I\'m looking into getting my hands on an RX7 for around 5K. 92 model in black with some time on the clock before a rebuild. I\'ve been looking at http://www.bonsaicars.com/ who seem to have decent prices for what I\'m after. Has anyone used this company before? How risky is the import scene? What comeback do you have? Cheers for your help!
I did some extensive searching for my car and in my opinion you wont get a low milage car for 5k (low miles in the sense that 7\'s tend to go pop quite early on) You may be lucky with an import but it may take quite some time to find one with your requirements. 7k seems to be the bench mark start for a decent one (other people may disagree). As for Bonsai i have never used them but remember they may find you a car for the right price but that may not include shipping, duty, customs things etc.
I used powervehicles.co.uk so far so good.......but if its not delivered on time my opinion may change!
Thanks Gman, I\'m starting to think your right after an extensive search of this site and all the importers in Jap performance. I\'ve seen some nice FD\'s going for 9-10K, but tha\'t too pricey for my budget. Look\'s like I\'ll have to stretch to 7K!!
Theres no such thing as a cheap one really. you might get lucky, but I wouldnt spend 5k not having a spare 3k to sort things out just incase.
Cheers
Lee
Quite a number of us have got through Miguel at NeweraImprots (http://www.neweraimports.com/) , as he\'s got a great reputation, but as he looks out for the best cars he can you end up paying respectively.
Might be worth looking at Jimmy\'s (http://www.jimmys-rx7.co.uk/Imports.htm) where all the cars come with a fresh engine rebuild, buit cheapest he\'s got at the moment is ~£9,500
To echo others, if you pay £5K for an FD you shouldnt expect too much IMO. From a dealer who probably needs to make £1000 a car the price he\'ll have got a £5K car for in Japan is scary; 1/2 the cost of the car will have been chrgs and shipping etc. Yeah, you MIGHT get lucky but if you dont you\'ll be crying as a doggy FD is NOT a pleasant thing to own - and very hard to get shot of.
For £5K I would expect a 92 with a shabby interior, tired engine and mechanicals and in need of some paint restoration. Too many people are under the impression that good FD\'s are super cheap - they arent. A mint low miles 92 is still worth a lot of cash at auction in japan. If you buy for £5K make sure you have plenty in reserve to fix every thing thats wrong or about to go wrong, starting with a rebuild and extending to all those annoying bits of broken interior trim that cost a few hundred quid each from Mazda!
Yeah, you can get a bargain, but on the whole a car for £5K is being sold for £5K for a reason. Mainly cause it probably cost a tenner at auction.
Buyer BEWARE - a bad FD is a horrid car!!
R.
(Voice of Doom in the absence of Mr Wilson FDUKers :-))
Thanks for the pointers guys, I\'ve been looking around and found a car on this site! the sellers Welsh Dan and the spec is: Black, 51500 Miles, Derestricted and calibrated speedo, 17" Volk Racing Split Rims, HKS Panel Filter, HKS SSQV (Blow Off Valve), Mazdaspeed Catback exhaust, GReddy Turbo Timer, Cat1 Alarm, Professionally tinted windows, Electric Windows, Air Conditioning, rear leather seats, Alcantara bucket seats in front, new plugs and filters recently and fluid change, new brakes on front. Sideskirts and 99on style spoiler, it hasn\'t had a rebuild yet and I\'d guess with that milage and those mods it wouldn\'t be long before I need to pay up. Any suggestions? Would you say this is a good buy for £7500?
Thanks!
I dont think its fair to comment on the price or whatever of someone on here trying to sell a car unless they are trying to decieve people so im not going to.
I would advise that you get on Autotrader, and go and see some up to 8k in price. Once you have seen and driven a few you will be able to compare them against each other. I have seen some real dogs for sale at high prices, cars that wernt even running when I turned up to see them but still wanting 8k etc. You will also realise that half the cars you think are out there dont exist.
After you have done this, then you will know yourself if it is worth the money. It does look in the right ballpark though.
Cheers
Lee
Edit: Be prepared to do LOTS of travelling. Come to the Southern Pub meet on Tuesday and youll be able to look over a few and probably get taken out etc - then you have some to compare against.
Thanks for your help Lee. I\'ll see if I can get to a meet next week.
I would like to back up what Rich has said above.I\'ve had my FD RX-7 for nearly 4 years now.
From my own experience there is no such thing as a mint cheap FD,the old saying still stands true \'you get what you pay for\'
There seems to be a flood of these cars coming in now of wildly varying quality and finding a truly nice example is becoming harder and harder.You can pick RX-7\'s up for ridiculous low amounts in Japan but the condition will be often very poor.
Almost all will have had some paint at some point in their past
and it\'s very important to check the engine thoroughly before you buy.As Rich rightly says get a bad one and you\'ll be on first name terms with your bank manager trying to put it right.
Remember this is the car that Mazda produced to take the fight straight to Porsche and when looking at one remember your buying a junior league exotic and then paying say 8k for a lovely early example won\'t seem two bad compared to what you\'d have to pay for a 911 of similiar age.
If your going to buy a freshly imported RX-7,go to a specialist importer who knows these cars well with a proven track record who will be able to check the car out for you in Japan to make sure it\'s a good one and budget for around 8k for a really nice early example with fairly low mileage.
Got to give Miguel at Newera a bit of a plug here as this is the guy who originally got me mine,it\'s a 1994 RS which had 52000 miles on the original engine when I bought it,it\'s now done 63000 miles on the same engine and gets a regular thrashing at tracks around the UK and still has plenty of life left in it so the importance of initially buying a good one is very important.My car was selected after he looked at about 40 I think!!
Just my two pence worth....
James
Thanks for the info guys, I\'m hopefully gonna go check out Dan\'s FD3 this weekend. What\'s the ideal things to look out for on the car (I\'m sure you\'ve heard this a million times now!) I\'ll let you know how I get on.
I have worked on some of Bonsai\'s cars and please beaware the cheap ones are accident damaged repaired. that is how they are so cheap. Having said that they are fine to deal with.
Geff
Cheers!! I\'ll watch out for the cheap ones! My budget has increased now from the initial 5K I had set aside due to the risks involved in going for the cheap end of the market.
Give me a call I think i might have something you\'d be interested in :) 07793712440 or drop me an email if you\'d prefer AL3X_X_M@hotmail.com My one is up for sale, its black and absolutely mint, oh and cheap (no longer have a job you see :( )!
aww gutted for ya Al3x.. bah one less for the area :(
I\'ve seen alex\'s btw tis nice :D
Al3x - BTW I can\'t remember asking, is your FD a 5 speed manual?