# 1990 240SX - Need your help and opinion!



## drift55 (Mar 17, 2005)

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:


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## bridrive55 (Aug 26, 2004)

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.


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## drift55 (Mar 17, 2005)

bridrive55 said:


> 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.


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## DaCheat (Nov 4, 2004)

drift55 said:


> 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.


I would have to disagree with Brian on this on, I learned to drive with a rwd pickup, now if i must say you can get much worse of a vehicle in the snow, open differential, solid rear axel, slid around like a bastard in the snow.
Now, driving this car in the snow is not going to be easy, especially navigating around town, i hated my car when i first bought it, but you get used to it very quickly, gotta learn that spinning the tires does not help.
If you are a new driver, I would not recommend this car, go buy a civic or accent or something FWD.
With the rust issue I do agree with Brian, that is going to take alot of work and money to repair at a shop...


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## drift55 (Mar 17, 2005)

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.


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## zlr101 (Nov 17, 2003)

yeah that car has the cancer real bad. That would really scare me from buying it. I drove my 240 in the snow with truck snow tires all the way around and i had no problem.


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## Kelso (Apr 29, 2003)

the hatch is an easy cheap replacement....maybe a 100 bucks from a junkyard, but however water or melted snow in this case or whatever could have seeped in by the spare tire wheel well. could be rusted there, and thats something i would not mess with at all.

ive never driven in snow but florida gets its share of rain and that can be just as bad...the cars like to slide in rain....rear tires just spin when you dont mean to at all....for anything being driven in snow i say 4wd. not jeep though....i just dont like jeeps...ill never drive another


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## Chris90FB240sx (Feb 25, 2005)

Umm either its more or something but I dont see that much rust, atleast nothing 300 bucks cant fix...go find a junk yard and get ya the fenders and hatch and your good to go.. The rest loks like salt residue from the roads...

My car is the same body color everything cept no wing or sunroof. I have had rust problems with my seat bolts holes also and little on the muffler but I plan on having the spots cleane and replaced after which Ill have the underboady coated. :thumbup: Looks like a good car to me.. Very good condition for a 90!!


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## SpikeMike240 (Jun 6, 2005)

Chris90FB240sx said:


> Umm either its more or something but I dont see that much rust, atleast nothing 300 bucks cant fix...go find a junk yard and get ya the fenders and hatch and your good to go.. The rest loks like salt residue from the roads...
> 
> My car is the same body color everything cept no wing or sunroof. I have had rust problems with my seat bolts holes also and little on the muffler but I plan on having the spots cleane and replaced after which Ill have the underboady coated. :thumbup: Looks like a good car to me.. Very good condition for a 90!!


I agree with you on that one, however it all depends on the area your in, if your in california you'll find quite a few of them in the junkyards with hatches in good condition, the fends on that car look fine, sand the rust down alittle on the inside and spray some frickin rustoliume on it, hehe, as far as winter driving, being that I live in Montana I don't think the car isn't that bad at all, just go really easy on the gas when starting to move, everything else isn't all the bad, not like he has a turbo in it yet. throw a couple of sand bags in there to help weight down the back and you'll be fine, just give yourself the time when entering intersections. The price is a tad steep, I would offer him $1500 or $1400, I think they are pretty reliable cars when taken care off, and I think that car is still in pretty good condition, body is straight

** wow, just looked at the date on this thread, i'm alittle late


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