I am buying a clean and stock 1988 GXL for probably too much money but currently its the only clean and newish GXL I could find. There arn't even any turbo II's for sale around here (WA) right now. Anyways I had a few questions because the car is almost perfect except for a little bit of sloppy shifting and a dime size dent in the back by the hatch. 66k Original miles, factory paint job, no new parts except for a replaced clutch, brakes and timing belts. I have been told that I am spending "way too much" at $4200 but there is really nothing I can do about that anymore cause I've agreed and there really isn't another option for me right now cause my car is dieing and I need a new one. I just want to know what kind of things I have to look forward to in the future and what I should look out for after I start driving a car like this.

 

I bought the same thing, an 88 GXL, about 3 years ago. It was in great condition with about 75000 miles on a new Mazda rebuild. The thing you have to remember about these cars is that they are old, so things are going to break and wear out. They take a lot of maintainance, but if you stay on top of the repairs and mods, you will have a lot of fun with the car........ until you decide you NEED a turbo II, like I do.....

 

OK listen to me! As a fellow '88 GXL owner...if i were ever to spend that much i would absolutely wait it out for a TII. Use public transport for the meantime.

I bought my GXL 2 years ago for like 1500. Was immaculate inside/out. I replaced the motor. BUT the motor only had 75K when i bought it...so, unless you know the maintence/driving habits of the previous owner.

**** man...i'll sell you my GXL for $4300.00 See mods below.

 

BTW there is no timing belt on a rx7.....(its rotary ) where have you looked for a 7 at?

 

here are some close to you and even a s5 one

http://seattle.craigslist.org/kit/car/188496919.html

http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/car/188165050.html

http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/car/188915833.html

http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/car/188065781.html

here are some ill see what else i can find!

 

Ok I think I mentioned that the other vehicles in the area were either too high milage or had body damage, as you pointed out by reposting the craigslist ads. On top of that, none of them are Turbo II. I need a car now, I want this one so this is the one I am going to get. I know its a bit high, but I really think that I won't find another GXL like this one that is compleatly stock and has been well maintained by the owner. Stock is a big selling point here... none of the other ones I've seen even over the past 3 years have been stock or had low miles. No body damage is also a major plus. This car is perfect to be my first RX-7. If I fall in love with it, which I most likely will, I am sure it won't be my last or only rotary.


Street porting isn't exactly an option I look for on a daily driver that I plan to last me so I am not interested in your GXL for that price. This may be something I want to do in the future but... its not something I need/want now. Plus I need my cats and stuff to pass emmissions. This is not going to be my track car.

I also tend to agree with SGesel that it is a good car until I decide I need a turbo II which will eventually happen I know for a fact, however I don't feel like I'm ready for a turbo II or the maintanence that comes along with owning one. This is my daily driver so it has to remain reliable, this means no racing, no drifting, and no... street porting hehe. For now, I have to drive it like a daily driver and just have a little fun with it while its stock. Mods come after I have a garage to work on it and maybe even another car so that if something goes wrong I can still get to work...

 

I'd say wait on it and look for a better deal.

 

**** that, $4300 is just fine if the car is really that clean. There are way too many cheapskates on here.

Buy the car and enjoy her. There's a lot to be said for a low mileage car that hasn't been abused (although only 60k on the original clutch may mean it got a lot of stop-and-go or drag launches).

 

I think it may be a little high, but that's how it was with my rx, four year ago. Very clean, well maintained with records from mazda and a mazda rebuild engine with 13,000 miles.

If it is as good as what you said, I'd go for it. Maybe try to bargain for $4000. . .

-Charles


Timing belt -- Ha, ha

 

At least someone tells me its a good deal heh. He did replace the clutch so I won't have to worry about that.

 

I allready talked him down from $4850 and this is something he had to talk over with his wife and everything, I dont' think I can go any lower than that. I'll be happy with it but now I am kind of questioning the S4 vs the S5... there really isn't that big of a differance right? heh

 

Well...
S4= 146hp
S5= 160hp

S5 has a slightly nicer lip, nicer sideskirts, and nicer tail lights. Different gauges on S5. Round. I think the S5 redline is 8000 instead of 7000.

Since there aren't many clean RX-7's in your area, this may be a good deal.

-Charles

 

I guess I'll be happy with an S4 as my first 7 however I guess when I get a turbo II I should prolly go with S5.

 

88 GXL= 2,720 lbs and an LSD.
89 GXl= 2,881 lbs and no LSD.

Go for it. If it's clean and has that low of miles it's fine. My 89GXL has 74K miles right now and is pretty clean, great DD. Now i'm going to start saving for a TII.

 

Sweet, thanks for the info Sgt. Pepper. I guess I can just stop worrying about it and just get it on saturday. Then start having fun!

I did have a question and this is probably a bit off topic but I am thinking about getting a c's short shifter from someone off craigslist, are they hard to install? Do I need to adjust anything to add a short throw shifter to my transmission?

 

Hey, you live right around where I live...

IMO its still kinda high...my 72k S4 was $3250, and I thought that was kinda high...
But its nice having a car w/out any quirks or anything like that. But if you want to mod it, you realize how much of a "waste" paying so much for a car, when you'll swapping out so many parts...

But hey, just enjoy it knowing it won't be a PITA =)

 

I think it might be a good car, won't tell you not to buy it.

I would just say that you shouldn't have any prejudice against a street-port. My car has had a street-port motor for 7 years now, granted it hasn't been a daily driver for that whole time, but the motor itself has been extremely reliable and stout. The rest of the car is the other story. I'm not complaining though, I love my 7. I'll be driving it for another 10 years, and running it off of hydrogen if I have my way

 

Too bad S5's weigh more .

Eh, opinion. S4 > S5 IMO.