Buy with rebuild or...?

In July i'll be getting rid of my Honda Accord (finally...). My budget is $5000 and after doing some consideration, i've decided i'll be getting one of my (affordable) dream cars, the FC3S. I've been in love with this car since I was young I finally have the chance to get one.

After searching autotrader.com and ebay, i've run into a fork in the road. Should I buy a car with a recently rebuilt engine (probably more expensive at first), or should I get one with the stock engine and wait to see what happens (probably more expensive in the long run).

Did anyone here buy their FC with a newly rebuilt engine? If so, how's it workin' out for you?

Or did you buy yours with the stock engine? Have you had to rebuild it yet?

So, in short:
1) Buy car with newly rebuilt engine
2) Buy car with stock engine, wait to see if it blows

Thanks in advance

while not as good as brand new, rebuilt engines are generally very good, depending on who did the rebuild. depending on how many miles the original engine has, you may need to rebuild that one too, so you will most likely end up having a rebuilt engine no matter which one you choose. i would take the rebuilt one however.

One idea would be too buy one with the origonal motor. Drive it and get used to it and save some money. After a while (or when it blows) have it rebuilt and do some stuff to it while its broken down like a mild port and better apex seals. Then you have a rebuilt thats faster. Might pay just a little more (not much) in the long run but it would be worth it. You would also get the benifit of picking your mechanic and not getting stuck with somthing that someone else (that you might not have picked) has done. But anyway thats just my opinon and there are people out there who know way more than I do. So jump on a few more forums and ask the same question. And by the way $5000 could pay for a Turbo II with a blown motor and also cover the rebuild (I think) so you might try and see if you can find someone selling one with a blown motor already... saves alot of money espically if you find someone who doesnt know anything about rotarys and sells it for $100 (seen it happen). Good luck.

One idea would be too buy one with the origonal motor. Drive it and get used to it and save some money. After a while (or when it blows) have it rebuilt and do some stuff to it while its broken down like a mild port and better apex seals. Then you have a rebuilt thats faster. Might pay just a little more (not much) in the long run but it would be worth it. You would also get the benifit of picking your mechanic and not getting stuck with somthing that someone else (that you might not have picked) has done. But anyway thats just my opinon and there are people out there who know way more than I do. So jump on a few more forums and ask the same question. And by the way $5000 could pay for a Turbo II with a blown motor and also cover the rebuild (I think) so you might try and see if you can find someone selling one with a blown motor already... saves alot of money espically if you find someone who doesnt know anything about rotarys and sells it for $100 (seen it happen). Good luck.

I'm really hoping I could find a TII, but I would settle for an NA too. As long as it's an FC :biggrin: My dad is the one who will be giving me the $5000 (I paid for my Honda, which will be given to my brother, so my dad is basically buying the car from me), so i'll pretty much have to run the idea of a rebuild by him. I'm sure he'd agree to it though. If memory serves me correct, there are two rotary specialists in my city so it wouldn't be a problem finding one.

Also, on average, how much do new apex seals run (plus price of installation)? Would it be wise to just have new seals put in and then rebuild when the engine goes? Or should I get the rebuild and apex seals at the same time? I think someone said that to put in the seals, you pretty much have to take the engine apart, so option B would basically be killing two birds with one stone, right?

apex seals are part of a rebuild, but you should look for 3 mm apex seals. I don't remember the costs though... sorry. personaly, i'd get a car with the original engine if possible, like RB25240kouki said, there is a nice benifit to picking your own mechanic, or if you want, learn to do it yourself. porting would be real nice, a street port would probably be a good idea. talk to ur rotary guys, ur lucky to have 2, that way the compete for prices and such. you can probably bargain your way into a cheaper rebuild going back and forth. by the way, u could sell that 97 accord for more than 5k. we sold our 96 accord for 7k last year, and even that was low. just somethin to think about

by the way, u could sell that 97 accord for more than 5k. we sold our 96 accord for 7k last year, and even that was low. just somethin to think about

Well, it also has 145,000 miles on it (we're the third owners. 2nd owners put 50k miles in one year!), and according to Blue Book and NADA, it should sell for around 4500. Plus, I hate the process of selling a car.

And by the way $5000 could pay for a Turbo II with a blown motor


wow... You Rotary newbies dont know how to buy rx-7's do you? I got my TII with only 40K miles on it almost 3 years ago for only $3,500.

I bought a Convertible for $750, and my boyfriend just got a first gen for free and the guy is throwing in a set of racing seats. All he has to do is buy about $450 worth of parts and install them on his other RX-7.


If you going to get an rx-7, let me know. I'll help you not get ripped off.

wow... You Rotary newbies dont know how to buy rx-7's do you? I got my TII with only 40K miles on it almost 3 years ago for only $3,500.

I didnt mean that that car would cost $5000. I ment that he could defenitly buy one with $5000. It would cover the rebuild and a little extra too. If it cost $5000 to buy a TII with a blown motor then I wouldnt be buying one (waiting on owner to rebuild).

just buy the one with the original motor, then pay to get it rebuilt, I got my rx7 for $2200 in good shape and only 98k miles on it, I could have got it for $2000 I bet but I didn't feel like driving my junker car for another week or two while I tried to get the price down, or take the risk of some other guy buying it.... oh by the way it was listed at $2500. I don't trust anyones work, buy it stock and do it all yourself or take it to a shop you are familiar with or a shop that has a good reputation with rotarys. I could have gotten a 1990 TII for $3800 with only like 80k back in august but I had no money then, heck I barely had money for the non-turbo I got... anyways, just my thoughts on it