College Student Part Time Getting a 240sx

[Sp00fy]

Hey Guys, I'm joined this forum to get into the 240sx game and I wanted to know your opinions about me getting a car. I want a 97-98 240sx , really love the Koukis [emoji173]️, and I work part time at a pizzeria and I'm a full time student, I have around 3k saved up and I can borrow some money from my parents to put in the rest but I just wanted to know if it would be a good financial decision. I know if I get the car I'm going to keep it for life and treasure here haha but I just wanted to know your options. Thanks for reading [emoji106]


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[O$mo]

lol no seriously don't do it, i did it/doing it, not fun.

[Sp00fy]

Lol why what happened/ happening to you?


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[coupesallday!]

These cars suck, they're old, and they'll always need something to be fixed. It's never ending

[O$mo]

Originally Posted by Sp00fy

Lol why what happened/ happening to you?


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Well I'm on my 2nd S-chassis, I had an 89 s13 hatch SOHC auto it was a POS, fuel pump, blown head gasket, cracked trans coolant lines, all types of shit. Sold it to buy a cleaner 95 S14, blew the head gasket on that, then fixed it just to blow the motor. Now I'm in the middle of an SR swap, currently I have no car.

Bumming rides aint fun bruh.

Get a reliable daily save up for a S chassis later.

[Sp00fy]

Oh man, they sounds like bad luck... I found a Kouki in San Diego stock with ONLY 77,000 thinking about getting it plus my school is literally 1 mile away


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[Juantwo3]

Originally Posted by O$mo

Well I'm on my 2nd S-chassis, I had an 89 s13 hatch SOHC auto it was a POS, fuel pump, blown head gasket, cracked trans coolant lines, all types of shit. Sold it to buy a cleaner 95 S14, blew the head gasket on that, then fixed it just to blow the motor. Now I'm in the middle of an SR swap, currently I have no car.

Bumming rides aint fun bruh.

Get a relabel daily save up for a S chassis later.

maybe its just you.

my s13 has 300xxx miles on it and runs like a fucken champ.

[acslater9]

It's fun to drive one but once it comes down to repairing the car you'll be staring at your 240 with jack stands under it most of the time. I'm a college student myself and it's hard trying to keep good grades while worrying that you still have to fix the 240 you have at home.

If your about it then get one. But if you're dead set on getting a Kouki be prepared to have a lot of cash lying around because the pricing on these cars are just rising.

#that240life

[O$mo]

Originally Posted by Juantwo3

maybe its just you.

my s13 has 300xxx miles on it and runs like a fucken champ.

My old s13 never saw a track, neither did my s14, and I drive like a grandma. Things break sometimes, sometimes they don't..but when you drive cars older than yourself, you can't be surprised when shit goes down.


Congratulations on your milestone tho bruh.

[Sp00fy]

Why are they rising?!? [emoji22] it was only like yesterday I saw some for 5 grand, little work need too


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[JBB]

Dont do it

[Primo's Silvia]

If you understand what patience is.. Like real patience, to sit and do tedious tasks that sometimes take longer then they should , you will soon learn what a love and HATE relathionship is -___-

[ZERTA RACING]

Where are you located? Are you mechanically inclined? do you have a place to work on it when it breaks down to needs parts replaced?

I have not seen a 97-98 with ONLY 77,000 anywhere here (SD) unless it is at one of the super high priced stealer-ships.

If you are in SD and want to talk about the 240's let me know...

Like others have said these cars are old, they need more than just general work most of the time. Depending on mileage you may want to buy and replace the water pump, alternator, thermostat, plugs, plug wires, belts, starter, distributor cap and rotor and change the fluids before even thinking about making it your daily driver.

That being said I have daily driven mine for the last 2 years and only had about 2 days that it was down unexpectedly for repairs and thankfully it was on the weekends and the part store had what I needed It has been a work in progress though and there were times when I was without a car for a week while doing a AT to MT swap. or without a car for a weekend doing all the suspension work. In the end it has been worth it for me though. I can truly say I have done all the work on my car by myself, and all my blood sweat and tears are in it for the long haul.

[oblivionskate]

Look for s13's. Let me tell you. coming from a 93 e36 325is to this is almost hysterical price wise. A bushing kit for this car is about $130. you're going to be spending $300 just for the rear and that crap OE rubber on the e36. I recently changed a control arm, $45 vs $130 per side. I'm a college student too and It's not bad at all. what ever you do DONT buy someones "i wanted to try to be a drifter" piece of shit. You're going to see a lot of that but hold off for the right one. You're in cali so i'm sure they pop up everyday there so you should be fine. I'm from Michigan and since I bought mine in november (luckily it only had 1 owner and was bone stock) there has only been 2 that popped up.....both autos....and crazy expensive. Have fun, you have options and if you don't like it sell it simple. Test out as many cars as you can without molesting them before its too late!

[ComicArtist]

240s can be reliable, they just have to be

A)stock
B)not fucked with
C)unmolested

Wait that's all the same thing


For real though, buy a low mileage grandma car, do basic maintenance like alternator, fuel pump, power steering pump, plugs, etc. If you want it to look cool buy coils and wheels, don't even think about modifying the powerplant until you have another daily driver. Trust me, I did the daily/drifter thing for three years and it involved a lot of calling for rides, changing tires in the college parking lot, spending hours on simple jobs like fuel pumps or coilovers because I was in an apartment complex, etc


I actually body worked and primered my car in my apartment complex, a slide hammer and an electric DA did the trick.

[Sp00fy]

So hopefully if I do get a Kouki the wisest choice would be to get it from a grandma and make sure its stock and do a quick fix on the little things and I should be set


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[silviasandbeer]

its not that bad. i only has to swap my motor once when i owned mine.
and the cracked gas tank wasnt really a big deal. i only smelled gas when i tanked up.
also, i didnt have THAT much rust.
and as far as the KA burning oil leaving smoke behind you..just ignore it. you're supposed to look forwad in life anyways, ignoring the past.
broken speedo and faulty gas gauge...meh...just put in $20 a day and go the speed of traffic.

other then that its a fun little car. just be prepared. these cars are actually fairly easy to work on if you know what your doing. it just may be frustrating when you fix something and something else breaks.

[zeitgeist]

Any car you buy for 3-5k is a risk. I do agree with looking for something unmodded. Youll be spending thousands more fixing their problems. Im doing it now. Luckily i have another car

Do research on the car and have someone knowledgeable and blunt check it out with you
Might as well buy something you like and learn something along the way though

[jscherf92]

Good financial decision? Hell no.

A good learning experience, yeah.

You'll be spending more time and money than you ever planned on. Whether its repairs or modifications it will suck your life force away bit by bit.

And yet i'll smile every time I see my beautiful mismatched hatchback.

[Sp00fy]

Originally Posted by jscherf92

Good financial decision? Hell no.

A good learning experience, yeah.

You'll be spending more time and money than you ever planned on. Whether its repairs or modifications it will suck your life force away bit by bit.

And yet i'll smile every time I see my beautiful mismatched hatchback.

I bet haha, I think I'm going through with it, mostly for the learning experience, if I get it it's always going to be well maintained


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[CompleteXen]

I wouldn't recommend grabbing a Kouki S14 immediately. Im decently new to actually owning an S-Chassis but Ive had a few other cars before (Miata's mostly) and these cars are a lot of work. Be prepared to drop a lot of cash into your S-Chassis. I bought my S13 a few months ago, swapping the KA-E for an SR. These things are not cheap, and unless you drop some good money into the car, then it won't be reliable.

There are many other options I would recommend, and on a super tight college budget, and S is not my first choose. I chose a 2nd Generation Miata with 45,000 miles to learn cars/driving on (even cheaper than a KA to maintain, simple chassis, fun as hell to drive, etc)

This is all from the perspective of a full time college student, who works part-time, and 100% of my spare time goes into cars.

[simmode1]

I wouldn't get a 240 in your place. I'd get the most reliable car I could afford to get through college and then buy whatever toy car after you graduate and get a career. But if you're hardheaded and just GOTTA buy a cheap/cash drift slut that you can't really afford to maintain, at least get something less beat down, like an IS300...

[hellaslows13]

240 is a shitty car to have in college. (Unless you walk/bus/bike/carpool to school)

Yes its a reliable car, but lets not forget its 20+ years old. Shit will go wrong. Some days your car will randomly not start but you have a final in 2 hours. Or try going out to a movie with your girlfriend only to come back to an empty parking lot with your car stolen. Think about it. Will you have time/money/energy to fix the car? If you plan on getting good grades while still enjoying your social life I highly doubt you will have time for a 240. (Unless you are a psych major, no offense to the psych majors). I had a 240 in college and was fed up with it. I sold it for a nice daily and focused on my studies (and picking up chicks because now girls would talk to me because I didn't have a ratchet ass fast and furious car). I have one now that im graduated and I still hate it (but deep down kinda love it). It's really all about personal preference and tolerance level really. But your 19 and you don't give a fuck so you are probably gonna buy one regardless of what anyone says.

good luck.

[Bushido]

No, buying a 240sx is not a good financial decision.

[Confuzedd]

I love my car but if I had to do things over again I would have got a simple four door instead of throwing money and time (Things im sure neither of us have to much of) into a car.
A. Get the kouki
-Not be able to comfortably go on dates with girls because you have no AC and no they will complain about their hair being messed up cause the windows will stay down
-Focus on saving for car parts rather then memorizing formulas for math classes which will screw you in the end
- Realize years or even months from now all the money you put into a old car could have been used much better
-Probably sell your kouki cause you realized you screwed yourself and the damage is already done to your savings or total it cause you have been watching too many drift tengoku videos.

B. DONT GET IT
-Graduate, drive four door til whenever
-Get job, buy dream car(probably be different by the time you graduate)
-Live life with a little less worries

I should take my own advice

[simmode1]

Originally Posted by Confuzedd

I should take my own advice

Great point. I went looking for IS300's a moment ago & they're very cheap now. Like sub-$6k for a 5spd cheap. But 240's have plummeted in value so much that selling my S14 for such a loss just makes me sad. It's like our diminishing numbers from all the stupid drift kids have had the exact opposite effect that we thought. Instead of value increasing, it's dropping through the damn floor. Guess I'll just keep it.

[hellaslows13]

Originally Posted by simmode1

Great point. I went looking for IS300's a moment ago & they're very cheap now. Like sub-$6k for a 5spd cheap. But 240's have plummeted in value so much that selling my S14 for such a loss just makes me sad. It's like our diminishing numbers from all the stupid drift kids have had the exact opposite effect that we thought. Instead of value increasing, it's dropping through the damn floor. Guess I'll just keep it.

Must be the area.

Here in Cali I have seen 5speed IS300s in decent condition go for $6-10K. 240sx's are INCREASING in value. You can no longer find a decent condition 240sx for less than $3500.. Stock unmolested 240s are dime a dozen and start at AT LEAST $4k..

[Ilya]

You have no idea the burden of any loan especially school

[Kingtal0n]

Its possible (see my sig) but it requires you to be a skilled mechanic/tuner/diagnostician.

Repairs are cheap as bird droppings if you have a local importer/friend with good used OEM parts, and you manage the labor (see: skilled mechanic)

It's a car for people who love to fix things up real nice, learn to do things right once, and won't smack you too hard if you do them wrong either, you can recover and learn a lesson and keep going. Its sort of like a "learning car".

[S14DB]

If you have to ask this question. Get a 4 Cyl Camry.