Where are all the RX-7s?!

[bobski1]

I've always had such a massive love for these cars & was browsing classified to find 6 available. Only 6...there was a time when there were so many to see, where have they all gone?

[Driver101]

Considering they are so old it's not surprising numbers have dwindled.

They aren't exactly common.

[The Green Triangle]

Time of the year perhaps?

It does seem odd. I flagged recently that for the 200sx, there's only 3 available at the moment and that in my mind is more or should be more common than the rx7!

[Paul671]

Would love an early one in standard condition, prices are pretty strong though.

Unfortunately most are modified in poor taste.

[Evolved]

Simply old cars now and never had huge numbers to start with. Lots get broken for parts and the numbers reduce further.

[coldel]

Could also be that PH isnt as popular as it once was to advertise your car. Ebay certainly seems to have a lot more on it nowadays as you get a much bigger viewership.

[delta0]

There’s not many still on the road. Howmanyleft suggests just over 200.

[samoht]

I agree with the above, quite a few must have been scrapped when values were low, they struggled to make £5k back in 2012. And also as stated PH classifieds seem to be more dealers and £50k cars nowadays, although there genuinely aren't that many RX-7s anywhere.

I think it's also possible that when there were 20+ for sale at any one time in the old days, quite a few of those cars changed hands fairly frequently. In the past the RX-7 was one of the cheapest ways to go fast and attracted quite a few people who couldn't afford to maintain them, so bought, got their wallets cleaned out, and put them up for sale again in fairly short order. Once those of us who were impressionable kids when these came out, and drove them on the Playstation, got proper jobs, I feel there may be some more committed owners who can more afford to own them longer term, thus reducing the number up for sale at any one time.

I'm biased because one of them is in my garage, but I'd suggest RX-7 prices are still fairly reasonable compared to the other 'Class A' cars of the era, the NSX, R32 GTR and Supra. And the RX-7 is the purest, lightest and best looking of them all

I made this list two weeks ago as I wanted to get a sense of values. Some ads may have passed but hopefully it gives some ideas of what's up for sale & where:

Year Price Link
1997 £35,000 https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...
1995 £29,995 https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...
1999 £21,995 https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...
2000 £20,000 https://fdoc.co.uk/forum/threads/gauging-interest-...
1995 £19,995 https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...
1999 £19,500 https://fdoc.co.uk/forum/threads/1999rs-43000-mile...
1999 £18,995 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
1993 £18,000 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254306765599
1993 £17,995 https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...
1992 £17,500 https://fdoc.co.uk/forum/threads/1992-rx7-single-t...
1997 £16,995 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mazda-RX7-FD3S-Type-RS/...
1993 £13,495 https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...
1997 £12,000 https://fdoc.co.uk/forum/threads/black-1997-rx7-re...
1994 £11,500 https://fdoc.co.uk/forum/threads/93-94-red-fd-%C2%...
1993 £11,000 https://fdoc.co.uk/forum/threads/1993-kazama-kitte...
1992 £10,500 https://fdoc.co.uk/forum/threads/1992-efini-fd3s-t...
1995 £9,000 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
1997 £7,000 https://fdoc.co.uk/forum/threads/1997-mazda-rx7-fd...

Edited by samoht on Sunday 3rd November 19:25

[coldel]

I do always keep an eye on numbers too, and the sales counts do fluctuate. There were I am sure 15+ for sale on PH not so long ago. Maybe people are not trying to sell over winter? Who knows. But as I say sellers are moving away from PH as the cost to advertise vs readership is not a good ratio vs something like ebay or even taking on the increased risk of tyre kickers on free sites like gumtree.

Beautiful looking cars though, appreciate the rotary is the point, but pretty sure I would have bought one at some point by now if it didnt have a rotary in it!

[BIRMA]

I do wonder what became of my Bathurst X it was immaculate in every respect plus a decent RX related number plate

[Noyzboy]

If you want a RX-7, join the owners clubs or just hover on their forums for the right car.. Often owners post vehicles there before going to Ebay etc. Other people in the club may know some of the car’s history which is useful.

A lot of the really tatty RX-7 FDs have been parted out. RX-7 FCs have almost totally disappeared in the UK due to rust.
RX-7s are driven much less as daily drivers now. There used to be a couple written off every yeat in winter RTAs, but thankfully this is now rare,

There are still good examples being imported, but often new owners cannot wait to pull them apart and mod them. Stock cars are now unusual.

There are enough RX-7 specialists around to keep them on the road, and there is a mass of information in the owners clubs

[CountZero23]

There certainly seem to far less about than when I bought mine 3 years ago.

Agree with samoht on cars changing hands less often now; all of the owners I know have had their cars for years and have the requisite patience, deep pockets and passion to keep their cars going.

Some of the parts on an FD can go for serious money as they get rarer and OEM spares impossible to find - I think a lot of the rougher examples got parted out.

The pricing of RX-7's has been all over the place over the last 5 years, I think a lot of it has to do with people not wanting to spend 20k on a car that was 7k less than 10 years ago; such as Type R's in good condition.

Mods make it yet harder; in retrospect, I should have spent a bit more and bought a car with more of the modifications done but at that time wanted a more standard car. Cars with the right mods can command more money but then you've got the find a buyer who's got the same idea of what they want on their RX7.

I've put nearly 20k on mine so it's pushing 100k with a body kit, fat tires, wide-body kit and plenty of upgrades to the engine. It will never be a pristine example, though I have plenty of plans for going single turbo along with a long list of other bits I want to do. Hoping values keep on rising to offset at least some of the cash I've thrown at it


With good examples getting harder to find and the values of NSX's, Supras and GTR's having gone up so much, I'm sure they won't be lagging behind for long.

Edited by CountZero23 on Tuesday 5th November 23:45

[ChrisW.]

coldel said:

I do always keep an eye on numbers too, and the sales counts do fluctuate. There were I am sure 15+ for sale on PH not so long ago. Maybe people are not trying to sell over winter? Who knows. But as I say sellers are moving away from PH as the cost to advertise vs readership is not a good ratio vs something like ebay or even taking on the increased risk of tyre kickers on free sites like gumtree.

Beautiful looking cars though, appreciate the rotary is the point, but pretty sure I would have bought one at some point by now if it didnt have a rotary in it!

Although the above list would suggest otherwise ...

What is the commission on ebay car sales ?

A lot of founder PH members benefit still from free advertisements of their own cars ... it makes one feel very appreciated ...

[coldel]

ChrisW. said:

coldel said:

I do always keep an eye on numbers too, and the sales counts do fluctuate. There were I am sure 15+ for sale on PH not so long ago. Maybe people are not trying to sell over winter? Who knows. But as I say sellers are moving away from PH as the cost to advertise vs readership is not a good ratio vs something like ebay or even taking on the increased risk of tyre kickers on free sites like gumtree.

Beautiful looking cars though, appreciate the rotary is the point, but pretty sure I would have bought one at some point by now if it didnt have a rotary in it!

Although the above list would suggest otherwise ...

What is the commission on ebay car sales ?

A lot of founder PH members benefit still from free advertisements of their own cars ... it makes one feel very appreciated ...

Not sure what you mean by the list suggesting otherwise, otherwise to what?

Definitely sellers are shifting away from PH, cars I just keep an eye on like the 350z have dwindled on here whereas they are still numerous on ebay for example.

I sold my last car on PH, but previous to that sold all my others via ebay

[terry237]

I echo the points that have been posted above. There do seem to be much less for sale compared to 2 years ago when I was looking for mine. I agree that one of the reasons for this is that owners are holding onto them for longer. The cars that have avoided being broken for parts have ended up in the hands of passionate owners (or speculators waiting to see how much the prices rise).

I do think though that the importing of RX7's (specifically '99 spec FDs) hasn't really slowed down. And by this I mean personal imports rather than import companies bringing in stock without a buyer lined up and then advertising them online. I do not have any concrete numbers but I know of quite a few in the local area that have been imported in the last couple of years.

There are still plenty of FD RX7's around and I have noticed more and more attending the meets/shows that I frequent. It is a shame FCs seem to be almost nonexistent in the UK now, I have a strong want for one!

[Nik da Greek]

Keeping an RX-7 running in the UK is like juggling Faberge eggs. Looks wonderful but sooner or later you're going to end up with a lot of very expensive shrapnel.

For far too long chancers were flogging crap ones trawled out of the bottom of the Japanese reject market, which would then be bought by the remnants of the M*x P*wer generation without ever stopping to question why a ten grand car was being sold for five. The simple answer was that it was a grenade with the pin out. Reputation destroyed yet everyone now expecting them to be bargain basement prices meant the collapse via dilution of sensible owners clubs as well as a lot being broken. They're such a fragile car in every way; engine, finish, even rust protection that they simply can't tolerate being neglected and the price of importing anything decent to keep them running is prohibitive. Mazda dealers in the UK don't even know they exist and it's cheaper to import even simple things like gaskets from Atkins Rotary in the USA than it is to try getting sense out of a UK dealer. FDs will rust in UK climate but FCs rot for fun, genuinely terrible corrsion protection. Especially if they were a UKDM model to start with. Even imports are dissolving, and as for a cabriolet... most will no longer have a floor. FBs were widespread and a proper UK-sold model but the days of £100 eBay parts cars are long gone; they've all rusted away too. They few that are left tend to be in long-term ownership but even for those in the know it's getting tricky to find parts and spares. And engine parts even more so

TL:DR; all the ste ones have melted away and the good ones that are left are in the hands of either true enthusiasts who have no intention of letting them go or scenesters asking ridiculous money for blown-over crap

Edited by Nik da Greek on Friday 15th November 11:41

[rotarymazda]

bobski1 said:

I've always had such a massive love for these cars & was browsing classified to find 6 available. Only 6...there was a time when there were so many to see, where have they all gone?

I've still got mine, an unmodified 2000 RS, had it for 13 years.

It doesn't get used much now as I've got two teenagers, a dog and elderly parents so an SUV is used as a daily driver.

[anonymous-user]

Cyprus. I drove past one house that must have had 20 or so outside, some mint, some in a state of repair and some fked. Saw several out on the roads when I was there too, how or why so many have ended up there I don't know!

[delta0]

Would love to have one of these but with the new ULEZ coming and living in inner London it won’t work until it is a 40 year classic. Will be sticking to the RX8 for now.

[dapprman]

I had problems selling mine (not that I tried that hard) over a period of about three years. I did have bites, but it was always younger people who found it was impossible to get insurance if you were under 25. A combination of this and a flood of trader imports (being advertised before even getting over to the UK using Japan auction photos) made life difficult and also helped drop values considerably.

I got lucky as there was a guy round the corner who had started his own garage and had always fancied my car - literally he rang my door bell, explained he had been eyeing my car for years and I no longer seemed to drive it much so would I be interested in selling.