:confused:

Well ever since I gave up my dream of buying a 96' supra due to my very limited finances, I decided that the car I wanted before college was a 90-96 300zx, turbo or non-turbo. I love that car, the engine, the look, everything, but I was recently presented with a dilemma.

My friend's mom just bought a benz and so she's giving her daughter (my friend) her 2000 maxima. Well my friend owns a 1996 se-r with 64,000 miles on it. She drives like a girl, doesn't push it much. She's a really close friend so she said her dad will let her sell it to me for $3,500. The other thing though is it's an automatic. I wanted to get manual transmission definitely, but this deal sounds pretty good. Does anyone know how much a tranny switch-up would be on this car?

I don't think I'll have the money for the Z and I want a car now. This sounds like a pretty good deal. I figured if anyone knew if it's a good deal it would be SE-R enthusiasts.

If anyone could help me with my questions I'd be very grateful. If I did get it, I'd want to pimp it up some. I'd like to smoke some of my friends with their Civic's and Integra's. Well anyways, yeah if anyone can help me out, it'd be a big help, thanks!

- Aub

Well, in stock form you wont be beating too many Civics and integras with the automatic. I think this is a good price especially since you know the owner well, and know its been babied, that motor is probably dying to be reved. An auto to manual is gonna cost you the tranny. the shift console and the labor, but Still that being said, It sounds like a good deal it being a 96 with such low miliage. I say if it looks good, and has been taken care, go for it at that price. :cool:

If it's an auto and babied (never revved)...it is probably globbed up like all the JDM automatic primera motors. I think I would pass.

sounds like a good deal! Even if you would buy that car and sell it, you would have a lot of money left over. But that is a great price for the mileage! Good luck with your decision.

Reselling it would be a good idea...I didnt even think about doing that...:)

I was in a similar situation as you. My dream car is a 90-96 300ZX twin turbo, but I figured a 200SX would be fun as a daily driver. So, I picked up a manual '95 SE-R with low mileage for a fairly good price. It's a great car, lots of fun to drive, but given a chance to do it over again I would've gone for the 300ZX.

I say, go for the dream car, even if you have to save a bit longer. You're going to be driving the car for a long time, so get the one you'll enjoy the most.

i wanted a 300TT as well...but my finances at the time wouldn't allow it....so i had to settle for FWD for the time being. sounds like a pretty sweet deal ***...low miles are they key on that deal.

I have a NX with auto. Off the line it is a dog, but once it gets moving it is pretty quick. It does 50-80 very well. I would suggest driving the car and seeing what you think of the auto. If you find a reasonable way to do the tranny swap let me know.

At that price you shouldn't even have to think about it, unless of course you don't want to be caught driving a puttymatic. For me it would also depend what color the car is, if its purple or teal, I'd probably buy it and sell it to a girl. Its your call.

Thanks for all the feedback. Do you think if I bought it for 35,000 I would be able to resell it for more? It's white, and it's in good condition. I've driven it a few times, it drives good. It has a CD-player, carpeting is nice, no accidents I don't think. However I was in her car once when we scraped a truck, but only a little paint came off and she got it repainted. It's a nice car, but it's kinda girly... So that's why I'd either want to resell it or make it a car I could learn to love... but either way, thanks for all the help.

- aubert

$ 3,500 I mean.

You can get blue book values at kbb.com or carpoint.com. Do you think your "close" friend would be happy that she cut you a deal only for you to turn around and resell it for a profit? I'd be pissed.

Chris

Originally posted by 96stse-r
You can get blue book values at kbb.com or carpoint.com. Do you think your "close" friend would be happy that she cut you a deal only for you to turn around and resell it for a profit? I'd be pissed.

Chris

Thats what I was thinking. You're in kind of a pickle here. It seems like a really good buy, but looking from a performance perspective, you really want a 5 speed. For $3,500, I'd buy it and convert it.

Ooof. Tough situation.

I got 18K on my '96:)

Yea. I'm not sure what I'm going to do at this point. I know my friend won't get mad as long as I don't just sell it right away, but she'll understand if I saved up enough money to buy my dream car and sell her car to help me buy it. She'd be happy I think, money isn't a big issue for her, as it is me. I wonder how much the tranny switchup would be, because I'd probably be driving it for at least a little while. Would it even be worth it though? I mine as well just buy it, leave it stock, and just drive it until I have enough money to buy the 300zx... Well thanks again to everyone who helped out!

:)

Well since it has an Automatic it is worth more than the 5 speed. You can probably sell that car for 5500. I have seen very clean ones go for around there with that mileage. It all depends on the demand for the car, people want these cars now because they are rare. I would put it out for 5500 obo, if you are thinking of selling it right away. That is a quick 2 grand. Believe me, if you dont want the car I will buy it and resell it quickly. There is such a high demand for looks and speed, and this is it. Good luck with your decision.

300zx's are VERY expensive to get fixed and they're not that reliable. The seals/gaskets go bad on them more often than most Nissans. If you are "iffy" about the cost of one then I wouldn't even consider it unless you plan to do the labor yourself... and these aren't simple inline 4's like our cars, so the labor takes a lot of time and is difficult. The SE-R is a lot more wallet friendly. Something to consider.