So I'm looking for a new car (well, first) and I found an 87 RX-7 with 160,888 miles , but I went and looked at it today and for being nearly 22 years old it's pretty clean on the outside (A little bit of rust, and a pretty big crunch over the left rear tire). The interior is pretty decent for how old it is (Needs to be cleaned badly) and the undercarrage is somewhat bad (rusty)



The bad things:

• Exhaust is completely rusted
• The left rear fender above the tire is crushed (a previous owner hit something while "trying" to drift)
• Drivers door wont open from the outside (something is unhooked?)
• Motor has 161K miles on original motor
• When the car is running it has this buzzing noise (a wire isn't connected?)

That's all I can think of right now, but he says he's trying to get a grand out of it, but I've been told that it's not worth but $500-$750, and KBB puts it as over 2 Grand.

 

Could be expensive to repair for a quality system. Keeping the NAs quiet means high quality tubing, a good resonator and a decent set (not a single) of mufflers. Mild steel tubing will not do the job.

New quarters are rather expensive. Someone "trying to drift" probably means the car was massively abused in other ways.

Broken handle or latch. Fairly common.

Which warning light is illuminated? A buzzer will be one of three things: Overrev, coolant low, oil low.

$500-$750 seems reasonable. No way it's worth more then that with the body damage, rust, and the fact that a very simple problem is causing the buzzer to go off but it has not been fixed already.

 

If the bottom is rusty, that warrants a trip to the lift to get under it and see how much damage there is. I have a friend with an 87 TII with similar mileage. He bought a spare body from me because his is too rusted to rebuild.

I would need more details of maintenance, model, pics, etc., before I could give a price check.

 

I bought my 87 sport, smoggable and running for 700 bucks. It had a ton of dings and scratches, but no major damage to the body. Just needed a clutch.

If it's on phonedial wheels, I wouldn't give 'em more than 700 clams.

 

Sorry that I haven't been on to reply guys.


Thanks for all the tips and help!





Also, about that rear panel, I think that a dolly and hammer could be used to somewhat straighten the fender up a bit.

 

Don't buy it. You'll put more money into it then you'll ever get out of it. My best offer I've ever gotten was $8,500. I've already got plans to put at least that much into her, on top of the price I paid for her to begin with.

Even the original owner says I should have sold her. But, hey, I wouldn't sell my dogs. I wouldn't sell my niece. And I damn sure wouldn't sell my baby!

Sorry, kind of got of topic there, anyways, what I'm saying is unless you are in love with this particular car, wait it out and look around.

 

Udpate:

He put it back up on the swap sheet for $600 obo, and he told me that only 1 Person has asked about it, and they didn't buy it when I asked him a few days before Christmas.

 

I would buy it for 600. Its well worth it as a beater upper. Shmob it around put a little bit of money in it just to get it running decent and comfortable to drive. You'll learn alot about Rx7s if you have never owned one before. Plus you'll have a blast in it as even stock rx7s are pretty fun. Then when you are ready you can either dump 5 grand into it or sell it for what you put into it and buy a nice FC or FD.

 

I was thinking of offering $450-$500.

 

i paid 1500 for mine. wont stay on and had a bad transmission, but no rust... i think id pass just cuz of the rust. in houston there are a few good rx7 on craigslist at any given moment.

i say be patient and get something with a worthy frame. rust is like cancer, it only spreads everywhere and $$$ to cure

 

I think that if it was truly terrible (beyond repair) I'd pass it up.





But having an FC RX7 would be so badass.

 

Take your time and buy a FC that you know you'll enjoy for the long run, huge repair bills or re-occuring problems kills anyone enthusiam....