I went and fetched the car yesterday. The body is as solid as you will ever find. No rust anywhere. Car was originally sold in Mississippi which may help explain the condition of the body. The paint is heavily oxidized and porbably needs to be resprayed. The interior is in good condition. The inside driver door handle is loose and pulls away from the door. Drivers's seat belt doesn't retract well and some other minor things. No cracks in the dash board or wood work. Seats look great but sink when you sit in them. Rear seats do the same so I'm guessing that it is normal. I talked them down from $3000 to $2500 due to the air conditinoning not working and drove it home.

One the way home I noticed the odometer was working sporatically. I accumulated 188 miles on the way home on a 400 mile trip. No telling how many miles are on the car. Had my wife call the Nissan dealer where I bought it to let them know. The offered to take $300 off the car. When she told them that that was not going to be acceptable, they asked if I could return the car. She explained that I was over half way home and that my schedule would not allow it and told them that they would have to come get the car themselves. I'm supposed to call the sales manager today to resolve the matter.

Additional info about the car. HVAC system temperature is sporatic. It is either too hot or too cold. Tied setting temperature at all settings. When I started the car this morning at 30 deg F it started well. There was no smoke at the tailpipe. I expected it to high idle until it warmed up but it just went right to 700 rpm. There was a loud noise like the sound of an electric fuel pump going bad or a cavitating hydraulic pump. Seemed to be comming from around the transmission but was hard to locate. Transmission fluid level was normal. As the car warmed up the noise turned into a more even sound like a geardrive or hydraulic pump. Pitch of noise increased with engine speed. After aboud 20 minutes of running and driving around the noise went away. There is oil all over on the injection pump side of the car that was not there when I picked it up. Looks like it is being blown out around the dipstick. I loosened the oil fill cap and it dances around. I increased the engine speed up to around 4000 rpm, however, blowby pressure or volume did not seem to increase and the cap continued to dance but remained on the valve cover. I checked the crank case breather and it is working fine and not blocked. The transmission seems a little out of adjustment. Shifts too late (higher revs) at a moderate throttle position and shifts into 2nd and then right to 3rd under light throttle. Maybe excessive clutch slippage at moderate to heavy throttle but can't be sure. Backing off throttle right when it is about to shift seems to help it shift better.

Please let me know what you all think about this purchase and thank you.

OK, what you are feeling is normal. It's the traditional sense of buyer's remorse what comes when a person has purchased an old car. We need to determine if there is anything seriously wrong with it..........like engine.

The only thing on the list that I'm concerned about is the oil getting blown all over the engine compartment. You need to wipe it down very well and make an attempt to determine exactly where it is coming from. This might be a serious issue, or it might simply be a bad valve cover gasket.

Everything else on the list is not major. You do need to be the type of person who enjoys maintaining old cars. It's not a vehicle that will simply be driven every day without little things to maintain and repair. If you're not into obtaining the knowledge and doing these repairs, then I'd suggest you send it back to them.

The price is quite attractive...........you definitely did not pay them too much for it........provided that the engine is OK.

might be the power steering pump. if it is low it will groan. also if it is leaking it will wet the drivers side of the engine compartment and might be flung around by the fan belt.

it is pretty hard to tell from verbal descriptions but if you made it home 400 miles and the idle is even (within the context of a 617's hoppy idle) then i am encouraged by the engine. if the tranny is not slipping then probably you can make adjustments and get that sorted out. try for another 2 or 300 off for the speedo. it sounds like you and wifey are good negotiators

good luck

tom w

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

The noise is not comming from the power steering pump. The engine sounds fine and runs great. Must be transmission, possibly injection pump but am not leaning toward that because of the sound of the noise.

As far as having buyers remorse, I don't. I am happy with the car and am going to enjoy working on it. That's why I bought it. All of my other vehicles are newer and reliable and I don't give me an opportunity to get greasy. I have pretty good mechanical abilities and good tools. I do everything my-self execpt body work (which I don't often need done) and have rebuilt engines in two cars: 78' Alfa Romeo and an 85 volvo which had the 6 cyl Volkswagon Diesel.

I'll now begin the process of getting everything into top mechanical condition and will be studying old posts to find out what I need to do. The first thing will be all fluids: engine oil, transmission fluid, differential, power steering fluid, coolant & brake fluid. I have read about adjusting the valves every 30K and will be doing that.

As long as the basics are their IE solid body, interior, and engine everything else is just basic old car stuff.

As Brian said you need to clean up the engine bay and figure out where the leak is coming from.

As for that noise listen to the power steering pump. They will whine a bit when they are cold.

Other then that I think you bought a good car at the right price. Try to talk the dealer down a bit more of course it would be nice if you could get $500 out of them.

Don't right the paint off yet you would be surprised how it can come back. Mine was pretty dull when I got it and I brought it back. Head over to the detailing forum for some advice. But you should spend a day on it with the Meguairs three step system they sell at Autozone. Throw in a clay bar and I bet you can get some shine out of it. You will need a buffer doing it by hand is a waste of time.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
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