Damnit.

[1ZlowZ]

I hate people that lie when trying to sell a car, and BS to try and smother to buy their car...

They were selling an s13, went to go check it out today and they said everything was fine blah blah all it needs was brakes. So we prop open the hood and check oil levels and it has none, I'm OK... We ask them to pour in some oil and they say no its OK, we drive it like this all the time its nothing. We thought well theres no knock so I'm assuming the engine could last atleast lass a couple hundred miles if I buy it and do full tune up. So we take it around the block, sounds OK. The second time around it comes smoking and thought to myself, this car is shit no wonder its cheap. They then start saying things about how the rings around the sparks are bad blah blah, that oil falls on top of the sparks and burns oil that its a cheap 15$ fix he says hes a certified mechanic so he knows what hes talking about... I know better than that. I pull out a wire, blam! No oil on it. Dip my finger. Bam! No oil on spark. He then starts saying its a big motor compared to the other cheap one these cars come with that are 2.0 liters. I'm thinking to myself... WTF? He cant be serious. Most people would gladly give up their KA for an SR. He then ask what I do and stuff. I said I play guitar, he then starts saying I should join his band blah blah. Anyways... I said I'd be back tomorrow but for sure I'm not.

I'll be looking for more S13's for sale... The only thing I know to check are smoke coming from exhaust and knock. Is there anything else to check when buying a car? I don't want to get screwed over 1000$+

CLIFF NOTES

Went to check out car.
Smokes like chimney.
Guy lies says valve cover gasket is bad.
Guy lies saying hes ASE certified and its a 15$ fix
Trys to smother me to buy his car.
I leave, giving them hope that I'll buy the car when I wont tomorrow. Cause our excuse was bank closes a 7... Which it does.


What to check when buying a car?

[Daniel.]

*golfclap*

[blasting_speed]

Make sure its not a 240.

[Felipe]

these cars (http://zilvia.net/f/#) come with that are 2.0 liters

nice to know.... lmao!

[HyperTek]

its an old car what do you expect... its a cheap old car..

typical buying range of s13s now is like 16-19 year olds lmao.. Pass and let one of those kids pick it up. lol

Yes alot of people talk out of their ass.. was it an older guy? or was it some punk kid?

[drift freaq]

well it all depends on how much money your trying to spend. Seriously a lot of times if you're only trying to spend 1k to $1500 you may not get a very good car. Now I am not saying you are trying to be cheap but I see a lot of kids these days thinking they are going to buy a nice clean perfect 240sx for like $1200 that is few and far between and not the norm.

The better cars are going to cost around $2k-3k or more depending on mileage and parts.

Oh and another thing to remember is your looking at 17-19 year old cars at an average mileage of 15k a year that is going to be well over 200k so anything under 190k is like low mileage given the age.

Thats the other thing kids these days don't understand. If it has 160k or less its very good mileage wise.

[CrimsonRockett]

When buying a STOCK S-chassis, aim for $2-3k.

I mean, fully stock, unmolested, 1-2 owners, clean title, under 150k miles.

If you're patient, you'll get a super clean S-chassis.

I waited over two years to buy my second "official" S-chassis.

Ended up with a 60k mile Zenki S13 SE and am happy as a clam.

Patience.

It pays off.

[HyperTek]

listen to Crimson, he collects S13s hehehe

[GSXRJJordan]

I hate people that lie...

I said I'd be back tomorrow but for sure I'm not.

LOLz.

What are you so upset about, anyway? It's not like you bought it, and then realized it was a pile. Keep looking.

[SR240DET]

Maybe he meant valve stem seals are bad. If they are bad then yeah its going to be low on oil, as well as smoke a little (not very much or at all while driving).

[dennydizzo]

so it had no oil at all and u still test drove it?dead giveaway.. dont trip there are still old ladies out there with their original 40,000 mile 240s that they only drive to the grocery stores with on the weekends :rolleyes:

[SochBAT]

You should buy my car. Right now.

[LeftNutOfGowd]

psh you should have bought mine lol i was letting it go for 800 bucks

[1ZlowZ]

Its not that I got it then I found out it was a pile of crap. Its that I drove almost 2 hours... Lame. How much to replace valve stem seals? A machine shop quoted me 1300$ WTF for real?

[randomxzero]

also when buying a car turn it on, keep it on while your talking to the guy, of course test drive it... then when popping the hood check that there is pressure on the top radiator hose...
the hose should be somewhat hard to squeeze.. if not there might be something wrong...

i hate it when you get screwed over in a purchase or trade.. :mad:

[ronmcdon]

To the OP -

THat's just part of the hassle when it comes to buying used cars.
just lot of dishonest and/or ill informed sellers out there.
you just have to be patient & go check the cars out.

don't have your expectations set high.
expect ppl not to be entirely forthcoming/informed
expect to waste a good deal of time
expect your car to have something wrong even when all is said & done.
that's just what happens when buying old beaters.

as another poster mentioned, if you look for cars in the 2-3k range, there's a higher 'chance' you'll end up with something satisfactory.
Prob best to save up now, than to cough up even more later.

[SR240DET]

Its not that I got it then I found out it was a pile of crap. Its that I drove almost 2 hours... Lame. How much to replace valve stem seals? A machine shop quoted me 1300$ WTF for real?

Well i built my own valve spring compressor and put some rope in the cylinder I was working on with the piston at TDC so I didn’t drop the valve. In the end it cost me 2 hours of my time and $20 for 16 valve seals.

These cars are old, so be prepared to spend some money for somebody else to do it or save a little by doing it your self.