still searching for a good dd. 4 doors, manual, presentable for clients/ coworkers. i was originally looking in the 2 to 3 thousand dollar range and based on previous responses, looked for maximas and 4 door e30's without much luck.
today i found a couple of sentra ser's in the 4 to 5 thousand dollar range with 6 speeds and 4 doors. is this a good candidate for a dd or are there any things i need to look out for in these cars? any beter candidates in the $4k range i should consider? thanks!
I have zero experience with these other than seeing lots of them for sale needing engines. Might be something to look into.
One of my good friend's wife had one. Small, cheap car and the motor went ka-blooey (and she later totalled it). Same guy maintained a 250K+ mile Jeep XJ that he bought nearly new, so it wasn't neglect. Wasn't a very impressive car to me.
Honestly, look at the Focus ZX5's. They are down there in price, pretty reliable, and the SVT stuff is still available over the counter for cheap.
Also Mazda Protege's and Protege5 at that price point.
my 02 went fine until it spun 2 bearings at 91,000 due to an all of the sudden oil consumption problem. These 2.5's are know to have a problem with this. My motor was a replacement motor because the first owners didnt make it past 15k . I say leave it alone there are better candidates out there.
The motors are far from bullet proof, but can be made to last if treated right. The main issue is the breakup of the precat damaging the engine. The solution is a catless aftermarket header, which also yields a decent power bump and a ricer-like angry bee exhaust note. The problem is, if you're looking at an 02-04, the pre-cat damage may already be done. (A compression check MAY catch damage if done properly) You can look for one with an aftermarket header, which probably means the owner knew how to take care of it, but can also mean it was driven like a crack rental. That said, haven't found a more entertaining car for the price point, but then, I don't fit in a Miata. Of that vintage, I'd look for an 03. They seem to have fewer problems than the 02's and look better than the 04's.
I've owned many Nissans and have always been happy with the quality. Our 03 Spec-V changed that. I wonder if Nissan had quality problems at the beginning of the decade or if I just had a lemon but I really can't recommend the car.
I had an 02 SE-R (auto). Great little car. I drove it for 150K miles and enjoyed it for the most part. It had little more than oil changes, brakes and 1 overheat (at ~ 125k miles) that was a radiator issue, I think.
The only issue I know of is the precat issue. Mine didn't seem to have any issues with that. I could see it having issues with warping if it severely overheats, though.
MotoIQ had that gen SE-R as a project car: http://www.motoiq.com/MagazineArticles/tabid/59/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1440/Extreme-Engine-Tech-Jim-Wolf-Technologies-Turbo-Nissan-QR25DE-Powerhouse-Part-1.aspx
Depending on your age, insurance can be straight ridiculous. It was about twice the price to insure a Spec V as a SRT-4.
ding ding ding. i guess the contestant is down for the count!
time to post another option!
Just to fuel the flame.....the set screws on the secondary intake runners can back out and make their way into the cylinder. We had an 05 Spec V and I really liked driving the car but ended up selling it because of the reliability issues.
kazoospec wrote: The motors are far from bullet proof, but can be made to last if treated right. The main issue is the breakup of the precat damaging the engine. The solution is a catless aftermarket header, which also yields a decent power bump and a ricer-like angry bee exhaust note. The problem is, if you're looking at an 02-04, the pre-cat damage may already be done. (A compression check MAY catch damage if done properly) You can look for one with an aftermarket header, which probably means the owner knew how to take care of it, but can also mean it was driven like a crack rental. That said, haven't found a more entertaining car for the price point, but then, I don't fit in a Miata. Of that vintage, I'd look for an 03. They seem to have fewer problems than the 02's and look better than the 04's.
How is a pre-cat getting into the engine?
^^^The way I understand it, the engine scavenges from the exhaust manifold under certain conditions (I believe its if you are engine braking). If (or some say "when") the pre-cat breaks down, is creates small loose particles of ceramic material which can get drawn back into the cylinder under those conditions and score/damage the cylinder walls. At that point, the engine begins consuming oil at a rapidly increasing pace until it self destructs. Low compression is usually the tell-tale sign. An after-market header is the recommended cure, but only if the damage hasn't already been done.
Or at least so says the innanets.
Of course, the VQ from a Maxima fits....
GPDren wrote: Just to fuel the flame.....the set screws on the secondary intake runners can back out and make their way into the cylinder. We had an 05 Spec V and I really liked driving the car but ended up selling it because of the reliability issues.
That's what happened to the one I knew.
^^That one's a pretty easy fix, take the intake apart, remove the screws from the secondary runner plate (AKA the "Butterfly screws") and re-install them w/red loctite. So yes, I have the honor of driving a car most often killed by cats and butterflys. That's about as manly as the Barbie Dream Car.
Yes, I did that to my car last year. I don't know what you guys are talking about; mine's been dead reliable so far. It's got 65,000 on it now, complete with hundreds of autocross runs.
And still on three wheels:
My SpecV has 172K on it. It is still running strong. I did put a header on it about 30K ago. I have not fixed the intake butterfly problem....I figure...if it hasn't happend yet...there is no reason to tackle the issue. I love my car, but they do have all the issues listed above. Sorry.
I guess I'd put mine mid-range in terms of reliability. In some ways (see above) its more "fussy" than other cars I've owned, but I'm coming from pretty much straight Honda products. I've had to have the head gasket done at about 73K, which seems a little early to me. I needed to do a fair amount of work to smooth out the transmission to where it should have been from the factory (shifted like a dump truck when I bought it). It seems to be fairly hard on consumables like brakes, tires, etc., although that's hard to judge, as I never autocrossed any of my previous cars. It burns a little bit of oil, which I'm also not used to.
That said, its never left me stranded, and runs like a top.
Oh yeah, forgot to mention, I've yet to see a car that does a better three leg "peeing dog" than the SE-R (great photo, BTW). Its more fun than any car I've ever driven in its price range that will haul the whole family if needed. So, has its pluses and minuses. The odd thing is, of all the owners I know, I'm one of the few with mixed experiences in terms of reliability. Most owners I know either think its a terrible piece of garbage or the best car they've ever owned.
what exactly goes into making a sentra a ser instead of an se? is it just the engine and wheels? or is there more to it like an acura type R?
i am not planning to race the thing. (i have 3 other cars for that in various stages of completion.). i am just looking for a good reliable and efficient a to b car that doesnt make me want to off myself from boredom halfway there, and wont get lost in a crowded parking lot.
does the se versions smaller motor have the same self destruct pre cat issues?
itsarebuild wrote: i am just looking for a good reliable and efficient a to b car that doesnt make me want to off myself from boredom halfway there, and wont get lost in a crowded parking lot.
Hyundai Accent, SE if you prefer the sportier suspension. You won't win any drag races, but the cheap buy-in, maintenance, insurance, and 30mpg all make for a nice DD that's also entertaining as hell to beat the crap out of. 
itsarebuild wrote: does the se versions smaller motor have the same self destruct pre cat issues?
I believe they do have the same issues. As far as the difference between the SE-R and Spec V...I think it is something like 10hp and I think the SE-R only had a 5 speed. I could be wrong on that last part though. Also I think the suspension is stiffer on the Spec V. But still, I love my Spec V no matter if it blows up tomorrow. I have put almost 100K miles on it since I bought it used. I actually have 177k miles on it...I thought eariler it was 172k.
All have motors that go ka-blooey, transmissions that not great, and the other issues. My friend's wife's ka-blooey car was a plain Spec-V.
Javelin wrote: * SE : Plain-jane vanilla gorilla Sentra * SE-R : The "hot" model with upgrades everywhere like the nose, engine, suspension, wheels, interior, etc. * SE-R Spec-V : An even better SE-R with a 6-Speed manual, VLSD, and some other gubbins * SE-R Spec-V Brembo : See Spec-V, add big honking barkes. All have motors that go ka-blooey, transmissions that not great, and the other issues. My friend's wife's ka-blooey car was a plain Spec-V.
All correct, except the LSD was helical Torsen unit.
I had a Spec V with Brembos and man, they look sexy on the car. I was in an Advanced Auto and one of the employees walks into the store and says, "There's a Sentra out there with Brembos!"
I always wanted to fab an adapter bracket to fit the 350Z's rear Brembos on the Spec V.
Ah! Okay, I wasn't sure on that one. I do remember that the non-Brembo Spec-V's were woefully under-braked. The stock rotors could barely be seen behind the massive wheels (17's? 18's?) and I'm 99% sure they were the same stoppers as a base Sentra...
Meh, I wouldn't say a stock Spec V is "under-braked". With a decent set of Hawk HPS's, I can lock up all four with pretty sticky 225 width tires on all four corners. Any more braking power than that seems excessive unless you're planning to run slicks or need a bigger rotor to resist heat fade. The Brembos look nice, but they also severely limit your wheel choices and aren't really necessary to haul down a 2700lb car. My "mini brakes" have never let me down autocrossing and still let me have a set of 15 inch 240SX wheels with snow tires for Michigan winters.
That said, I've never had someone oogle my brakes . . . and they do look a little small inside the 17inch summer rims. 
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