Looking for some opinions and help..

[BoyWonder]

Well, there is this nice little convertable 240 for sale nearby here. Well, I want it. Badly. The problem is that I just CAN'T seem to track down the seller at all. No plates on the car, the phone number in the window is a cell phone that from what I can tell has been disconnected. The "house" it's sitting in front of is what looks to be an abandoned shack with 2 busted vans.. looks like seriously low quality housing. The inspection sticker expired mid last year. There is no price and no other means of contact on the car. I plan on going down to ask nearby places of business if they know anything. What do you guys think? I really want this car, but I can't seem to find out how to buy it. A friend of mine suggested I claim it as abandoned, as he knows people that have done that with other abandoned cars. I know this car has been sitting there since roughly last December, if not longer (friend mentioned it back then, but I didn't pay it much mind. Brought it back up recently, as he passes it daily). What are some opinions on this? Has anyone on here personally claimed a vehicle as abandoned or know the process for getting a new title (IE: Criteria, what I need to provide, fees, etc)? I'd like to buy it if I can.. would rather give the car a good home than see it sit there and decay forever. :help

Thanks for any advice/insight/flaming.

[AZhitman]

No flaming - Let's help this guy rescue a droptop!

[Hijacker]

I'll drive down there personally and we'll rescue her from the slums!

lemme ask around about virginia abandonment laws. my friend just got an abandoned FC offa his work property, but he had to wait for something. I believe it was the plates to expire.

[Bunta240]

referring back to the case of finders vs keepers huh? anyways, good luck getting it. No 240 should ever have to sit and rot.

[Hijacker]

especially a vert. we're so limited

[Dattebayo]

I kinda like the hard top in winter... I'd be scared i would flip the sucker over a snow pile or some stupid crap and get crushed by the windshield. But i did like the T-tops in my Pulsar.

[Hijacker]

if you flipped the car over a snow pile, you == going way too fast on snow. besides, if you flipped it, the windshield won't crush you, the ground will. the only concern anyone has expressed about my vert in the winter is it's ability to retain heat. i've had no issues with it being too cold (only when i forget to let it warm up)

[Dattebayo]

im more scared of black ice around here. It claimed its 4th victim here in D.C. just yesterday night. and the windshield would crush you by way of the ground. err, the point is i need to move to florida.

[BoyWonder]

Luckily, here at the beach the black ice thing isn't as much of a problem. I'm not too worried about it flipping..And thanks for the help/offer, Bart. Let me know what you find out. I'll be heading down there again soon to find out whatever else I can.

[SeVa-S13]

It's in REALLY nice condition too. I want to just load it up on a tow behind and carry it away, only problems being the lack of keys. If we do end up acquring it (legally), and manage to get inside the car without breaking anything, we can just replace the ignition lock and key, correct?

Get a JDM tyte Silveeuh key, mmmm.

[Hijacker]

that was gonna be my suggestion

[BoyWonder]

"Call the locksmith!"

[BoyWonder]

OK - bit of an update. Please read, I swear there is a point to this huge post (though it's just for my benifit ). Car is *not* abandoned after all. Turns out that the bail bonds place across the street (well, the daughter of the lady that works there) owns it, and is still selling it. The number on it isn't deactivated, just my cell phone service doesn't like it for some reason.. go figure. Anyways, I got the key and did a slightly more in-depth inspection than looking at how pretty it was outside. Car currently has 134k miles, give or take a few. I found out the meaning of "Needs transmission work"; that is, it will not shift into gear (keep in mind, this is an auto). Obviously, that makes it very hard to test drive it. Not that I could have if I wanted, as the battery was dead. I popped the engine bay open, and it looks relatively clean under there (I'd say as clean as my 95, if not better). No visable leaks of anything I could see. Then again, since it has been sitting for awhile, things could have dried up.. I'll test the engine when I go back down there to see the "boyfriend" of the owner who is selling it on her behalf. Something I also didn't notice before was a crack that spanned 1/4 the way across the passenger side of the windshield. Really easy to see from the inside, but not so visable from the outside. The trunk release.. well, didn't. It did open from the key still, though. No rust that I could see on the outside body. However, it looks like a damn hurricane hit the inside. Beach sand infects the passenger side of the car like a plauge. Not to the point where you can scoop it out with buckets, just quite a bit you can clearly see when you look at the carpet. The driver side door is a bit loose from itself, with the cloth trim deatching from the plastic. The ignition lock (I guess that's what it's called) on the steering wheel is a bit roughed up, but still workable. Various little things are missing, like button covers here and there, and there is doghair all over the seat covers which each have varied rips. I don't know what the roof is supposed to look like, so I can't say what condition it was in other than it was there, and it didn't smell of moisture when I opened the door like a car with a leak might. Ok, so, here are my questions:1) They are asking $1800 for it; I want to talk them down some simply because of the windshield, the rough interior condition and the fact the transmission may be an expensive fix (not that it matters, a 5 speed swap was on my to-do list after I got it). Am I crazy for wanting to pay less for a near-perfect exterior vert? What do you think?2) What should I look for while examining the roof? I plan on charging it and attempting to open it to see how it works. Give me some things I should observe, you vert owners!3) Since I haven't really done a side-by-side comparison, are any interior parts interchangeable between the vert and/or coupe/hatch? I've been in a hatch, and most things *look* similar, but I'd like a confirmation, as getting vert-specific parts would be a nightmare, I imagine, while coupe/hatch parts are a dime a dozen.

:help Help me out! I really want this car! :help

[Hijacker]

1800's not bad. A '92 still blue books for around 5 large. Because of the windshield and interior, you might be able to get them down to 1500.

The main things to look for in the roof are dry rotting (patches of cloth that seem to have just disintegrated) and the condition of the rear window. On my car, I have two identical worn patches from rubbing right over the windows (about the halfway point of the front most section of the roof)

The main thing that is 'vert specific are the doors and the center console switch for the quarter panels. As you probably noticed, the doors have the B-pillar integrated into them for the seatbelts. If the doors are busted up, use that as a bargaining chip. They're expensive to replace. My dealership wants 900 bucks per interior door panel.

The best and cheapest place I can find for 'vert parts is http://www.everythingnissan.com. I ordered new door cup bezels from them and they want only 600 bucks per interior door panel.

As for the trunk release not working, the verts have a latch in the trunk that can be switched to on/off that allows the remote release latch to function or not. No point in having a trunk if someone can open it without the key while the top's down

I say jump on it. There were only ever 3000 verts made, so finding one in a decent shape for that cheap is great. To give you a comparison, I bought my vert for 6900, but after the fact, I found some rust on the passenger rocker panel, some forming on the passenger shock tower, and a huge hole in the floorpan of the passenger side (i think a previous owner wrecked the car and had a tree stump or something come up through the floor there)

[BoyWonder]

Thanks for all the great insight here Bart.. taking it all under consideration. I really want this car badly, and I'm going on down there tomorrow to see if I can work something out, as 1800 isn't quite within my budget at the moment. One thing I am unsure of is the fact I can't test drive the thing. I'd basically be taking their word that everything works when it's been sitting for a long long time. Is there any way I can test things like breaks, springs and shocks without driving? Usually I would just road test them, but obviously can't in this case. I want to not only make sure there are no *other* major problems, but anything minor I find wrong I can use as a "haggle" point. Keep your fingers crossed for me..

[Hijacker]

push on a corner and see if the car still oscilates (continues bouncing) after you let go. If it does, a shock is blown. Other than that, you can't judge the condition of the suspension.

[BoyWonder]

Update time.. again..Well, went down and jumped the thing. Engine sounds pretty damn good, I'd say. Had less rattle/noise than mine, actually. Top went down fine, and all power stuff worked. It did let off a huge puff of oil when we first reved it up, but after that just burned a little. It was suggested that the valve seals may have gone bad after sitting so long. There also looks like there is a short somewhere in the electrical system, apparent by the huge marshmellow puff on top of the battery and the fact that without the jumper cables on my car's battery, the car would shut off as soon as something other than idle (IE, windows up and down, top up/down) was attempted. "Tested" the suspension best I could, and it felt ok. It did look kind of low to the ground, but couldn't really tell for sure if that was just normal height on uneven ground or what. Also, the rotors look to be pretty rusted, so I think they'd also need to be replaced. SeVa went with me, and took some pictures. Maybe he can post them up...And, Bart, where is that latch in the trunk at?I'll talk to the guy tomorrow and see if I can't work out a deal.

[SeVa-S13]

Firstly, Zach and Bart both like men.

Secondly, I pwn.

Seventhly, haev sum pix, kthx. (It's pretty dirty, seeing as it's been sitting for atleast 6 months...)



Damage from someone scraping the rear driver quarter panel... =\

Rear bumper damage / missing emblem.

In general, the interior is in good condition. No cracks, but the driver seat has the rip right where it belongs, and the driver's door interior thingy is kinda jacked. Not sure if it's fixable, but it's fine for temporary usage, just somewhat ghetto-looking.

This is what bothered me. All that corrosion AND that even after we jumped it and had it running long enough for the engine to warm all the way up, the battery wouldn't seem to hold a charge. I turned the engine off and went to put the top up (which is in good visual condition and perfect working order), and that killed the whole power supply. The clock / radio turned off so that was somewhat disheartening. Not sure if it could just be an old, dead battery or something with the actual electrical system. (Satan Incarnate)

The engine ran very well and quietly. No timing chain rattle, valve tapping or other oddities. Revved freely and appeared to leak nothing visible. It did burn oil when I revved it high enough though, which my father theorized to be shot valve seals.

With all that, I think we have some good bargaining ammo. The windshield is a couple hundred, some body damage, valve job, brakes are rusted to hell and I'm sure a shop would charge more than the car's worth to install a rebuilt auto transmission. Luckily for Zach, we just pulled my engine and auto transmission last night in preparation for a CA swap. And while it's not like new, it has all gears and doesn't slip. So we're thinking we can get it to run for the time being with limited work/money invested post-purchase.

Seeing as that goofy mofo in the second pic seems to be intent on buying this money pit of ubarness, we're looking to talk them down below $1500 as much as possible because well, that's what Zach has to spend.

Anyone have theories on the battery corrosion? Oil burning from exhaust? Any and all help will be much appreciated.

[Hijacker]

First: the battery shouldn't be being drained like that. sounds to me like the alternator may be bad, because all electricals should turn over to it after the engine cranks.

Second: Valve jobs suck

Third: At least I don't love your mom as much as you do everynight, SeVA.

Fourth: The price seems right for what normally runs a high dollar car (for it's age)

[SeVa-S13]

I <3 my mum, cuz she cosigns loans. And we're still gunna pay less.

[BoyWonder]

Gonna call some places and get some estimates on what it all could cost. Then the negotiations will begin.

And for the recond, I don't love men nearly as much as Blake.. he'd never admit that to anyone but me, though. :oface

[Hijacker]

you still going to the meet in KY?

[BoyWonder]

Sure want to go. Everything permitting, we will be there.

[Bubba1]

The car doesn't look that bad in pics, but I'd have a mechanic check it over. My gut feeling is if the owner didn't maintain it particularly well, judging by the heavy corrosion on the battery, cheezy tape repair on the bumper, etc. While 240's are fun cars, they can be expensive to fix if not maintained well. And the "need transmission work" burning oil are both glaring warning signs. I recommend you take the emotion out of your decision as it sounds like you really want it because of what it is. From the list of stuff you said it needs, this car will likely run you a few thou on top of the purchase price to make it last several years, and rust is not a good sign for longevity either. 240 convertible's are fairly uncommon, but they're still not collectible. that means you need to be very careful about how much money you would sink into it as you won't get it back when you sell it. I say step back, do some more research. Add up what it'll cost to fix it right. I think if you treat it more as a logical decision instead of an emotional one, you'll make the right choice.

If it were me, the automatic transmission is a deal breaker even before adding up the problems you listed.

[rookiegtr]

speaking of convertible 240s, i saw 2 s13 in christiansburg, VA on a shady auto lot. but was in a run so never had a chance to ask for a price

[Hijacker]

Sure want to go. Everything permitting, we will be there.

you need to IM me (VvethenvV) or email me and we shoudl all caravan.