Need some info

I'm possibly going to be buying a 1995 Nissan Altima (don't know what trim) but:
I was wondering if these are some reliable cars.
How are these cars as far as gas mileage?
How are these cars for power?
Do they have the potential to be "riced" out?
Do they have the potential to be a possible streetracing car?
About where do these cars top out at as far as top speed?
Can I buy performance parts for them and it NOT be a waste of money?
Do you think this car is worth $1,000 - $1,200?
I personally haven't seen the car but I'm assuming that it has been kept up and is probably pretty clean, I don't know I might see the car and refuse to even look at it just despite the looks of it. I know the owner of it is my Juvenile Probation Officer and he is a rather clean person he bought it new and is the only owner of it, he told me that the car has NEVER been smoked in.
Just please give me some info about this car.

Price sounds good but buying a car from your probation officer sounds like a bad idea. Just think what can happen if you complain about something on the car.

I talked to him about that car yesterday evening and he told me that it was his car and he gave it to his sister and she was driving it every day but the reason he's selling it is because one day she went outside to go to work and the damn car wouldn't start up. I still haven't seen the car but it sounds to me like a crank sensor maybe. what do yall think?

I talked to him about that <A TITLE="Click for more information about car" STYLE="text-decoration: none; border-bottom: medium solid green;" HREF="http://search.targetwords.com/u.search?x=5977|1||||cars|AA1VDw">car</A>; yesterday evening and he told me that it was his car and he gave it to his sister and she was driving it every day but the reason he's selling it is because one day she went outside to go to work and the damn car wouldn't start up. I still haven't seen the car but it sounds to me like a crank sensor maybe. what do yall think?

If it is the crank angle sensor you are refering to, the Nissan only supplies it as part of the distributor assembly. Also, the timing chain/ tensioner get bad at around 100,000km.

If it is the crank angle sensor you are refering to, the Nissan only supplies it as part of the distributor assembly. Also, the timing chain/ tensioner get bad at around 100,000km.

Mine is just shy of 300,000km and the only problem I've had with my chain was a broken chain gaurd on the head and it made a horrible noise under that valve cover. Aside from that I don't have any timing issues, just some worn out valve stems that could use shimming. My only other trouble with the car was that my alternator died about 3000km after I got it, but that was because the used car dealership used hydrogen peroxide to clean it up which fried out the brushes.

I would say to get it, even if you have to invest a little money to get it running, they are well worth it. They are pretty quick in stock form and with a few tweaks to the engine, I'm sure you could easily race with it.