Thinking about buying a J30, little help?
Thinking about buying a J30, little help?
I am new to this forum, but have read your posts and I am impressed. I am thinking about buying a 97 J30. I test drove the car and was really taken back buy how nice it was. It has 125,000 miles on it and they want 5k for it. The problems are as follows; the sunroof only partially opens, and the passenger window in the back sometime will get stuck going up.do you guys think 5k is a good price for it? I am a little worried because of the mileage i might get it and something will go horrible wrong with transmission or something. What do you guys think?
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J-Owner
- Posts: 484
- Joined: Fri Dec 27, 2002 10:38 am
- Car: 2010 FX35 owner and former owner of an '05 G35 Coupe and a '95 J30T.
$5K is high. What you need are maintenance records to tell you the condition of the vehicle. Hopefully the current owner had it serviced at an infiniti dealer in which case you can get a printout of the maintenence records.
I would be concerned that the timing belt, timing belt tensioner, idler pulleys, water pump, etc. were replaced at the proper time (105K miles). If this has not been done then odds are the current seller doesn't care much about maintenence and therefore I would be leary of purchasing the vehicle.
The J30 is the best car I have ever owned. I currently have an '05 G coupe but had a '95 J30t for ten years. The key to these cars is maintenence. If you properly maintain it then It will last you quite a while. If this guy has not properly maintained it and you buy it then you are risking significant costs to yourself in the future. The parts for this car are almost always only available through Nissan and they are not cheap.
If it IS properly maintained with appropriate records and you can get them down on the price then I would say that it sounds like a good buy. I think $3,500 would be a better price. $4K tops.
Just my $0.02
I would be concerned that the timing belt, timing belt tensioner, idler pulleys, water pump, etc. were replaced at the proper time (105K miles). If this has not been done then odds are the current seller doesn't care much about maintenence and therefore I would be leary of purchasing the vehicle.
The J30 is the best car I have ever owned. I currently have an '05 G coupe but had a '95 J30t for ten years. The key to these cars is maintenence. If you properly maintain it then It will last you quite a while. If this guy has not properly maintained it and you buy it then you are risking significant costs to yourself in the future. The parts for this car are almost always only available through Nissan and they are not cheap.
If it IS properly maintained with appropriate records and you can get them down on the price then I would say that it sounds like a good buy. I think $3,500 would be a better price. $4K tops.
Just my $0.02
Re: (J-Owner)
Thank you. The problem is that the seller buys cars from auctions then gets them inspected and sells them. Could i find out the maintenance stuff through the Vin#? Thank you for the reply.
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driverdriver
- Posts: 3397
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Welcome to NICO!!!
You can find maintenance records through the VIN if you are able to locate the original selling dealer.
Check the first "stuck" item thread in this forum for what to look for when buying a J. I think it says "newbie's start here"
Well maintained J30 are reliable and a blast to own and drive. J30's that are not well maintained can turn into a money pit.
The vast majority of parts found on the J30 are available only through Nissan/Infiniti dealers. There is very little of an aftermarket. These parts are expensive(after all its an Infiniti). If you don't have the cash and/or aren't a do-it-yourselfer, you can easily get in financially over your head.
You can find maintenance records through the VIN if you are able to locate the original selling dealer.
Check the first "stuck" item thread in this forum for what to look for when buying a J. I think it says "newbie's start here"
Well maintained J30 are reliable and a blast to own and drive. J30's that are not well maintained can turn into a money pit.
The vast majority of parts found on the J30 are available only through Nissan/Infiniti dealers. There is very little of an aftermarket. These parts are expensive(after all its an Infiniti). If you don't have the cash and/or aren't a do-it-yourselfer, you can easily get in financially over your head.
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J-Owner
- Posts: 484
- Joined: Fri Dec 27, 2002 10:38 am
- Car: 2010 FX35 owner and former owner of an '05 G35 Coupe and a '95 J30T.
You should be able to take the VIN# into any Infiniti dealership and get a printout of the maintenance records on this car.
Now that is assuming the seller used an Infiniti dealer for service. If he was not religous about service at a dealer like I am then the records will not show every maintenance item on the car. This is a good place to start though.
Now that is assuming the seller used an Infiniti dealer for service. If he was not religous about service at a dealer like I am then the records will not show every maintenance item on the car. This is a good place to start though.