mtrai760

iTrader: (19)

Back in May of 2007 I was in the market for a new (used) car. My wife was sick of her 98 Integra, and I wanted something to play around with again. We decided my wife would drive my 5th gen, and I would pick up a 4th gen if I could find a decent one. We set a budget total of $10k, including any mods I wanted to make to the car.

After looking around for about a month, I hadn't found much. All the local cars were either junk, overpriced, or both. Despite my wife's best wishes, I decided to start looking out of state. I have driven all over the US and I'm not afraid of a little travel. My reasoning was, if I could find someone who seemed like an honest seller, and the price was right, I could then go out and check out the car myself before handing over any money. I've been working on Maxima's now for 8 years, I know what to look for right?

I finally found the 98 Maxima that Birchrj was selling in AZ around the end of June of 07. I debated on it a few days, still not finding anything local, so I contacted him. This is the PM I recieved about the car:

"I bought the car as is, with all the upgrades, and do not have any of the stock items. The car has been well maintained, however I do not have all of the receipts. I bought the car 3 months ago from a guy in Salt Lake City, Utah, and drove it the same day to Arizona. Drives like a top. I do not know why the engine was swapped, other than that the guys dad owns a repair shop that deals mainly with Nissan. I have had the wheels off to look at the brakes, and there is still lots of wear left on them. There is one small hole in the back seat. Other than that, the interior is in excellent shape. It is a round hole, and one that is not going to run. There is now a crack in the windshield, thanks to the AZ streets. Other than that, the car really is in excellent condition. As I said, I have driven it a bunch in the three months that I have had it, and it runs flawless. I really do like driving it more than my Lexus, but my wife doesnt like it. She is paranoid about the air dam in front. If the car doesnt sell soon, I am going to list my Lexus and see what goes first. It really is a nice car, and a good price for everything that it has on it."

We had several more PM's, and also spoke on the phone several times. I was assured that nothing he had not already told me was wrong with the car. I explained that I was concerned about traveling that far, only to end up with a lemon of a car. The car is perfect he said, your going to love it.

I will give him credit for being easy to work with, I was not able to fly out for a few weeks, and he held the car for me. Birchrj is no kid, he is in his 40's I believe, after all our messages and talks, I was pretty confident that I was getting what I was paying for. We agreed on a price of $6k, down $200 from his asking price, and I purchased my plane ticket.

Before flying out, my wife and I decided that if I found anything major wrong with the car, that I would just buy a plane ticket home and call the deal off. My plan was to drive to Los Angeles where my folks live, and my Mother and Brother were going to ride back to WA with me, stay for the 4th of July, and then fly back, so they had to purchase plane tickets as well.

I flew into Phoenix and grabbed a taxi. Upon arriving, I began checking out the car. I must note that it was around 110 degree's out, everything was SUPER hot. The car is lowered ALOT. Okay, so I started checking out the car. First thing I noticed was a lot of dust on the engine. Didn't really suspect a whole lot from that, it's the desert. I checked the oil and all the fluid levels, all were fine. Then I started up the car, no CEL, sounded fine. At this point, I stepped out of the car and ran into the first problem, the e-brake was not holding. I pulled the handle up harder and felt something pop...

This should have been my sign to walk away, but I did not, my bad. The e-brake stuck on, and the car would not move. I pulled the carpet out of the trunk to lay on (110 out remember!) and found the return spring missing on the LH rear caliper. No biggie I thought, I can replace that, I don't need an ebrake to drive to WA. I pushed the cable back in by hand, and tried to check out the rest of the bottom of the car for leaks. With the bright sunshine out, and the car so low, I really couldn't see much.

At this point, I decided to take the car for a test drive, and an oil change. I figured I would have a shop take a look for any leaks before I signed the deal. 3 shops later, and I couldn't get anyone to change the oil! I got excuses from 'the car is too low', to 'we can't work on it if it doesn't have an ebrake'. At this time, I still had a several hour drive to LA, and it was around 1pm already. The car SEEMED to be running fine, I hadn't seen anything stand out at me, and the seller seemed like a stand up guy. I decided to sign the paperwork and get on my way, deciding to just have the oil changed in LA the next day, where I know shops would look at it.

Drove the car pretty uneventful to LA. I noticed some shimmy in the steering wheel, and a slight whine from the transmission. I took it in to get the oil changed the next morning when I got my first big slap in the face. One of the workers came out to tell me that there was oil ALL over the bottom of the car. I asked him where, it was coming from, the answer? Everywhere. The car did not seem to lose any oil from the drive, but the news was disturbing. I asked him to check the transmission, and he SAID it was full (more on that later). He also told me most of the suspension bushings were shot.

So here I am, I've already signed the title over in my name, I have two other people who have plane tickets counting on me, and Phoenix is 7 hours away, kinda hard to return the car now, though in hindsight, I REALLY should have. I decided whatever it was I would just have to fix when I got home.

Drive to WA was uneventful. Checked the oil every fuel stop. Clutch felt like it slipped a couple times, but not 100% on that. Made it without breaking down, miracle in hindsight.

Once back in WA, I continued to get parts together for supercharging the car. I figured i would pull the transmission, install my new clutch, and replace whatever seals needed replacing and call it a day, 2-3 day job MAX. After driving for a week, I noticed the transmission whine getting louder, and decided to check it out. Transmission was about 3 quarts low. I don't think it was full like the guy said in LA, I think it was low all along and just got worse, but I guess I'll never know for sure. At this point I also saw all the oil EVERYWHERE, caked onto everything, suspension bushings torn up from the oil contamination. I ordered new bushings, and a new bearing and seal kit for the transmission...




At this point while under the car, I also noticed something much, MUCH worse... lower radiator support corrosion...



So, now the transmission needs to be rebuilt, the lower radiator support needs to be replaced, the engine needs to be pulled to have seals replaced and for the radiator support, the front suspension bushings need to be replaced, and the rear calipers need to be replaced. If only it was that EASY...

The last week of July I pulled the tranny. I found corrosion everywhere, and ALL the bolts I removed were severly over torqued, I think an air gun was used for everything (Big NO NO! ) It actually took me two days to get the tranny out, due to all the overtorqued bolts. I also found at this time that the exhuast was severly corroding, and had siezed on bolts. Oh joy. New exhaust and Cat coverter required now. Once I got the tranny off, I was treated to more carnage:




4-5 hours of washing, scrubbing, brake cleaner, and simple green, and it still wasn't spotless, but it would have to do. I decided to complete the tranny rebuild, and then move on to the rest.

Pardon the fuzzy picture, shows the diff needle bearings, clearly pitted and on there way out...



I did all the work on the transmission myself, including installing a quaife while I was in there. Typical transmission rebuild is $1200. That is $1200 I shouldn't have had to spend. Actual cost, $250 for the bearing/seal set and my free labor. Much thanks goes out to Nealoc for answering all my questions during the rebuild.

Next I pulled the engine. Both lower motor mounts were completely shot. Someone had used a TON of RTV to try and fix a rear main seal leak, instead of just replacing the stupid seal. The lower oil pan was dented to hell, so I had to get a new one of those. Both valve cover gaskets, front and rear main seals. The alternator was so caked up I had to completely pull it apart (watch out for those brushes!!!) to clean it. Spent a couple of days time just cleaning the engine and related parts. Found RTV everywhere it didn't belong. They used RTV to seal the Y-pipe to the stock headers!!! Freakin RTV!!! Proper maintenance procedures where not followed anywhere I could find.

While doing work on the engine, I also started the suspension work. All the bushings on both sides were completely shot, along with the sway bar bushings. Both control arms were badly corroded.

Suspension bushings are not supposed to play 'peekaboo'


I do not wish replacing these bushings on anyone. I don't have a press, so it took me a couple days to cut/burn them all out and get the new ones pressed in. I took my time cleaning up the control arms and repainting them.

I decided to have the front wheel bearings replaced while I had things apart. I got a call a few hours later letting me know the LH hub had been subjected to an air chisel by someone and had mangled it so bad I would need a new one. Gave another $150 of my hard earned money to DaveB to fix someone elses mistake...

I spent the next couple of weekends drilling out all the spotwelds in the lower radiator support. Went through lots and lots of bits. New support was around $160 from DaveB. Next props go to Jeff92SE for welding in the new support. That job is $1000+ any where you take it. Total cost with free labor, $160 + $30 in drill bits.

Once I got the front end all put back together, I cleaned up the corroded coilovers the car came with, replaced the calipers, rotors, pads, re-installed the engine and transmission, and got the front end back on the ground. The coilovers had been assembled incorrectly, with the top bearing in the wrong spot, destroying it and causing wear to the upper components. Smooth move.

I moved on to the rear of the car and the exhaust. The O2 sensors were all rusted into the pipes so bad they had to be trashed. $75 X 3 for those. New Cat coverter was required, $150 from Cattman. Muffler could not be removed, the bolts had disapeared into rust, had to but that off. New exhaust, $450. The b-pipe was not even sucured properley, it was laying on a piece of radiator hose on the chassis support. WTF??!!??

With the exhaust done, I moved onto the rear brakes and suspension. Found a clip missing on the RH rear caliper that holds the parking brake cable, so it wouldn't work at all. Got the calipers/rotors/pads replaced and went to test the parking brake. Nothing. Turns out the cable is all jacked up. Well, after replacing the whole exhaust already, I decided to put that off for now, but that is another $200 or so the cables are going to cost me. All the heat shield bolts under the car are rusted up, and will have to be cut out to get to the cables. Fun stuff huh?

Rear coilovers where just as corroded as the fronts. Spent a few hours cleaning/rebuilding each one. Funny, sqeaks are all gone now, imagine that?


The amount of half assed maintenance done on this car was just ASTOUNDING. I can't believe half the crap I saw, why even bother if your going to do such a **** poor job? I don't think Birchrj did the work, but whoever did should seriously have there arms broken and NEVER be allowed to pick up a wrench again, they have no business working on cars.

I can't even add up the total just getting this car in decent shape has cost me. I have spent thousands, not to mention the potential cost had I not known how to work on cars. I still have to replace the parking brake cable, and there are little bits of rusted this and that which will be replaced over time. I probably have 600+ man hours into working on it. The stereo stopped working a week after I got the car home. I found a blown fuse. Why? There were 5 things wired into the stereo power wire!!! I suprised the car didn't catch fire. An invertor, a LCD screen, the stereo, a CD Changer... Jebus!

Transmission rebuilt $1200 if I hadn't done it myself. $250
Lower radiator support replaced, $1000 if I hadn't done it myself. $160 or so...
Suspension bushings replaced - $300+
New O2 sensors, $225
Engine seals, probably $200+ (front and rear mains are around $50+ each)
New hub $150
New rear calipers $200
New battery $100
Rusted hardware $200+
New oil pan $75
New motor mounts $150
New axle $150
Flywheel resurfaced $50
New clutch $450 - I upgraded, stock would have been $200
New knock sensor $50 (had a code come on later)
Needs new tires, I was told there was plenty of tread left... not! $600
The list could go on, I have replaced so much stuff I can't remember half of it. My bank account does though.

I sent a email to Rod (Birchrj, explaining a lot of the issues. Want a suprise? Never heard a word back from him. Suprise.

Lesson learned, I will never buy a car out of state again, I don't care how it's advertised or who is selling. Screw me once, shame on you, screw me twice... not gonna happen. He is lucky he lives so far away, I woulda parked this once POS in his living room for all the trouble it's caused.


The car as it stands now is about 90% where it needs to be. I did a lot of other upgrades along the way, along with a whole lot of preventative maintenance, since the car was CLEARLY not well taken care of.

Tough lesson learned, hopefully someone will read this and not make the same mistake I did.

mtrai760

iTrader: (19)

Lots and lots o' pictures




New oil pan time anyone???

mtrai760

iTrader: (19)

Lots of pitting in the bearing race...

mtrai760

iTrader: (19)

This is what happens when you don't lube the splines before installing axles...

Why yes, that is a crappy key value clutch...

mtrai760

iTrader: (19)

Look what I found sitting on the bottom of the trunk...

That is supposed to be on the LH caliper, little hard for the parking brake to function without it...

mtrai760

iTrader: (19)

New lower radiator support installed... Thanks Jeff!!!


And the old one...


Removed...

Greeny

iTrader: (43)

Damn dood!

My old 320,000 mile 3rd gen is waay more "perfect" then that thing..

sorry about the deal..

mtrai760

iTrader: (19)

At this point it's almost a new car...

ROCKART

iTrader: (23)

that sucks man.

i got burned like that last july, cept it was an accord. unlike you tho, back then i didnt know **** about cars.

it was a 97 EX coupe, white, 98k on the engine, auto, power everything, aftermarket wheels, new tires, tints, sunroof, intake/exhaust, kenwood stereo, etc.
i saw it on craigslist and the asking price was $4400. dam it looked good.

4400 for a honda with under 100k? i was sold before i even saw it in person.
i got the vin # from the seller and it came back clean as a whistle. it had 4 owners in 10 years, but no accidents.

i brought my buddy to the deal, who supposedly worked as a mechanic a couple of years back, and he gave it a thumbs up. i drove it around, the tranny was a bit harsh but i attributed to the fact that the tranny mounts and other mounts were dead. when you changed from D to P to R the whole car shook.
everything else worked well tho, all the interior parts, windows, lights, etc. it drove relatively straight and smooth. there were no discernable oil leaks anywhere. the body was in good external shape. the headlights seemed almost new (........) the AC worked great.
i realized i was buying a car with problems, but i figured they would only cost a grand, at most, to fix.
with the buying price + $1000 it was still under bluebook.

so i get done with the test drive and go to talk to the lady about price. i got kind of a weird vibe off of her.
she started telling me this story outta no where how her husband was cheating on her, and she just divorced him. she was selling his car super cheap to "get back at him". she mentioned lots of other strange unneccesary things during the conversation as well, like how he was a criminal and a drug user.....

didnt matter to me tho, i was just nodding, believing that this woman actually was pouring her heart out to me, and i was just facilitating her revenge.
i finally work my way around to talking about price.
now i would call myself a pretty tenacious negotiator. i rarely pay asking price for anything thats not in a store. i aim low and meet in the middle. i been doing it for years.


so i open with talking about the problems with the car and this and that and how the timing belt needs to be replaced, etc. i offer her $3500.
without hesitation, she says "ok". almost 1000 less than her asking price. that should have been a clue right there, but i was stupid and desperate for a car, so i whipped out my wad of 100s and slapped em on the table.

i get the title and drive the 50 miles back home.


the next day after work i drive to my local midas to get it looked at.
i knew the manager there so i had him do a quick once-over.
he comes outside, is about 15 feet from the car, and says immediately "this car has been in an accident"
he began to point out all the blatently obvious **** anyone with any kind of experience with cars would know: the drivers side quarter panel doesnt match up with the hood, the unibody screws behind the drivers side door have been undone, the headlights are brand new, it had been repainted, the honda stickers were missing from under the hood, etc. etc. etc.
so im thinking to myself at this point, "doesnt matter that much, it drives ok"

he puts it on the lift and does a closer inspection.
apparently the whole front end had been crushed in and rewelded on....
yes, you heard me, the entire front end, probably about 1.5 feet from the front bumper, had been welded onto the rest of the car....meaning the original front end was crushed, removed, and a new, homemade one was put on.
you could see the spot welds from one side of the car to the other

thats just the beginning.

he points out how the o2 sensors had been bent sideways to fit the aftermarket exhaust.
the front axle was askew, putting one wheel 2 inches from the panel and one 3 inches...
the check engine lightbulb had been crushed
the spare tire was missing (god im an idiot)
the tranny was failing
and the radiator wasnt even from a honda ???

he calculates about 4000-4500 in parts and labor including the mounts.
he says "go get your money back"

i call this lady the next day (3 days from the deal) and say "i decided i dont want this car, can i get my money back"
she says "ok, come up here tomorrow"
the next day i leave after work to go there. im about 10 minutes from her house, after driving 40, and she calls and says "i actually wired the money to my husband in india, and he is refusing to give it back".
i know shes lying.
i threaten her with lawsuits and the cops and everything but i know i have no legal case. i try to intimidate her, but nothing happened. i was stuck with this mother****ign thing.
i did know where she lived, and she did have a shiney new 06 honda. i was considering the ol oven-cleaner-on/paint-comes-off trick, but decided against it.


so i have a little money left over. i pay Midas $850 to do the timing belt and water pump (yea i know...)


i drive the car for about a month before deciding to sell.
in that month, both windows stopped working. the sunroof was leaking. i was getting about 12 mpg due to the o2 sensors being dead.
the camber was so ****ed i was already wearing the inside of the new tires.
not to mention the rumbling was getting far worse. i guess those mounts were really on their last legs. i would come to a stop light and not be able to see anything clearly out of my rear view cuz it was vibrating so much.

after a couple of weeks of zealously trying to sell this thing, i finally get some family on the hook. i was asking 4, they gave me 3. yea i know theres implied ethical issues about selling a car you know is a POS, but i could live with it.

so i put about 4400 into this thing and sold it for 3. a 1400 dollar loss.
i like to think of it as a stupidity fee.


i vowed never again to trust my car to someone else.

within a few weeks a got a great deal on a 96 GLE and joined the org that night.

if i only knew then what i know now....


here it is.

D-Bo

iTrader: (9)

Thread jack maximus....




Back on point, that sucks Matt... Sounds as bad as that POS I test drove for ya. It's not fun being force to replace that many parts but you've gotten a better setup now than most used cars on the market.

ROCKART

iTrader: (23)

yea didnt mean to jack it per se

meant to sympathize with you and relate a similar story

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

No problem Matt. Glad I could help. You had these so well prepped, it was easy.

Your friend has been on today.

View Profile: Birchrj
Birchrj
Member
Last Activity: Today 09:24 AM

The Wizard

iTrader: (43)

Damn!! What a story Matt! That royally sucks.

Maybe I missed it, but how many miles are on this Maxima?? Looks like it's been through hell and back.

JamesNH

iTrader: (12)

I dont know that the lesson should be all about cars out of state. I think your story helps back up the idea of not buying modified cars.

D-Bo

iTrader: (9)

Well in his case it wasn't that the car wasn't appropriately modified, the problem lies with the repairs and maintenance (or lack thereof) that was done previously.

mtrai760

iTrader: (19)

160k on the chassis, SUPPOSEDLY 100k on the motor.

I know for a fact that the motor was changed, and that the motor in the car now came from an auto. Compression test was good on the motor.

Mechanic wise, car is NOTHING like it was when I bought it, since basically everything has either been replaced or rebuilt.

mtrai760

iTrader: (19)

I still owe you, that saved me around $1000. I know he was on, none of this should be news to him, I sent him info on most of it months ago, just never heard anything back from him.

mtrai760

iTrader: (19)

Quoted for teh troof!!!

Deckdout2

iTrader: (151)

iTrader feedback?

mtrai760

iTrader: (19)

Done.

Utsutsu

iTrader: (6)

I actually read the whole thing, and its really does sucks what has happen. I don't know what would I have done in your place.

I been actually looking into buying a car but since i have not found one within the city I was looking out in other cities and states. But you help me make up my mind about that.

Good luck with the car and hope nothing else brakes down.

Squirrel82

iTrader: (30)

Sucks man.Cant rush when spending that much loot.

KRRZ350

iTrader: (29)

BWAHAHAHAHA.

You consider that radiator core support rotted? Seriously? That is NOTHING. Come to the northeast.

Honestly, that is cleaner than ANY 4th gen I've seen within the past few years. If I went to look at a 5-speed (FYI, the two most common things I look for- Junk dif bearings & rotted core support) I would say "Sweet, the core support isn't junk". But seriously. 1: It will hold. 2: you can put the bolts back in and 3: When you jacked the front up, the engine didn't rise three inches first. Because those are the things we see here, that core support really was in pretty good shape.

But, anyways, it's highly possible that the seller wasn't aware the dif bearings were junk. But still, yeah, he peeled you on there, but you make the situation sound alot worse. Just my .02 cents.

mtrai760

iTrader: (19)

Ha ha, Did you own this car before? You sound like the kind of person who would pass this POS off as 'Oh, it's not that bad'. Just because it was still holding doesn't make it RIGHT!!! So what, you would leave it until the damn engine fell out? Yeah, that's proper care and maintenance. Don't assume to tell me how to take care of my car, or what constitutes an actual issue with it. I provided AMPLE evidence of all the cars issues, and I didn't blow anything out of proportion. They were PROBLEMS, plain and simple. I don't care if the whole body is falling off of cars where you live, what does the price of cheese in NY have to do with making glass in China?

Before I purchased the car, I told Rod that I understood that the car had 160k miles, and that I expected 160k miles worth of wear and tear. What I didn't expect was all the lies, all the improperly performed maintance. You think its okay to just glob RTV over a leaking rear main seal??? SOMEONE knew it was a problem, and SOMEONE took the half assed, cheap, easy route to fix it. There were examples of this ALL over the damn car!

After 160k miles, I expect to replace wheel bearings, BUT WHO THE HELL TAKES AN AIR CHISEL TO ONE, AND THEN PUTS IT BACK TOGETHER????

Instead of replacing a $3 rubber hanger, WHO THE HELL JUST LETS THE EXHAUST REST ON A PIECE OF OLD RADIATOR HOSE???

I didn't mention a SINGLE problem that I was told about BEFORE I bought the car. I didn't mention all the interior or body problems I was NOT told about. I was lied to, I refuse to believe he was THAT ignorant about the condition of the car. I was told that the car had NO LEAKS, did you look at ANY of the pictures? The car was a freakin waterfall of leaks! I asked him about problems until I was blue in the face, and was told everything was JUST FINE!!!

It wasn't your hard earned money that paid to fix this POS, and it wasn't your countless hours of labor either. I suggest you consider that $.02 before being so condasending in the future.

mtrai760

iTrader: (19)

BTW, I did contact Rod about the issues LONNNGGGG before I posted anything here. Didn't hear a peep from him. His silence only confirms my suspicion that he KNEW about some of the issues, and didn't want to tell me. He could have said 'I'm sorry, I didn't know' and this post would have NEVER been made, but chose to ignore me instead. That's all the confirmation I need.

black_maxed95

iTrader: (41)

i bought a car on the org too and had it shipped from maryland. i bought the car with out even looking at it. car came with a bad transmission leak from the passenger axle that was not told by the seller. but im not too upset about it, i replaced the tranny from my old car i totalled and bought new seals. I know its stupid to buy a car without looking at it but the max i bought was really cheap and already had several mods done to it that i would have done anyways.

in the end you have to realize you are buying a used car with alot of miles from a private seller. you cant expect a perfect car and you for sure cant always expect the truth.
I bought my car with the assumption that i might have to put a $1000 into fixing it up.

KRRZ350

iTrader: (29)

Lol, I think you missed my point. Your core support surely gave zero symptoms, it wasn't rotted bad enough to cause more than 2-3mm of flex under heavy tourqe, if that, much less than your mounts themselves and the flexibility of sheet metal to begin with. You saw rust and got scared.




Orly? FYI I had to spend all my hard earned money & countless hours of labor to fix the same issues, I payed $4200 + tax & fees for an A32 with all of the same issues, except my core support actually needed to be replaced. Did I start a thread bashing the dealer? Did I call them up and complain? Did I whine like a little girl and throw a hissy fit?

To the last one, yes

With all that being said..............

I'm sorry about the whole situation you had to go through, beleive me I feel your pain, nothing beats my Z31, I asked him questions till I was blue in the face as well, and that thing was a straight up "cut and shut", it should have never been rebuilt and titled again. On top of that it really needed "new everything" The seller lied about every single problem, including the clean title.

Since I've been there and gone through that I know how much it sucks, my apologies if it came off condescending, my main point is that from the sellers standpoint, it's entirely plausible that he didn't know about all of the issues, and I feel some of your anger towards him was excessive......... IMHO

Again, I feel your pain, no need to get so hostile towards me, and I wish you the best of luck with the car.

ROCKART

iTrader: (23)

under different circumstances i would say yes - anyone is gonna be pissed if they got a lemon car, regardless of whether the seller said something or not.

however, this seller has repeatedly IGNORED the ops pms and complaints. i think that is proof right there that he knew of the issues, lied about them to sell it, and is now content with his depravity.

had he responded with "im sorry i didnt know" or "im a noob and dont know much about cars, can i give you $300 back?" then, like the op said, this thread would never have been created.

mtrai760

iTrader: (19)

Sorry, even 6 months later, I am still a little heated about the issue (in case you didn't notice :P) Wasn't personal

I don't think the pics are doing the core support corrosion justice. It is completely rotted through on 3 different sides. You can see light all the way through it, and each layer is severly corroded, it would not have lasted much longer, I would give it 6 months - 1 year tops. I was in military aviation for 10 years and have my A&P certificate, and I dealt with corrosion on a constant basis, so I feel I am pretty well qualified to make that judgement. 6 months on a ship does wonders to a helicopter.

My point of this thread was not to whine, it was only to warn others. People get burned all the time on these boards, and then never warn anyone else. If I screwed someone over, I'd expect to see feedback on it (though that would never happen). I didn't ask the seller for any money back, I simply told him what I found and how displeased I was with the car and his representation of it. I didn't use any foul language or threaten him in any way, I'd say I was downright nice about the whole thing. Not a word back.

Other than needing to fix the parking brake cable still, car is basically like new now. Clean or replace a couple more corroded pieces, and the work I went through will not even be noticeable. I go by the saying 'Do it once, do it right'. If only I could pass that on to everyone else....

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

Um matt has every right to be pissed. I was there to help him weld in the new core support. Considering that support is one of the MAJOR pointing points for the engine, yeah, I think it should have been replaced. NOT an area to jerry rig stuff.

505max94se

iTrader: (15)

Reading this makes me sick to my stomach.

At least you know how to fix everything. Imagine if you couldn't do any of the work your self. You'd really be screwed!

I can't believe that car only has 160k miles. My '92 has 160k miles... Just goes to show you how that car wasn't maintained.

nick

iTrader: (10)

why would somebody with what it looks like pretty darn good mechanical ability got suckered into buying vehicle with obvious problems. No disrespect here, but 10 year old vehicle with 160k will show its age. A simple look under the car with a flashlight around the oil pan and rear main would reveal leaks.

It seems like you enjoy turning wrenches and by buying this car you already knew the amount of work that will be required to bring it back to your standards.

and trrying to make 10 year old Maxima feel and drive like new is darn near impossible.

mtrai760

iTrader: (19)

I thought I explained that already...

A- I flew into Phoenix to buy the car, I brought a few tools with me, including a flashlight. Bringing a jack with me really wasn't feasable.

B- The car sits a couple inches off the ground, riding on coilovers. I did the best I could in 110 degree heat to look under the car, but with the bright sun and scorching asphalt, I really couldn't see much. The top of the engine just looked all dusty, which I accepted since A: It had 160k miles and B: it was in the freaking desert. It was so bright outside, not much detail was visable from below, even with an LED flashlight.

C- I tried to have the car looked at before signing any paperwork, but the couple shops I could find didn't want to touch it. Should I have taken that as an omen? Perhaps, hindsight is always 20/20. I'm not familiar with Phoenix, how long should I have driven around looking for a shop? I had already wasted close to two hours on the other shops, and I still had a seven hour drive ahead of me before I could stop for the night.

D- Yes, I expected the car to have some issues at 160k miles. I also expected to be told about any of those issues that were obvious up front. This wasn't a game of hide and go seek. I didn't mention a single issue I was told about before hand, because I was told, and I had no problem with them because of that.

E- Yes, I do feel like an idiot for being taken like this. Screw me once, shame on you, screw me twice, shame on me. I can tell you this, I won't be screwed again.

99BlackMaxMS

iTrader: (85)

I wouldn't go as far to say you got a lemon, you just got a car that was not maintained properly. I agree with KRRZ350 about the core support, it is nowhere near as bad as some of the one's we have come across in the northeast. However, it would only make sense for you to replace it while you had the engine out and the rest of the front end torn apart.

It sucks when you buy something that isn't as good as you think, but good luck with the car. It seems like it is now maintained properly and will be good for another 100K+ miles.

1992maximase30

not trying to start anything here...but it seemed that Birchrj knew about these problems.
hence: only having the car for 3 months.
plus karmas a *****, i know how you feel.

i'm pretty sure when your done that 4th gens gonna look pretty hot!

Fadrvr

iTrader: (3)

sorry to hear dude. ftw, i dont buy a car that was played w/ for book value, if its not stock I will begin to lowball. lowered and engine replaced are huge red flags.

Fadrvr

iTrader: (3)

[QUOTE=ROCKART;6227570]that sucks man.

he puts it on the lift and does a closer inspection.
apparently the whole front end had been crushed in and rewelded on....
yes, you heard me, the entire front end, probably about 1.5 feet from the front bumper, had been welded onto the rest of the car....meaning the original front end was crushed, removed, and a new, homemade one was put on.
you could see the spot welds from one side of the car to the other



SaLVAGE title?

ROCKART

iTrader: (23)

no the title was clean. the carfax was clean.

everything was done under the table.

irish44j

iTrader: (38)

Sucks to hear....although the P/o may or may not have known about alot of those things unless he himself had gotten under the car and had things checked out.

That said, I think the real lesson here is that you really need to have a car checked out well before buying.

Trust me, I can sympathize. When I bought the Cherokee, I test-drove and checked it out a bit during a rainstorm. P/O had alot of documentation of recently fixed/replaced items (which were legit). Picked it up at night. So basically never got to really check it out until a week later or so in my garage. Though alot of things had been replaced/new, it still had ALOT of issues, poorly done maintenance and mods, etc. What I had bought as a low-maintenance utility vehicle turned into alot of replacement parts and hours fixing things (including some major floorpan rust that was hidden behind carpeting and undercoating!).

Granted, I only paid like $2500 for it, but I've already spent alot more on making it decent than I wanted to.

So you and I are in the same boat....for various reasons (weather, timing, etc) we couldn't check the vehicle out properly before buying, and we both paid the price....

mtrai760

iTrader: (19)

Yeah, my biggest lesson learned is to ALWAYS do a thorough inspection. I should have called and setup with a garage to check it out, and just stretched my trip out longer. :