[drift55]

I'm in the market for a cheap, reliable & somewhat fuel efficient car. I'm a university student so I don't have a lot of cash to spend on a car.

There's a guy selling his 1990 240SX for $1800 ($CDN). It's got a little bit of rust on the body, which will definatly need work.

Plus, since this is a 1990, its got a open diff and sohc engine. I can live with the SOHC (btw, how much HP and torque does the SOHC have?), but I'll eventually have to get a limited slip or viscous diff because winter driving will be a biatch without it. Plus, I think I'll have to replace the entire hatch, not just patch it up (because of the rust).

I need your help and opinion on whether this a good deal, will the replacement parts be cheap, will the car be reliable, and overall is it worth it? If this isn't really worth it, I'll probably get a late 90's civic or corolla a little later on (which will be $5000+).

This is what he states about the cars condition:

1990 240sx fastback 5spd, 217xxx km, original dark blue paint, no power options, sunroof had this car less then half a year and invested 1000ish into fixing it up. new clutch, rebuilt alternator, new fuel pump, new lower ball joints, new battery, new back tires, some after market muffler. thats all i can think of right now. car runs with no problem and i am currently driving it on the road right now. i have etest paper thats can be used still.

rust issue underbody 4/5(last i checked) exterior 3/5- driver side rear fender needs some attention and hatch has holes needs to be replaced. those 2 are the only major spots and a few lite rust spots nothing major.
underbody is pretty decent rockers decent no holes, strut tower some surface rust.i will try and get pics of the frame/underbody when i get a chance.

interior 3/5 average wear


Here are some pics of the car:

Under body:

 

[drift55]

I'm also a college student, and whether or not I'd invest in this car (if I were you) all depends on how much you like body work.
Ok, it sounds to me like this car is in good mechanical condition. You won't have trouble from the parts he replaced, it's safe to assume. The underbody and subframe didn't look too bad. I live in a "lake-effect snow" town, where we get tons of snow every year, and they salt the streets. I've seen newer cars with way worse chassis. The fenders, side skirts, and wheel wells all look like in great shape for a '90. The back, however, is the obvious low point of the car. That liftback is going to need extensive metal replacement, or just a new hatch. The rust by the bumper also needs to be adressed immediately. This car needs some help.
I work at a body shop, and I wouldn't buy this car unless it was really cheap ( < $1,000 US). For what it will cost to get this car's body into a sound condition, I think you could do better for a car. You're probably busy with University work, don't spend hours grinding rust and spreading Bondo.
Speaking of which, I drive an '89, and it's possibly the worse car in snow ever conceived. A LSD would not help this car. I tried to drive my car in winter the winter before this one, and I ended up giving up after much frustration. The chassis is too low, the wheels are too wide, there isn't enough weight on the back axle... If you buy one of these cars, my recommendation is to not drive it in winter at all.
The bottom line, I would say, is that this car is in bad shape, and it's just not a winter car at all.

Thanks for heads up...I'll be driving all year round and with snow storms a thing to expect, I guess it would be best to stay away from an older RWD car.

 

[drift55]

Thanks for all the reponses guys. Due to the rust, I'll probably not buy it, but I'll go check it out in person this weekend or next weekend.

What other cars would you guys recommend? I'm also looking at some 1996-2000 Civic H/B's and 1995-1998 Corolla's. They average at about $6000, which is way more then $1500, but I might be able to get my dad to let me borrow half that.