El Cheapo, the beater econobox

In attempting to give myself a "raise", I sold my gas guzzling 4x4 and bought a cheap little econo-box.  I perused Craigslist for a while, just looking for something cheap and with a manual trans that could still be sorta fun.  This popped up for $700, and after a month or so I figured I'd check it out.  Original owner car, total base model--manual windows, locks, mirrors, trans, no tach, etc.  A few little quirks, but a new clutch a couple years ago and hot heat & cold A/C.  I talked the owner down to $400, making this my cheapest running vehicle purchase.  

Last week I did some much needed maintenance: NGK plugs to replace the old Autolites, fresh oil & filter, new front pads & rotors, new battery terminal, cleaned the MAF (it was black with dirt and ran like a completely different car afterward).  I also scored some sunvisors, an intermittent wiper switch (XE models didn't have this option, but the wiring is already there), and a taillight at the junkyard for 20 bucks.  

I don't plan on doing too much to this, but a few things may happen.   Possibly some stock Spec V springs and new shocks, maybe a Spec V strut bar if I can find one at a junkyard, and some new tires along with painted steelies.  The goal of this is to be cheap but still have a bit of fun (I guess that's the whole point of GRM, haha), so there won't be too much happening on here, but I'll try to update with anything remotely interesting.

That looks like a hell of a car for $400. Should be fun and cheap to operate!

Great deal!

That shell looks clean.... and base model means it would be a rocket with a VQ swap compared to my tank. 

I dig it. Not really a Nissan guy but you can't neat that price. Plus, it looks way better than anything Nissan makes currently.

I have a soft spot for that gen and prior Sentras. They're reliable as gravity and if anything does go wrong you can fix them for next to nothing with very little effort. Yea they're a bit gutless but they will get you where you want to go.

Now I miss mine.

In reply to Run_Away :

Yes, yes it would. 

That's a great deal!

One thing I've found to go a long way in making cheap beaters feel less beater-y is repainting the black trim at the base of the windows. Doesn't take much effort but makes the car look a bit nicer. 

In reply to artur1808 :

Yeah, those moldings are all chipped and pealing.  I may get around to doing that at some point, good call.

Nice find -and price! I drove my even-cheaper (free) Sentra for two years and only did tires and brakes. I was surprised how well it did in snow and returned over 30 mpg.

Have fun and enjoy the immediate savings.

B15s are truly awful cars from a performance standpoint.  A $400 B15 is a great econo-beater though.

sethmeister4 said:

In reply to artur1808 :

Yeah, those moldings are all chipped and pealing.  I may get around to doing that at some point, good call.

This is a great place for Black Plasti-dip spray.  I did it once on a Taurus in the same spot and it came out looking great.  The thickness of dip was great if you can't get all the old off.  

Awesome buy! I will say it again..... Cheap cars are the best cars.

Yeah, not much of a performance machine, but it's fun in the "slow car fast" realm.  I would like to get out to a couple autocrosses this year, but it's basically going to be my appliance.  I would love to go all post apocalyptic and put mud tires on it and be stupid, but that seems a bit impractical.  Not planning to lower it, either, but some stock Spec V springs might make it a bit better.  Either way, I'll have some fun with it.  

Any of you have any favorite cheap tires that are available in 185/65-14?

In reply to sethmeister4 :

Federal 595 are my cheap go to tire. under $230 a set shipped. 

I have a couple of sets of Falken Sincera 250s that I bought through tirebuyer. com

Rated for 80k miles. 

I checked and they have your size at $55 shipped as well as $50 off 4. Pre tax that is $170 or $42 each. Add in another $15-20 for mounting and your out the door for $250 (pre-tax, whatever that is where you are. ) 

Link

Our local track forces the beater class to run 400 treadwear tires. The Ohtsu FP0612 is pretty popular and is $48 per tire at Discount Tire.

ProDarwin said:

B15s are truly awful cars from a performance standpoint.  A $400 B15 is a great econo-beater though.

I swear there was one of these at the track one time that I could not pull away from.  I'm sure it was not stock, and said something V on the badge... pretty good on both the corners and straight parts tho.  Was hittin that 3 wheel motion in my mirrors.

I found that deal on Falken 250s to be so good that I just ordered 4 for my Prius.  It's due for the winter tires to come off and need needs 4 new tires for the summer months.  At a net price of $47.50 each (pre-tax) after discount, I figured I had better act now.   

Looking at my "tire cash" and thinking that I'm going to try to find something for under $200.  I'll get them mounted and balanced at work for $40, so if I can find a set for $160 or less shipped then I'm good.  Saw some Ohtsu's on eBay for $150, they are a different model than mentioned above but seem much better than the Sentury and Westlake, etc., that are the entry level tires elsewhere.  It looks like Ohtsu is made by Falken...not sure where, I assume China or Taiwan.  We'll see.

Ok, so I figured I'd keep a running budget on here if only for my own sake of keeping track in one spot.

BUDGET

$400--purchase price

$155.75--DMV (tax/tag/title)

$133.99--Carquest (oil/filter, front pads & rotors, spark plugs)

$20.26--Pick N Pull (sunvisors, L taillight, wiper switch)

$22.48  Hall Nissan (battery terminal, dipstick tube)

$732.48  CURRENT TOTAL

Looks like an awesome car for the price.  Looking forward to seeing what you do with it.  IMHO, you shouldn’t skimp on tires.  Although searching for good rubber in 14” sizes is tough these days (the tire size you posted above looks close to the stock e30 size, and there are slim pickin’s nowadays).

So I have another idea for this.  I thought of it before, then changed my mind, now it's in my head again.  Maybe you guys will talk me out of it, or enable me, either way I though I'd mention it.  

The idea would be for a rally car/off-road/pseudo zombie apocalypse vehicle.  Nothing too stupid, maybe just some small strut lift spacers (I'd have to make these, or get them made), some slightly taller tires (185/70 are actually a few bucks cheaper than the stock size of 185/65), some rally armor mudflaps, an old street sign for a "skid plate", paint the steelies, etc.  Maybe a luggage rack on the trunk like they did back in the 90's (and earlier, I guess).  Might even be fun in the snow!

Anyway, there's the idea.  If you have any other good ideas I'd love to hear them!  Or tell me how stupid of an idea this is. 

Well, I'm still rocking this thing in stock form, and it's been great.  I got a flat last week, and the old tire was not fixable.  I finally decided to bite the bullet and order some new ones.  I found a deal on Discount Auto for some Hankooks.  $60 each, but with a $75 Discount Tire rebate and a $50 Hankook rebate they will end up being about $30 each.  $40 to have them installed at work and I'm all set.  I left the hubcaps off and I'll be painting the steelies soon.  I love the steelie look.

I also installed a new stereo last month to replace the stock one that had totally died.  Just a basic Dual brand one, but with a USB port and an auxiliary port.  Nothing fancy, but it had great reviews and was dirt cheap.

Other than needing a really good cleaning (mazdeuce, you free for a road trip to VA Beach? ), it's pretty good to go.  Can't complain for a $400 car.

Makes me want to get a beater. Well more beater than my current beaters. 

Forgot to update my budget.  Oh, and I noticed that all of my pics are of the right side.  The left looks the same, probably worse and with less paint.  Next pic will be of the left.

BUDGET

$400.00--purchase price

$155.75--DMV (tax/tag/title)

$133.99--Carquest (oil/filter, front pads & rotors, spark plugs)

$20.26--Pick N Pull (sunvisors, L taillight, wiper switch)

$22.48--Hall Nissan (battery terminal, dipstick tube)

$47.37--Crutchfield (stereo and install kit)

$117.00--Discount Tire (4 Hankook Kinergy PT tires--after $75 D.T. rebate and $50 Hankook rebate)

$40.00--Tire installation

$936.85 CURRENT TOTAL