Now sold.
S
Looking to sell my S14 as my best mate has finally decided to sell his mint E36 M3 Coupe - and i've always promised myself i'd buy it.
Specs:-
- First registered 13th Feb 1996 - 'N' reg
(currently on a private plate - this will not be included in the sale)
- 73,000 miles only - backed up by service history
(i commute 60 miles a day in the car so this figure will go up)
- I'm the 4th keeper. The previous keeper had the car for 8 years.
- Impressive Nissan main dealer service history (i'll list all the service items and dates in an additional post tomorrow - there's loads!)
- Taxed till 30th Nov
- MOT till 30th Oct
- Touring spec (aircon, black leather interior, side skirts)
- About to have new brake pads fitted. This will be done prior to sale completion at my expense
- I last changed the oil in January, so will give the car a new oil and filter change prior to the sale completion at my expense
- Bodywork in good condition for age. Rear arches are starting to bubble in the usual places, but only surface rust. Couple of small dents in the front wing and bonnet. Nothing major - hardly noticeable but easily fixed if you're looking to make it pristine. Also the drivers window has the usual vertical scratches where grit has got into the window seals at some point, but you barely notice it. A replacement window from a breaker is about £10.
- Interior also in good condition. Leather seats show some signs of wear but not as bad as most i've seen. Very comfortable and supportive.
- All the electrics work. Aircon nice and cold. Currently got a JVC MP3 head unit in there with proper iPod cable plumbed in to the wee cubbyhole - this is NOT included in the price but can be left fitted by negotiation. Its a proper iPOD link, so you can control the ipod from the head unit and it charges the iPod at the same time.
- The engine is completely unmodified or tinkered with. It's very reliable, pulls really strongly with no hesitation above 2750rpm, and never overheats.
- I've recently replaced the window wiper mechanism (using genuine brand new nissan parts) following a 50mph brown trouser moment where the wipers stopped working in a downpour. Apparently this is a common problem, so at least you have piece of mind that it's been rectified. Althought the fix was pretty cheap (about £30) it was a complete pig of a job.
- I've also replaced the crappy windscreen washers with Citroen misted ones - huge improvement. As an aside, for some reason you have to use the rear window washer switch to activate the front window washer. No idea why - i can only assume the wires have been crossed at some point in the past. Not a problem, and it passed the MOT fine, but worth knowing in advance. Took me ages to work that one out!
- Most importantly - NO VVT rattle! Woohoo!
Mods:-
- Subframe locking collars fitted - hardly any noise from them too which is rare. Slight increase in diff noise, gear selection and the odd light creak but really very quiet compared to most. The difference it made to the handling though was astonishing. The back end is now totally planted.
- Rear Whiteline ARB droplinks also fitted at the same time.
- KYB dampers and Apex springs (with new top mounts) fitted to the front. Again, a huge improvement to the handling without lowering the car too much (approx 30mm) or making it too harsh.
- Custom 3" cat-back stainless exhaust with single oval exit. This is a very subtle sounding exhaust - i didn't want it to sound too loud and chavvy. Looks great - sits really close to the body without knocking.
- Rota Torque Drifts 18x8.5 Front 18x9.5 Rear in Bronze. These were only bought in January so are in great condition. Tyres are all brand new Falkens (only 2000miles on them) stretched to fit the rims. Totally love the stretched look - plus there's absolutely no clearance issues with the arches. I also have the original alloys and tyres in good condition.
- Has genuine clear front indicators fitted. These cost me £80! Makes such a big difference to the look of the car. Also the side repeaters are clear too.
- I've painted the front grill black. Just think it looks better that way.
- I've also painted the rear light centre section black (but the reverse lights still shine through fine) - again, purely asthetics. Think it makes the back end look meaner. A replacement standard centre section would cost you £20.
Issues:-
- The boot lock doesn't work. The boot can be opened fine using the release lever in the car, but you can't use the key to open it. It's totally safe as it means it's always locked, but thought i'd let you know.
- The battery is not the best after 13 years. I think one of the cells is dead, as if you leave the car parked up for 5 days, there's not enough juice in it to start the car. I use the car Mon-Fri so it's never been enough of an issue for me to splash out on a new one. Again, i'm just letting you know to be completely open. It'll happily sit on the drive for a long weekend and start fine, but if you plan to leave it parked up for 5 days at a time, you'll need to get a new battery.
- The power steering is a bit noisy. I suspect the belt just needs tightened or replaced. This will be fixed at my expense prior to the sale completing.
All in all it's a good, honest car. I use it to commute every day so rarely get about 50mph in it - so it's completely unstressed. All the mods are pretty subtle and tasteful imho - designed to make the most of the looks and improve the handling (which was pretty awful in standard form). My aim was to have a good compromise between useability and sportiness.
The suspension is quite firm now (especially on the 18s) but not so much that you can't use it every day. It sits about 30mm lower than standard so looks more planted, but it's not so low you struggle with speed bumps. The exhaust gives the car a much nicer sound (and look), but it's really subtle - much quieter than normal cat-backs (but could be made louder if you removed the cat).
It's not a pampered show car so there are the odd things that aren't perfect, but you can either choose to sort these out for not much cash, or leave it as is and just enjoy driving the car.
Any questions, give me a shout.
I'm looking for £2,750 for the car, but can put the standard wheels and indicators back on and sell it for £2,150 if you'd prefer. No P/X or swaps.
(note - pictures to follow. I need to give it a good clean this weekend first, then i'll stick an ad on pistonheads and link to it from here)