A back out from buyer number three. (The breif, uninteresting version)
Well I’ve had my third serious buyer back out from buying the 240SX. The first one decided despite driving 300 miles that he wouldn’t show up to look at the car. Buyer two got fired before he bought the car and decided a car probably wouldn’t be the best expense item to purchase. And here is buyer three’s story:<br>
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He responded to my ad on Craiglist’s with the following:<br>
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Hello,<br>
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I may be interested in your car. I live in Austin. I’d like to ask afew questions before I drive up to check out the car.<br>
1- Do you have any more pictures of the exterior (close up of the bodypanels) and interior? Maybe the one ding near the rear passengerfender? Maybe a picture straight from the front and straight from therear? A close-up picture of each of the wheels? A close-up of therusty part near the moon-roof?<br>
2- Why are you selling it less than a year after purchasing it? Why didyou swap the transmission if you weren’t going to keep it? Has itstarted to develop any mechanical problems e.g. overheating, gasolinemileage?<br>
3- You drove very few miles on it. Was it inoperable for a long time?<br>
4- Does the A/C and heater work well?<br>
5- Did you put a new clutch in with the 5 speed transmission?<br>
6- Do all the power windows/locks/mirrors work?<br>
7- Does the hand brake work well?<br>
8- Does the cruise-control work?<br>
9- Is there a vent piece missing where the dash meets the frontwindshield? It looks that way in the photos?<br>
10- Does the engine burn any oil?<br>
11- How much life is left on the tires? What size, brand, and model arethey?<br>
12- Does the radio antenna retract?<br>
13- Does the HICAS work?<br>
14- Does the ABS work?<br>
15- Does the cigarette lighter outlet work?<br>
16- Does the rear defroster work?<br>
17- Does the car have any oil or other leaks on the garage floor?<br>
18- Is there a cover protecting the oil pan and is it in good condition?<br>
19- Do the turn signals, low and high beam headlights work?<br>
20- Does the moon-roof leak in the rain?<br>
21- Does the hatch wiper blade operate?<br>
22- Are there any rust spots near the rear deck spoiler?<br>
23- Does the 5-speed transmission work well? Does it shift into gearseasily, including reverse?<br>
24- Does the exhaust line have any leaks?<br>
25- Finally, would you allow me to show it to a mechanic in Fort Worth?<br>
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I apologize for all of the questions. I hope you can tell that I am aserious buyer. Feel free to answer right under each question. If youranswers are satisfactory, I’d like to drive up with a friend and see itas soon as possible. If everything works fine, the only thing that would concern me is the high mileage, which is why I asked a lot of questions about the engine performance and why you drove it so little.Again, I am very sorry for all of the questions, I just want to knowmore before committing to a day to come up there. If everything is fineand I can show it to a mechanic, I’d buy it on the spot.Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to hearingfrom you.<br>
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Sincerely,<br>
John K.<br>
Austin, Texas<br>
</i><br>
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I was impressed there is actually a intelligent person looking to buy a used car and not a bunch of kids looking to rice or drift. I responded to his email in my usual verbose way with a page and a half of answers. I offered to change the clutch with a new one because that is something I never did when I did the transmission swap. That was assuming he was going to pay for the clutch. I also offered to drive to Austin to show him the car. I assumed he would feel more comfortable about letting his mechanic check it out rather than someone from this area. He preferred if I drove down there and offered to pay for my gas both ways and lunch. Yesterday I finally had my schedule open up so I called and informed him of the news. The day was set and my hopes were up for getting rid of the car. I was suppose to meet him at hotel parking lot just down the street from his mechanic at 11:30am. I really wasn’t looking forward to getting up before 10am but I figured it be better to give him more time to look at the car. I left my house at 8:30 and was there by 10:30. I found it strange that I made it there in such a short time. Because according to my calculation I was driving on average 120 MPH but I kept my speedo on average at 90 MPH. I didn’t think much of it and decided to use this time to Armor All the interior and clean the glass. After waiting in line at Wal-Mart for 8 minutes for some guy with three things I decide to go to the self check out lane; the clerk seem to be on par or worse than my sister’s level of thinking. I barely made it on time for the 11:30am meeting point, when I arrived both John and his friend Rob (240SX FB owner with a RB20DET) were just pulling in as well. I showed them the car and was up from about everything that I knew about the car. I told them ever flaw, accident, broken part, replaced parts, everything that I could remember about the car that I had done or that I knew the previous owner told me about it. After which he asked if I would mind if they took the car out to a road course that they know of that was fairly close. Which I was cool with, I actually really wanted to go. Keep in mind John is about 50 years of age, gray hair, has the maturity of old age but the spirit of a college student. As we are driving there I was enjoying the scenery and the conversation. We kept on talking about the car, other cars, his history, my plans in life, etc etc. We arrived at this road and immediately I could tell that it was going to be fun. They told me road is 11 miles long and is twisty the entire way; I didn’t really believe them at least about being twisty the entire way but when we reached the end of it my adrenal glands were taxed. I’ve let my 14 year old brother drive me around town, passing cops, and adjusting to driving on the high way and I’ve never been so nervous as a passenger. It was quite amazing, he would be on the throttle throughout each corner. I was scared that my soft suspension would give way and we’d fly off the road into the rock quarry this road paralleled. We went to lunch afterwards and they reflected on the drive and the car’s response. They both concluded that the car was in good shape and would suffice as John’s daily driver. We took it to the dealership where it was going to be inspected. When we arrived John’s 240SX was just being finished up. He has a 1992 red coupe SE trim (I found out the SE trim really doesn’t many anything on the coupes except power everything.) its in pristine condition, all Nissan OEM parts on except for the few tasteful modifications most dealing with performance. He bought his 240 from the same dealership, every time the car was worked on it was at this dealership. And to top it off just had a brand new engine placed it in due to the mechanics ruining his original engine; I guess that is what loyalty buys you. He took me out for a ride in it, it was nice. It was the first time I had seen a working HUD in a coupe. When we returned the inspection was complete and the paper with the list of problems with it was full. I was amazed and disappointed. Most of the issues were things I didn’t even know of. If I were to have a dealership do the work it would be in the excess of $4000 for parts and labor, and most of that would be associated with pulling the engine to replace the head gasket. The parts are going to cost somewhere in the range of $500 to $1000 and it going to take 60 hours of work. It looks like I’m going to keep the car for now, fix it, enjoy it and then in a year decide what I want to do with it.I suppose a couple of good things came out of this experience. I now have a very knowledgable 240 friend, came to the conclusion that Austin is far more optimal place to live than DFW, got a free car inspection with the list of problems with it, got to drive and eat on someone else’s bill, and second most importantly found a road that is just sex for my car. And for your viewing pleasure the road:
Nissan 300ZX
Well buyer number two has flaked out on me. He left a voicemail on my phone on Friday so I called him back without checking it as I thought his voicemail was going to be asking of when I planned to come by and his address. To my surprise he was totally intoxicated and was going to lose coherence soon. He told me that I shouldn’t drop by Houston unless I just wanted to take the trip because the company he works for decided that they didn’t need his department come the first of the year. I thought that was a little harsh for given the time of year but I suppose it is business. He had the money but thought it be best to use it to ride out this lack of a job.
Here is an excellent example of the theory ‘all action is self interested, yes every single action; even to the most basic, like breathing in.’ that I have. Do I feel bad because some guy just lost his job near the Christmas/New Year Holiday? Or do I feel bad because the guy buying my 240SX won’t be able to purchase it due to losing a job? A relist on Craigslist to get it back up on the que; and to think I was so sure I would of had it sold.
Right now I’m typing from the Shane’s couch. We are on a break from changing the clutch on his naturally aspired 1991 Super White 300ZX. He had the plenum pulled when I got over on Friday night, we got the car in the air and the PB blasted all the exhaust components, we let it sit a while we played his Nintendo Wii for a few hours, then removed the exhaust and went to sleep. So far I haven’t showered in 30 hours, have eaten an extra large pizza, downed countless Pepsi’s, and slept 19 hours on his couch. Thank god his parents are out of town, his OCD mother would have a shit fit about how trashed the place is now, and that is before even looking in the garage. I’ve been alone under the car about 90% of the time, he has been documenting where every bolt goes and what will need to be replaced before reassembling everything. This has been far easier than taking the transmission out of the 240, although it was an auto when I took it out.
Without the bitter you can’t enjoy the sweet.
Well the 240 is still in my possession and therefore the 300 isn’t. The buyer flaked out and I haven’t really heard from him since Thursday of last week. The ads are still up for the car and I have been receiving offers on a sporadic basis. One person even offered to trade his 600cc Honda CBR F3 for my 240SX. As I’m sure all my close friends are thinking "You sure as hell don’t need a bike especially a 600cc one, you’ll kill yourself". Well I suppose so but… just think power weight ratio will be considerably higher than any four wheel vehicle in my price range.
And for the sweet; on Sunday Vi informed me that her cousin, Bonnie was borrowing a R33 Skyline GTST from the shop she works for. Thinking it was a GTR I called up Shane and informed him of the good news and invited him to check it out. After dropping by a grocery store to pick up milk and cookies for Bonnie in an attempt to bribe her into letting me drive it. I was unsuccessful but I did get a few photographs before the day was over.Update:I was told by Bonnie last night that the shop sold the car (for the asking price of $35,000) and the guy has totally trashed the car out. Bent the rims, messed up both front fenders, and who knows what else. Oh well I suppose if you’ve paid that much for an aged car you can do with it what you please.
