1993 Sentra SE-R Good Deal?

[JMMooney]

Hi. My Maxima was just totaled and I am looking for another car. I was rear ended by an 18-wheeler in stop and go traffic . I found a 93 Sentra SE-R for sale in my area for $2800. It has 77,000 miles. He just rebuilt the engine, new pistons, cams, and crank. It has an aftermarket muffler. New tires. Walbro high volume fuel pump. It is black and he said there are no tears in the interior and minor dents in the body. Also the rear bumper was replaced. KBB for this car is $2500 for excellent. I am going to look at it Thursday and was not sure if there was something I should look for being wrong with the car and what I should offer him.

Any opions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,Mooney
Modified by JMMooney at 1:16 PM 10/28/2008

[nametakennow]

Modified fuel system and rebuilt engine scream "driven hard" to me. I'd talk him under your KBB number there, more like $2k if he has solid documentation on the rebuild.

[Sechsterlo]

Sucks to hear about your maxima, at least you came out ok. Good luck on getting a new ride.

[hienesey]

The fifth gear popout is somewhat of a common problem. If it stays in fifth gear, it should be okay. Also, make sure there is no rust. Good luck.

[JMMooney]

Thanks for the replies. He said there were <500 miles on the rebuild. It makes me scarce that he might not have done it correct. $2800 sounded a bit high to me. I am not usually good at haggling, maybe I can get it down with this car.

I have read about the 5th gear pop out. If there is a problem with it will it happen often?

Thanks,Mooney

[Marksr20]

77k on the chassis is nice but there must be a reason behind the rebuild. Is the car rusty? Check the door jams really good and the rear wheel wells outside and underneath. The car can get a little rusty around the doors and bottom rocker panels.

5th gear popout is generally in the 91-92's but it does happen in the 93-94 very rarely. If you put it in 5th gear on the highway when you test drive the car it will immediatly pop out of gear either when you put your foot on the gas or when you let out the clutch.

$2000 is a good number, If it had 77k on the original great motor and chassis then $2500 but there is a reason behind why it was rebuilt. Thats whats baffles me unless it was modified.

Good luck with your purchase and if you do buy post up pics!

[JMMooney]

I am looking at the car tonight and will ask why he rebuilt it. And if he put stock internals in the rebuild. Sounds like I know what to look for from what yall said.

I'll keep you updated on it.

Thanks,Mooney

[JMMooney]

I looked at it tonight. It was not my type. There was some kind of funky paint job, it felt like 400 grit sand paper. Made weird squeaks and noises. It didn't suit me. It would be a nice project car but I don't have the time or money for it.

On another note I may have found a 1990 300zx 2 seater. Pearl white. Looks to be in great condition except for a tear in the seat. My brother looked up the vin number and it was totaled in 1989, maybe on a test drive? Here is the link. If you live here don't take it before I get a chance to test drive it. The asking price is $4995. KBB was $4990. They resprayed the front bumper and fixed the shipping.

http://www.southtownmotors.com...7340c

http://www.kbb.com/KBB/UsedCar...|true

[nametakennow]

Probably a primer job or matte cheapo paint (Krylon?).

I'd avoid a salvaged car, many insurers won't cover them or charge our the wazoo for it.

[JMMooney]

The title said nothing of salvaged so I went ahead and got it. It was too great to pass up. I have also been wanting a 300zx since before I turned 16. Now I'm 21, almost. Compared to all the other cars I looked at this was the best. I posted in General Chat and will post pics when I get a chance.

Thanks for chiming in everyone.

Mooney

[nametakennow]

If it was totaled, it should have a salvage title. Weird.

[Sentra'94]

If it was totaled, it should have a salvage title. Weird.

Weird? My word for it would be "scary." I don't think it could have been totalled on a test drive because it wouldn't have been titled yet I wouldn't think.

Might think, "Ok, that makes sense, that's why the title doesn't show it." In that case it would have probably gone to a dealer auction straight away and a used-car dealer would have purchased it and may have done what he needed to do to make the sale to the person he would have then sold it to.

Around here, one can repair a salvage-titled car but they are extremely strict about it. You almost have to make it better than brand-new and have to keep recepts & document the entire process. And then it's still not a given.

If it was repaired "off the books" then of course the repairer would not have had to follow such strict guidelines.

I used to hear, "If you are test driving a car that was wrecked, get it up to highway speed and nail the brakes to see if it jumps a couple of lanes over instead of stopping straight." I guess that no longer applies lol but still I would hope you checked the car out very well including taking it to an alignment shop to make sure everything is in spec - can be adjusted to spec anyway.

Then again, it was totalled so long ago that I might expect that if it is still on the road it was probably fixed acceptably. If it was repaired right away and didn't sit for years before (or after).

Btw, I have been told that cars that are not COMPLETELY demolished may still be totalled if the repair cost exceeds the vehicle's value. But just how much damage would have had to have been done for the repair cost to be more than the value of a vehicle that was at most a few months old?

I do hope you have gotten a good value in this deal and of course a safe vehicle. Those cars were pretty decent.

Have you done a carfax history on it?