Should I buy it?

[jono20]

I just got my liscense and I'm looking to buy my frist car.

I found an '88 RX-7 in the classified. It's only had one owner, a lady that lives a city over from me.

It's burgundy and they said it had no rust, and it's only got 127k on it.

They're asking $4200 CAD (about 3300 USD?) for it, think I should go for it?

Should I try to haggle them down at all?


One more thing... how bad is the milage on the rotaries? Is it much worse than say on an older civic or something?

Thanks

 

[Antoine]

Bump...any rotary heads here to help this kid out!?

 

[pluto316]

I just got my liscense and I'm looking to buy my frist car.

I found an '88 RX-7 in the classified. It's only had one owner, a lady that lives a city over from me.

It's burgundy and they said it had no rust, and it's only got 127k on it.

They're asking $4200 CAD (about 3300 USD?) for it, think I should go for it?

Should I try to haggle them down at all?


One more thing... how bad is the milage on the rotaries? Is it much worse than say on an older civic or something?

Thanks

Well, my advice is that you should haggle on any car deal. Tell him you'll pay $4000 CAD and see what he thinks.

 

[jono20]

Well, my advice is that you should haggle on any car deal. Tell him you'll pay $4000 CAD and see what he thinks.

yeah the blue book value appeared to be around $3500 CAD so Im going to see what I can do with that.

Thanks a lot.

 

[Signal 2]

yeah the blue book value appeared to be around $3500 CAD so Im going to see what I can do with that.Thanks a lot.

That's alot of miles for any car, especially a rotary and especially for someone on a tight budget...like most teenagers.
I'm not a guru, but IMHO: Go look at the car. Talk to the owner and check it out very carefully. Brakes, suspension, clutch, fluids, interior, exterior etc. If you're arranging to meet with the owner, be sure to request that the car is COLD when you get there and see how it starts. Run it a idle for a while and let it get to operating temp. Take it for a test drive and then shut it down. Wait a few minutes and then see how it starts again. Look for any smoke. Blue=oil, white=coolant black=fuel (running rich). Ask for any receipts or maintenance records they have. I'd also see what it might take to get a compression check done.
If you do buy it...not more than $3k (U.S). You can use the difference to change out all the fluids (coolant, transmission, differential) plugs, plug wires, and probably brake pads. Good luck.

 

[jono20]

Well I went to look at it.

Beautiful car. Still original paint and it looks great. Body is almost perfect except for a couple small paint nicks.

Started well, and was friggin fast. Engine looked clean.

There were some small rips on the driver seat but ill be replacing the seats anyways.

I got him to $3600 down from $4200 (thats about... $2800 or so USD). I put a deposit on it.

I'm going to go talk to the mechanic who's worked on the car since it was bought about any major maintenance or anything.

This is looking like a keeper

 

[kickniteasy]

good stuff, cool car to have in high school, better than a friggin civic. Any chance of getting some pics of your new baby?

 

[ChopstickHero]

great car... but becareful. with any rotary with high mileage, you may run into engine problems. and if you care about gas mileage, the rotary doesn't get very good gas miileage. i was talking to an rx8 owner yday and he said he gets about 16 in the city and 21mpg on the highway.

 

[36Crazyfists]

sounds like a good purchase, good luck with your new ride!

i'm not too familiar with rotaries, how come they get low gas mileage?

 

[pluto316]

sounds like a good purchase, good luck with your new ride!

i'm not too familiar with rotaries, how come they get low gas mileage?

Because it's a rotary.


Har har har.

 

[jono20]

80,000 miles aint too bad I dont think for an '88. The clutch has already been replaced, and theres not even 20,000 miles on the rebuilt engine that was put in.

I dont have the car yet, Im goign to pick it up tomorrow or the next night, ill snap some pictures after I get it all washed up and such.

The only problem that I think Im going to run into is concerning the bra on the car.. they havnt really taken it off in 18 years, but I ahte bras, so I will, and Ive got a feeling its going to be quite a different chade of paint under there .

Im happy with this purchase, hopefully it holds together!

How hard is maintenance on these cars? What can I expect to go? Im pretty ahndy witha wrench.. think I'll be able to fix anything myself? What are some signs of simply things like spark plugs etc going? I've never owned my own car so I dont really know what to look or listen for!

 

[crispixoo7]

80,000 miles aint too bad I dont think for an '88. The clutch has already been replaced, and theres not even 20,000 miles on the rebuilt engine that was put in.

I dont have the car yet, Im goign to pick it up tomorrow or the next night, ill snap some pictures after I get it all washed up and such.

The only problem that I think Im going to run into is concerning the bra on the car.. they havnt really taken it off in 18 years, but I ahte bras, so I will, and Ive got a feeling its going to be quite a different chade of paint under there .

Im happy with this purchase, hopefully it holds together!

How hard is maintenance on these cars? What can I expect to go? Im pretty ahndy witha wrench.. think I'll be able to fix anything myself? What are some signs of simply things like spark plugs etc going? I've never owned my own car so I dont really know what to look or listen for!

well hey...when you take off the car bra, if it looks disgusting maybe you should consider getting all "sleeper primer black"....still look sexay.

 

[jono20]

well hey...when you take off the car bra, if it looks disgusting maybe you should consider getting all "sleeper primer black"....still look sexay.

Yeah I think I may paint some day... I like black but so does everybody. Maybe a nice blue or something.. Guess Ill think about it when the time arises!

Just a side question... How hard is it to wire in gauges? IE oil temp, voltmeter, boost meter.

And ive seen some White/Blue EL gauges on eBay to replace the stock orange colour... does anyone have any experience installing these? very difficult?

 

[Familia323]

Im not trying to thread jack, but I didn't really want to start another thread about this. But on this same note, there is a guy locally that is selling his 88 Turbo II with 122K miles on the original engine. The body is in good shape, hardly any door dings, but the paint is a tad oxidized. The only rust I have found is a little bit of bubbling around the hatch wear the window meets the metal frame. The interior is in decent shape... I talked him to around 2,600 US$.... Does this sound like a fair price?

 

[jono20]

Im not trying to thread jack, but I didn't really want to start another thread about this. But on this same note, there is a guy locally that is selling his 88 Turbo II with 122K miles on the original engine. The body is in good shape, hardly any door dings, but the paint is a tad oxidized. The only rust I have found is a little bit of bubbling around the hatch wear the window meets the metal frame. The interior is in decent shape... I talked him to around 2,600 US$.... Does this sound like a fair price?

sounds a tad high to me.... 122k miles aint so good (almost 200000km!). Its a turbo which is nice.

how is it for options?

 

[Lord_Zath]

Also take off the car bra before you give him full payment. Look at it in the sunlight. If it looks like ass, say so and demand a discount so that you can have it repainted. Then, get a quote for repainting, add $100, and tell him that's what it'll cost. Worth a try

 

[jono20]

Also take off the car bra before you give him full payment. Look at it in the sunlight. If it looks like ass, say so and demand a discount so that you can have it repainted. Then, get a quote for repainting, add $100, and tell him that's what it'll cost. Worth a try

I took the bra off, wasnt too bad udnerneath. No paint discolouration surprisingly.

 

[ELEmental59437]

Then, get a quote for repainting, add $100, and tell him that's what it'll cost. Worth a try

LMFAO.. remind me to never do business with you.

 

[Lord_Zath]

LOL sorry but I'm a bit of a conniver when it comes to moneyz.

 

[Signal 2]

But on this same note, there is a guy locally that is selling his 88 Turbo II with 122K miles on the original engine. The body is in good shape, hardly any door dings, but the paint is a tad oxidized. The only rust I have found is a little bit of bubbling around the hatch wear the window meets the metal frame. The interior is in decent shape... I talked him to around 2,600 US$.... Does this sound like a fair price?

If the paint bubbled around the back window, you may need another hatch. Just depends on how bad it is. The faded paint must be a characteristic of the FC. There's a woman who lives near me who has had her FC since it was new. The car is in excellent shape otherwise and very low mileage (only about 50k), but the paint is faded badly. I bet a good detail shop could make it look good again, maybe avoid the cost of a complete refinish.
All this talk about FCs....I'd love to find a nice 10th Anniversary.