So, to clarify:

The RX-7 is an expensive car to own. The parts are expensive, labor is expensive. It isn't reliable. It eats a lot of gas and oil.

Is that about right?

Every time I look at a picture of a FD I go "Well, maybe I could..." but then I start to remember what has been said here, and let out a heart breaking "No."

I want one SO bad! Is it really that expensive to own and maintain one? I mean, come on. Why do they have to be so expensive to own? Why do they have to get such terrible gas mileage? WHY DO THEY HAVE TO LOOK SO GOOD?!

 

I wouldn't say it is not reliable. It is all how you take care of it...and the condition of the car when you buy it.

It uses a bunch of gas because it is making a bunch of hp. There are very few cars that make 255 hp and get better than 22-26 mpg... Maybe the WRX and the S2000.....

After all these bad things have been said...I still love mine. If you drive one, you will know why people put up with the expense and quirks...

Later,
Patrick

 

Ok.. but would anyone here advise getting a FD for a daily driver/only car?

I should add to that I'd most likely keep it close to stock.. with reliability mods only, for as long as I could before the motor finally gave up. Then with a new engine I'd do modding, but not on a tired one. :\

 

Bump.

 

What I'm looking for are some solid reasons why one shouldn't buy a FD. Most of the reasons people have posted so far have been countered by other people. For example: Some people say they're terribly unreliable. Other people say they've barely fixed anything on it in the 2+ years they've owned it. Some people say they're expensive to fix. Counter-argument #1 challenges that- if you don't have to fix a lot of stuff why would it matter that parts are expensive?

I'm so mixed on feelings here. I need some solid evidence that says "No, you can't afford a FD" before I go nuts. Please, someone help!

 

You also need to keep in mind that all the problems you read about on the board are posted because people are having problems. The people who arent having problems and the car has run great for years dont post daily/weekly/monthly that their car is running great and all is well.

As soon as I find a buyer for my subaru 2.5RS I will be buying a 3rd gen RX7. My recommendation is to do a month or 2 (its been about 3 or 4 so far for me) of solid research on this board and other websites mentioned and learn all the quirks and possible problems of the car and find out if it is for you or not. I think the main problem with people buying these cars is they just dive into it without knowing what they are getting into.

Just my .02


Hope it helped

 

Keep it stock and perform all the reliability mods and you'll do fine using it as a daily driver. All you have to worry about is tickets...it's really hard to only go speed limit in this car.

If you start modding I wouldnt suggest driving it every day...but that's me and I have a lead foot. RotaryKnight might have a different opinion, but he's crazy-- hes been driving his single turbo FD daily for quite some time now

 

Blah! Everyone's got such opposing things to say. Grr. Will anyone else vouch for BlackR1's comments?

 

Your reliability mods should include a DP. This will at least prevent an excess amount of heat from staying within the engine bay.

I vouch for R1s comments, but once you begin modding, you cant have enough

 

I love driving my car, but im going mod crazy...once my rebuild is finished (dead due to leaky injectors) i'm gonna try being less agressive with my driving. (try not to: hit 100+ mph daily, full boost even though im just going down the street, driving through the twisties every day for the hell of it, etc)

You gotta treat the FD like a girl...it's fun havin sex all the time, but at some point she's gonna get all worn out n tired

I took great care of my car, changed oil n filter every 1500 miles, lots of fresh plugs, warm ups and cool downs, high octane, weekly inspections of the vacuum and cooling system...but my engine still blew...sometimes the unexpected happens and usually it's too late to save the car when it does. Things like a leaky fuel injector are hard to diagnose-- you gotta be on top of things and can't be lazy if you want her to last as a DD

Also, if you're going to college, I wouldnt suggest it unless you like door dings, scratches, theft and vandalism. I got a few scratches just from parking my car at work, I could only imagine the implications if you were to park it at a college full of kids who can't drive or park worth a damn.

 

hey blackr1 ....my condolences on your blown engine...

where did you end up getting it done? Did you get it ported?

mine is almost back with me...two more weeks finally...

remember my lag problem last summer...well I found part of the problem...the turbo rebuilder didnt even rebuild the whole set...the turbo wheels were totally cooked...Id bet they were operating on 70 percent efficiency at most. they were chipped...broken...bent...you name it..they were fried. I cant wait to get my car back!!!

I know you will feel the same...did you do any other mods while it was out??

jason

 

I have had my R1 since November of 2000. I bought it because I wanted to drive it, alot. I have put about 20k miles on it in the 14 months I have had it. I use it as my daily driver and change the oil at about 2500 miles, less if I have raced it at all. I have made about 30 drag strip runs and one day of autocrossing. So far I have replaced the turbos the week after I bought the car ($250 used turbos on the net) and my a/c compressor went out in the last couple months (will be about $400 for a factory remanufacture from the dealer). I also spent close to $500 having the dealer figure out why it wouldn't pass emissions, turns out the air pump wasn't connected to the high flow cat the previous owner put on. I would say that is not too bad. If you treat the car right, it will treat you right.

 

The car had these go fast mods when it blew:

ACT S/S Clutch
Apexi GT spec catback
Apexi Power Intake
Apexi Power FC

when my car is out of the shop it'll have a downpipe, 2pc 3mm seals, street port, new balanced stock size RC injectors. I had Jeff at Rotary Power perform the rebuild, he was pretty quick with getting the car up and running...only 2 weeks I also plan to take the car to XS for some fine adjustments on the PFC once the break in period is through.

How long has your car been down? I've been down for close to 3 months (2.5 months of organizing receipts and stock parts to make the warranty people happy)


To keep this on topic, one must also account for the downtime when figuring cost of FD ownership in the event of an engine failure. If you dont have a daily driver, a blown engine can cost you an arm and a leg in lost wages, and insurance payments-- you're paying insurance on a car that isn't going anywhere.

 

Hmm. Downtime is quite an issue. I've got a backup car that I could use for work so that's not a serious issue, but that won't last forever. I keep telling myself I'm gonna just get an MR2, but at the back of my mind I'm yelling "FD FOR LIFE!!"

:P

I don't think I can do without a FD. Even if the engine could pop, or the gas mileage wouldn't be the greatest.. I don't think any other car would be satisfying, and I don't want to spend thousands on something I'm not completely, entirely happy with. Sure MR2s are cool and all, but they take a lot of cash to make fast, and are pretty expensive, I think.

 

"They're notoriusly unreliable, parts are very expensive, they dont handle quite as well as the mr2 (even with the R1 suspension,) insurance is higher, they're harder to find in working condition - even though more ofthem were shipped over. They're overpriced, I dont like the interior, its very hard to find a non-red one, ive known 3 people with one and all three of them have had nightmares keeping it running.. the interior parts are rickety and cheap."

"I've driven 4 of them, of varying models. Everything in the cars made clunking noises when I went over bumps.. it just doesn't feel like a solid car. -None of them did."

That's from a guy I asked about FDs. He said he was interested in them until he did his fair share of research and test drives, in which he came up with the above description. That makes me sad.

 

Yo Dude,
I was in your same position a couple of months ago. It's ok to do the research and stuff on the web and ask questions... However now is the time to go to all the "shady" dealerships and just test drive the car. Do NOT ever buy from them... just test drive them, then check on this board and see if there is someone close to you that will take you for a ride in his, so you can see what a correctly running FD feels like.
You know whether you can afford this car or not, we can't tell you the magic phrase that will make everything alright.
My room mate and best friend has one of the new spyder MR2's that you are talking about, he also had the previous body style non turbo.
If you are talking about mostly stock cars. The MR2's have no chance, hell the SPYDER can't even keep up with my V6 Ranger...
The turbo models are ok, but still a stock FD will walk away no problem.

I bought my FD for 6k and I have already put 7k into it to rebuild it's sole. I hope to have it running in 2 weeks. I knew what I was getting into and I had it budgetted. By the way you will ALWAYS go over budget.

Good Luck,

 

I have to disagree about the mr2's outhandling the rx7's.
50/50 weight distribution, thats all I have to say about that.

 

Hmm.. anyone in the Naperville/Joliet area of the Chicago suburbs wanna give me a ride?

 

and when did this guy test drive them?

 

Well I guess that doesn't really matter anymore, does it.

I instant messaged FlyBye and asked him a few questions.. he said to me he was a 16 year old who worked at his dad's dealership and that's how he managed to afford the car. I thought "Well if he can do it, I can do it!" He let the truth slip, I guess, and now claims to be 27. So he had lied to me all this time, for what I don't know. But now I don't feel so good about wanting to get the FD.

sadface.

(btw: I'm not 16.. I'm going to be 18 soon.)

 

If its this big of an issue (which it shouldnt be) go buy the mr2

 

If money is a concern, then I wouldn't recommend the car... Not that everyone has to spend lot of money on their car, but you never know.

You have to think about the worst case scenarios... What happens if the oil lines to the turbos are leaking, will you be able to do the repair yourself or will you need to pay a mechanic (looking at a $1200 bill there for a mechanic)?

The car is not like a 4-cylinder where if it's making weird noises or has a coolant/gas smell going on you can still drive it. When the car has small problems like that, they can turn into huge problems if not taken care of immediately.

If there is something wrong with the car, can you get around without having the car for a few days, or weeks?

How much driving will you be doing with the car? You can't put cheap gas in the car, and most people don't see more than 14-15mpg so that can add up if you are doing a lot of driving.

What about insurance? How much per month is car insurance going to run you since you are 18? Have you gotten a quote from your current insurance company? Will they actually insure the car (I know some insurance companies won't insure sports cars)?

Will it be your only car? If so, will you need to drive in the winter? If so, does it snow a lot in your area?

There are a lot of questions you need to answer for yourself before you should look at any sports car.