Possible Nissan Altima GXE purchase...advice?

Andre2000 · Jan 24th, 2007, 10:09 PM

I dont post here much, mostly on Z31.com and Z31performance.com since I'm a Z31 enthusiast. The wife and I need a 4 door for the new baby so we looked at a '95 Nissan Altima GXE today. The guy wants $2000 obo. Well we took it out for a spin (and took it to our friends house hehee and checked it out bumper to bumper). Well it's not perfect as the guy told me (surprise

).

Problem 1: It's leaking oil in two places. One is where the transmission meets the engine, and the other spot was coming from the oil pan area. It wasnt a little leak either, but a pretty bad one...you could see where it spews all underneath the car. Anyways, we are worried the worst case is that it's the Head Gasket. Next would be the rear main seal...but what about the second leak?

Problem 2: The other problem is the air bag light keeps blinking. The guy swears up and down that it just happened out of no where a few thousand miles ago and something just needs to be reset.

Problem 3: And the last problem we noticed under the hood was a small rattling sound coming from the passenger side of the engine during idle.

Side note: Oh and he kept telling us the brakes need to be changed, or looked at.... So I searched and found out that the rear brakes on this year ('95) can brake and leak and eventually fail. It's an estimatedc $200 fix.

So thats the rundown....other than that the car rides smooth. I did notice however that the stick seemed to move everytime I hit the gas... I dont know much about cars outside of Z's so any advice would be appreciated or knowledge would be appreciated. Are these easy engines to work on?

Andre2000 · Jan 24th, 2007, 10:14 PM

The guy will take $1500 for it....should I do it or run like hell?

LONDONDERRY · Jan 25th, 2007, 08:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andre2000

I dont post here much, mostly on Z31.com and Z31performance.com since I'm a Z31 enthusiast. The wife and I need a 4 door for the new baby so we looked at a '95 Nissan Altima GXE today. The guy wants $2000 obo. Well we took it out for a spin (and took it to our friends house hehee and checked it out bumper to bumper). Well it's not perfect as the guy told me (surprise

).

Problem 1: It's leaking oil in two places. One is where the transmission meets the engine, and the other spot was coming from the oil pan area. It wasnt a little leak either, but a pretty bad one...you could see where it spews all underneath the car. Anyways, we are worried the worst case is that it's the Head Gasket. Next would be the rear main seal...but what about the second leak?

Problem 2: The other problem is the air bag light keeps blinking. The guy swears up and down that it just happened out of no where a few thousand miles ago and something just needs to be reset.

Air bag problems need a dealer's attention.

Problem 3: And the last problem we noticed under the hood was a small rattling sound coming from the passenger side of the engine during idle.

Timing chain guides

Side note: Oh and he kept telling us the brakes need to be changed, or looked at.... So I searched and found out that the rear brakes on this year ('95) can brake and leak and eventually fail. It's an estimatedc $200 fix.

So thats the rundown....other than that the car rides smooth. I did notice however that the stick seemed to move everytime I hit the gas... I dont know much about cars outside of Z's so any advice would be appreciated or knowledge would be appreciated. Are these easy engines to work on?

Expect the intake manifold gasket to leak sometime in the future and the distributor to be replaced. Both expensive for a mechanic to fix. You could purchase the car, however, all the items you mentioed need to be address and fixed for reliability before its ready to use as a family car. Just my opinion.

KA24Tech · Jan 26th, 2007, 12:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andre2000

Problem 1: It's leaking oil in two places. One is where the transmission meets the engine, and the other spot was coming from the oil pan area. It wasnt a little leak either, but a pretty bad one...you could see where it spews all underneath the car. Anyways, we are worried the worst case is that it's the Head Gasket. Next would be the rear main seal...but what about the second leak?

Problem 2: The other problem is the air bag light keeps blinking. The guy swears up and down that it just happened out of no where a few thousand miles ago and something just needs to be reset.

Problem 3: And the last problem we noticed under the hood was a small rattling sound coming from the passenger side of the engine during idle.

Side note: Oh and he kept telling us the brakes need to be changed, or looked at.... So I searched and found out that the rear brakes on this year ('95) can brake and leak and eventually fail. It's an estimated $200 fix.

So thats the rundown....other than that the car rides smooth. I did notice however that the stick seemed to move everytime I hit the gas... I dont know much about cars outside of Z's so any advice would be appreciated or knowledge would be appreciated. Are these easy engines to work on?

Although you didn't say how many miles are on the car... I would say if you and a friend or two are mechanically inclined or better yet a mechanic, then I would say it would be worth it at $1500. The oil leaks are not expensive fixes just time consuming. The Air Bag light flashing means a sensor or component are "out of order" and that can be expensive to fix. The rattling is probably one of the idler pulleys and is an inexpensive fix. The rear brake shoes can be done quite inexpensively as well.
If you don't have that kind of skill set I would say look for another car.

Troy

Andre2000 · Jan 31st, 2007, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KA24Tech

Although you didn't say how many miles are on the car... I would say if you and a friend or two are mechanically inclined or better yet a mechanic, then I would say it would be worth it at $1500. The oil leaks are not expensive fixes just time consuming. The Air Bag light flashing means a sensor or component are "out of order" and that can be expensive to fix. The rattling is probably one of the idler pulleys and is an inexpensive fix. The rear brake shoes can be done quite inexpensively as well.
If you don't have that kind of skill set I would say look for another car.

Troy

Well we didnt buy the car. I do have those kind of "Skills" as I work on my Z project all the time and am currently rebuilding a turbo and a motor. However, time is my issue. I am an engineering student and I barely have time for anything which includes my Z project. If we got that car, it would require immediate attention and thats just something I cant do so after sleeping on it I said forget it. Luckily we found a Mercury Villager (nissan VG powered) and are going with that. Since it's a VG engine, I have experience working on them and diagnosing them so hell ya VG all the way baby! P.S. it's only 82K miles and the leather interior is near mint.