I'm thinking about getting a new car...

[XJeeper20]

The guy says the car is in good condition and that the chassis has about 150k miles and a swapped stock motor has about 50k-60k miles on it. I was wondering if I could have a mechanic take a look at it and make sure the car is in good running condition. Is this reasonable? I know the guy isn't going to tell me if there's anything wrong with it so I just want to make sure. How should I go about doing this? Should I just ask him to take it to a mechanic and have him give it a once over? I'm not too sure what to do here. Thanks for any help

 

[T3hk1w1]

Definitely have a trusted mechanic look at it. Is it being sold by an individual or a dealership? If a dealership, make especially sure that you pick the mechanic, not the seller.

 

[IslanderOffRoad]

What kind of car?

 

[Matthew Currie]

If you aren't very experienced, or even if you are, but aren't very familiar with the kind of car you're looking at, you could miss something that's not obvious, or perhaps some problem that's more common on that vehicle. Even if you decide to go ahead on the car, the mechanic will probably find a few things that might give you bargaining leverage. Hiring a mechanic for the test will be cheaper than most repairs you find yourself saddled with if you miss a fault.

 

[Schnoz]

Almost every time I have ever bought a car I have told the seller upfront that my test drive includes going to a mechanic and having it checked out. Either they are fine with it or they are not. If they aren't ok with it why would I buy it?

it has saved me on 2 vehicles so far. and actually persuaded me to buy my xj.

 

[FlexdXJ]

What kind of car?

X2 that usually helps!

 

[Someguy]

Take it to a mechanic, if the seller has a problem with you spending your own money to have the car checked out something is very wrong.

 

[XJeeper20]

Its a 5-speed manual 1992 Nissan Sentra SE R. The guy has done some custom work to it like adding headers, exhaust, intake, and a complete engine swap. I don't know much about these cars and I've never owned a manual so I won't really be able to tell if the clutch is acting up or anything like that. I like the idea having a mechanic that I choose to take a look at it and yeah if he opposes then I probably shouldn't take the car.

 

[Someguy]

While I have never had the chance to drive one of those they were extremely popular back in the day and get part of the credit for creating that nich in the market that's dominated by cheap small cars today, like the current SE-R, the SRT-4 and of course the GTI. What did he swap the engine for? If the car's been worked on it would be good to have it looked at just to ensure he didn't screw up any mods.

Bring a friend who drives stick with you, he/she should be able to give you an impression of how the car feels and drives. If I was selling a car and found out you couldn't drive stick I wouldn't be too keen on letting you take it for a spin, but everyone is different.

Definitely have a mechanic look at it if you want to drop the money on a prepurchase inspection. Might give you some bargaining room when you finally make an offer on the car.

 

[Matthew Currie]

My stepson's girlfriend has a 96 Sentra that I think is an SE-something, and it seems like a pretty decent, reliable and peppy car, but three things she's found:

first, it's hard to find parts for some of the sportier versions which were not very common.

Second, it's not very good in snow, not sure why, maybe weight distribution or too much torque for size.

and third, the engine is shoehorned in there pretty tightly, making some jobs time consuming if not downright frustrating.

If there's modification involved, I'd definitely take a mechanic along to check that it's a sanitary job.

 

[Darky]

While I have never had the chance to drive one of those they were extremely popular back in the day and get part of the credit for creating that nich in the market that's dominated by cheap small cars today, like the current SE-R, the SRT-4 and of course the GTI. What did he swap the engine for? If the car's been worked on it would be good to have it looked at just to ensure he didn't screw up any mods.

Bring a friend who drives stick with you, he/she should be able to give you an impression of how the car feels and drives. If I was selling a car and found out you couldn't drive stick I wouldn't be too keen on letting you take it for a spin, but everyone is different.

Definitely have a mechanic look at it if you want to drop the money on a prepurchase inspection. Might give you some bargaining room when you finally make an offer on the car.

The GTI actually was around before the SE-R IIRC and was plenty popular on its own. It is often credited with creating the hot hatch market.

 

[PhotographerMike]

Its a 5-speed manual 1992 Nissan Sentra SE R. The guy has done some custom work to it like adding headers, exhaust, intake, and a complete engine swap. I don't know much about these cars and I've never owned a manual . . .

If you need to ask questions about buying a heavily modified vehicle you should probably stay far away. And then there's the little problem of smogging . . .
Definitely not something to get if you need reliable transportation from day one.

 

[kujito]

Modded cars like that tend to have been driven hard, and not necessarily by a skilled driver. Having a mech. go over a car like that THOROUGHLY is a must.

The fact that the motor's been swapped would be enough for me to look elsewhere.

 

[vincepru]

those are great auto x cars! parts are pretty hard to find though esp for the ser.

 

[NW-ZJ-SCOTT]

why was the motor swapped? was it for a different motor, or a stock replacement?
What brand clutch? and when was it last done?

get a good feel for the clutch, and motor mounts. those are good ways to tell if its been drivin hard.