Possible S13 Purchase...thoughts?

[airman86]

I went and checked out a local 240sx that someone has for sale. It's a '93 5spd with 225k on the clock. The car currently does not run, as it has bad compression. I brought my toolbox and ran a compression test, it was 30-60-40-40.

The car is rust free except for two spots on the hatch where the spoiler used to be, shouldn't be too hard to repair. The interior is kinda meh, just needs a little TLC. A plus is only an itty bitty tiny crack in the dash.

The listing said $900 but the lowest I could get him to go was $800.

The car turns over fine, no weird noises. Just needs some cleaning and a rebuild (which i will be doing to ANY 240 that i get). It also needs paint, the clear coat is flaking pretty good.

What do you guys think? $800 worth it? What are the possible causes of the low compression? He says he bought the car from a friend with intentions of rebuilding and selling it, but doesn't have the time. His friend left it sitting for 8-10 months (after it stopped running).

I appreciate the feedback.
Modified by airman86 at 6:14 AM 4/4/2009

[Justin35ll]

could be headgasket, valves, piston rings.I would try to get him a little lower, pics would help decide

[AutoShadow]

Yea, , pictures would definitely help us out.

[gregfarz78]

If the rest of the car is really rust free I'd pay $600-800 for it, guys in CA will probably think its too much but on the east coast you pay a premium for a rust free car that old.

[S13Joe]

Paying for a car that almost more than likely has rust and doesn't run for $800 sucks.

[sebazztard]

800 is way too much. move on the owner has some emo attachment to the car.