Buying a nissan sunny 93, any advice?

Gerry

Hi, I'm looking at buying a sunny lx 1.4 93 for a very decent price. I've already had a test drive, and couldn't find anything wrong. ( in fact it seems very nippy, no rattles, squeaks or pulling to one side under braking/acceleration ). I plan on giving it a good look over with my dad before handing over the money though.
Has anyone got any advice on what to look out for on this car, and ways to test for possible faults?
Thanks in advance for any help.

Interceptor

These last well if they are looked after - make sure it hasn't been crashed and try and find evidence of regular servicing - stickers in the engine bay/service record. Check how it performed for the last few NCT's (by my calculations it should have had three). Check for even tyre wear, make sure there isn't any rust (inside boot corners etc) and that the mileage is reflected in the condition of the car. Sunnys show wear in the usual places (pedals/ sloppy gearchange/ seat belts retracting slowly/ rattly trim etc) and if the car has low mileage it should be fairly ok. This non airbag, non ABS car will have little to go wrong and they are cheap and easy to fix but watch for any sign of poor repairs and make sure everything works. When I check a car I switch everything on, operate every lever and button and exercise every feature (including bringing on ABS). Check the car is cold, watch the exhaust while someone starts it and check for white/blue smoke at startup - if any is present, rev the car to 3k rpm and watch for any smokiness which indicates piston ring or valve seal wear. Neither is terminal but indicate high mileage/poor servicing and the 1.4 Nissan unit is weak on this point (The previous Micra was worse but i never saw a siezed one..)
Leave the car sit ticking over and watch it heat up - let the cooling fan come on and off a few times - the temperature should stay mid-3/4 on the gauge. Don't pay over the odds - check the B&S for guide prices and based on mileage/condition haggle like mad until you are happy with the price.

'c

Gerry

Well, it has pretty high mileage ( 125k ), but there isn't any obvious smoke out of it, though I'll have to do that check from cold tomorrow. The gearshift seems perfect. Apparently the car has had a fair bit of work done on it, I'll have to have a look at the service dockets and see if there was anything done on the engine. I'm pretty sure it wasn't crashed, as I know the only previous owners. Does 400 euro seem a fair price? It would seem like I might as well at that price, if it gives trouble I'll just get rid of it.
Thanks very much for your help.

damo605

Be sure to do the checks that Interceptor suggested and also look around the engine for evidence of oil leaks and more importantly water leaks, ie. rusty water stains around the lower part of the engine and the like. A car seeping oil could go on for years but one dripping water mightn't get you home! For 400 euros you can't go that wrong, especially if there's any decent length of an NCT to go.... Be sure to take it for a good long test drive, both a quick spin and especially in traffic if at all possible and be sure you're happy with it - there's some great cars to be had out there at this money but there's also plenty of dogs, if the seller isn't happy with you checking it out fully they probably have something to hide so walk away! Thread carefully and you could have a new best-friend....
Best of Luck and if, unfortunately, you do end up with a dog think of it in the way that at least it's only about a month's depreciation on a new car so don't be too disheartened, just wait a month and move on

bazz26

Ah this brings back memories. I had one of these as my first car, a 1991 1.4 LX in navy blue. Great little car for the money I paid for it.

€400 seems a fair price and 125k on clock is not that high for a 12 year old car. I would be concerned about the way it was driven rather than the amount of miles on the clock. I generally had no problems with mine except that the front wheel bearings needed changing which only cost me IR£140 including labour at the time. The only other thing to cost me was IR£10 for a new heater control leaver which broke. I had it for two years and other than the above I had no issues with it.

If you want cheap A to B transport without any hassel then you could not do much wrong with this. Overall a good first car.

Best of luck with it.

Gerry

Just to conclude, I bought the car today, after my dad and a mechanic he knows gave it a good checking out. Thanks very much for all the help

bazz26

Best of luck with it.