1995 S14 240SX SE Bad Throw Out Bearing

[Tyrell Corporation]

Thinking about getting this SE, but it has a bad throw out bearing. Besides that, has a couple miniscule dings...guy won't go down from $2800.

It's nasty, though. Push in the clutch, and it sounds like there are no bearings left in the race. Guy explains it as such:

"It was like that since I bought it (15k mi ago!). It's nothing to worry about, it goes away when it warms up. Like I said, it was like that since I bought the car, and it runs fine."

Wow.

Anyway, this means I would be replacing the clutch, pressure plate, throwout bearing, pilot bushing...flywheel... theoretically, how bad could it be (legitimate question, how bad?)?

Should I pass on the car?

Sooooo difficult to find S14 5-speeds around here...

(btw, searched and found very little on this topic...plus, this is an expressly distinct situation...somewhat)

[Eikon]

$2800 for a nice S14 would be a great deal. Clutch, TO bearing, etc... would be things i'd consider recommended maintenance and I'd want to do them anyway.

So if the rest of the car is clean and good condition, and the miles aren't too high (say over 200k), than I'd say $2800 is a good deal.

[Tyrell Corporation]

But how bad do you think it could be? I mean, if the throw out was that bad when HE bought it, couldn't that begin adversely affecting more than the clutch assembly?

...and the mileage is currently 160k.

[Eikon]

I don't think a bad throw out bearing would harm the rest of the transmission at all. But, I suppose anything is possible.

When you boil it down, you can replace the entire trans and clutch and the works for less than $500.

So worst case, you wind up paying $2800 for the car and $500 for the works and you've still got a really nice deal.

In my opinion, the going rate for a clean S14 5 spd car is close to $4k if not higher. Having that maintenance done only helps.

It's not like the person is asking $4k for it and you are worried about putting more money into it.

[Tyrell Corporation]

Yeah, nothing I can think of either.

Had to ask...I've been working on cars since I was a teenager, but I always opt for a second opinion.

Thanks.