Looking at a 1996 Sentra GLE

PTG1212 · 03-03-2007, 07:54 PM

My son's looking for an inexpensive car to take him through grad school. Looking at a 1996 Sentra GLE with sunroof. One owner car, from pic looks very clean (will see it tomorrow). The car has 114k miles on it. It's a southern car, no harsh winters. The timing belt and alternator were both replaced in 2006. She's selling due to moving out of area. She's asking $3100. Are there any particular well known issues with this year/model that we should look for? I'll ask if CV boots or joints were ever replaced. With proper maintenance will Sentra's last a couple hundred thousand miles? Is $3100 for a clean car of this age and miles reasonable? Thanks for any comments.

nismo_pilot · 03-03-2007, 10:29 PM

id say more like 2500-2000 but they run forever

fugiot · 03-04-2007, 09:47 AM

yeah, $3100 is a bit high. I'd say $2500 tops for an 11-year old car. Check the door hinges for sagging and the transmission might be a little rough.

The engine is pretty much indestructible. Take care and it should see 300k miles.

PTG1212 · 03-04-2007, 03:26 PM

Well we just got back from looking at the car. It was the cleanest car you could possibly have for a 1996. The exterior and interior were spotless. Paint job is still perfect, no dings, no dents. I looked at the under body and it too was as clean as could be. Interior looks like new, trunk looks like it was never used.
Inside door jambs and hinges were spotless. Owner has records, car has been regularly serviced by Nissan since new.
My son decided to buy it and price was $3,000. I agree that it seems a bit high for a 1996, but the car was listed on Craigs list and the owner had dozens of responses in first few hours of the listing. She gave my son first opportunity since he responded first, which was within minutes of the listing showing up.
Anything around $3,000 is tough. There's not a lot of quality at that price. I think Nissans, Toyota's and Honda's, because of their good reps for reliability are commanding prices a bit higher than normal even after 10 years or so.
Thanks for your comments.

PTG1212 · 03-04-2007, 03:26 PM

Duplicate post

nismo_pilot · 03-05-2007, 04:13 AM

yeah if its as clean as you say and its been maintained even 3k isnt rediculous, its just the upper limit of what i would pay for a 96, i beleive your son will be happy with it as far as reliability, i used to take my 98 out mudding id jump it off of hills and sink it in lakes and the only thing i replaced was the starter, good cars

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