# A couple questions about the 04 Spec V



## garthhh (Jan 26, 2010)

I'm looking into buying a used 2004 Sentra SER Spec V. I have a couple questions/concerns that I want to address before I go spending a bunch of money...

When I test drove the car, the clutch pedal was very firm and got kind of annoying when stopping at red lights. Is this normal for the Spec V? The six speed also seemed like it took some muscle to get into gear. (It was sitting on a lot for a while in the cold... don't know if that would cause any problems.) I just don't want to buy a car and have the transmission give me problems down the road.

There's also a dashboard rattle that is apparent when the car hits around 50mph. Now a dashboard rattle isn't going to keep me from buying a car and I've read all about Nissans and their rattles, but is it possible to fix it?

One more - it has about 66,000 miles on it and the guy wants $8,000 for it... it was recently serviced (new pads/rotors, oil change, tires) and has a six month/7500 mile warranty on it. There are a few small (touched up) scratches on it and no dents that I can see, but the rims have curb rash. The interior is in excellent shape. Do you think it is worth it?

Overall, the car has an excellent ride and I am very interested in it. I just want to make sure that the trans/clutch don't have anything wrong with them.


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## et8653 (Apr 15, 2009)

I have an 04 Spec V also when its cold the gear shift can be a little stiff but once it warms up it loosens up my clutch pedal is firm too I have had mine for a year now and I paid $7700 for it and it had 76,600 miles now it has 93,000 and still no issues or problems with clutch. Just find out if the recall was done on it for the butterfly screws and the pre cat failure those are the two most important things to look for. Otherwise $8000 is a great price.


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## SPEEDO (Jun 9, 2003)

I would call your local dealership (with the vin number) and have them (Service Dept) run it to see what has been done to the car, and or carfax


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## thorton0 (Sep 2, 2009)

sound normal (compared to mine anyways). i've had mine for a lil over 6 months with no problems. i paid $8500 with 56,000 miles last fall.


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## QRspecV (Jan 12, 2010)

damn. i got ripped off! I paid $7700 with 118k miles=/ My car is the same, minus the dash rattle. Could use a better sound system, but is a great car. I have an 03


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## chimmike (Oct 17, 2002)

yes, you did get ripped off. I wouldn't ever pay more than $5k for a sentra with over 100k miles


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## Faja (Aug 31, 2009)

QRspecV said:


> damn. i got ripped off! I paid $7700 with 118k miles=/ My car is the same, minus the dash rattle. Could use a better sound system, but is a great car. I have an 03


Hey, if you love the car and the car is showing you that mutual respect, then it's worth every penny!!! Enjoy the ride


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## QRspecV (Jan 12, 2010)

Faja said:


> Hey, if you love the car and the car is showing you that mutual respect, then it's worth every penny!!! Enjoy the ride


True that. She's been good to me. I'm glad I bought a Spec V when I knew nothing about them at the time, the 2.5's are great!


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## garthhh (Jan 26, 2010)

Thanks for the advice. I'm probably going to buy this car, but I'll definitely look into the precat/butterfly screw issue. If this car did not have either issue fixed, will Nissan honor the recall?


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## chimmike (Oct 17, 2002)

IIRC only the precat was a recall. The butterfly screws is something you should have them check before putting a down payment on the car. IMHO, it's a 6 year old sentra. It's not worth $8, no matter how you slice it. 

There's one local to me, being sold by the owner, with 56k miles in cherry shape. He's asking $6,995. I wouldn't honestly pay more than $6,500 for it.

You gotta remember, while it's a spec v, it's still a sentra, the same way that an SRT4 is a neon. It was nissan's lowest model in 2004, albeit with a truck motor thrown in and some different suspension. So bargain wisely, or seek out better options


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## garthhh (Jan 26, 2010)

chimmike said:


> IIRC only the precat was a recall. The butterfly screws is something you should have them check before putting a down payment on the car. IMHO, it's a 6 year old sentra. It's not worth $8, no matter how you slice it.
> 
> There's one local to me, being sold by the owner, with 56k miles in cherry shape. He's asking $6,995. I wouldn't honestly pay more than $6,500 for it.
> 
> You gotta remember, while it's a spec v, it's still a sentra, the same way that an SRT4 is a neon. It was nissan's lowest model in 2004, albeit with a truck motor thrown in and some different suspension. So bargain wisely, or seek out better options


Well, you're always going to pay less when you buy a car from the owner. You won't get any kind of warranty with it and, if its a lemon, you're pretty much out of luck. The one I'm looking at was recently serviced (for around $700) so you have to take that into consideration as well.


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## thorton0 (Sep 2, 2009)

i love my 04 spec v. i haven't had any problems. i would buy it.


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## SPEEDO (Jun 9, 2003)

garthhh said:


> Thanks for the advice. I'm probably going to buy this car, but I'll definitely look into the precat/butterfly screw issue. If this car did not have either issue fixed, will Nissan honor the recall?


Have Nissan run the vin... so you will know what has/has not been done to it.. should answer some questions that your asking
If you take the car, they (Nissan dealer) will do a free 21 point check or pay to have it really checked out.


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## chimmike (Oct 17, 2002)

garthhh said:


> Well, you're always going to pay less when you buy a car from the owner. You won't get any kind of warranty with it and, if its a lemon, you're pretty much out of luck. The one I'm looking at was recently serviced (for around $700) so you have to take that into consideration as well.


you pay less from an owner because dealers jack up the price beyond the fair market value. Not because owners get less.

And sure, you'll get a 30 day warranty. IMO if the car isn't good within 30 days you got screwed anyways, but a used car is a used car. And in this case, it's a 6 year old sentra. 

If you pay $8k, you're overpaying by $2k for that car, so good luck.


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## garthhh (Jan 26, 2010)

chimmike said:


> you pay less from an owner because dealers jack up the price beyond the fair market value. Not because owners get less.
> 
> And sure, you'll get a 30 day warranty. IMO if the car isn't good within 30 days you got screwed anyways, but a used car is a used car. And in this case, it's a 6 year old sentra.
> 
> If you pay $8k, you're overpaying by $2k for that car, so good luck.


Yeah, they jack up the price. But its a 6 month/7500 mile warranty, which I'd expect anything faulty to break within.

I'll look around and try to talk him down a bit on the price. I asked my neighbor, a Sentra owner for the past 20 years or so, and he thought $8000 was reasonable for it. The KBB is $10k, but their values are always higher. The price on Edmunds is around $7650, and the retail price for a clean one on Automotive.com is around $8900. Based on these, I don't think $8000 is all that expensive. Of course, the cheaper the better, so I'll see what he will take for it.


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## chimmike (Oct 17, 2002)

Just make sure they check out the butterfly screws. the precat should be fine in the 04s. And feel out the transmission well.


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