1990 Mazda RX7 GXL review from North America

Alternator belt snapped and all belts had to be replaced at 190,000 kms.

Clutch was totally gone at 192,000 kms.

It always idled badly and would shut down if air conditioner was turned on.

Some electrical items would not work once in a while, such as windshield, sunroof, power windows.

The Apex Seals on rotor 2 just blew last week, the car is no longer driveable.

The RX-7 was a really well-handling, fun and sporty car. It could turn with stock suspension like it was on rails! It was super-fast and the engined revved really fast and really high.

Cabin comfort is pretty good, too. The seats were nice and noise was pretty low. It was tiny inside, but it was comfortable, although somewhat hard to see out the windows when merging or changing lanes.

Despite all the good looks, comfort and capabilities - this car is only meant for those with money to waste fixing the troublesome rotary.

I changed the oil every month as a preventative thing, as the engine naturally injects oil into the rotor housing. Despite doing this, the engine just died one day.

No exaggeration here, let me tell you my story: I drove to work in the morning and the car was perfectly fine. Then when I got off work at night, the car had a super hard time starting. And when I finally got it started, it shook like crazy, didn't have power and was really loud. Finally, I got it diagnosed as a blown Apex Seal. In order to fix that one lousy part, the entire engine would have to be disassembled. Needless to say, I've had enough of this car.

If it isn't one thing, it's another with this car. It also had the tendency to develop rust really fast.