# Advice on buying a USED 03 Spec V



## theheadsn (Jul 6, 2010)

(02 spec v lol sorry)

Hey guys and gals, new here.

I used to own a 95 ser, was a sweet ride, but to many problems started coming up that i didnt want to or have the time to deal with. So I sold it off. (great car by the way).

Now Im looking at getting a newer nissan, but im tight on money and have been looking at spec v's

Heres the link to the one im looking at right now

2002 Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec-V

Ive talked him down on the phone to 5k, and hes having trouble trying to get a receipt together for the engine swap, so Im gonna try for 4500. 

Ive heard good and bad things about the spec v's

Whatcha guys think? any info would be great, thanks again!


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## SPEEDO (Jun 9, 2003)

get as much info (what has/has not been done) as possible, might also call a local dealer with the vin and see what comes up...
stock exhaust?


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## chimmike (Oct 17, 2002)

02 Spec V? My advice: Don't do it. ESPECIALLY since it's had an engine swap. My money goes to betting that thing has been beaten to a pulp.

There are many better cars you can get for your money now than an 02 Spec V with a totally questionable motor and trans.


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## theheadsn (Jul 6, 2010)

@chimmike

You seem to know your way around here pretty well. Seen you give the same advice to other people about the spec v's

Are they just bad cars all around?

I miss my sr20, but i still need another car. What would you recommend? I have 5k at the most to spend. I dont want anything slower then my ser I had before, would love something fast, maybe even turbo. Dont mind getting an older car, because if i have to get an engine swap and got a good deal on the car it would be worth it. Just dont want some beater car with 200k on the body ya know.

Im in socal, and ive hit up every angle I can think of, craigslist, autotrader, ebaymotors, even on here and the sr20forum. All the great deals Ive seen are on the east coast or far away haha

Anyone selling? lol


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## 4thGenTinkerer (Nov 1, 2009)

Im with chimmike on this one. For $5K you could have a 5th gen 3.5 maxima or altima. I would also look into buying a cheap 240 and swaping an sr20 into it. I wouldnt give 5k for a sentra that looks like it has had the sh*t run out of it and a questionable trans. and engine swap with no recipt. No way in hell.
You can get a faster,better, more comfortable car for 5 grand IMO. Just keep searching. I find great deals on CL all the time. Also go cruising around your area and look for people selling their cars. I have always gotten the best deals from private sellers. 
Good luck.


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## chimmike (Oct 17, 2002)

while we're on a nissan forum, I wouldn't be surprised if you could find a nice motor swapped honda of some sort, maybe even something with a K20 motor. You just can't go wrong with the honda K-series for pretty much anything you want to do. And you know how hondas are.

Unless you can get an SR20 SE-R for $5k or less, i wouldn't bother with anything QR25 powered in your price range.


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## STEALTHY SENTRA (Sep 1, 2009)

chimmike said:


> Unless you can get an SR20 SE-R for $5k or less, i wouldn't bother with anything QR25 powered in your price range.


is there something inherently wrong with QR25 motors,as i own a 2002 SE-R?


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## chimmike (Oct 17, 2002)

2002 QR25's had the butterfly valve issue, if you didn't take apart your intake manifold and loctite the butterfly screws, the valves could come loose and get sucked into the engine. The header pre-cat breaks up and can get sucked into the engine causing catastrophic failure. cam sensor issues, trans issues, general abuse issues, etc.

Terrible first year issues on that car and many persisted for many years. Overall, it's not the optimal motor design for a spo-com. It's a truck motor. Hence it's use in the frontier.


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## STEALTHY SENTRA (Sep 1, 2009)

Thank You for that helpful piece of information.


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## TugBoat87 (Apr 28, 2010)

sorry to thread jack, but i'm buying my cousins b15 soon for 1000$, it has 110k miles, and he hasn't had a problem with anything said above, but then again i am not sure if he or previous owner has taking it to Nissan and had them fixed. for 1k still a good deal or should i move on? or maybe even buy it and swap engine and trans? thanks


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## SPEEDO (Jun 9, 2003)

I have a 02 Spec, had to change out a cam/crank sensor, (checked the butterfly valves etc,) no issues with it...


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## chimmike (Oct 17, 2002)

TugBoat87 said:


> sorry to thread jack, but i'm buying my cousins b15 soon for 1000$, it has 110k miles, and he hasn't had a problem with anything said above, but then again i am not sure if he or previous owner has taking it to Nissan and had them fixed. for 1k still a good deal or should i move on? or maybe even buy it and swap engine and trans? thanks


what year, what model? not enough information here man.


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