Background -
I'm 37, have three children 17, 15, 14 (Girl, boy, boy) as each of them hit about 13/14 years old I made them a deal - whatever money they saved up, I would match to help them buy their first car. I'm not the type of parent that goes out and gets their kids a brand new car - just not going to happen. I think they need to learn the joys of ownership and the pride of getting something you worked hard for.
Recently, (as in yesterday) my oldest boy took me up on my offer and we went searching for vehicles. I've got a history of working and dealing with classic American muscle (ford, chevy, dodge, AMC) but never ventured into the import market. We looked at over 10,000 vehicles over the course of a few months and finally stumbled across a 1990 Nissan 240 SX Hatchback. It's a higher mileage car, sitting at 180k, but in my reading, there's not much to worry about if the car was maintained well. The seller had a record of almost every oil change and filter change and repair history we could imagine. No smoke when we got into it (and holy cow I didn't expect that torque from a 4 cylinder) and a pretty cool ride. it's a 20 year old car so it's not perfect - seat cushions (driver side especially - owner was a real big person) need work, the back quarter panels were dented in a little (1/4 inch on one side, about inches on the other, neither compromised the hatchback seal). Car is pretty loaded, power everything, automatic, moon roof, AC, etc... Thanks to the forums and tech notes here, I think I was able to weed out the possible pit falls - no marble noises, no trunk rust or door rust and the like. Like I said, it's a 20 year old car with 20 year old paint and 180k miles so there's work to be done, which was expected.
Anyway, we managed to get into it for 1,200 which for a running car that doesn't need any work to drive I thought was excellent. Then i started looking at all the after market parts and options available with my son, and it just sold the car for us.
So thought I'd drop a note, maybe post a picture which I'll try now, hopefully it'll work.
1990 Nissan 240 SX by namoric2002, on Flickr
So that's it - figured I'd post, get some thoughts of where to start - keep in mind, this is my son's car. His money, his name on the title, he worked for it. The cost is his to bear. I know I'd like to get brake work done first, they seem a little soft. The rear spoiler has got to go (giant sponge rust maker) and after that, Alex (my son) wants to start on the inside and work his way out to the exterior. His thoughts was he didn't want to worry about scratching the paint while putting in new carpet, speaker boxes, or maybe putting in a turbo.
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