Inspecting S14 prior to purchase
Inspecting S14 prior to purchase
I'm looking to finally get a 97 or 98 S14 this week. I have 4 or 5 prospective ones, but I need to know what to look for to make sure its a good car. This is my first car that I will own, so I don't want to mess this up. Any particular things on the S14 to check? I know you should make sure all the VINs are the same, listen for any odd noises at idle and when revving, drive to see how the clutch feels, try out all the electronic features (like power windows, etc), and check for rust or suspicious looking parts on the frame/underbody. Anything else I should do? I'm also trying to bargain the cars down a little bit so I want to know anything I could point out to drop the price. Thanks!
Definately check for any kind of leaks, and any weird suspension/road noise. My friend bought a truck with a slight squeal in the rear end, and 2 days later the solid rear axle snapped in half on the freeway.....Also, I like to make sure all the electrical accessiories work, lights, cruise, and the stereo. Electrical shorts really suck for troubleshooting, trust me.
Loveless wrote:just a few hint I have gathered
1) visit carfax.com, you can take the VIN of any car and found out some history about it.2) take your hand, feel around all the gaps, like where the hood and bumper meets.... all around, that way you can see whether it's been hit or not.3) look for screws/bolts that has metal color exposed under the hood. For instance, if my car is white, the screws/bolts that hold the fender down would also be painted white. If it was recently unscrewed because a fender replacement, you can tell by the scraped off paint on the screws.4) look for original winshield/windows. Theyu should have nissan logo on them, broken: very likely it has accidents5) make sure every function in the car works, from power window to cruise control... from ac to dome light. AC is especially important.6) if possible, let the car idle from completely cold to operating temp, you often hear hidden problems in the process7) invest in a 30$ compression gauge and do a compression test on the engine8) check all 4 tires for camber wear, if at least 1 tire has uneven wear then you MIGHT have bad alignment, bad alignment is often caused from a prior accident9) jack up the car and inspect the suspension components. You can often find some clues under the car... say if the control arms are different color, you know something is up10) lastly, make sure the engine/transmission/chassis has the same VIN
that's all I can think of right now