Advice needed for a friend: 1982 Nissan 280zx Turbo 2+2

Hi guys, so my girlfriend's dad asked me to come look at a car with him yesterday, and I want to see if any of you have experience with them, advice on the car, or things to watch out for.

It is a 1982 Nissan 280zx Turbo, automatic, with the 2+2 seating. (2+2 seemed to be a more rare option to find, it this correct?)

It has 75k miles. The current owner did 2k miles in the last year looking from the inspection sticker.

Paint is overall in decent condition, just a little bit of bubbling/cracking right above the windshield. Also, the color combination looks way better in person than in the picture. He likes the color a lot, so that is not a detractor.

Underside seems to be rust free from what I could see.

Brakes looked ok for a while yet, decent tread left on the pads.

Tires need replaced. Badly. Dry-rot. I told him that I wouldn't drive it father than home and to the shop to get tires, even then being very careful.

Interior is overall not bad. There is some sagging vinyl that I think could be fixed with some adhesive. The cloth seats and the rest of the interior just need vacuumed. The dash is cracked pretty badly. We are thinking of trying to recover it or I found an eBay "dash cap" that might work.

There are only 3 things wrong with it right now that I can see would need fixed before driving it:

-Tires

-Water pump apparently leaks some and has some slop. On our test drive it seemed to stay cool so I don't think overheating has been an issue. (It also looks like a super easy job from what I've seen. I told him I'd do it for him and it should only take an hour maybe 2.)

-Heater Core or Hose. This one is interesting. This does not seem to have been an issue with the car until yesterday. When we took it for a test drive the seller drove, my girlfriend's dad sat passenger seat, and I crammed in the back. He's what her dad told me: There wasn't anything leaking when we started out, then he said he felt some air flow, then some mist, and then it started leaking coolant on his foot right under the glovebox. I think given the age it may have just blown a hose, but the seller said he has 1 or 2 spare heater cores that he'll include with the sale.

The car drove very nice. The engine sounded smooth, the automatic transmission shifted smooth, it seemed to handle pretty well. Oh, and you know, it made turbo sounds!

Seller was originally asking $6500, with the tires needing replaced as well as the water pump and the heater core he said he'd sell it for $5500 and include pretty much all the spare parts we can fit in our trucks. He's got quite a bit. Taillights, headlights, seats, random parts, I think he said he has a spare head as well.

My advice was the the price seems very fair as long as he knows that since it is a 34 year old car that things will break and it will need work.

Front sub frame rust. Have that looked at. Make sure that it has it is in good shape.

The reason the 2+2 is rare is no one purchased them. It was ugly compared to the standard z. That being said I would drive one. But DO NOT pay a premium for it. It is like saying you should pay more for the rare automatic 944. There is a reason they are rare. They sucked compared to the std 944. Kind of the same with the 2+2 turbo zx.

Gotcha. I think in this case being able to stuff a small kid or 2 in the back is a plus. And the seats fold down for cargo space.

Price-wise I didn't mention anything about a premium for the seats, any premium would be because its the turbo model, but I think the $5500 seems pretty reasonable. Thoughts?

unfortunately prices on cars that old are really hard to give any sort of estimate. Does the girlfriends dad think it is a good deal? because that is what really matters. You can't fix a junk one up to nice driver for that, but there also isnt a huge demand for autos (and also like dean said, the 2+2 makes things a bit weird).

HOWEVER:

This sounds a lot like my dad. He wants to want cool old cars, but he is not a car guy at all, and even worse, is a huge cheapskate. So every once in a while he gets some bug that he is going to buy a cool old car. He does, and drives it for a few months, till something breaks. Then, the car sits for 10+ years under a car cover and he occasionally talks about selling it. It pains him to pay someone to fix it, and it pains him worse to learn what someone might be interested in buying it for (because it is SOOO much less than he paid). So the car sits.

Obviously, you will have a better perspective on this than me, but I would maybe have a chat with him about classic car ownership if he does not currently own any classics. (I'm trying to say that very likely the buy-in is not the expensive part of owning the car).

Rule of thumb - heater core replacement is the worst job on any car built since 1955.

He was hoping he could get it for about $5000. That is the #1 thing I've been trying to make sure he realizes is that it is an old car so things will go wrong. I've said it quite a few times.

I kinda like this car myself, but have to much on my plate at the time. Honestly if I could get him into a miata I think he'd like it. He already likes Mazda from driving his Mazda 3. I may have to take him for a ride in mine...

Side note, he does own a classic and a half. (Half is for parts...) A 1953 Dodge Coronet Wagon I believe. Sitting in a barn right now. Apparently it ran when parked and had been repainted with a proper quality paint job. I think he said they lost the keys to it.

It seems like his goal is to have the sports car he would have liked when he just started driving.

As to the heater core, I know they are a pain. Honestly I'm hoping it's just a hose. It looks like to do the heater core you have to pull the dash (good time to fix it), but if it's just a hose you can do it just by pulling the glovebox.

Supposedly the dash isn't hard to pull either, but I'll believe that when I see it.

an awfully lame choice for a "fun car", particularly at five grand.

Seems like a decent buy. The heater core (if thats what it is) is a royal pain on them. Luckily when mine leaked it was just a hose.

belteshazzar wrote: an awfully lame choice for a "fun car", particularly at five grand.

Yes. No manual, too much money.

You could get the cleanest 300ZX Z31 with a manual for that price and it would be a superior car in every aspect.

Rust, watch out for rust. From subframe, rocker "doglegs", rear quarter panels, floors. The subframe rails are not jack points, even though people tend to use them as such. You've already been told that the beauty of a 2+2 is in the eye of the beholder, and coupled with an automatic many of these turbo cars have become engine donors for the S30's. Water pump is an easy job, but check out the fan clutch and make sure that's not what killed the water pump first.

There's one of those cars around the corner from me. I think every one of the Turbos came with the automatic that year.

In reply to mikeatrpi:

Will check the fan clutch for sure. And do another look for rust. I think if he get's it he is planning to take it for inspection before finalizing the purchase, so it'll be on a lift so we can check for rust.

In reply to Woody:

For my research (wikipedia...) 81 all the turbo models were automatic, 82-82 they came in auto or manual.

5k? Walk away. Bought all four of my z cars at 1500 or less. Battery tray rust is huge. Lift up the carpet in the passenger side. If rusty, walk away. 2+2's are the LeAST desirable s130 and no one buys them. For 5k you can get a really nice restomod s30.

I'd say walk. It sounds like it could be too much trouble for an oddball non desired Z car..