bacek

i have been on this forum for a while but this is my first post so here goes....

after a long while of appreciating and wanting 7's it is come time for me to finally purchase one. ultimately i want an FD, but being a student and the lack of funds i am looking to get an FC first to learn about dealing with a 7.

i am leaning towards NA due to the fact that if i get a TII i might just start dumping money into it because i love turbos and i hear they are a tad bit harder to maintain than NA.. remember i am a college student so less maintenence= less money. another reason why i want NA is because this will be my first rwd car, i have experience with awd turbo cars so i know how to punch it but i want to improve on my technique and I KNOW it would be better for me to start off with less power.

what i want to figure out is which series i should get. first and foremost which series seems to have less electrical problems. second is it easier to just find a 7 with lsd or would it be cheap enough to get an aftermarket one? and which series would be better for someone to both learn how to drive on and learn about 7's on?

TIA

MDD0101

i wouldnt say one series is better then another to learn to drive them...just find one in nice condition and go from there

adrock3217

S4's are said to be much easier to maintain then S5's, electrically and mechanically. Don't really know why, but I have an S4. Yes, NA will be more reliable. LSD..Aftermarket (quality) LSD's run 2,000+ moneywise. You can find an..ok S4 NA for that much, GTU with LSD for that much.

eage8

iTrader: (9)

all GXL have LSDs amoung some other NA trims... go for one of them.

I personally think S5s are better cars in almost every aspect except for the OMP. with the S5 they basically just improved on everything in the S4. they have more power. and they look a better too .

as for being more reliabable... I don't think it really matters. S4s might be a little more reliable just because they tend to have more mechanical parts instead of electrical parts. but I don't think it's that much more reliable. I know people with both, and they seem to break just as much

bacek

wow thanks for the good replies of course whatever series i go with im gonna try to find the best example of one. please more input from people that have experience with both series. mechanical things (except for an engine rebuild) i should be able to to do myself i have experience with wrenching on cars. my main concern is which series is more electronically stable for most cases not all. i know it all depends on how the car was taken care of but there are still some things that will fail regardless.

TIA

eage8

iTrader: (9)

FCs and "electrically stable" are total oposites

vaughnc

Reliablity is mostly a factor of the previous owner.

If the car sat outside all the time in the blazing sun, rain, snow,.... the previous owner didn't follow maintenance, or ran the car with the catalytic converters cologged up for a long time it might be a problem.

Take the car to the Mazda dealership and have them do a Rotary specific compression test. If the car makes it all the way there without spewing coolant, turning the oil white, or smoking blue, grey, or white, and it passes with good hot compression it's a keeper.

Little things like accessories not working correctly, goofy idle, dieing with the A/C on, not passing the emissions test, etc... should have been worked out by the previous owner... and should be negotiated to have fixed or reduce the selling price.

bacek

^ I understand the whole previous owner thing..... i am lucky to live in los angeles and there are plenty of good shops around here... in fact tri-point is not that far from where i am located and probably would be taking any car i might buy there for them to check it out.

again thanks for the replies and keep em coming...

SleeperRx

Hmm, it is really hard to convince someone in how to choose/buy their rx7. Since your looking into one then i would already assume that u know that they are not reliable.........lol. I guess reliability would come within the owner and just how much reliable are u willing to go.

I guess buying/choosing an rx7 would be like choosing which prostitute to choose from. All a matter of taste and preference. Your not gonna find that "perfect rx7" you dreamed of as like your not gonna find that "virgin prostitute." Anywayz good luck and hopefully you get an excellent deal.

bacek

thanks i understand that this is a sports car and like all sports cars they arent great on gas and have reliability porblems.

btw nice anlogy lol...

socalrotor

iTrader: (1)

If I where you I would look for a 86-88 Sport model..... All High po brakes & suspention + not all the electrical GXL crap to wieght you down/ fix. So get a sport, and the first thing you do is swap a GXL rear diff to get a LSD..... Also found out that most sellers unless its the Orignal owner, do not know the model... The sport I bought was advertised and base model elcheapo. I paid 700 with a few problems, but an rebuilt motor. Just my opinion, as I have been there before.

socalrotor

iTrader: (1)

Sorry I forgot to metion most GOOD RUNNING RX7 get close to 20 + MPG

socalrotor

iTrader: (1)

recycler.com has a sport mod for 1700 RIGHT NOW!!!!! Black in color 1988

swanton187

well I just got mine and I love it I've been waiting for this car for 4 years now but i got a GXL thats in pretty good shape (it needs work) but I love everything about it

Sideways7

iTrader: (7)

I have to disagree with the reliablity, at least in part. An N/A rx7 can be quite reliable. The only problems I have had with my car in the 3 years I've owned it was the engine rebuild (it had 215,000 very hard miles on it and had started a coolant leak.) an exhaust leak that was easy to fix and now I'm getting the injectors cleaned. Since the rebuild 2 and half years ago, its been down for about 2 days, and that was only because I thought I would run it with an open header while I was waiting for a part to come in, but I couldnt handle the noise.
Now, on to the real question.... To my knowledge, the S5's are generally more electronically reliable, while the S4's have a few less things that will catastrophically fail (such as the S5 electronic OMP). The elctronic gremlins are just part of the experince of owning an RX-7 (kinda like owning a British car). Its nothing major, just stuff like the windshield wipers only working on low. Most any of the electronic problems are fairly simple to fix (or at least to send off and have someone fix) and are very well documented on these forums. Remember, the less electronic stuff on the car (power windows, etc.) the less things to go wrong. Basically, it just comes down to finding a clean car that appears to be well maintained. Look for cars with lots of documentation of service and owners that appear to genuinely love rotaries. Theres actually a whole section stickied at teh top about what to look for when buying a FC.

socalrotor

iTrader: (1)

reliablity wise rotors beat the hell out of the blue oval....oh wait now its the same thing.....

vaughnc

No, all 10-15 year old cars (including sports cars) need TLC. Gas, I'm getting 21-22MPG average. Reliability, I've put 50K miles on mine (140K currently) and all I've done is put on a new starter.

1990RXHeaven

I love my N/A and it's a heavy as crap gxl. Just get a 5 speed and 5 lug wheels with a decent running engine and you'll love it. They're plenty fast and if it still isn't enough after a year or two, buy a turbo or go get a gtu and do the conversion.