tjl@tekchips.UUCP (Terry Ligocki) (04/05/85)
This is a follow-up to my original posting for information on Mazda Rx7's.
Oh wow! Thanks to everyone that sent me mail (~10 people) and posted nets
(3 people) so far. My research and their comments convinced me of what I
should do: Buy one. I bought a Mazda Rx7 GSL-SE on Tuesday (April 2). It
IS possible to get one for $15K (at least in Oregon, no sales tax). I am
going to summarize the comments I received and add my own comments.
1) It was unanimously agreed that the rotary engine Mazda is now using
is very reliable and there are few problems other than the gas mile-
age. The consumer and performance magazines I have read second this
information (they did have problems once but that is ancient history).
2) There is no way to get an Rx7 (any model) without the standard features
(I didn't want the standard stereo). I was unable to find anyway around
this except for Dan's (seismo!cmcl2!lanl!dspo!neagley) comment:
"If you want an SE without the fluff, then why not buy a bare bones
S model and put in a 13b engine built by Rotary Racing or Quickor
(sp?) Engineering or Pacific Avatar, just to name three of many
companies which sell high performance rotary engines. These modi-
fied engines offer HP in the range of 170 to 300+."
(of course you've still got the S's suspension, wheels, tires, and
brakes to deal with). Dan also pointed to the April '84 issue of Car
& Driver for info on the engine in the GSL-SE and the rear-end changes.
3) There was some mention in the literature of backfiring and/or tailpipe
noises. Chris Moore (decvax!decwrl!amdcad!amdimage!cmoore) writes:
"Another problem with the rotaries was that they tended to backfire,
but that was fixed in 1981."
4) There was one comment about the steering from Sean Rooney (seismo!uwvax!
geowhiz!sean):
"I have owned an 82 RX-7 since it was new and been very pleased.
Except for one problem it has been absolutely bullet-proof and never
failed to get me where I want to go ... fast.
The problem I have had is a total failure of the steering gear. This
is the part that connects the steering wheel to the mechanism that
actually turns the wheels. The primary symptom is extreme free-play
in the steering wheel, my free-play now is almost a quarter turn!!
...
After I had this problem I asked around and found two other people in
this town (Madison, Wisc.) with the same problem. One with only 3k
miles on his car, mine has almost 60k. I therefore believe it is a
design defect and not random failure. Needless to say my car is out
of warranty so I am pretty much out of luck.
Even with this problem I encourage you to go ahead and get an SE.
If I were to sell my car (a GS) I would buy an SE tomorrow. Mine
has been by far the most fun (and reliable) car I have ever owned.
It is also the only car I ever bought new so that may have something
to do with the reliability part."
Road & Track mentioned some play in their '79 Rx7 'staff' car steering
after 48K miles (this was in 1982). They said they had talked to Mazda
about some mods to the steering that would fix the problem. I don't
know if anything was done but I talked to several Rx7 owners in this
(Beaverton, OR) area and they hadn't had this particular problem.
5) There was one comment on repairs from Jerry Hollombe (seismo!philabs!
ttidca!ttidcc!hollombe):
"All the Mazda owners I've ever talked to tell the same story: Love
the cars, hate the dealers. It appears to be nearly impossible to
get honest and/or competent repair work done on any of the Mazdas.
The only advice I can give is to check out any dealer with the
Better Business Bureau before going to them and if there are _any_
outstanding, unanswered complaints take your business elsewhere.
(You may run out of dealers before you run out of complaints).
Figure that for every person who complained there were 100 others
who didn't bother or didn't know they'd been ripped off."
6) Finally, as far as price goes (on the GSL-SE), Mike Klein (decvax!ucbvax!
klein@ucbmerlin.berkeley.arpa) writes:
"Here's the scoop: Mazda RX7 GSL-SE dealer cost is $13,381 (in
central region), list is $15,645. Destination charge is $180.
Major options (dealer cost/list):
Power Steering 240/300
Leather 560/700
This means if you don't get these, your have to count on $13,561
as dealer cost. Add at least $500 for overhead and profit and
you have about $14,100. That should be what you start bargaining
at. The brokers will probably come in at around that area, maybe
a little more. If central region (whatever that is... the book
I have lists central and eastern only) does not apply, the cost
for any other region should not be much more than $100 more extra-
polating from the difference shown."
This tracks well with my experience (although the brokers came in at
about the price I finally got out of the dealer, the Rx7 sells well so
it is not as available to brokers as some cars).
Well, I've owned the car for three days now and, as you may have guessed,
I am having the driving time of my life! I know I'm still in the initial,
'new car' thrill period but I wanted to post this follow-up so that people
on the net knew that I did receive responses and they WERE useful. Keep the
cards and letters coming (I now own an Rx7 and I still would like to know
if I there is anything I should know).
Thank-you all again, now it's time to get back to the rebuilding of this
'70 Opel GT that's taking root in my garage (any comments/suggestions?)...
Terry J.
tektronix!tekchips!tjl