My Dilemma

[RanciD]

I've been looking for god only knows how long for a base model 240SX and well, I finally found one. This car is exactly what I'm looking for. The problem is it *may* have been in a front end collision. The owner says he suspects the previous owner might have been in a fender bender which was repaired before he bought the car because sometimes on humid days he hears a squealing sound from under the cowl. If the frame is bent or cracked this car is worthless to me. The obvious answer to this is to get it on a lift at a shop and check it out. That's where the second problem starts. This guy is flying up to NYC this Saturday from North Carolina. He had intended to drive the car back down there. If he sells me the car he's going to fly down or something (not sure, he's now getting hesitant about selling it at all). Anyway, he's staying in NYC overnight Saturday and leaving Sunday sometime. This means I HAVE to figure out if there's something wrong with the frame in that amount of time and finish the deal Sunday if I'm going to. Basically, I need to:

1. Find a body shop in the Flushing, NY (Queens) area that is open Saturday and or Sunday and can get the car on a lift or

2. Inspect it to the best of my own ability and hope for the best.

As it is, when I call him tomorrow I'm going to get as much more information as possible.. whether the car's been repainted (I don't think this is the case but it may be possible) or if the fenders/hood don't match the rest of the body. He said when he bought it he visually inspected the frame and it looked fine but he isn't a mechanic and never got it thoroughly checked.

What can I look for? If it's obviously cracked/bent or covered in rust I'll know there's a problem, but is there anything subtle I should look for if it looks ok? There's a very good chance I won't be able to get it into a shop.

My plan as of right now is to go down Saturday and look at it and hopefully get it into a shop then. If not then at least try to arrange it to go in the next day if possible. I'd really like to know whether or not I'm buying it then though because unless I'm sure I'm not getting it then I have to go in my dad's truck Sunday with a trailer.

Normally I would probably just pass on this because this is a pretty strange situation, but you have to understand I've been looking for a base model 240SX for over a year and they're extremely rare in this area. At this point I am not going to settle for one I don't want, I've waited too long for that. That means this car may very well be the only base I'll see in the next six months. I am not going to let this pass me up if at all possible.

Please offer me any advice possible. :(

[Dousan_PG]

look for the spot welds on the rad support and along engine bay
um..if its 100% stock check for the bolts that hold the fender on. if new and never removed they'll be painted over and no cracks around them
also look at the strut tower, sometimes the paper piece that go over the strut (between chassis and strut) is visible (not seroius, dont LOOKfor it, but stock will hve it and its usuaully sticking out and broken/old)


um..the spot welds are the biggest part. :)

[RanciD]

Thanks a lot! That's very helpful. Yes, the car is 100% stock so hopefully that will help me determine if something is suspicious about it.

I just thought of something else also! I'm going to bring my digital camera down and get a ton of pictures of it. If I brought them to a mechanic do you think he could make a pretty safe guess based on them or would he really have to get under the car itself to tell? Either way, I'll post them up here and you guys can give me some opinions then. Again, thanks for the input so far.

[RanciD]

I forgot to add, the reason he thinks it may have been in a front end collision before he bought it is that one hot/humid days he hears a squealing sound from the driver's side cowl. That's the only thing making him think it may have been in a fender bender. Could this be caused by something else or is it likely that it was in a significant accident and has frame damage?

My thought is since it only happens on hot days it could be his AC belt slipping but that wouldn't really be on the driver's side.