Down to the wire, Please help me make the right decision (ASAP! <:-[ )

[misato]

The situation is thus; I had an accident with my 91 NX 2000, and I wanted to get a 240sx. Friend of a friend was selling one (yea, you can starting "uh-ohing" now), so I told him I was interested.

Car info: 1993 240SX SE Super HiCAS | 162,000 miles | white | fairly good condition black leather interior | some small rust spots, and some minor body damage on the passenger side front fender and bumper | moon-roof seals seem good | aftermarket springs on the car, lowered around 2" in front, 1" in back, camber is decent, but ride is harsh, extremely rough over any road surface faults | decent 17" aftermarket wheels and tires | Injen intake

He said he was asking $2500, but he would probably take $2000, since there was a "ting-ting-ting" coming from the engine, and the power steering whined when it was first started. I told him I was favoring it over other choices (don't really want to go $9K deeper in debt on a 99 Subaru 2.5RS Impreza), but that I wanted to get it checked out first.

Respectable Mechanic's "Pre-Sale Inspection" report:

"tink-tink-tink" The car needs it's timing chain and tensioner replaced. $1900 estimate I wouldn't even consider doing this repair since I would hopefully be looking at a SR20DET or maybe RB engine swap. I read that this noise is due to the plastic tensioner, and the chain very rarely breaks. (please correct me if I am wrong).

There is some smoke in the exhaust (burning some oil), and that "replacing the valve stem seals" could possibly fix the problem. $645 estimate

It won't pass VA emissions test with this smoke.

It also won't pass VA safety inspection due to:

Passenger side hi-beam out. $265 estimate to replace headlight switch (this is 100% confirmed, it is DEFINITELY not the lamp or a fuse).

Small hole in muffler. $95 estimate to weld the tear shut. (Not worried about longevity due to likely hood of new exhaust accompanying new engine).

Clamp and hoses replaced for power steering, to eliminate whine; $190 estimate.

Now some of you may know about Virginia's incredibly strict (even facist) regulations. Safety inspection is extremely tough and it is done ANNUALLY, as is emissions. Inspection standards are so high, if you have an aftermarket fog light on your car, it will fail inspection if it doesn't work, even though it's not stock, or required.

I plan to confirm this with my mechanic tommorrow (Wed. morning), but to the best of my knowledge, the car will pass the safety inspection if I have the headlight/muffler/power steering issues taken care of.

Now, I know a guy who knows a mechanic (asian in-circle thing), who says the guy can probably be very leniant on the emissions, and pass the car, assuming the muffler hole is fixed.

As of RIGHT NOW, I am trying to coordinate all of this with a deadline of Thursday afternoon.

What I hope you knowledgeable members of this community can help me with, is:

The guy selling this car to me will drop to a $1800 sale price; is it worth buying the car, and paying about $700 in total repair costs to have the car legally on the road in VA?? This would be a total of $2500 out of my pocket, and I would be left with the car, as originally described. It would still have a smokey exhaust, and need a new timing chain sometime in the not so distant future. I have aspirations to do the typical SR20DET engine swap, or perhaps even try to swap in an RB. However if I am putting out $2500 initially, it won't be until the late summer that I can do this.

This has been an extremely complicated endeavor so far (believe me, this is the concise version), and I am now down to the wire. I really would like to have a 240 to work on, but it MUST be a reliable daily driver as well.

I am at the mercy of your wisdom! q[@_@]p

thank you all in advance, for helping a noob.

d-_-b

[azncorruptedo17]

$1800, is not a bad price if the shell is still in good condition.

Buy the car, but don't date the papers until you have money for an SR swap or if you want to do the repairs go for it. But my suggestion is to not date the papers, wait to get an SR swap, then get your car smogged "legally" (emphasis on the quotations). Only reason why i'm saying not to date the papers, is so that you can do that 10day tansfer thing when everything is in order. and make sure to have the pink slip with you =] and just date it later incase your friend is trying to do something funny

[Arrow]

I would say that it's worth the 1800 and the extra to fix it... though, in my opinion I would endeavor to fix the problems myself and therefore spend less money after buying it. But nonetheless, an additional 700 isn't that bad... so a total of around 2500 isn't that bad of a deal... BUT, I have seen 240's that are in better condition going for around 2500 (that had around the same mileage and were also HICAS)

Hope this helps

[masticatingcow]

Contrary to my fellow members, I would suggest that you could probably afford to let this one go. If your NX is unsafe to drive, I can understand your rush for another car. Still, I think that 2500 is a little steep for what you're planning.

See, depending on what you're willing to replace, all you need in a project car is a straight frame. In your case, you also need a daily driver in the meantime, so you'll need good brakes, suspension and a reliable engine. You'll probably dump that suspension setup once you develop calluses on your butt, and those leather seats, well, they're nice, but you'll probably end up wanting to swap those out, too. Leather or not, S13 seats were created equally unsupportive.

My recommendation is that you find an older and higher-mileage 240sx. The KA is an incredibly stout engine. If it was properly maintained, it will not fail you. I bought mine at just under 200K miles and have never had a problem. I'm no granny, either. I have a good time with the car, winding it up on the occasional freeway onramp and off the occasional stoplight. Don't be afriad of a higher mileage engine, ESPECIALLY if you've already decided to swap in the future. You also won't need HiCAS, in my humble opinion. I've driven 240sx's with and without HiCAS, and it's really not all that great.

If you can hold out a little longer, I say let this one pass. You can get a better car for your purpose for, I think, at least 1000 cheaper.

[Project S13]

No SR swap until late summer? It sounds to me like you're on a budget hehe. Not making fun, I'm a student and so I only do about 2 mods a year lol. But anyway it may be a little risky to have a car with the timing chain rattle as your DD. Though the timing chain itself is unlikely to break, there is a risk that it could get loose enough if you have a tensioner that has failed or locked up (I speak from personal experience here) to slip teeth every now and then which can lead to bent valves and then you'd not be going very far with that engine. I don't mean to make you paranoid, but I know someone with a 91 coupe who has had this happen and my engine (150K at the time) developed it and I rebuilt some of the timing parts to fix it cause it could have slipped teeth too. I didn't replace every part though, just the chains and I fixed up the tensioner--it still worked but had become locked so it couldn't apply any tension. It only cost 600 or so to DIY it because I didn't pay anybody labor and because I only replaced a few parts, the chains and maybe the cam gears.

As for the car and your situation, like I said I don't really kow often the timing chain leads to a big problem (ie bent valves) but if its not often and you want to try something exciting then go for it lol. It is about a standard or maybe a little bit high price for the car but it could work. Think about what you want to do with the car and if hicas is going to be your friend or your enemy. If you don't want it you may as well just wait and pick a car without it. There are plenty of 240s around for sale last time I checked, and removing or locking hicas is just more money in the pit yanno? Just my .02

Anyway, just thought it might help. Good luck.

[drifter_for_life06]

i tihnk its worth it

id persoanlly invest in some tools(if i needed new ones) and fix the problem myself, in-turn saving cash for that good 'ol SR

im looking at a 92 hatch that the guy wants 1k for, its currently not running(due to what he thinks is a starter/alternator problem) its got mis-matched/colored body parts and a busted light

at least yours starts so id say go for it

[biggie]

First timing chain is $500-$600 at most done by Nissan dealership(not $1900).

I have a used OEM cat back here in NC for $10 (not $95).

Other stuff is most likely cheaper than what has been quoted. Depends on what you want to do with the car (drift, autox, track, and/or just street), the HICAS can be eliminated if you don't want it, but if you don't want it I'd suggest finding another car. If you can get it for a little less than $2k, I'd say go for it. S13s are high value, this one ain't too bad.

[drifter_for_life06]

yea, im sure a Nissan Dealership can cut most of those prices you mentioned in HALF

i think the shop that quoted you is a rip-off?

[WeldingHank]

i thought the offical nissan fix was to remove one fo the timing chain guides.