keener

This afternoon I test drove a 93 SE 5-speed with only 89,010 miles. The car had mint condition black leather, CD, dual power seats, etc. Well, I started the car and all I heard was VTC noise. The noise died down after 2-3 minutes of idling but it was still there. I thought to myself "how the hell could this be with only 89,010 miles". So I looked at the oil filter, it was penzoil. The guy wanted $4850, which I was willing to pay but then I noticed the over spray along the left door jams. I guess it wasn't meant to be.

crazy4maxima

iTrader: (5)

over spray in terms of the maxima being painted thus you thinking it was in a wreck>>??

keener

I am assuming it was wrecked because I also noticed one spot on the rear driver side jamb with exposed metal(a bit rusted, but exposed). The fact that there was over spray and a lot of it, as well as bear metal, led me to believe the repair was not done at a quality shop. The guy purchased the car from an auction.

lophix

iTrader: (3)

thats why carfax exists.

CandiMan

iTrader: (1)

You didn't go thru with the deal because of the VTC @ 90K and not because of the over spray. As mentioned, over spray just mean poor quality work. Now if the wreck cause major suspension or chassis damage that's entirely different.

keener

The over spray was bad (primer and paint) and I really didn't want to spend $600-800 to have the car painted. The side that was painted looked fine but the rest of the care was quite faded. The VTC's were the big hold-up for me. I personnaly would rather have another VG SE than deal with the issues of the VE (no offfense, this is just my opinion). In addition, I did run a carfax and no report of an accident was noted. Either the accident was recent or was never reported.

Jeepfreak

90,000 and the VTC's are just now going out? That doesn't sound to unusual to me. When I originally bought my 92 SE back in October of '95, it had 30,000 miles on it. The VTC's were completely gone already. It was at a Nissan dealer and still under factory warranty so he assured me it would be fixed. I ended up buying it and within 2 weeks getting the VTC's fixed by the dealer. I had only a month of warranty left. I've now got 115,000 miles on it and no noise at all. I just use regular dead dino, no synthetic. I do change the oil every 3,000 miles myself though, using Fram filters.

My friend bought a 93 SE with the same problem. His had around 48,000 miles on it and the VTC's were already shot. He bought the car and put the $1,600 in it to fix them.

crazy4maxima

iTrader: (5)

about the accident, you can be right. If its not reported it doesnt mean that it wasnt in an accident. Now paint is another question. Yes you can pay another $$ amount for a good job, the thing is is the maxima in good condition? Does it drive properly. ? Yes VTC's are an issue. but you can grund them. Not really that much of a headache. But for the miles of the max and price would be on conidition on the maxima. 90k and in good running conition and looks ok for its age could go any where from 3-5k, keep looking around and you will find her.. I found mines with 117k on it color needs to be buffed out to shine, but it runs and needs little work nothing major. and i got it for around 3k