat, the second is rotaries are not tolerant of detonation, and third is the complexity of the twin turbo system. That's why a lot of guys go single turbo, to remove complexity and heat from the car.

Actually there is a 4th reason FD's are said to be unreliable, and that's because most automotive repair places know next to nothing about them, including many mazda dealerships. Unless you get good at it, you pretty much need a reputable rotary specialist with FD experience to properly maintain them, and it ain't cheap.

 

If you can only afford one vehicle stay away from an FD..they require a lot of maintenance and money..You can make them more reliable but unless you can rebuild it yourself your going to have nice bills when you need to get it rebuilt..In essence that one car can cost you the price of 2 or more other cars without any trouble...

You may as well find a cheap daily and then consider it but before that no dont even think about it

 

Agreed. Get yourself an older Civic for you daily and then work the FD on the side and keep it as your weekend warrior.

 

Ouch. I don't agree that it's the most unreliable car ever built. Maybe the most unreliable Mazda ever built.

The reliability of an FD is very manageable IF you put plenty of money into it and are able to recognize a problem and solve it before it causes bigger damage. Low on coolant leading to an overheating engine is a perfect example. The trouble is most owners don't realize this and do expensive damage to stuff or simply drive it until it falls apart. In summary, what's for sale out there varies from a few good cars, many mediocre cars that need work, and lots of utter junk. As years go by the market for buying a used FD gets riskier for new owners - it is very important to recognize the well-sorted cars.

Still a good FD is not practical. It's not suited for winter driving at all, it's a serious gas hog, and there are very few mechanics who are competent at fixing them (Mazda dealers generally can't, whether they admit it or not). Considering that a front control arm costs $600, and a winter beater car costs $600, it's foolish IMHO to buy an FD and not have at least a reliable beater car or public transportation to rely on. To put it bluntly, if the cost of a $500 beater car scares you off you'll probably suffer the FD experience.

Dave