Found a pretty sweet deal on a RX-7.

Little over original 30,000 miles and priced at $16k.

The motor is supposed to be all stock. (How the hell should I determine if this is true or not... )

So anyways, I've taken a look at his carfax, and it's unlike any other report that I've seen.

It shows that the original owner bought it back in '93... But thats about it. It has a 2007 account of a recall with the ECU.

Now theres NOTHING in between those times. Which is kind of wierd.... I've never seen such an empty carfax report before.

Reliable...?

 

weird. i have seen FD's go for less than 4 grand, and it looked AMAZING, but something had to have been screwed up

 

very possible the car has had no problems/accidents between dates and only one owner prior to the person having it now. When buying such an older car take it to a mechanic to look over the car anyhow. He would be able to tell if there are/were any problems in the past.

 

wow, really? did the owner just pulled a jedi and decided to shelf his car for 99% of it's life?

 

So its a sub 1993 RX7 with 30,000 miles?, if its a 1992 ( not sure of year) then thats 2000 miles a year. So its very possible that this car was garaged and is ok.

 

This is true, but don't carfax's show when the vehicle is registered, or when an inspection has been done?

 

When I sold my last car after ten years of ownership from new, I carfaxed it for the buyer. The only listings over ten years were my registration renewals. It could be that whatever state he is in doesn't support carfax computerised reports like other states?

Sounds like a pretty sweet car to me.

 

Yeah... It just MIGHT be possible he shelved it for the most of it's life.

However, what I don't get is how the current owner "owns" it without having a record of it through carfax. Did he pull a "fast and furious", and win the pink slip or something?

The current owner is from Florida, and the 1st owner was from Kansas.

I mean, this is a helluva deal. (plus, I'm looking for a car anyways)

On a seperate note, I read up on how you should always do a compression test on the RX-7's (3rd Gen), to see the integrity of the engine. I called up a local Mazda dealership, and they told me: "Whats a compression test?"

 

wow, that is retarded

 

What's a compression test! Who'd you talk to the receptionist ... oh wait, at most dealers the receptionist also does the mechanical work.

I wonder if the car being registered in Kansas, whether or not Kansas reports its records to Carfax? I don't know the answer to that, but it could be. Florida, I am sure does, but it could be that the current owner is only flipping it, and never registered it. Definitely make sure that it has a clear title before you buy it. I don't know how many older "classic" cars that I have looked at where the title was in the name of somebody other than the guy selling it.

I don't think that a blank carfax necessarilly mean that the car is bad, but you will have to do your due diligence some other way.

 

Do you know how to tell if a car has been wrecked? Im a car salesman, this is going to get complicated. An easy way to tell if a panel has been repainted is to run your fingers along the inside of the edges of each panel. Ex. A brand new RX8- the edge of each piece will feel very smooth and wont show an "orange peel" effect. 2nd ex. An RX8 thats had a door repainted from an accident- all the panels will feel smooth along the edges yet that one door will feel rough along the edges and probably wont match when looking at it in the right light, etc. What Im getting at is see for yourself if the thing has been wrecked. Look at the radiator in the front to see if its bent, look for gaps between panels. Ive never needed a carfax to tell if a car has been wrecked. I appraise roughly 5-10 used car trade ins a day if thats any sort of credential.

 

Simple, take it to someone who has the knowledge to decide!
Hint, you wil not find that someone working in a Mazda shop working as a parts replacer. Those kids were not in high school when that car was obsoleted from the standpoint of Mazda US. Locally I know of one private mechanic and two shops I would trust that work on FC's and FD's on a regular basis.

Forget the carfax. First look at the car yourself and second look at the title yourself. If you can't make the effort to do both then do NOT waste $16K. If the car and title match the sellers story, then hire a knowledgeable RX7 person to look at the car and a knowledgeable body person to look at the car. Expect to pay these people $100 to $200 dollars each for an hour or two of their time.

 

I second forgetting the carfax. I bought a used Grand Am a while back and the carfax came up clean, but later when it was being inspected by a warranty claims inspector he noticed a spec in the paint on the rear quarter panel. When he pointed that out things like a missing VIN tag on the driver's side door and a hood that doesn't match the car when under bright halogen light, all made sense.

All a clean report means is if they did get in an accident they didn't report it. Its no gurantee.

 

^^ agreed, carfax's are overrated!!