Need help with purchase.

[smdbruce19]

There is a 89' 240sx with a sr20det engine.(straight drive) He wants $6300 for it and he claims $10,000 is put in the car but i fear i have a lot to do in the interior. He moved the battery to the back and removed the back seats. Claiming its a drift car and I trust him because its suppose to have 400hp. I am turning 17 next month and could get the car, but i feel like it would be to much to handle for an everyday car. Is the car worth it and what upgrades do you suggest?

[krash]

$6300 is wayyyyy too much for what sounds like a hacked up '89 240sx with an SR.

[Chaluska]

a 17 year old shouldn't be getting into a car worth that much money.. go grab a 1989-91 sentra SE-R, and learn how to drive... then you can appreciate a bad-a** car.

[mechanicalmoron]

It sounds like if you feel the need to mention the battery being in the trunk, you have a LOT to learn before paying anywhere near that much for a car like this.

For that much money, it better be a pretty special 89. It doesn't sound like it is. Did you see a dyno sheet for 400hp?

If you're worried about putting the interior back in, yeah, you probably shouldn't buy a drift car for a daily. I mean, maybe if the price was right and you knew what you wanted, but this guy's taking you for a ride. And even if he's not, he might as well be, because it sounds like you have NO clue what you're looking at buying.

[smdbruce19]

The battery is in the back seat area but the engine is all new nothing wrong with the engine. It super clean only thing that's wrong is the battery placement and interior.

[laxands13]

Like mechanical said, you've got a lot of research to do. Having the battery in the back is not necessarily a bad thing. You could put a new interior back in for relatively cheap but if having an interior is your concern then you probably don't want to get this car. Take it from me (just turned 18, bought a 240 before i was even 16), it would be worth it to wait for something closer to stock. the KA by itself is fun enough to enjoy as your first car. Do you have any pictures or info anything you could post? That would help everyone figure out value too. I mean does it have any brake or suspension work done too?

[mechanicalmoron]

The battery is in the back seat area but the engine is all new nothing wrong with the engine. It super clean only thing that's wrong is the battery placement and interior.

Assuming it has a front-mount intercooler, there's very limited space for a battery under the hood, especially a full sized one.

It's in the car for a reason, he didn't go out of his way to do that because he's stupid. It could be moved farther back into the trunk, but it's not going to fit back under the hood. Assuming there's no cage or anything in the way, you could get a back seat and put it is, but I'm not sure you'd want to, are you planning on taking your friends out cruising in a drift car, or something? I personally get quite annoyed when people try to get me to give them a ride in my back seat, with the front seats in a reasonable position they simply don't fit in the back. It's not possible to drive with someone sitting behind you, unless they have their feet on the seat, and if someone's on the passenger side, the passenger seat must be all the way forward, jamming the front passenger against the dash. I only have a back seat for a child seat, it's really a pain when persistant people want to ride in the back, with their feet all over my amp and wiring and such.

If you did have a back seat, the best you could do is fold it down anyway, I'd say. It's a 2+2, not REALLY meant to have anybody back there. The car's nicer to drive with it down, and has a nicer feel in general, and a nicer look, and nicer cargo space.

The fact that you think the battery in the back is a problem, and that you're so bent on "fixing" the back seat, shows that you probably want something else. Just get a 4door honda, and don't rice it. Economy, japanese engineering, quality cars that run forever, and battery under the hood with room for your friends in the back seat.

If you don't want a hardcore, loud/rough driving, 2 seater, that may not be able to navigate a lot of rough areas and rides like it's got skateboard wheels, and clunks and rattles and such, do not buy this. If it's built to drift, it's NOT going to be comfortable car for people who don't put function over form. It's probably got a clutch that will jam you into the car in front of you the moment it bites, and all the rest of that, if it's really near 400hp. It's not going to be a simple matter of putting a back seat in it and driving your friends to parties or whatever.

If you really want the sports/practicality compromise, there's a really simple way to get that: buy a stock 240. It will cost you less than half as much for a nice car that's much more suited to what you want, and then when you get used to it you can upgrade it yourself in ways that make sense for you, or decide that you want to sell it and buy one that someone else has upgraded.

[smdbruce19]

http://charlotte.craigslist.org/cto/3720404877.html
Take a look for yourselves. i dont plan on giving more then one person a ride, i dont car about intior a** much as others. i care about whats under the hood, not if i have 27" rims with everything all backed out and ricing up the car. Im hoping to putting a HKS turbo kit and hi-power exhaust.

[mechanicalmoron]

http://charlotte.craigslist.org/cto/3720404877.html
Take a look for yourselves. i dont plan on giving more then one person a ride, i dont car about intior a** much as others. i care about whats under the hood, not if i have 27" rims with everything all backed out and ricing up the car. Im hoping to putting a HKS turbo kit and hi-power exhaust.

Why on earth would you do that to it?

Maybe I wouldn't pay 6k, because I don't have 6k. But it looks pretty decently put together (though I must confess, I have no idea why there appears to be a strut running from the motor to the strut tower....).

If only one person would ride in it, why would you "fix" the back seat? Why your general attitudes about what's wrong with it? You don't understand why the battery is in the back seat (there is, indeed, a turbo intake pipe running through where it used to go under the hood), but you are all hot to replace the turbo and exhaust (for no reason at all)? The car already looks like it would be a blast, and has everything taken care of for a long service life before you'd need to do ANYTHING to it.

You should not buy this car. It's not what you want, and you would ruin it anyway. You seem to have just changed your attitude, from "fix the backseat" to "install the first expensive turbo and exhaust names that showed up on google". It's already got a turbo, and I don't know anything really about SR's, but I don't think you're going to take that boost much/any higher without building the motor. I don't really know crap about cars, and learned everything I know because I like my 240, but you're learning it all in response to finding a way to justify buying one particular car on craigslist.

I'd take the tint off the tail lights, find a fuel door, and peel the stickers off. That's all it needs.

Not. For. You.

Why don't you buy this to trash out, and leave the 240 be? http://charlotte.craigslist.org/cto/3769155404.html it's cheap and looks "cool" and sounds like you're driving around in a bathtub. And nobody will know you really have a v6.

[crakin240]

Back to reality. If you have the money to replace everything and buy it all at once and have money put back for repairs then do it. won't learn to drive unless you start. 400hp isn't a very good start though. Chances are you'll bang it up on curbs or walls or lose it in the rain unless your a born driver. aka "the stig"... But in all actuality these cars come with an inherent penalty, You have to pay to play. Buy it but expect to be trouble shooting problems and bumming a ride if you expect it to be your daily. Don't be scared to try it but don't try to buy a toy and expect it to never let you down. Recomend a daily and then a 240. Plus, you'll be able to buy the good stuff like PBM, SPL, and Garrett... not ebay brand and "thinwallpos llc."

[smdbruce19]

I forgot to mention I am The Stigs American cousin. So I can handle the power, I don't need o show off the power every time my friend revs his engine. I want to upgrade the car over years since I'm going to the Air Force. I dont think it matters that I'm young I would be driving it much now, once my contract ends (6 years) then I can enjoy driving it. But for now I want to buy it and replace a couple parts upgrade some others.

[Morph]

OMG here we go. That car is not worth $6300 It MIGHT be worth 3k. No interior, no name suspension parts "400 HP". At least it appears he didnt cheap out on the tune if is is an enthalpy, but 10k in parts alone??? There is no way he has spent near that including the price of the car.

Op do your self a favor and get a stockish 240sx and mod it your self. This could/will be a nightmare, the big thing that scares me is the custom tucked and loomed wire harness. Who did it? Where are the wires run, were they cut/extended properly or did he use some cheap a** crimp connections?

IF there were legit parts, suspesnion, turbo, manifold, full interior new paint and legit wheels then and only then could he try justify spending that much, and even so thats a stretch.

Cliffnotes: No your 17.

[krash]

(though I must confess, I have no idea why there appears to be a strut running from the motor to the strut tower....)

That is a torque damper.

Maybe like $4k-$5k tops. It doesn't look as haggard as it sounded at first. But its always sketchy to buy someone else's project. If I were you and had $6k saved up to spend on a 240, I'd definitely be searching for a clean bone stock car and then swap the motor.