First post on here, I've got a few questions. First, I presume the "Classic" SE-R is for the Sentra? If anyone could explain a bit of the lingo I might encounter here, great.

Second, I came across a 92 black Sentra SE-R with 112k. It is a two-owner car. The most recent owner had the car since 11k. He had the 5th gear issue at 65k, so replaced the gearbox with a used one with 25k on it. He said before he traded it, the problem was starting to surface again, having ~75k on the gearbox, at around 75mph under heavy throttle. Around town 5th gear felt very nicely engaged, have yet to confirm the highway driving problem.

Interior is in very good shape. Exterior: left rear panel was repainted, as was front bumper. clearcoat on rear bumper cracked in one spot. Everything else works well, car really looks nice.

If the gearbox does wind up having the gear problem, what have been the experiences of those of you who either rebuilt it yourself (difficulty, time, special tools) or had it done (cost, etc). The dealer has 4200 on the window, I've got him down to 3300 now, figure I could use the gearbox as leverage to really whittle down the price. Any and all feedback and recommendation is hugely appreciated.

"Classic" refers to the '91-'94 Sentra SE-R. All '91-'94 Sentras have the B13 chassis, and the '91-'93 NX2000 and NX1600 are considered to be KB13s, but are still B13 cousins. The '95-'99 Sentras and 200SXs are B14 chassis, and the '00+ Sentras are B15s.

The 5th gear pop-out is certainly a big point of leverage in bringing down the price. If you're paying a Nissan mechanic to replace 5th gear, you could be shelling out around a grand. If you have the mechanical aptitude, you could do it for considerably less. My '92 hasn't had any problems with 5th, so I don't know exact prices.

The ultimate tome of information is the SE-R Mailing List archives, so search there:

http://www.se-r-list.org/archives/

SE-R List Dictator Larry Weeks, who had the problem on his NX2000, has some basic information on the do it yourself route:

http://www.se-r-list.org/fifth.gear.phtml

A Sentra SE-R is a fantastic used car, but don't get a rough one. As hard to find as SE-Rs are, don't hesitate to walk if the dealer wants too much. $3300 isn't terrible, but I'd try to go a little lower.