Well I've always liked the idea of driving a rotory engine'd car, but never really had a decent chance to get a good deal on one, but recently what appeared to be a deal popped up and I just wanted to see what the pro's thought.

The car I happened upon is a 1985 Rx7 with the 12a engine and 5speed transmission. it had a fresh paint job (red) a couple years ago. The guy bought it and said when he got it it misfired and barely ran, the PO said probably the Apex seals. it has sat for about a year and he's not sure if it will run now.He wants $700 for it.

I thought I could go do a compression test (already looked at the special instructions for that) and see if it was internal damage. If it needs a rebuild (I would do the work myself) it looks like around $1000 for parts if the rotor housings aren't damaged.

Is $700 a decent price for it with the fresh paint or is that too much?

 

I got my 86' 13b NA rx7 for $550 running and runs great. Needed brakes and a suspension but that was just my opinion.

Paint is minor faded n mine, overall car 7/10

Just needed some cleaning and paint.

 

wow that seems like a good price, and that's with the 13b? the 13b is worth more too isn't it?

 

Most would seem to agree its worth more, at least more sought after.

Truth be told kid thought it had a bad motor when it was only a coolant hose.

I would search around a bit more unless you are OK with tackeling a rebuild yourself. Once my motor guys I will prob do a ls swap anyways.

 

If you get lucky, no rebuild required and you have $700 + any required maintenance = $700+.

If the engine is bad, minimum $1000 + any required maintenance = $1700+.

If the engine is bad and you need 12A rotor rotor housing, add $400-$500 for a good used pair = $700 + $1000 + $400 + maintenance = $2100+.

This all really depends on the amount of risk you want to take. Could you get a nice running car for $2100 and not have to worry about a rebuild?

 

If you no right away your going to have to spend a min of $1000 if not 1500 on a motor, i would look for a different car. Plenty of decent priced running fc's around

 

So what would it be worth with a freshly rebuilt motor and a new paint job? I'm really interested in learning the rebuild process, but not if I'm going to end up with a $2000 car worth half that amount after all my work.

 

Sorry man..gotta stop ya..
If this was Technical then I would let it continue but seeing you want to Buy a car and want to know what you should pay for it then it becomes NON Technical and more of a Personal Financial decision,which is not at all Technical.
The section is a Fast paced "need to know Why my car is doing this" section and not a 'should I buy this car,how much is it worth" section as Stated in the Sticky above the section.
This gives the guys that have cars a good shot at alleviating their Car problems and then moving on to the other sections to Get more info on what they can do to keep the car running.
Since your dilemma is more a personal decision I must direct you to do some research on your own and look at what others have and by searching parts/Cars for sale and gauging their worth so you can make that decision.
Every time someone answers your thread it covers up other threads that ARE Technical in nature,which really is not fair to the guy wanting TECH answers..so I will now wish you luck,CLOSE The thread and let you proceed to do some reading about engine differences,Values of Used cars,running/not running and mechanical aspects that can tell you how the engine can be modified or rebuilt within your scope of ability.
Thanks.
STYX (MOD)