Test drove a FD3 today
 

So, I test drove a FD3 today. It was a red with black interior 93, but was stamped 92. I've got to admit it took me back to my Miata days :) I did have a few questions though. One was the steering wheel seemed a little low. Now i'm not a big guy, 5"10" 165lbs, but my leg would hit the steering wheel ever so often. Is there a way to adjust the height of the wheel, I looked but didn't see a way, or are the other models where this is an option? I also noticed the smell of coolant under the hood on the drivers side. I'm guessing this is from a leaky (where the air is separated from the coolant) reservoir that I've read about. The car had a 101k on it and they didn't know if the car had ever had the engine rebuilt or replaced so I walked away. I'm still on the fence about this car, but answering some of these questions would help.

15k. Plus the shifter could rotate about 10 degrees, not the knob but the while shifter and the lid for the compartment on the drive door was gone. It had greddy coil overs and it was lowered, but no one rolled the fenders, so there was tire damage. They claim it was never moded but a caught a greddy intercooler coupling.

The 3rd gen FAQ thread has a Buyer's Guide that you should read if you are serious about looking for an FD.

Ya I read it, it was very helpful. I'm still on the fence about a fd. I want to believe that my mechanical know how will keep me out of to much trouble. The car was quick enough stock for la driving so the mods will stay light. The first twi things I would do would be boost gauge and wide band o2

None of the FDs have adjustable height steering. Unfortunately, what you see is what you get.
The first thing I would do is make sure I knew where the coolant leak was. Could be any number of things. Also look closely at the turbo coolant lines.

FWIW, in my experience and front reading on this board for several years an otherwise well maintained and stock FD WILL have a coolant seal failure around 100k. While NA rotary engines often go twice that without issue, it's the cost of forced induction on these cars. If the seller can't provide more information on the history of the car I'd be cautious.

15k? No way. No compression test and potential issues? 8k at most. For 15k you can buy a nice, used single turbo on the forum.

Should be noted plenty of tall and fat ass (and tall fat ass) members drive FD's. The column is not adjustable but smaller steering wheels, quick releases, etc. make it bearable.

I'm 6'6" and 240 and have driven my FD on 10hr road trips without too much suffering.

Agreed on the price. I'm not sure how comfortable I am buying a modded FD since the engines can be so delicate. After seeing how some people mod I have serious distrust of their knowledge and ability. I'd hate to buy a runner just to have the engine pop 2 days later. Thanks for the heads up on the wheel, perhaps I'll switch out to an after market when I get mine....Which as it turns out is probably what I'm going to do, as soon as I sell my 2010 camaro.

Depending on your comfort level, there are a couple sellers on the forums who sell FDs with 1yr warranties on their engines...Jon at Eccentric Performance comes to mind.

Oh, wait so there are shops with some stock? Or is it that if the engine is bought from a particular shop, the engine had a warranty?

IIRC the smaller stock/Miata wheels are only 8 or 10 mm smaller. Not sure if that's significant. And understand that the other choices sacrifice passive restraints (airbag) and IIRC, will throw a CEL on the stock ECU. No big deal if you've got a 5 pt harness, helmet etc. But IMO not something to be cavalier about with a street car...especially if your a big guy.

I'm not that big. Just something I was wondering about. I had a sparco on my supra. I liked it, but I had the scroth racing 4 point racing harness with the anti submarineing measure attached to a harness bar.

Sgt Blue, as always, makes excellent points.

I believe AllRotor (forum name of Eccentric Performance) installs rebuilt engines in the cars he sells but don't quote me on that. He does sell many cars with a 1yr engine warranty.

You will be MAD after selling a running Camaro to buy a modded FD :anger:. There is a reason people are putting their cars back to stock before selling them. Buying a modded FD is like getting a hand grenade with the pin pulled . You know it's going to blow but not when :badrebuild:. No seriously if you don’t know the seller I would pass. You would not believe some of the halfwit shortcuts some people take to repair these cars.


Yes and he has sold more than a few cars to member on the forum. If you get it from someone, here you can always look up what they have done to the car through threads and you can check out their reputation.

+1

FWIW I bought my FD 2 1/2 years ago 39k miles for $16,500. My work on the car has seemed to confirm that the mileage is accurate. I believe that I paid top price at that time for a car of that mileage and condition.

With the recession it seems to me that the prices have if anything come down some since.

I am looking for a pretty much stock car. Fortunately when the camaro sells i'm iting a side a few k for when the engine decides to go. I'm going to have to check out allrotor if he offers a 1 year warrantee

How do I find him? He doesn't have a vendor area? Does he have his own web site?