Import Quality?

[steve b]

Interesting reading, see the name of the certain trade centre, thats got a hell of a bad reputation on the MR2 forums, guess why should they be any different for the RX7.

With regard to £5000 cars, there are £5000 cars for sale in the sale section of this forum advertised as having 1500 mile old rebuilt engines and being generally perfect.... ?  I agree there is alot of rubbish about, but it does seem you can get a good one for £5000 but also rubbish for £5000.  What I want to know is why is £5000 the apparent base of the market? Surely there must be loads of blown cars out there, nowt wrong except the engine, why are they not up for £3000??

When I have got rid of my MR2T my plan of action is to find any manual R car that is not crash damaged for as little as possible, there must be blown ones available for £3000 somewhere.  Then take it to RE:WORK have the engine rebuilt replacing whats needed, no porting or anything, approximate cost £3000?? Full set of the bushes they offer fitted £1000 set of Teins fitted £1200.  So having spent £8200 ish and then i\'ll have a car with waranteeed engine and should feel lovely and fresh on all new suspension.  For £8200 i could well ask Newera to get me a nice car, however theres nothing to say they engine won\'t go bang no matter how nice it looks, then the car could end up costing me £12000 total.  I am I being silly or sensible?  :confused:

[shortcircuit]

my boss won\'t import rx7\'s any more , he\'s been importing cars for 8 years and half the one\'s he\'s imported have died before they sold . part of the problem i think is that they were not looked after on the forcourt .start stop every day as they were put out on display then people getting in them for test drives and thrashing them from cold (i was not working for him at the time)but the finishing touch was while we were in Japan I talked him in to trying to buy one just for something different to have in stock .we found a grade 4, nice wheels, started fine no smoke so we told our agent to bid on it only for it to be pulled out the auction as a non runner !! its not only the public that get cought out sometimes the importers do too.

[shaunwil]

The market is definately a fickle thing. I bought my 7 for 6250 with no mods and a fresh engine from pips. The only thing that had made me buy it in the end was the engine warrenty. It was clean in and out too. As alot of people have put the importer had the engine blow up on them when they had the car, so they spent 3.5k at pips. I went to the trade centre and have to say the cars they had where terrible when put in perpesctive.

If i was looking for a cheap one now, or even a cheap 1st gen I think after all this time i would probably look for one with a knackered engine and have a go at rebuilding it myself. This is only down to the great stuff i\'ve learned off the club.

If i was new to rotarys, say like the saxo side then i would buy the cheapest i could get and that would have serious consequences.

I think the only thing that has kept the cost of rotaries so high is the higher insurance premiums, it helps to limit the demand for rx7\'s. If they cant insure it they cant buy it

Its definately a lottery, thats for sure.

Shaun

[Gatesy]

Guys Im going to jump in here with my 2p.  I currently own an Mitsubishi FTO GPX which I got from a dealer fresh from import.  Looking back I got stiffed on the price and I was a bit naive regarding prices and what not.  The UK market is now being flooded with low price FTO\'s that are basically falling to bits.  The Mivec engines have a habit of going bang if not looked after and this is giving FTO\'s a bad name. Also the price is allowing the chav element to be able to afford one of these and while they are not as high maintenance as the FD they still need a fair bit of TLC which most 18-20 year olds cant afford to give and why there are so many FTO\'s being constantly scrapped.
 I\'ve learnt enough in the last 1 year of owing a jap import that the best way to get one is to buy a members car or one from a dealer/importer who is recomended by the owners club.  I\'m currently looking at getting a 3rd Gen 7 and once I can sell my FTO then I\'ll hopefully have around the £7k mark to play with but I\'m quite happy to wait until I see the correct one unlike alot of people who will just get the cheapest one they see on Ebay.

[sam]

Hi folks,

I\'m looking to buy a 3rd gen soon, just as soon as I get rid of the GT4. Really glad I found this site as I was going to get an import on the 5k mark but you guys have convinced me to pay a bit more and get one with a new engine!

Before the GT4 I had a 2nd gen Turbo II but was a bad example and a steep lurning curve, however I loved the thing and really can\'t wait to get behind the wheel of a 3rd gen after hearing you lot salivate over them! I love my RWD cars and the more I read about them...it will be a weekend car so hope it will last me for it\'s life!?

Just got a few q\'s if anyone can help:

What is an FD? is this just a model name? Excuse my ignorance!

Does anyone know the guy behind Super 7 Autos on e.bay? He seems to have some real nice examples with re-built engines and other parts. Just wondered if anybody had any experience with him and if he\'s got a good reputation?

Also, I\'m not that mechanically minded, I thought I was a hero when I managed to get the spark plaugs out on my gen 2! Does owning a good example of a 3rd gen necessitate getting your hands mucky regularly? I see some of you guys run them everyday... I\'m thinking with weekend use I should be ok as I just wouldn\'t know where to start!?
I know they are highly strung, and it\'s a price I\'m obviously willing to pay but my nearest Rex man is in Cheshire - WGT and I\'m in North Lancashire. Don\'t really wanna be trailing down there every 2 mins!

Any advice wouild be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Sam