THANK YOU!!! And hello from another 240SX convertible owner

[NormZelnick]

I bought my white, used 1993 240SX SE Convertible (White, Black top) in 1995 in Austin, Texas when I was 25 years old.... It was the most expensive purchase i've made in my life... ($17,500)... but it was also the one I was most proud of.It had (according to the salesman at the local Mazda dealership) every option available, and some rich man got it for his wife... It was beautiful on that raised, tilted display, and it turned heads back then. It only had 14,000 miles on it at that point, but it was already starting to show the signs of interior problems (imo, the only drawback on Nissans)....I enjoyed the car alot, and when it finally got close to the 32,000 mile warranty expiration, I decided to take it to the local Nissan dealer for those interior problems.Because Texas is hot, and the interior is black, the top of all four interior door panels were warped on top, and an air vent left of the driver display was falling out for no reason.Fine, they said, but they had to order the door panels... Then they called and said they couldn't replace the panels with the same ones as the ones I had... The ones I had had grey leather insides, and they couldn't get those... They ordered the ones with the blackdo/white fabric ones, and they tried to convince me that they looked good with the grey carpet and black leather seats... Oh well, I thought, at least I'm getting new panels... (They also convinced me by saying that if I were to pay for them it would be at least a $3000 bill)...I bet it wasn't more than a year or two after that the new ones started to warp as well...

I've never had to take it back to the dealer again since.

I've done lots of maintenance work on it (new water pump, new rotors and bearings, brake pads about 10 times, and numerous oil changes) until about a year ago, when old age wrecked the top and the back window split when lowering the top, I decided to replace it myself...I remember everyone saying "There's no way you can do it yourself.... even professionals have a hard time doing it!". But I'm not rich, and I saw a cheap new top on Ebay for $250, so doing my research I came across this site.WOW!I knew the internet was a godsend, but I couldn't believe to depth of knowledge this site gave me for my beloved 240SX...I used the instructions on here, and it took me a whole 3-day weekend (with some problems I couldn't overcome), but I finished, and it looked BEAUTIFUL... Everyone couldn't believe I did it, and it looked better than a pro could do it.(The problems I had were (1) the rod above the back window WOULD NOT GO BACK IN!!!! Seriously, I could only get about an inch or two in, then I broke off the rest... The result is a rippled back window that can only be seen at an angle, and (2) the hydrolic system stopped working when I put the top about half-way up to work on glueing the front, and it kept falling back in...after that, I press the top up/down buttons, I hear the pumps run, but no movement... any tips?)

After using this site to replace the top, I read as much as I could about other topics on here, and, wow, it's been a wonderful resource for the problems that you have with a 16 year old car.

Next was the brake lights were always on... (The rubber nipple on the brake petal broke off)

Then, the transmission was screwing up (the sensor was going bad... I just unplugged it, and now it's running off the spedometer)...

It seems every problem I have, you all have had them before, and have discussed them out completely, so I don't have to spend the $$$ finding out what's wrong... This has saved me more money than I could even comprehend...

So I just wanted to say THANK YOU and keep up the conversations about our wonderful cars... I thought about selling my 240SX once, but now I think i'll keep her forever. (especially after seeing the beautiful modifications to the body and the engine/transmission swaps done here)

(I was even thinking about converting my convertible to electric when the engine dies, but with the extra reinforcements done, it's a little too heavy for a conversion... oh well..)

Sorry this is so long, but I just wanted to introduce myself, and I will be posting to this thread and others, asking and answering questions and posting pics if you want to see my car!

Again, THANKS and keep postin'!

NormZ

[94_240sx]

Great story. Welcome!!

[cmkelly]

Welcome! This is by far the best forum for cars on the Internet - so much information, so many people willing to help. There's actually a guy on this forum who's offered to help me with a 5-speed swap for pizza and beer. A great bunch of folks.

Keep posting, pics, stories, register your vehicle, etc. You're one of a very few who've owned your vert as long as you have. A testiment to how much fun these cars are.

[wmdavis007]

Great story! I know how you feel. When I first got my car this was the only resource that I needed to help fix any problem or mod I did to my car. Post up some pictures of your car...we all would love to see it. Don't hesitate to ask any questions...try and search first...but no question is a dumb one. With all the gearheads we have on this site I'm sure it will get answered. Remember...post pics...and if you do any work or mods take pics and post them...we are all picture crazy. Welcome to the forum!

[-RJ-]

our cars were 17k back in 1995. holy jesus

[Piper]

Great story and welcome to the forums.

I can almost guarantee that every problem that has ever happened with a vert has been discussed on here. From transmission problems to simple little things like headlight bulb replacement. Its all here for the taking, you just have to search, thats the hard part.

Also, I should warn you, as you are new, you will be expected to have at least one pic of your vert for us to see. I can see Dexter reading this and pasting in one of his many "show me pics or else" pictures as we speak.

And, if you would be so kind to add your vert to our registry, we would appreciate it very much. We are trying to keep track of and get a number on how many of our beloved verts are left on the road.

RJ, I think I would pay 17k to be the second or first owner of a vert. To know that your the only one to sit behind that wheel and know exactly what has been done/happened to her would be awesome.

Once again, welcome.

Hope you enjoy your stay!!

[biggie]

our cars were 17k back in 1995. holy jesus

Some were probalby higher than that.

I bought my first S13 in '95 for 14k with 23k miles on it, still had the original sticker listed at ~$21k (was a '92 Coupe SE AT). The Verts were more expensive than the Coupes, some as high as close to $25k I believe.

[Eikon]

Norm,

Thanks for signing up and sharing your experiences with us. It's always great to hear that the collective hard work of the forum has helped people out.

Please do post some pictures if you have the chance. I find that most of the nicest convertibles are the ones that a single owner has owned for a long time. They are usually must better cared for.

[DeXteR]

Welcome to Nico. It really is amazing how great this forum is. It is THE BEST automotive forum I've ever been a part of. Granted, I don't venture out of the vert forum all that often, but there is just so much useful information here.

That being said, you MUST POST PICTURES!!!!


Modified by DeXteR at 1:00 PM 9/7/2009