I met up with a local in my town who has a 2nd gen se coupe auto trans with 112k miles up for sale, I want to offer 2 grand for the car, I'm going to make my offer in 2 days and take it for a longer test drive. In the meantime, I met up with him today to check out the car.

First thing I noticed was the paint looked nice. Dark blue, popped the hood, the engine bay was white. He said he bougt the car off of an old lady 6 months ago and now he has an rx-8. He's 19 years old, I didn't ask how he got the rx-8 He didn't have the car painted, he bought it like that, said original color was white. Interior is very clean, dash has a rug cover on it and underneath the blue rug the blue dash has turned a discolored dark brownish color.

First question I asked was does it leak any fluids at all? He said no, I checked under the car where it had been parked all day and no leaks. Next he popped the hood and the engine bay looked surprisingly clean, no leaks, no rust. Car fired up in about three ticks and idled smooth, could barely hear the engine turning. I asked him if the auto tranny does anything funny, he says its perfect, no funny shifting, goes into reverse like usual, he said no jerking, bogging, nothing unusual, he said I could open it up on my next more thorough test drive to confirm this. I drove the car slowly around the parking lot, barely hit 20mph, reversed into parking spot, everything seemed good.

2-spoke steering wheel has a chunk missing out of the back side finger grippy part (its worn away, crumbled almost). I asked him about smoke and he says when he leaves it parked all day at the end of the day or in the mornings a little bit of smoke is seen when he initially fires it up. Weather stripping and various stripping is worn or missing. A little bit of clearcoat is fading on the hatch section. Otherwise the body is perfect, no dents what so ever.

The only thing that really caught my attention was when I looked under the car, the stamped steel ridge that protrudes downward along the edges (I think these are jack points) are all crumpled in. There is no other damage or bends underneath the car besides the jams that stick out along the outer edge of the underbelly at the jack points. I didn't ask him about this because I didn't know what to ask for. The rest of the chassis underneath looked good, no rust, interior seats and carpet is in great shape, kid replaced the backdrop for the gauges, has nice looking dual cans in the back (exhaust) that isn't loud at all, and a brand new deck. He seems really confident when answering the questions, no hesitation, straight face, quick answers, says hes been keeping up with oil changes and thats it, 4 new tires, he was going to do a turbo swap/project car thing but got the rx-8 instead.

So, I want to offer 2 grand, I don't care that the cars an auto, I just want a daily driver that I'm going to enjoy and do some light restoration on and that I'll maintain to keep it running. I drive a '99 integra 5-speed right now, koni/gc setup, been modding the suspension for a couple of years, I think I'll enjoy driving a slow, old, rear wheel drive 80's sports car more than my cosmetically much nicer wrong wheel drive integra (used to own a '93 mr2, how I went FWD i don't know, but its time for a change.) I love FC's, love the way they look, the community seems great, so I just want a car right now that I don't have to make payments on that will last at least another 40k miles. I'm not doing any engine swaps, rebuilds, auto to manual conversions, turbo conversions, or anything extreme. I just want to drive an FC to work and back and maybe drive it to Cali. The kid said he would take it to san francisco and back to vegas and he didn't see an reason the car should not make the trip. Watta you guys think, I'm going to carfax it tomorrow. The paint job and the crumpled jacking spots worry me a little.

 

Crumpled jack points are a very common thing, I don't think that I have ever seen an older rx7 (other than mine) that doesn't have some damage there.

Strangely, mine has suffered no such damage.

As to the paint job, the car may have been fading and losing it's shine (the white gets really dull after a while.) I would definately check out the vehicle history report though.

For $2,000.00, that car needs to be in great shape (which the dash condition does not convince me of so far.) The automatic transmission (AKA slushbox) does not help the value any. If the car has been wrecked, don't give him that much. (Wrecked cars never seem to handle quite the same.)

I would put it right through it's paces, both performance wise and handling wise. Listen for strange noises on breaking, turning, shifting, idling, etc. Check that AC too.

In spite of my good success with the RX7 as a daily driver, I would caution you that these are somewhat high-maintenance cars and not really designed to be a commuter vehicle. (Bear in mind that it is approximately 20 years old too.)

Don't expect better than 20 mpg and you won't be dissapointed (my average combined mileage is about 22 mpg, highway is 24-25 mpg.)

I am only trying to caution you, not to scare you. RX7s are awesome cars (and a lot of fun to drive.) If you take to many test drives, you will probably get hooked.

 

good call on the A/C, gotta check that for sure. How much should I offer this guy? He told me the shocks are pretty much done, also, I've been lurking about the forums, I've almost bought FD's in the past, friends have owned 1st gens, I know all about the maintenance and frequent repairs/tinkering needed to keep these things roadworthy. I actually want a car I can spend some time working on, I'm pretty handy with a wrench, I've done all sorts of suspension work and minor engine upkeep and tinkering on a variety of cars, I know plenty of mechanics and one of them owns a shop as well. My teggy's gas mileage is so so considering theres a giant hole in the muffler and it needs a tune-up, but I have no passion or desire to upkeep that car, it lacks the characer I desire from a car, and the FC is oozing character. Auto-trans doesn't add to the value but for the non-hardcore guy trying to sell the car its going to be a hard argument to get him to understand how it would detract from the value. I'm sure given time some joe shmo would end up buying this car not knowing what it is and just drive it. I found a bunch of other FC's, manuals, ones with lsd, convertibles, so on, except they're all out of state, I'm short on time, its going to suck commuting to another state to find out that the car is in sh&**y condition and I drove all that way and I wont want to buy it. This one is the one of two sellers that seems motivated, the car is a blocks drive away from where I work, its just convenient.

As for the suspension, he told me its probably on the original shocks because it bounces a little, I'll try to talk him down a bit for the cost of new shocks, I can install it myself, I used to go to the local twisties in cali all the time with my teggy, I researched tires, custom alignments, camber, etc. In vegas, I drive on flat straight roads, I don't need anything special, hopefully the bushings are still there, new shocks, I should be good. I'll ask him if it eats tires (alignment), but other than that, I'm definitely going to do a carfax after I come back from work tomorrow. I'll let you know what I find, and then you can help me figure out an offer

 

If you are serious about this car, by the sound of it..i'd say about 1500. But if you aet serious abou thte upkeep of your integra, why dont you just sell it and spend a little more for a more desireable rx-7? I know it sucks driving a decent distance to find a car that isnt that great, but i think in the long run, finding a car that is in acceptable condition is worth it. But if the car you are going for right now is the car you want, go for it. let me warn you though. in a while, you are going to want a manual turbo swap in the near future.

 

Ran a vehicle history report at the DMV website, it was very uneventful, I guess thats a good thing, although I feel like I wasted 20 bucks. Below is a copy/paste from the report. Car checks out, everything is clean, the only thing thats bothering me is that there is a lien on it. What does this mean? I don't want to buy the car and have to pay for a collection or have it repo'd. It passed every category on the report except the lien. What does this mien ?

09/14/2001 LAS VEGAS, NV 101,084 Independent Emission Source PASSED EMISSION INSPECTION
10/12/2001 LAS VEGAS, NV Motor Vehicle Dept. REGISTRATION EVENT/RENEWAL
11/15/2001 LAS VEGAS, NV Motor Vehicle Dept. TITLE (Title #:5311728-2868)
EXCLUDED/EXEMPT
10/01/2002 LAS VEGAS, NV Motor Vehicle Dept. REGISTRATION EVENT/RENEWAL
10/05/2006 HENDERSON, NV 108,267 Independent Emission Source PASSED EMISSION INSPECTION
12/05/2006 HENDERSON, NV 108,286 Independent Emission Source PASSED EMISSION INSPECTION
12/27/2006 HENDERSON, NV Motor Vehicle Dept. REGISTRATION EVENT/RENEWAL
01/16/2007 HENDERSON, NV Motor Vehicle Dept. TITLE (Title #:NV001532743-1)
EXCLUDED/EXEMPT (Lien Reported)
04/20/2007 HENDERSON, NV Motor Vehicle Dept. TITLE (Title #:NV001768668-3)
EXCLUDED/EXEMPT (Lien Reported)

 

agreed no more than 1500

 

For an SE with an automatic transmission and a faded red interior?

$1000

 

If it runs well, it is probably worth $1500.00. I will warn you that interior parts are expensive if you replace them a piece at a time. If you are ok with the faded interior, the engine pulls strong at the low end (800-3000 rpm) and the AC works, $1500.00 is a fair price. It is worth $2000.00 only if it is perfect (which I have already gotten the idea that it isn't.)

(By worth $1500.00, I mean that I would offer him $1200.00 for the reason of the interior, the worn suspension and the crumpled jacking locations on the underbody, then be prepared to go up to $1500.00 if necessary.)

 

you told the original poster in this thread:
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.php?t=661216 that his sale price of over $3000 was good for a rusting convertible with Mitsubishi Starion seats that needs a new top & has over 40,000 more miles than the car I'm looking at, and you're telling me that $1500 is fair for the car I'm looking at. Just putting this out there, not trying to start isht.


oh, and you:
in my post I wrote that the blue dash has been discolored, but the rest of the blue interior is indeed in excellent shape.

This is a good post. Thanks for the advice. The guy is asking for $2500, so I'm going to offer $1800. To me, the car is worth $2000. I didn't get into too much details about the interior. The interior was perfect besides the following: The top of the dash was discolored, and the steering wheel was deteriorating. I'll prolly buy a nice 3-spoke and pop it on cause the 2-spoke just bothers me, and I wont see the discolored part of the dash because it has blue carpet covering on it. The frame underneath looks really good and so does the engine bay, the body doesn't have a single dent. I'll take some pics after I get it. I'll probably pay more than what most people on this board tihnk its worth, but supply & demand, right?

 

I paid $1200 for a an 88 SE in better condition with less mileage. I also picked up an 89 cert with a streetported engine for $500 that just need an OMP, ECU and an actuator unstuck.

There are much better deals out there than what you are getting...especially if you look around for a little bit. If you want to offer that much for the car, it is your choice, but I wouldn't go over $800 on it.

GG

 

That's right, supply and demand.

Basically, if you are willing to buy the car for $2000.00 than it is worth $2000.00.

About the faded dash: You can paint dashboards with reasonable levels of success. I wish that I knew exactly how, but a painter I am not.

The perfect body is worth quite a bit.

Good luck to you and enjoy.

 

Verts are the most expensive 2nd gens even though the slowest. aybe not $3000 but whatever.

EDIT: just looked at the thread and yeah that car is easily worth $3000 or more. Verts with manual trannys have sex appeal and like I said, move more money.

 

I don't see any mention of what year it is...so what year is it?

 

1987. Maybe I should just buy a KIA. Just kidding.

Thanks, I was thinking about repainting the dash last night, funny you should mention it. I like your attitude.

I also noticed somebody who posted in this thread changed their comment in another thread because of what I posted here. Thats cool though, I'm going to try to lowball this guy tonight via email and see what happens. Otherwise I'll prolly shell out the dough.