Hi guys, over the years I've had all kinds of cars. Pontiac Fiero, Pontiac Trans Am, Toyota Supra Turbo, Acura Integra, Honda Accord, Honda Civic, Mazda 626, Mazda 323, Ford Aspire, Ford Maverick, Volkswagen GTi.... but I've always had my eyes on RX7s. So now here I am faced with purchasing one.

I recently found a place that is selling a very nice looking blue convertible RX7 (1990) for $1800. We jumped it off and it seems like it runs pretty good, no smoke or anything, but it had trouble staying started.....I'm assuming due to the low voltage in the system. Anyways it could probably use a new top, and the interior is a little rough, but nothing terrible. Tires are good, original wheels are there and good and all in all the car seems to be in pretty good shape. My first question is, is this a good deal? Or should I keep looking? And if I get this one what problem spots should I check out really well?

Also I've heard that RX7s are notorious for being hard to work on.....but then I've heard contradictory stories that rotary engines are extremely easy to work on. So who's telling the truth?

Also I'd like to know about affordability. Are these cars terribly high-maintainence? And if so are they really expensive to work on? (I do all my own work, btw). Am I going to pay tons on insurance? Are they really terrible on gas?

Thanks for taking the time to read my questions guys, please try to give nice detailed responses, it would be much appreciated. And any other info you feel you should throw in please feel free too. Thanks.

 

oh......and I think the car has 90K miles on it. Is this good or bad? Because I've heard that rotary engines need to be rebuilt every 40-60K miles (of course I have no idea though)

 

sounds like a decent deal to me. easy to work on, yes if you know what your doing. its not that they're that much harder to work on, just so much different. parts can be expensive but you can usually find used parts in good shape rather than having to buy new parts. insurance isnt bad at all. gas mileage sucks (and is especially expensive if you run premium like i do) but if you do a proper tune up and dont drive like a maniac ive heard of people getting like 16-18 or so on the street but thats if you really drive like a grandma and who wants to do that in an rx7? 90k isnt THAT bad but it all really depends on how the car was taken care of by the person who originally owned it. the fact that it runs and doesnt smoke is good though. im not the person to tell you whether or not you should buy the car, nor is anyone else becuase in the end its all on you. rx7's arent for everyone. they do require a little more babying than most cars but nothing outrageous. my 91 n/a is my daily driver and i have yet to have a single problem out of it. just change the oil regularly and make sure i check all the fluids as often as i can.

 

also, ive heard of n/a rx7's running for over 200k miles. like i said, just depends on how well you maintain it

 

you should look through the faq which is a sticky at the top of the 2nd gen section. any questions you have will be answered there in much more detail than what i gave you. heres the link for what you want to no that i found in the faq: http://www.aaroncake.net/RX-7/buy1.htm

 

they are actually much easier to work on than piston motors, seeing as they only have 3 moving parts. the main reason people say they are harder is just because rotary engines are so uncommon and not many people actually know what they are doing. it sounds like a decent price for an s5 vert, though you should make sure you know exactly why you cannot keep it running before you buy it. sounds like you just need a new alt. but i could be wrong.

 

well it was being started off of nothing more than one of those crappy little jump boxes and I'm sure the battery is toast after sitting for a while. If I remember right after about 10-15 minutes of it running off of the jump box it could almost keep itself going when we removed it.

 

yeah, but its got about 50 seals/springs/ pins/ etc....hehe

The car's can be maintenance nightmares......if it wasn't maintained to begin with.


With these cars the rule of "you get what you pay for" is really more true than most. You might get a decent car for that 1800 dollars, but you may put 1800 dollars into maintenance items that would be fine on a car you would pay 3000 for. See where Im going with this?

I say if you're seriously considering buying one, take your time and spend at least 3000. Otherwise you may end up getting buried by fixing little odd and end things as opposed to doing nice upgrades to the car.

But really they are fairly straight forward vehicles. I would also recommend, if you're really thinking about buying one, to find a local who has one as well as a good local rotary shop - they will be priceless alies down the road and getting to know them now will help aid you in finding out if you have the proper support to keep your 7 on the up and up.

 

Gas milage on NAs isn't too horrible if its in good tune. I got 18 or so in town, but that was pretty lead-footed. I could get 20 if I wanted. It got 25+ on the highway, so its no worse than many cars these days. The having trouble staying started is probably either a vac leak, which is generally easy to fix and almost always cheap, or a tps problem. That could be as simple as adjusting it. You should be able to get almost any part you need for a reasonable price at a good junk yard.
And yes, they can last quite a while. Mine lasted 215k and the last 30k was as a track car, which prob contributed to the coolant seals failing.

 

what about performance? The car is a NA convertible 5spd, does anyone have any idea on what the 0-60 and 1/4mi time should be? I don't really want to race it or anything, but I would like something that can at least frighten some of the more cautious passengers I might carry, lol.

 

all info like that is at the top of this section in the FAQ for FC sticky.

But an N/A vert isn't going to induce urination

 

thats when you throw a turbo'ed rotary in it!!..LOL but that motor swap is almost common to the N/A NON-vert's...i love the 7 i think you would be happy with it..i think the vert is the heavy one of the 7's so im guessing it would be the slowest but dont take it for granted...as old as these cars may be they can still keep up with most newer cars!! like someone else said if it was maintained by the previous owner you will be happy...BUT if not then they can need work constant untill all the worn out parts are replaced...

GOOD LUCK!

 

CHECK FOR LEAKS!!!!!!!! I'm serious. Pay close attention to ALL fluid levels before the test drive and check them after you drive it. If you see something major leaking then knock the price down or don't buy it.