Liam has a Question Again.

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liampage123
Yo ma boiiiiiiiiiiiis.

Most of you remember my thread about the WRX, I'm not buying one, too hard to find, and are expensive for a first car.

So I am now saving up for a Mazda Miata (NA). But my friend has brought to my attention that his buddy is selling his FC RX7 for 1200 bucks. It has 240,000 and is well taken care of.

I have not heard to many good things about rotaries, and I don't want to buy a money pit thats screams "maintain me moar!" for a first car.

Should I wait until I have enough money to buy a Miata or get the RX7, which I will be able to afford in a couple weeks?

Your valued input is encouraged.
 
Miata. The RX7's are better left for when you have a steady income and can afford the maintenance.
 
Miata. The RX7's are better left for when you have a steady income and can afford the maintenance.

Thanks.

Prepping for homosexual and hairdresser jokes from all my friends.
 
Miata. The RX7's are better left for when you have a steady income and can afford the maintenance.

Hear hear. Let me emphasize it for you:

steady income


Thanks.

Prepping for homosexual and hairdresser jokes from all my friends.

Tell them they aren't true Jalops and that Jeremy Clarkson approves of the Miata. Game. Set. Match.
 
I'd say look at the car, ask how much your friend spent each month on it. Sounds like a fair deal, but it's done a lot of miles, and rotaries need a lot of care.
 
L2Vp.jpg
 
As a long-time rotorhead and RX7 enthusiast, I would definately go for the FC (that's what I'm doing, too). As far as reliability, they can be vary reliable if taken care of (i.e. babied). If its an N/A, then you're in luck, as the non-turbos usually last longer than the Turbo IIs. Its usually the N/As that are seen being sold with 200k+ miles still running strong. It'll only go bad if you don't know what you're doing and try something stupid (of course, 🤬 happens, but the same could be said of any car). Like Beeblebrox said, as your friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend how much he typically spends on maintainance, but also WHAT he does for maintainance, especially since its your first foray into the rotary game. There are also plenty of tutorials online and lots of forum support. RX7 Club seems to be the most "alive" of the rotary forums, but there are some others as well. There's lots of good info and the community is really helpful (I only got flamed by one person when asking about importing an FD from Japan; every one else was very helpful). In the end, it all comes down to whether or not you are prepared to commit to owning a rotary or not.

EDIT: Posts like that^ frustrate me, because they are most often made by uninformed critics (no offense, its just the pic, and I get that its all in good fun :cheers:).
 
An RX-7 with how many miles??? You shouldn't even consider it, unless you plan to sell it for parts.
 
An RX-7 with how many miles??? You shouldn't even consider it, unless you plan to sell it for parts.

*clears throat*

As a long-time rotorhead and RX7 enthusiast, I would definately go for the FC (that's what I'm doing, too). As far as reliability, they can be vary reliable if taken care of (i.e. babied). If its an N/A, then you're in luck, as the non-turbos usually last longer than the Turbo IIs. Its usually the N/As that are seen being sold with 200k+ miles still running strong. It'll only go bad if you don't know what you're doing and try something stupid (of course, 🤬 happens, but the same could be said of any car). Like Beeblebrox said, as your friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend how much he typically spends on maintainance, but also WHAT he does for maintainance, especially since its your first foray into the rotary game. There are also plenty of tutorials online and lots of forum support. RX7 Club seems to be the most "alive" of the rotary forums, but there are some others as well. There's lots of good info and the community is really helpful (I only got flamed by one person when asking about importing an FD from Japan; every one else was very helpful). In the end, it all comes down to whether or not you are prepared to commit to owning a rotary or not.

Again, its about how it was/will be maintained rather than "Oh, a rotary with high mileage, I'm gonna walk away now." ANYTHING can be unreliable if it wasn't taken care of properly; a rotary just requires the owner to have right knowledge of how to keep it healthy.

Oh, another thing, Liam: if you do plan to look at an FC, ask if the engines been rebuilt and when. If it has, don't write it off immediately, as a lot of guys see it as just fairly expensive preventative maintainance, or before they decide to do major modifications (porting, turbo upgrades/installs, etc.). Hope I could help. ;)👍
 
Chick car or potential money pit?

Really, you should probably just keep looking.

To be perfectly honest, I actually kind of like NB Miatas, but I'm not sure I'd want anyone else to see me driving one, and the NAs look cutesy but bland to me (still almost had one for a first car, but it was too expensive for the number of readily-apparently flaws it had).
 
Miatas are excellent cars. You could get it painted black to feel better about it.
 
Never buy an RX7 unless you are perfectly prepared to immediately rebuild the motor and potentially replace the whole thing.

Get a manual MX5, it will have plenty of boogy in such a light shell - enough to have fun but not enough to get you intro trouble.
 
Roo
Just get one of these.

hairdressing.jpg


I prefer my mates one personally

1907729_827363747279406_1413841578_o.jpg


(Bottom left corner, might be hard to read after compression but it says the same thing but with a hair dryer in the red circle)
 
Needs more roof spoiler IMO
 
@LeadFootLiam If your friends tell you that a Miata is a girls car, just show them your stick, gear stick I mean. If it moves in all directions, that should put a stop to it. If not, they are not your true friends.

Tell them they aren't true Jalops and that Jeremy Clarkson approves of the Miata. Game. Set. Match.

The car of choice for a true Jalop is preferably an old Volvo wagon with a 5-speed, or an El Camino. Definitely nothing nothing that was bought new.
 
@LeadFootLiam There's a fine line between making fun of another's car and light-hearted joking about another's car. The former is not worth the time listening to or responding to while the latter just requires a bit of witty banter and a dashing smile.

Don't lose any sleep over the haters man. No car's immune to it really; my WRX gets a lot of haters from the "no replacement for displacement" crowd. It's your choice; if you like it then to hell with what anyone else thinks. :)

Personally I try to keep as open a mind as possible about any car for this reason.
 
Thanks for the comments guys. I will get a Miata, I don't have much experience fixing cars so a rotary will be too much of a hassle for me.

The photo @Murcie_LP640 posted is what I want my to look like, so dope!

Also agree with what you said. If you like a car no matter what car, who cares what others think.
 
Miata's are badass, screw the haters.
-Muscle car fan who dislikes japanese cars
The only badass Miata's are monster Miata's.
 
RX-7s are great cars, and as said above rotaries are fairly reliable if looked after right. That being said, something with a rotary is a terrible idea for a first car in my opinion. Things can go wrong with them very quickly, and for a young teenager it's not a good idea money wise for maintenance. I don't know about fuel prices there, or your commute, but they aren't the most efficient thing in the world. An MX-5/Miata will be easy on gas, cheap on insurance (?) and maintenance, yet still have an as good driving experience as the RX-7.

Personally I'm going for a cheap granddad spec Corolla or Civic, but from one young teenager to another, good luck with your MX-5/Miata adventure!

BTW, what happened with the EF (?) Civic ambition?

Whoops, just saw that you're 18. I guess we're spoilt to have a driving age of 16 here!
 
SVX
RX-7s are great cars, and as said above rotaries are fairly reliable if looked after right. That being said, something with a rotary is a terrible idea for a first car in my opinion. Things can go wrong with them very quickly, and for a young teenager it's not a good idea money wise for maintenance. I don't know about fuel prices there, or your commute, but they aren't the most efficient thing in the world. An MX-5/Miata will be easy on gas, cheap on insurance (?) and maintenance, yet still have an as good driving experience as the RX-7.

Personally I'm going for a cheap granddad spec Corolla or Civic, but from one young teenager to another, good luck with your MX-5/Miata adventure!

BTW, what happened with the EF (?) Civic ambition?

Whoops, just saw that you're 18. I guess we're spoilt to have a driving age of 16 here!

When you don't have the money for something your eye is not simple. I wanted so many cars, I couldn't make up my mind. That's why my want for the EF Civic faded.

Our driving age is 16 I never had the money (Spender not a saver).
 
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