0din

ok so i showed my dad some rx7's for sale that i was looking into, because he has to approve of the car cause he is paying lol, anyways he says no basically because he says the lights are no good. He says the flip up lights on all cars always break early.
and that they are no good. so could someone give me some info i could prove to him that they dont always break and are still good.

hungery4rice

iTrader: (7)

mine are 20 yrs old and haven't broken.... You could find new motors in most junk yards if they did anyway.

Karl573

I've never run across an RX-7 that had bad head lamp motors.

driftingmyFC

I have seen the old celicas and the probes with one light broken but never an Rx7. Mine are still working hard from 1986.

87 t-66

iTrader: (133)

you can make them open and close manually.

no offense or anything...you probably dont want to get an rx-7, especially if its your first car. they are a lot of work and take a lot of money to run properly if you dont know what you're doing.

bktrucks

I think the headlights should be the last thing to even think about when buying a rx7. True they can break like any other part although rare. Since the light is down when off the bulb itself is protected during the day so it stays cleaner and les prone to damage.

BklynRX7

Ive had a couple randomly get stuck open or closed but since you ca reset them manually it was never a real problem.

K-Tune

iTrader: (26)

ive never had retractor problems on ANY of my rx-7s.

Maniacmikey

Let your dad buy you a Civic. Save yourself the repeated I told you so's .

namelesspenguin

iTrader: (1)

the headlights should be the last of your worries. if you really wanna prove your dad wrong, get one with a recently rebuilt motor. shouldnt give you too many big problems.

blwn rtr 89'

iTrader: (5)

if i where you i would not buy the car........ get your first car, live your initial d dreams, once crashed buy a serious car like the rx7. this way no 7's get harmed, and you will have a better understanding of what you want, and what your doing.

chano

Get first a usefull, reliable, cheap on gas daily driver that does not require a lot of maintenance.

Later, work and save money to buy yourself the rx7 that you want.

dwb87

iTrader: (22)

Ha ha... that's a ridiculous reason. If he's got that big of a problem with the pop-up lights, then get a light kit or something so he won't have to worry about them.

digitalsolo

iTrader: (2)

As said by others, headlight motors should be the last of your worries. They are dead nuts reliable on these cars, which is ironic, because the rest of the wiring is horrid. Headlight control switches, lights/gauges, wiper switch, etc., are perpetual problem areas. A less then well cared for rotary isn't exactly a great first vehicle either.

I nearly picked up a beat up TII when I was 17 (ported, big turbo, etc.). If I had, I'd likely be broke or dead. Instead, I picked one up several years later, and now have a rather nice car that I can be quite proud of. These are NOT good first cars unless you or your family is mechanically inclined.

Soma

imagine the conversation between his dad and him once he does the "sleepy eye" mod...

t24todd

iTrader: (7)

that is the worse excuse i ever heard of to the point of buying a car...your dad was trying to think off the top of his head..

0verb00st

Will he pay for the maintenance and performance modifications you will have/want to do in the future? I would advise against buying an rx-7 as your first car unless you are:

1. Mechanically inclined
2. Have some money on the side for maintenance and gas
3. Have some driving experience under your belt

What made you want an rx-7 in the first place?

ericgrau

iTrader: (1)

^ Probably making an excuse for a problematic RX-7 he bought. Check out the links to buyer's guides in the FAQ to make sure you buy an RX-7 in good shape. They are quite reliable and mpg is 17/25. But any abused 20 year old car will have problems. So check it out carefully before you buy. Or you might end up paying hundreds to thousands on all the broken stuff while getting 13mpg. There's often a reason why the guy is selling. I have a friend who has had better luck at repo yards than from buying people's used cars. People neglect their cars then dump them when things go wrong, without telling you.

Ya, as said, the flip up lights are the least of your worries on any old car. Dunno where your dad would pull that from. I had the flip up light relay get stuck on both my RX-7's. I filed off the corrossion crud on the contacts and never had any problems since. Easy. Never had any trouble with the light motor.

0verb00st

Thats a big probably...I wasn't trying to talk him out of buying one, or playing into the "unreliability" misconception that surrounds our cars. So far I have had to replace the starter, thermostat, master cylinder and tiers. These are all relatively cheap fixes since I did them by myself.

I recommended having some money on the side to fix the common things that could go wrong with any 20 year old car. If you arn't mechanically inclined, then the cost to keep the car will kill you.

Bunchies

iTrader: (1)

Of all the things on the FC, he's worried about the headlights breaking. Lol.

1990_whitecomet

well like the guys have said and enough said!!.. rx7's headlight are pretty bright for their age and they don't just break or stop working.. unless its been tweeked with..

but as mention above!! save some or "aLOT" of money and get a civic as a starter. Then later on down the road, get a rx7 later when you feel comfortable owning a vehicle.. rx7 is nice and i would highly recommend one but i've seen too many at junkyards due to inexperience rx7 ownerS.. its like the dUMb dodo birds, before we knew it! they were already exist.. so don't let that happen to the rx7's.. even though its happening.. and been

but its your $$ so its really your choice, or i mean your dadS. ehehe.. at least he's buying you one, so you can't really complain there!!.. i got my first car on my own at age 17!! a 1990 gtu, but i had to towed it home!!

jeff

1990_whitecomet

hahaa... lols...

NJGreenBudd

iTrader: (1)

I don't know why every one rags on rx7s, I bought a 1988 GXL w/ 90,000 miles and it was absolutely reliable, I drove it for years with no problems ( well a belt snapped once), it was drivendaily and never had issues other than regular maintenance, but that car had extensive service records and was in great shape when I bought it.

Like the other guys have said, the headlights aren't a reason to buy it or not, they're just one component to the whole car. Definitely get familiar with RX7's before looking into buying them, read around on here to see what some of the more common issues are. You'll find that most of the problems have to do with the mileage or age of the vehicle rather than than make or model.

Just like buying any used car you are going to want to wait until you find a clean one, preferably in stock form. Modifications should raise a red flag, chances are the car has gremlins, someone tried to pimp it out and ended with a mess that they would rather sell than fix.

Check out Aaron Cake's website he has some really helpful buying guides for 2nd gen rx7's: http://www.aaroncake.net/RX-7/tech1.htm

Tell your pops that the headlights are fine, not many problems with those even on these old cars.

ericgrau

iTrader: (1)

Fair enough, sorry to assume you were under that misconception. I haven't had to replace so much on either of mine (just 1-2 things), but those are relatively minor things and the OP should definately set aside some money even if he finds a car in fairly good condition. Because some little thing could always blow, regardless of the model, and a mechanic will charge $200+ for not very much. Heck, they'll charge that for replacing the belts. Haynes manual chapter 1 is very helpful for saving money on the easy little things like that.

Sideways7

iTrader: (7)

My dad bought me my RX-7 (well, loaned me the money, at least) and he had an RX-2 which are way more cantankerous than an FC. He actually talked my mom into letting me get it. This probably won't work with a lot of parents, but I just took him on a ride in it and he said (You have to get this car."

Now since then is a different story. I goes into a rant about how much money I've wasted on this car (5-6k, easily) whenever it isn't running perfectly. Which is why I am going to recommend you not to get it.
I know its not as fun, but you really need to get a different car. Sure civics aren't as fun as a sports car, but they are AWESOME for a regular car. Great on gas, bullet-proof, and many are actually reasonably quick and fun. You will be much happier if you have you dad get you a nice reliable car as a daily driver. With the money you save on gas and maintenance you can save up for a 7 as a 2nd car. While you can make them reliable with enough money, they are still a 20 year old car, and stuff can break on them leaving you stranded at the worst possible time.
I'm not trying to dash your dreams, but I'm just giving you some hard-learned advice.

P.S. - The headlights are excellent. Even if they do get stuck (very unlikely) you can easily raise them with a **** under the front bumper.