I just want to know, I hear so many rumours or the rotary engine always breaking or the RX-7 is not a relieable car but it is always from people that have never owned one themself. I dont mind doing maintenace on cars and if I keep up with it is it going to be just as relieable as say a Commodore or a Magna because I have always wanted a rotary but worried that the thing will break and leave me out of pocket and that will be when the wife will kill me, I would rather keep the piece than need here the end of it espeacialy after the Supra. It was a 86 mdoel 1 month after I bought it clutch went, tail lights stopped working and had to replace power steering cost me $1500. So can I have faith in this car if it is in good working order and is there anything to be careful of when buying

 

the s4's and s5's are, IMO, among the most reliable of the rx7's. the first gens had issues with the 12a engine because the gaskets just turned to crap after a while. the latest generation had a few issues with the twin turbo set-up and liked to throw apex seals out of the exhaust. the second gens were solid in a lot of the areas the other ones lacked. ignition systems were strong, the EFI system was strong with the exception of an occasional leaky injector, and the turbo models came with really strong trannys and rear-ends.

as far as things to look for, i can give you a couple of pointers there.
1. pull the top two spark plugs and roll the engine. try to get two or three revolutions of the motor at least and make sure that you get three solid "whoosh" sounds per rotor, per revolution. if you hear any sucking sounds, there is a bad apex seal.

2. let the car run for a little while and get up to operating temperature. kill the motor, let it sit for about 15 minutes and try to start it again. this will tell you if there are any hot starting issues or leaky injectors.

3. just generally check over the electrical system for things like weak window motors or a weak sunroof motor. also check for bad switches; headlight switch, windshield wiper switch, power window switches, etc.

4. if someone has a chassis with high mileage and "had the motor rebuilt," ask for documentation. very few people mess with rotary rebuilds and they are not cheap to rebuild by any means. some people will just tell you that because there is some rumor going around that the rotary needs to be rebuilt every 50k miles.

5. try to buy from a real rotary enthusiast. real rotary fans are fanatic about their cars. i, personally, change my oil every 1000 miles in mine and flush the radiator every 5000. that is just a small example of how a true fan would take care of their car. non-enthusiasts will just treat the rotary just like any other motor and it needs special attention.

after you buy, just keep a handful of things in mind. these things are outlined in one of the stickied posts at the top of this section. good luck on finding what you want and take your time doing it. you will have tons of fun i am sure.

 

Yer great you have given me hope to become a rotary fan now, thanks for all the information I have seen you have help a few people now all I have to do is get rid of the Magna I hate selling cars wife will not let me have a new car till the old one is gone going to start cleaning it tomorrow