How many miles are too many?

[BoltCrank]

I'm considering buying a stock '93 hatch, and I was hoping some of the more experienced KA people around here could give some advice as far as mileage goes. The car has an exceptionally clean exterior and has a mostly clean interior, but it's got ~180k miles on the engine and (auto) transmission. I know alot of it has to do with how well you take care of the car, and this car seems to have been treated well, but there comes a point where enough is enough no matter how well you take care of it. Do the stock s13 parts hold up well with high mileage, or should I expect every moving part to fall out of this car shortly down the road, even though it seems ok at the moment? I'd like to do a bunch of work/upgrades on the car eventually but don't have the funds or time right now, so it will have to hold up for a while on it's own. Thanks in advance for your time and any advice you can give.

[Tyler]

if its an auto, i would first say dont buy it cause thats lame. but to answer your question you should be fine, because it is an auto so it most likely wasnt ran super hard unless it was owned by a ricer fanboy. high milage 240's are all over, so id think your fine

[numbnuts240]

being from ny, i would be more concerned about body rot than mileage.

[gregfarz78]

being from ny, i would be more concerned about body rot than mileage.

This

I wouldn't worry too much about mileage if they allow you do a compression test just to make sure it still looks good in that department then when you get the funds do a complete rebuild you can get 200k+ out of that engine though if it was well taken care of.

[BoltCrank]

I already checked the car...like I said, it was very clean. No rust/rot on any of the usual 240 areas (or anywhere else for that matter). My main concern, after seeing that it was rot-free and structurally sound and all that, was that it was going to crap out and die because it couldn't take the mileage.

And yes, it's an auto, but again due to money/time constraints and some other factors, and seeing what's been available lately, I'd rather get an auto now and do a swap later on than either spend a crapload more right now on a good 5spd or settle for a manual that's taken some shots and is in worse condition.

[xX RB Xx]

miles are unlimited when its properly maintained.

[PooPooButter323]

^^ yep i have about 240,000 mile on my body and no rust and frames are straight..... be smart take of your car and dont leave your baby in the heat

[TroubleBound]

Yeah i have 238,000+ on original body/paint/motor still runs like a beast shes 5spd daily driven, no leaks or noises (other than my swollen timing chain rattling....).

[Us3rname]

I dont know If this counts but I have over 250k on my 93 altima and I pretty much beat the s*** out of it. It wont quit. Iv even driven it toped out without any oil in it. It still gets 30 mpg. My 240 only has 90 k on the swap tho and gets over 30mpg and was the smoothest running engine Iv ever heard until 2 days ago.

[RCCC_DRiFteR]

I was at 234K on orginal SOHC and was still drifting it with no rpoblems. No matter how much abuse it cranked over and started everytime. More reliable than my SR lol

[OMSIN]

miles are unlimited when its properly maintained.

^^thats whats up. I suggest buying a manual, it will save you money, time, and the trouble of doing a manual swap. when you do get a 240 the first thing you should do is replace all fluids, replace spark plugs, spark plug wires, spark plug boots, change out filters specialy the fuel filter, basicly do a badass tune up. I'd say sea foam it to but you may loose compesion if its a high milage engine.

[gregfarz78]

I already checked the car...like I said, it was very clean. No rust/rot on any of the usual 240 areas (or anywhere else for that matter). My main concern, after seeing that it was rot-free and structurally sound and all that, was that it was going to crap out and die because it couldn't take the mileage.

And yes, it's an auto, but again due to money/time constraints and some other factors, and seeing what's been available lately, I'd rather get an auto now and do a swap later on than either spend a crapload more right now on a good 5spd or settle for a manual that's taken some shots and is in worse condition.

Then don't pass it up if the price is right but its near impossible to find a zero rust car in the northeast. I wouldnt worry about it breaking down even if something does break its cheap and easy to fix. Most nissan engines can take some abuse if properly maintaned, I got 125k on my qr25 I know that not a lot but she runs like new and supposedly that motor is the red headed step child of nissan motors.