WA 1997 Nissan 240SX SE 5spd- Low Mileage

[swami]

Location: Vancouver, WA
Contact: steve.wishman at gmail
Full Album: https://tinyurl.com/1997SE
Price: $13,000


Making a tough decision to part ways with my bone-stock 1997 240SX SE 5spd. I'm the second owner and have kept it garaged since acquiring it, 3 years ago. The car has only 75,700 miles on the odometer. Clean title and clean carfax. I've only put about 6000 miles on it since I bought it. Originally I had wanted a daily driver with some moderate street mods, but the more i drove this car, the more i hesitated to modify it at all. I constantly get flagged down by people wanting to talk about the car, and telling me how amazing it is to see one unmodified, and in such great condition. The only reason I'm considering selling it now is that it doesn't fit my family's lifestyle. I'm actually putting more miles on my 240Z these days, so we clearly don't need TWO 2-seaters. Looking to get into a Datsun 510 Wagon project instead, so we can road-trip in our project car as a family.

Since owning this car I've replaced all smog equipment including catalytic converter. Car passed smog in California with flying colors in 2016 and then again just a few months ago in Washington. Car has never been tracked. Never been drifted. Never lowered. Fenders never rolled. Basically the only mods are the alarm system/keyless entry, the stereo head unit, a stubby aftermarket antenna, and a pair of LED license plate bulbs. Original owner was an older lady and she clearly kept up on the maintenance schedule.


Pros:

• Stupid-low mileage. Runs like a sewing machine and drives like it's still new.
• New tires in June of 2016 with only 6000 miles on them.
• Smogged and registered.
• All smog equipment was replaced 2.5 years ago.
• Rear struts replaced 2 years ago.
• Zero rust on the body and frame. Underside of the car is pristine.
• Perfect compression on all 4 cylinders
• Upholstery is flawless. no tears or stains
• History of receipts and paperwork
• Car has been loved and it shows

Cons:

• Tiny spot of surface rust on the underside of the hood and a small spot inside the sunroof.
• Sunroof trim is loose from UV exposure. Previous owner put a strip of duct tape on the rim of the sunroof to hold the trim in place.
• Spot of rust inside sunroof indicates there was a problem with leaks in the past. I have garaged the car so i've never experienced it myself.
• Weatherstrip around quarter-windows looks a bit dry.
• Right side tail light gasket leaks
• Door hinge bushings on driver's side are worn. New hinges included with sale.
• A few cracks in the dash (see pics)
• Cruise control and airbag are non-op.

Extras:
Also included with sale:

• New brake rotors and pads, still in box
• New drivers side door hinges

Shoot me an email (steve.wishman (at) gmail)... I'm happy to provide more pics or more info. Also, the full set of high res pics is available here: https://tinyurl.com/1997SE

Thanks!

[rawgarage]

very clean... good to see prices climbing

[haulksmash]

wow i thought my mileage was low...

[koukizhang]

I wanna eat off those frame rails

[feito]

details on the airbag being non-op?

[swami]

Originally Posted by feito

details on the airbag being non-op?

I never found out why the airbag light is blinking. In the spirit of full disclosure, here’s a link to the carfax report I got, when i purchased it in 2015.

In it, you’ll see there was an accident reported in December of 2004. It’s the only ding on an otherwise perfect record. When I bought the car in 2015, I inspected it from top to bottom and couldn’t find any evidence of body damage. I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but 11 years is a long time for someone to drive around with a blinking airbag light so I personally doubt that’s the reason for it.

Wish I knew more. Happy to snap more photos for you if you want to inspect any hidden areas.

[Eww Evo]

Can't believe how clean this is. Just keep it man!! Free bump.

[LoneStarSilvia]

Could pull a decent crowd on Bring-a-Trailer, they love untouched low mileage sports cars.

[TriniTT]

Originally Posted by LoneStarSilvia

Could pull a decent crowd on Bring-a-Trailer, they love untouched low mileage sports cars.

BaT tried to screw me over on my last low-mileage pristine s14. Great venue for buyers; not so much for sellers.

[dizzariot]

For $13k why wouldn't you just seal the tail light leak and buy a new sunroof trim...?

Only 43.6% sarcasm here. Car is beautiful but that 'cons' list should be taken care of if you want the full asking price, you know?

GLWS.

[DSMTraitor]

On my 98 I couldn't get the airbag light to stop blinking no matter what I did. Never found out what it was and I basically went through the entire system..

[swami]

Originally Posted by dizzariot

For $13k why wouldn't you just seal the tail light leak and buy a new sunroof trim...?

Only 43.6% sarcasm here. Car is beautiful but that 'cons' list should be taken care of if you want the full asking price, you know?

GLWS.

This is an excellent point. It's mostly due to the time frame i'm trying to meet and how many other irons I have in the fire. Tail light leak is an easy fix. Sunroof trim is a bit trickier to come by.

I mean ... bottom line, if I miss my window for buying this wagon, then I'll keep working on perfecting this ride. It's very possible I'm suffering from temporary insanity here.

[dizzariot]

Originally Posted by swami

This is an excellent point. It's mostly due to the time frame i'm trying to meet and how many other irons I have in the fire. Tail light leak is an easy fix. Sunroof trim is a bit trickier to come by.

I mean ... bottom line, if I miss my window for buying this wagon, then I'll keep working on perfecting this ride. It's very possible I'm suffering from temporary insanity here.

I'd go with temporary insanity lol. Hope you keep it!

[Agamemnon]

Turn the ignition on and push the door switch switch on the jam 5 times within 7 seconds. This will make the airbag light flash a code to tell where to look for your problem. The code is located in the FSM.

[feito]

tail light fix is a quickie. Sunroof has to be replaced as a complete assembly (glass only, easy as pie to remove).
Nice little gem you got here. GLWS

[rawgarage]

i have a sunroof trim/glass/seal

[Whitey13]

Originally Posted by LoneStarSilvia

Could pull a decent crowd on Bring-a-Trailer, they love untouched low mileage sports cars.

This would not go over well on BaT.

The sense of entitlement conveyed by many BaT commenters has grown significantly over the past year or so. If your car doesn't have a flawless, well documented history, they will rip it apart.

This having been in an accident and an airbag that doesn't work would be its death knell.

[swami]

You guys are super nice and helpful. Thanks so much for all the thoughtful responses here.
@rawgarage, i’ll PM you.
@agamemnon, thanks for that. I’ll do this immediately.

Yeah i’m definitely starting to have second thoughts now. Caught myself looking at LMGT4s on eBay again. Haha.

[niGht_kraWler]

Clean car! Free bump

[swami]

Okey doke. The temporary insanity has passed. Keeping the car after all.