I am almost 17 and I have decided that I want a 12a rx7 as my first car (Yes, I have read up on how I need to take care of them). I am just wondering how much I should expect to spend right away just to get the car up to date. I have found a car for $1500 with a somewhat rough interior and exterior, with only 84,000 original miles. So how much should I plan on spending as far as replacing hoses, belts, etc.?

 

Well......that's a really tough question to answer with the little information you've provided.

Most people have a budget and ask "what can I do with this much money".

What do you want to do with the car? Make it look good? Make it go fast? Make it stop fast? Make it turn fast? Make it safe? Reliable?

I once read on this forum:
"You can go fast, cheap, or safe ..... but you can only pick two.

Check out rockauto.com for prices of belts & hoses ect.

 

1500 is a good price for a decent working car not in need of any major repairs to be drivable. dont expect perfection but it should get you a workable daily driver.
just dont be surprised when stuff starts failing, it is a pretty darn old car afterall.

 

Yea, i bought my 85 GS that needed paint with a parts car for 1000$. It runs and drives with 85000mi, but it was from someone that didnt know what they had so thats probably a fair price. More first gen people the better!
Thanks, Wyatt

 

i bought my first rx a few months ago its an 88 gxl rebuilt engine..2 yr old trans aftr mrkt rims tires and exhaust exterior is great but the interior needs a little work...$1300

 

You'll find the price of most parts in line with other cars of the era.

However, it will all depend on whether you can and are willing to do the work yourself. If you've never worked on a car before, then any old sports car is going to be a poor choice.

 

Thanks for the input, one of the reasons that I want to get a car is to learn to work on them, I don't necessarily need a 100% reliable means of transportation. My grandfather and uncle have both worked extensively on cars in the past, so I will be probably be able to get some help from them. I just wanted to know if there was a general amount of money that was reasonable to expect as a start up cost. I guess, I will just have to evaluate how much work my car needs when I get it, and go from there. Thanks again for all of the input.

 

i agree
there are 3 things to consider:

Cheap
Power
and Reliability

now how its is explained is you can only choose 2 of the above

cheap+power=not reliable
reliability+power=not cheap
cheap+reliability=not powerful

i just thought it makes sense in a simple way and to a certain extent
just thought anyone starting to do stuff to their car should keep this in mind

my2c

 

It sounds like you are in a good place then. Just remember to add 50% to your initial estimate. The classifieds sections of this forum are a great resource for used parts.

 

if you havent work on many cars and plan on fixing things yourself, BE PATIENT, it a old small sportscar, alot of things have very little if no handroom and mazda cram what they can in small of a package they can (with limits of course)

 

I bought my '85GS about 6 years ago. I paid way too much for it, but I was in love, so what can I say? lol. It was a complete basket case: didn't run, brakes didn't work, no headlights, and a very long list of other things wrong with it. But the body was in very good shape, with almost no rust which is very rare in Michigan, so I paid the man $1,000.00 for it and hauled it home. And did I mention that I knew absolutely nothing about these cars?

So the first thing I did was come to this very forum, and start reading every post that came up. After a few months of reading posts, and searching out topics to suit my own immediate needs, I began posting my own questions. Later, I was able to answer the questions of others as well based on what I had learned along the way.

I don't know how much money has gone into the car since, probably in the range of 5 grand if you include regular repair costs along with performance parts. The exhaust system alone ran me $850.00 (Racing Beat). Do I have any regrets? Not one.

Needless to say, over the years the car has really improved. Here is a video of the finished product competing in an autocross event a couple of weeks ago (first three clips are me). Maybe this will help to inspire you a bit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKNjkywj1Q0




.

 

+1

 

Buddy of mine got an 90 na shell from pick and pull for $800. Spend about another 800 getting it a new engine an making it run. Now it looks very nice. It's just all about how much TLC you want to put into the car itself

 

My first car was an '85 GS that I paid $4000. It had 26700 miles and was in great shape. I've had it almost 2 years now, and I don't plan on getting rid of it any time soon.

Lets see some pics of your car!

 

Sorry 'bout the semi late reply, I have been really busy lately. I think I'm gonna go for it. I think I'm gonna go with the cheap + reliable route right now (go fast later ). As far as pics go, I don't have the car yet, but I will probably have the $$ in a couple of weeks, hopefully the car is still there.