I have been hunting for a T56 for a long time. They are really pricey. I figure the only way I'm gonna find one is to buy it in a car from someone who doesn't know what a T56 is. So, I regularly search for cars with manuals under a certain price point.
I live in rural South GA, and there is never anything of interest here. If it ain't a truck, it ain't. But I still look locally because, well it's local.
So today I type "manual" in CL. An RX8 pops up for $1200 with a "bad transmission". $1200? I gotta call, even if it's a scam.
Hmmm... The ad even had a name and an actual phone number.
I called, and chatted. He claimed it had no accidents, no rust, a nice interior, and that it "ran when parked". I asked him where the car was, and he said Lee Co GA. Lee County? Where?
Turns out it was 9.2 miles from where I was standing. I told him Id be there in 10 minutes.
When I got there, he had the hood open. Charging the battery. Dead as a doornail. But the car looked good. No rust, no dents. Nice interior, including a stereo. Shifter felt good. Oversized brakes. Not a great paint job, and it had some after market goofy looking wing. Decent wheels and tires.
I couldn't resist. I said, "So, how much do you want? $1200?" He said, "Well, I just dropped the price on FaceBook to $1000". This guy doesn't seem to understand much about negotiating. I asked him if he'd take $800 cash. We settled on $900. I hadn't even heard the engine run. Didn't care.
After shaking hands and handing him a deposit, I turned the key again, and it fired up! No smoke, revved great, ran smooth, no weird noises. Went to slip it in gear and got nothing but grinding. It felt like a clutch. I am almost certain the clutch is shot, and the trans is fine.
So, it appears that I bought a perfectly good running RX8 that needs a clutch for $900.
The funniest part is that I haven't even unloaded from my trailer the RX7 I bought yesterday!
I'm stoked. See you at the Challenge!