I've really been tryin to save up as much money as possible, but I'm gonna hafta put a little into the max I have right now as I'll be drivin it for almost 1 more year before I get my own car. $500 may be a lot, but in the long run I can manage without it.

My 91 GXE is, well, in VERY poor condition. It has about 77k miles on it and runs great. I replaced the sound system and cleaned out the inside, but there's just nothing I can do with the outside. The paint is in horrible condition. There's a reason I wear sunglasses almost everywhere I drive. The hood has been eatin all the way down to the primer due to a gasoline spill. Not just a little bit of the hood, the whole thing! There are numerous small key scratches in the front doors and small marks on the back ones. There's a nice dent/paint scratch in the top of the trunk and the left rear corner of it. Basically, the car is just in bad need of a new paint job.

To get the car painted (not sand-blasted, just painted the same color over the original coat) will cost somewhere around $600-$800 (correct me if I'm wrong, this is a quote from someone who is currently gettin his civic painted). I'm hoping my dad will be willing to split the cost with me (he probably will be).

I could just turn down the new paint job and go get some new rims. My car's got about 10% tread left on 3 tires and 80% on 1. I was planning on gettin some 16"-18" rims and spendin no more than $400 on them (without tires).

Another option is dropping the car. I can buy some sprints and have them put on in my auto shop for free and then have the camber readjusted at a local auto shop. I'd really like a drop, but it's not as noticeable as the other stuff.

A CAI is a nice option as well. I can do this myself and have the school shop teacher cut the hole in the fender wall (or a shop if necessary). I know a CAI would only cost $150, so I'd probably get something else to go with it.

A body kit is yet another idea, but I'm not sure as how good that would look combined with a bad paint job.


Those are what I've thought of so far. Remembering that I can't spend more than $500, what would any of you personally get, taking into account that it's got low miles, is an auto, and has a bad paint job? If I didn't mention something that is still a good choice, say so.

 

It won't make anything look any better, but for a VG with that many miles I'd think about getting the timing belt replaced before I'd do any extracurricular stuff to it. If it's still on the original belt and it goes, the rest won't be worth fixing up. I'd worry about all the basic mechanicals first. See what kind of shape it's in mechanically before sinking money into cosmetics or upgrades.

 

I've had the car for a year now. Timing belt has 7k miles on it, new gasket caps, pump, vaccum hoses, the whole deal. Trust me, the engines in more than perfect working order. Even the tranny hasn't been bugging me. I take care of the car. It's time I make it look good, not just run good. Well, I could make it run better.

 

Ok. I wasn't sure if you just got it and didn't know what you were up against or what. Sounds like you're pretty much ok under the hood. Personally, I'd start working on that paint job. Maybe you won't be able to get the whole thing done at once, but I'd start on it. To me nothing looks worse than a crappy looking body on a car that has big wheels and a bunch of other mods all over it that look like they are worth more than the car itself. Get the dings and scratches fixed and just re-primed if that's what you can afford. If you think you'll have enough money a little later on to get the color coat put on, you may just have to live with a primer-job for a little while, but you'll have much nicer results later. Just a little time and patience.

 

first is safety.. get new tires. forget the rims if you only plan on keeping the car for a year. who cares what it looks like.
there's no point in spending a pile of cash on a car you're only going to have a short time.

get some new tires for your stock rims, and possibly repaint the hood and get the bodywork on the back end fixed.
again, no point in modding a car when it needs tires and has so much other stuff that should be done before you try to make the slowest model maxima any faster.

 

Good point Matt. If I get the tires, I'm gonna get some rims to go with it. If anything, I can swap the rims onto another car. I'll let my sister deal with the dents. Gettin the hood repainted is a definite. I'm just not sure if I should go for the whole car or not.

 

Why don't you get in on our carbon fiber hood group deal. It'll improve the exterior image and you won't have to worry about painting the hood once you get a paint job. The special deal for the hood will cost $450 plus shipping.

David C.

 

Keep the $500 and sell your maxima and buy a faster car!

 

I was going to agree with maxmizd27, but Matt's right. Your tires are more important. If you're down to 10% doesn't that mean you're down to 1/32nds?? If that's right, it's dangerous on anything other than moist ground.

Personally, I'd just get 3 USED tires cheap from a variety of places like tireshops (should have a bunch) or wrecking yards (lots too but inspect carefully - there's a reason why they're in a junkyard). Then I'd spend the money towards the paint/bodywork, since it's no use in getting nice rims and other mods if your body's seriously ghetto.

(The exception here is 12-second rusted-out "sleepers")

BTW, cheap cheap paintjobs *cough*(maaco)*cough* go for less than 300-400 I believe. You get what you pay for, but if it's just a short-term fix it might be okay - some have been satisfied in the short-run.

 

I agree with Matt93SE. Dont do anything fancy (carbon fiber hood, a drop, etc...) I would just get new tires and maybe fix up the car's comestics. I would repaint the hood and have a bodyshop buff out the sratches and do a couple of polishes and waxes. If you have cash left over (which I hardly doubt), get a Y pipe and call it a day.

 

This is the car your offloading onto your sister soon right?

Forget the bodykit with crappy paint, and even a cheap no-prep paintjob will quickly look like *** again and be dead money.

I'd either buy some mods (Y, CAI) that you can have some fun with short term and then remove/sell before she takes over or just put the cash away for the next car. You can always sand the hood down yourself and paint it matt black.

Either way decent tyres are a must.

 

yeah sell the 91, take that money + the 500 + any other $$ and get a nice VE 5 spd

 

I guess rims sound like a good idea. The hood is the major problem, and my dad's willin to pay for that to get painted, but nothing else. Tread wise, well, there's barely any left to grip anything. I haven't had problems in the rain...yet, but it's not gonna be long before I start slippin around. My dad was also gonna get some new tires for the car in the spring. If he is gonna get some tires, I figure I might as well get rid of the stock rims and go for something a little better lookin. When my sister takes the car, I'll just go get some used tires to go onto the GXE rims and slap em back on the max.

Most of you guys make a good point. I'll just buy stuff I can swap out with my future car. I may get a cone filter, but that's all for performance. Thanx for the advice.

 

I wouldn't bother honestly. IMHO you can't really get good rims for $500... honestly if you are going to do good (not even great) tires they will take up every bit of $400. I wouldn't bother doing any mods to the car, basically because while a CAI is cool and all... it won't make a night and day difference. If you spend $500 in mods you'll just be bored with the car again in a week or two. I would let you dad pay for re-painting the hood, convince him that the tires need to be replaced soon and split the cost of tires with him... then pocket the rest of the money for a car that you plan to keep.

 

I bet you can get your dad to buy new tires too.. unless he wants you to die or something.. but make sure you get the hood painted first that way new tires wont take the place of the hood.

 

Brian_TII has a very good point, but if you MUST mod something I just thought of this: Get a Addco RSB - for $115 at Custommaxima.com, it's probably a terrific bang-for-your-buck and you can transfer it over to your new car when you're done!

 

i agree with matt. take care of any safety issues and save the rest.

Fro