Hi,

I'm going to be looking at a 93 SE-R w/ 72K miles at a dealer in the next few days, and I was wondering what I should be looking for. I have a 91 w/ 110K miles, so I know about many of the common problems, but I'm lucky enough to not have 5th gear popout, so I wanted to know how to test this one. Should I just get it on the highway and put it in 5th? Do I need to get to a certain speed/rpm? How quickly will it popout of 5th? Any input or other things to look for would be appreciated. Thanks

Sammy

Go into 5th gear, slow down below 50mph, and then get on it. It should pop out of 5th if there is a problem.

Thanks for the info.

sammy

Find a slight downward hill, do about 10 mph put it into 4th and step on it. If you hear the engine speed up alot but the car is not your clutch is slippin. (the downward hill is so you won't stall her out.) See if you can find out if she has ever been up North or a beach car. Salt eats cars. Open the door, the catch on the bottom has a plain ole steel bolt. My XE was a northern car, that bolts rusted bad. My SER is a North Carolina inland car. The bolt is perfect. See if you can do a compression check, Um...run the title through http://www.carfax.com. Yes you do have to pay for the full report but I think its worth it for the piece of mind. Plus if you ever sell it you have a wonderful selling tool to back up the quality of your car my friend!

Best of luck Sammy

also check for rust in the typical areas...the door jams,inside wheel wells,spare tire well and the metal under the doors.....those are typical spots for the classic's

Simple. After you test drive it, ask them to put it up on a lift in their service department so you can look at it.

Basically you want to look for any fluid leaks/dents/signs of rust.

As you're buying it from a dealership (Nissan?) they'll already have done an inspection on it, so it should be in good shape and ready to sell.

You'll want to ask what has been done to it. (It's service history). Have they performed the 60k on it?

Check the belts, do they have cracks on them? Check the coolant, is it a bright green or a brownish color? What do the brake pads look like - is there a lot of pad there?How much - 1/2 inch? Do the rotors (disks) have groves in them or are they nice and smooth? How are the tires? Do they have plenty of tread? Do you see the wheel weights or are they missing (and need to be rebalanced)?

Do all the lights work? No bulbs burnt out? Check all the electrical items... AC/Lights/Cig. Lighter/ect.

While they've got it up in the Air just double check that it doesn't have any problems. CV boots go bad on Nissans... so make sure all 4 are good (both Inner and Outter boots). Check the Oil Pressure Switch and make sure it's not leaking (located right above the drain pan (it looks like a plug with a wire comming out of it). Check for any coolant leaks (you'll notice them as greenish/whitish fluid marks. Check for any power steering leaks (this will be on the passenger side - the feed line leaks as well as the rack). Power Steering fluid is a redish brown color when you see it.

Check that the Crank seal is good... it's on the side of the engine -the bottom pully.

Again, check for Rust and any signs of repainting/rebuilding of the body/frame.

When the car is back on the ground, check that the valve cover gasket isn't leaking.

That's pretty much everything I can think of off the top of my head.

Basically you want to look for anything that is wet or overly dirty (that was wet but was cooked by the engine). If you see anything, point it out and ask the tech about it.

Hope this helps.

Visit Rick Zotz's website www.zotz.com and check out his proceedures page. It's quite informative. Some leaks around the transmission might not be serious if the source of the leak stems from the neutral and reverse transmission switches. Replacing them would solve that particular problem. That's just one of many minor repairs that appear to be worse than they really are at first inspection.

Good luck,

I appreciate all the help, but the car is a no-go. I called this morning to double check they still had it, and the dude told me it was an automatic (which is not the same as "5spd" they had listed in their ad). That killed the deal right there. Bastards.


Thanks again for all your input.


sammy

Maybe he was wrong (if it was a dealership).

My favorite is to ask them when the last time the timing belt was changed. If they give you a date, run away.

Originally posted by Calum
My favorite is to ask them when the last time the timing belt was changed. If they give you a date, run away.


Lol... that's good.