Jan Tam

Over the past few days I've been reading about Rotary's and Mazda RX7's. My main concern is if the car can be used as a daily driver. There are alot of mixed answers that I run into. Some say they are complete garbage, others that its perfectly fine.

I'm looking to buy an N/A Or Turbo RX7 sometime in the very near future.

I'm probably going to receive some mixed answers here as well, but I Just want to know from those who drive an RX7 daily. Is the car reliable as long as i follow the guidelines on taking care of the car? I've also read that they tend to go bad outside in hot temperatures. It gets very hot in Florida.

Thanks for the replies in advance.

Scruffy Loki

Well I used mine for a dd for about 2 years, the main problem is IF something goes wrong its not like any other "normal" car. You can't just run up to autozone and get a new part, they can be a pain to find sometimes. Fwi the only reason I stoped useing mine as a dd is people kept bumping, denting and scratching it. Makes u wanna scream.

bpdchief

iTrader: (7)

We have an NA that we have had for many years and it died on me only one time when the fuel pump went out. Other than that it has been a great car.

The Laser

I'm tearing mine down right now because the 5/6 port actuators werent doing ****! I think the main downside is, like someone said, parts stores WILL NOT have any part you might need. They are also just full of vacuum hoses for emissions, but if you live in a state where you don't need to test, you can yank most of it out to clean up the engine compartment. My recommendation is to buy an NA first. People usually never mod them as opposed to the turbos, so they can be found in much better condition.

hioctane-dtc

iTrader: (1)

Daily driven mine for the past 3 years, only down time is when I send the car in for tune up or replacing/upgrading parts.

It's a great car to drive everyday, as long as you take care of it, proper maintenance, follow oil change schedule, rev the engine to redline at least 1-2 times a week, and it's happy.

For hot weather in Florida, first you would want to check and replace/upgrade the cooling system (radiator, oil cooler, hoses, lines, water pump, etc). With proper care and clear direction of where you are going with the car, it's super reliable as a daily car.

chris french_87rx7

I have an '87 FC N/A as my summer daily driver. To be honest it has actually been more reliable for me than the Toyota I drive in the winter! It currently has over 188,000 kms on it and runs and drives great. I would recommend getting an N/A if your looking for reliability cuz the turbos tend run hotter, especially with spirited driving, and heat is a rotary engines worst enemy. Also make sure it has been well maintained and not abused by the previous owner. Just keep up with the regular maintenance and replace any wearable parts that need replacing and it should be fine for a daily driver.

shorty1408

they are great cars. dont dismiss the opertunity to own one due to some retards negative view of them. they all differ, it depends on how the previous owner has taken care of it. if they never did proper maintenence on it and ran it into the ground, it wont be as reliable as one just daily driven, had all oil changes on time, and not ragged the hell out. look at me, i just got my first one, just as sceptical of the rotary, the previous owner was a IDIOT!!!!, i mean, didnt even know the correct oil grade... '-', ran it through hell and never took care of it at all... never even chaged the damn spark plugs, or even put the right grade gas into the damn thing. now, after 200 dollars, i am bringing it back from the brink of death, and it runs so much better, i even daily drive it now. when i first got it, it didnt even make it the whataburger down the street before it died, or shook apart!!! like i say, its all in how it was taken care of. mines got 162000mi's and still kicking.

BTW, i live in san antonio tx, and it does just fine.

pursuit1

iTrader: (1)

I'll add, as a ~6 month owner, you are virtually guaranteed there will be no shops who know anything about them or any other owners to teach you in your area. So plan on having to sift through the info on websites, know the signals the car is sending (the rotary's good about that but first you have to learn enough about the motor to know the names of components people are talking about on the forums), and then plan well ahead to gather the parts to address issues before they become problems and find the time to do the work yourself. As mentioned before, you can get yourself in a bind if you just dive into it without knowing the system and things go wrong.

Kraz13

I picked up my 87 TII with 280,000 km in April of this year. It needed some initial love so i replaced all fluids, one caliper was seized, and tps sensor was bad. Once I fixed all that from April-Nov daily drove with no issues at all. She is just not the best on gas but I don't mind. My favorite part is the amount of attention and compliment she gets daily.

Evil Aviator

The engine itself is very reliable, and rotary-powered race cars are most famous for their endurance racing wins. However, being 20 or more years old, these cars may now have a lot of problems, and some parts are getting more difficult to source. This is a problem with old cars in general, and not specific to the RX-7. My 88 RX-7 convertible just hit 200,000 miles, and has made 1,000+ mile round trips to Deals Gap Rotary Rally for the last 4 years.

Heat is only a problem for those who install a cheapie front-mounted intercooler in front of their radiator. I drove RX-7s in Florida for about 8 years and never had a problem with overheating, and that includes autocrossing.

NA is cheaper to buy and cheaper to operate. Both NA and turbo models have about the same reliability and same insurance rate for models up to 1992, and they are also both rated for 87 octane fuel if unmodified. The 1993+ models all have turbos, are less reliable, the insurance is usually higher, sell for about twice the price as the older RX-7s, and require 91+ octane fuel. Just stay away from the automatic transmission, as it tends to have major problems, is expensive to fix, and is a pain in the rear to convert to manual transmission.

Rotor_Venom08

iTrader: (3)

i DD my 1st gen everyday. works like a swiss watch, and is even move fun to wind up especially merging onto the interstate. bought it for $500 and I love it.

ive got about 160K on the clock with only replacing the entire hydraulics (brakes, clutch) and mounts (engine, trans) mounts. and deleting the emissions. most of which is typical on a 30 yr old car.

SyndicatePlus

iTrader: (3)

I owned a '93 R1 FD3S. Was a complete Blast to drive ! I loved every second. However, as a DD, I found lack of space for cargo, bad gas mileage ( might be a little bit my fault though ), and no Tilt on my steering wheel, which made it difficult to get in & out of the car : to be very bothersome. Also the A/C seemed to really tax the engine & in the Vegas heat I was see 205 F at cruising speed.

I wish I didn't sell the car, but at the Time I had it, and my MR2 project car. Between these two cars, I couldn't even drive around more that one person since both were 2 seaters. Now I have a GTO & it is a much better DD, but I still miss the hell out of my Rx7.

jlee916

I daily drove my n/a 90 gxl everyday until I sold it. Eventually the driveshaft gave out and I ended up replacing it. So whenever something goes out, it might be difficult for you to find parts locally and to get the part you need at a cheap price compared to Honda parts.

I could've drove 1 hour and 40 minutes to buy a drive shaft for $25 from a member here, but I ended up spending $75 at a used junk shop locally because it would have costs me just as much driving south for the part and coming back home. I also needed time to be on my side and this was the only way I could buy it because no one else had it locally.

Before you get into, check out this guide by Aaron: How To Buy An '86-'92 Non-Turbo RX-7

Rhyno2050

i have a 86 rx7 n/a and i would say that they are just as reliable as any car out there, it all just depends on how you treat and take care of it. If you do all its maintanance you will keep the engine in good shape. Also keep in mind that these cars are 20+ years of age so eventaully the years and weather takes a toll on all the parts. I would recommend you get one because these cars dont compare to anything else, they are fun to drive and is truly a drivers car from the deep tone exhaust note, to the awesome cornering, and even the looks, they are great.

gregsummers12

Reading this gave me lots of hope in finding my own RX-7 this summer. Thank you for the education, I feel as if i know what to look for now and what to pass on.

MR-2T

i was considering getting a fc n/a before..

ibeljin

iTrader: (1)

It's interesting to see that these cars that people lable "unreliable" are really just as good as any other cars out there. If you stick a big enough turbo on any kind of car and run high boost pressures without supporting mods, any engine will fail. I think the unreliable myth stems from the fact that rx7's are rarely kept stock

Harley

I drove mine everyday for a good 12 months and had no issues. Fuel economy wasn't great but no issues with realiability!

plentymoon

I have had my Rx7 SE AKA Non Turbo version and it's been a great daily driver for me i've taken great care of mine did all my own fluid changes and the oil change and it's been treating me good.

putting in some new stuff to make it run smoother. Trust me your won't regret it aslong as you make time to feed her whats need to keep her running good and healthy.

Rx7 Dope

They are awesome and reliable cars if you make sure you keep them in the condition they are designed for. If you are in it for style I would go NA though as more reliable and better on fuel.

ibeljin

iTrader: (1)

The more I read about this car and it's potential, the more I fall in love. I swear I'm gonna buy one come spring