Opinions on a potential 240sx purchase

[airman86]

Hey all, short-time lurker and first time poster here. Seems like a vast base of knowledge and support.

ANYWAYS: I've been wanting to get into the 240sx scene for a while. The S13s are in my budget, have lots of potential, and look pretty good with no modifications. That being said, I've been searching in my local area for a 240sx within my price range. The first one I checked out was very clean and well maintained, it was a '93 with 60k miles on the motor and about 160k miles on the rest. He wanted $4,000 for it, which was too much for me to cover with the cash I have on me so I was unable to get that one.

So, tomorrow I'm going to check out another '93 with 180k miles. It's completely stock, good maintenance records. However, it has some body damage to the rear. Unfortunately it's creased, so I'm pretty sure it's going to need a replacement panel (and maybe two). I'm no body guy, so I'm really not familiar as to costs. My guess for something like this would be about $700 or so, but here's a picture:



He has told me there is similar damage to both sides.

So, I was wondering what everyone's thoughts on it are. As far as price, he's asking $2500 on a local classifieds listing. I spoke with him on the phone, and he might take $1500 for it. He says it's pretty much sat for about 8 months, as he has a daily driver but he makes sure to drive it once or twice a month.

Is $1500 for something in that condition a reasonable deal? All opinions are welcome, and sorry for a longer post. It saves from making a thread pointlessly long when people ask for information the author didn't initially take the time to put in the OP.

Here are all the pictures he's sent me:http://s9.photobucket.com/albu...240sx/

[Future_gohan]

Worth no more then a grand, and thats pushing it in my opinion. It looks clean but it wouldn't need a replacement panel, unless you want it seriously done that way..The panel doesnt look buckled because the window didn't break. So it should be fine to just hit out with a hammer and bondo it.

But Seriously. Idk, it looks decently clean but with that amount of miles and such. eh.

[ca18detgabby]

lol I see those kind of prices for such crap and look forward too putting mine up forsale......

hats some ugly damage and not fun to fix AT ALL. to do it RIGHT is going to cost more than 700 I would think(if both sides are that bad).

going to need a rear bumper likely too.

180k on the clock

I would move along.

[airman86]

the mileage isn't too much of a bother, I plan on rebuilding the motor within a few months as i'm going to end up throwing about 13-15lbs of boost on it, once i find a safe number of boost for stock internals. plus, it's a 16 year old car. that's less than 12k miles per year, which is low-average. i've seen 8 and 10 year old cars with well over 200k miles.

this is the kind of feedback I need, but 240s in this area are hard to come by so the price is probably going to be higher here than what i could get for one in a bigger city perhaps.

[Future_gohan]

the mileage isn't too much of a bother, I plan on rebuilding the motor within a few months as i'm going to end up throwing about 13-15lbs of boost on it, once i find a safe number of boost for stock internals.

this is the kind of feedback I need, but 240s in this area are hard to come by so the price is probably going to be higher here than what i could get for one in a bigger city perhaps.

They're rare here too. Trust me..

And I paid 200 bucks for mine..

Secondly, When I went out looking I was gonna buy a Track ready 240sx with tien coilovers and a cold air intake for 1200 bucks. So I would get it down to a grand if no lower.

And tell him why.

the body work will cost a lot.

Cracked Dash, high mileage, etc.

[airman86]

most of the "clean" ones in good shape and around 160k-180k miles are selling for around $3500-$4000, i've kept my eye on several. most of the other ones are riced out. called a guy the other day about 45 minutes from where I live and he described it as "custom paint, it's a two tone green and silver flames coming from the front wheels". about half the ones i talk to are riced out.
Modified by airman86 at 6:53 AM 2/20/2009

[airman86]

/bump

also, i needed to mention that this is only the 2nd one i've actually been interested in over the past 2 months i've been looking. that's how it is down here...not many are still together/working/for sale....

[numbnuts240]

don't settle for what's available now. hold off a little longer and something in better shape and price will come along. i made that mistake once and i got nothing out of it except lost money.

[Snappshoota]

I bought a 240 a few weeks ago that was in worse shape in the rear quarter panel. Not that hard to fix, until you get right by the tail light. You could try and pound/pull it out yourself, or find a loaner car and cut the rear quarter out.

Black outline will be easy to knock out (just go slow and take your time) Blue outline is where youll encounter some trouble, if you plan to do it your self.

and miles.. pfft bought mine with 182,xxx just do a tune up (Plugs,wire,dist,oil,filter, etc) and youll be good to go. Just drove from MD up to ohio and ran like a champ all the way here..

[SleepyHB]

Don't know if you know about this site, but check it out..

http://www.carolinanissans.com...um=42

[airman86]

i've checked around on carolinanissans, and only a couple are within driving distance just to "check it out". plus i saw a few on there that i've already passed over due to price/condition/etc.

as far as the damage, i do plan on doing it myself however i'll probably just try to find a donor car and pulling the parts from there.

but yeah the mileage doesn't matter too much as far as the engine, it will get new rings and bearings soon, at least before i do some more research and find out exactly what needs to be done to boost it and how much it boost it can handle.

[ZX88]

i wouldnt pay more than 800 for that. 1. it high mileage 2. its not that clean. 3. damage on rear quarterpannels will probably cost up to 1000+ to fix something like that. i would just move along.

[sebazztard]

ill add one to the pass list. i would prefer a clean car with a blown motor and crap interior for 1k, than a car with body damage that is going to cost 1k to fix and THEN add on all the rest of the repairs. do what you will tho, just know what you are getting into.

[hbpignosePA]

so not worth it.... is going to cost more than that to make it look ok..

get overfenders if you do get it

[S13Joe]

Please dont waste your money. For $1500 you can find something soooo much better, just take your time and dont jump on the first OK deal you find. I personally wouldnt even go look at it.

[airman86]

the lowest he'd go was $1800. i passed.

[driftneil]

airman86 Email me [email protected].

[airman86]

email sent.