jibaku

Excuse me as the details are a bit scarce right now, but I just got the call. I've been looking around at '93s for a few weeks now, and saving up. I've always been a fan of N/A engines, but I love the 3rd gen body and power difference. Of course, they also cost into five digits. So today I get this call from a friend.

An older man just came into the garage he works at for a battery change or some similar maintenance with an "silverish blue" '86 5spd RX-7 in what he described as "perfect" condition. He knows I'm looking for an RX, so he asked if the man was interested in selling it, he said he would let it go for (drum roll please) $3,000.

He said his only complaint about the car is that it doesn't handle well in the snow (FR'll do that). Now, $3000 is a bit above bluebook, but let's get serious - that's the best deal I'm going to find on a car in that shape. Should I be worried about this? Should I call him up tonight and put a deposit on it? Is it possible to find someone who has a good car, takes good care of it, but doesn't know the market value? Advice, please.

amused

3k for an N/a?

no way

2k maybe if you're lucky, unless the thing has like no miles on it

avoid

yeah man whats the milage?? ?I paid 2k for my gxl and it had a low 62,xxx on her orignal too

beefhole

iTrader: (29)

I payed 3500 for my '91 NA w/54k miles, but it was in damn near mint condition except some paint blemishes.

Psychoblue23

and its been drivin in the snow. . .he SAYS mint condition, but I would check all over for sign of rusting.

jibaku

Oh sorry, thought I mentioned. It's 42,xxx original owner miles (the guy mentioned). My friend vouched that it looked mint (inside and out) though he obviously didn't do any tests on it.

edit to clarify: I was told it looks mint from my friend Zak who works at the place, not from the owner, so I wouldn't think I'm being played here. Obviously I'll need to look/have him look (it's a state over) for me with pictures, but if we presume this is all accurate information, does it sound reasonable?

amused

i dunno. you're still looking at the 86 S4.

on the other hand, that is the lightest FC made i think, so it would be a good base to build a killer car from. you're not gonna get much power outta that engine tho.

id say between 2 and 2500 would be a decent price for that car.

jibaku

I was thinking of putting a 20B in it when summer rolls around, so the fact that it's the S4 doesn't worry me TOO much. Also, doesn't it have better weight distribution than its cousins? In any case, I'll try to talk him down to 2500 cash, see how that strikes him. Thanks for the tips so far.

Wankel7

Don't forget to take into account your costs. Like lic., taxes, and insurance.

James

jibaku

My mother does insurance underwriting, so I get a rather good deal on insurance considering my age (17 going on 18), and I get paid well enough so I think I can handle it. To be safe though, what kind of price would I be looking at, if anyone has been in a similar situation? I'll have had my license for aobut a year when I get this, clean record, age 17. I would try to do Progressive's "Get a Quote!" site, but they don't operate in MA, so I get denied.

amused

oh man ididnt realize you lived in mass

dunno bout insurance. i have a bad record so mine is high, even with basic insurance. (oh dont even bother getting full coverage on your car cuz they'll consider it totalled no matter what happens.)

jsotelo

The color you describe is artic silver, I love this color.. I paid 2700.00 for my 87 FC Artic Silver in "Mint Condition" with 85K miles on it and I would do it again tomorrow!

If it's clean then there no reason why the car won't command a premium. Most guys who buy the nice GTUs pay 5K+ plus for them and nobody complains to them about spending too much on an NA. Go check out the car and make the call for yourself. For ME a clean used car is hard to come by and a clean FC is damn near impossible to find for sale.

Also I dont' know if it's true but I heard that the 86 is the only year of the FC that came with an Orange display clock as opposed to white.. That's damn cool

Here's the color and if you can't afford an FD then you probably can't afford the 15K+ that a 20b is gonna cost to put into an FC.. might wanna read up on it thou.

jibaku

amused:
Yeah, just moved from Franklin to Cambridge, do we have any clubs around here? I'm relatively new to cars in general and very new to RXs specifically, so I would like to find one.

jsotelo:
Well my thing is this - Getting an FD now runs me X dollars, then I spend Y dollars on putting a 20B in it later. If I buy an FC and put a 20B in THAT for Y dollars, it's the same power for a lot less and - most importantly in my case - less money now. I have a decent paying job, but I just moved into a new place, so first, last, security, helping girlfriend pay rent, etc. has me a little low now. Next summer I should be flying high again, and I'll celebrate with a 20B.

Thanks for the picture by the way, that is a great color, and my girlfriend (who hates RX's) says she doesn't mind the arctic silver FC.

Dan H

Which model S4? Base, sport, GXL?

I paid $2700 for my '88 SE about 6-7 months ago with 70K on the odo and it had absolutely no problems at all. It really was mint. $3000 does not sound unreasonable at all. If it is exceptionally mint, you can't really put a price on it as jsotelo mentioned. There are WAY too many beatup and high mileaged FC's out there.

You can always talk him down a little bit too.

Ryde _Or_Die

At 17 I don't think you'll actually get the 20B swap done. It is ALOT more moeny/work/time than you think. Why would you want to do that swap anyways? You could do a TII swapfor MUCH less and put a large single turbo on it and get as much HP as you would ever need.

rx-7s rock

I agree with the TII motor. TII is much much less of a PITA to install. $3k doesn't sound too bad of a price. And your g/f HATES rx-7's??? Man....you need to dump her. Fast.

5 point whoa

yeah, I'd get a perfect condition na for like 500, with no engine, and do a tII conversion

jsotelo

Okay put it this way.. I just told my buddy about an 86 FC with less than 50K miles on it for 3K in mint condition and he wanted it!

Nothing wrong with NA.. but yeah.. 20b swap is a pipe dream bro.. I didn't want to be that harsh but it is. TII into it is much easier.

Terrh

iTrader: (7)

if the car is perfect, $3k sounds fair.

if the car is less than perfect, though.. 3k is NOT a good deal... $3k for a perfect 45k mile fc is a good deal...

autopilot

I live in MA and have an 86 base. My insurance is right at $500 a year, although I've had my license for more than 6 years ( a MA thing ). I paid $2600 for my car, about 5 years ago, and at the time it had 69K on it. I just missed out on buying an 86 with 59K for $2300, and it was power everything.

jibaku

Like I said, I'm new to the RX scene, so I hadn't even really heard of the TII until this thread, I thought the 20B was the end-all be-all of motor installs. Thanks very much to all who mentioned the TII, after looking it up a bit, I think that's far more reasonable. A few things to comment on specifically-

Dan H: Like I said, he just called today, I'll get more details soon

rx-7s rock: She was more concerned about me having a car that was too powerful, she's easy scared. Going 55 on the highway in a friends S14 (in second, we were getting out of a toll) she screams "SLOW DOWN!", she thinks noise = speed, it's cute.

autopilot: Thanks for the numbers, I'll conservatively assume mine is twice that, at $1000/yr that's still not bad at all.

Thanks again everyone who's commented, lots of help so far.

Genshie

Expect to pay 25K+ for a quality, reliable 20B install.
You could pay less and do it yourself but for a project like that it would be a waste of money if you did it anything less than the best. If you want 20B kind of power, you should be looking at a car other than an FC. A single turbo FD done properly could rival a N/A 20B, and for a lot less $.

I paid 5K for my GTUs with 117K and 6K on a new motor. Pretty clean. Had to put about 2K into it to make it pristine.

Kurt G.

ERAUMAZDA

25K....that is the biggest B.S. I ever heard.

15-17 grand I can understand.

I 've seen 20b installs with right had drives for less than 20k. Be ready to install ford parts thoguh. Yuck.

alanna

i agree. i personally wouldn't touch a car that came from where it snows, but that's just me being paranoid.

also, make sure to get it checked out by a mechanic who knows rotaries. now that the 8's out, you can even go to a dealership if all else fails and find a mechanic who knows something about 'em.

all that aside, if it's that nice then pay the three thou! blue book is one thing, but as more years go by low-milage, well-kept cars of that year are getting scarcer and scarcer. it'll be an official classic pretty soon!

and i'd definitely recommend an fc over an fd as a first 7 any day. fd's are f'ing pricey.

razorback

i paid 2900$ for my 87t2. it has a 89 motor/turbo/intake and had 4000k miles on a fresh rebuild with a bridgeport. the interior and exterior was damn good (needs a new paid job but is ok for now)