240sx

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Ev0

Ev0

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I'm beginning to look into some options for a first car and I've been looking closely at a 240SX since it's an affordable rear wheel drive car. But I want to know how reliable it is, how expensive insurance is, and how is it's performance? Any websites, personal experiences, etc will be greatly appreciated.
 
There are a couple things you should think about before doing this:
1) Do you plan on modding this car?
2) If "yes" to number 1, if you are going to do some heavy work, please continue, if not, disregard the rest.
3) Do you have a daily driver
4) If you answered "no" to number 3, do you live within walking distance of school/work?
5) If you answered "no" to number 4, I wouldnt suggest this vehicle.

S13's/14's are GREAT project cars, but are quite expensive. Since this is going to be your first car, I'd say get something dependable first, something cheap that you can tinker with. Once you're ready, move onto a heavier project.
 
I don't know if I will have the money mod the car and if I do, it won't be anything much, probably just a cold air intake and/or exhaust. But when you say it's expensive, do you mean expensive as a project car, or expensive as a daily driver (high maintenence? I heard S13s have good reliability). I'm not going to drive it much within the next 1.5 years but if I go out of town to university, I will plan to take the car with me, where it will likely become a daily driver unless I'm lucky enough to get a spot in residence. And if it does become a daily driver, I can't imagine it being commuted more than 15 or 20 minutes one way.
 
Expensive to mod. SR20DET parts (quality parts, not Bob's house of exhaust manifold crap) are quite expensive. Coilovers are no joke either (assuming you want the good stuff), I'm spending 1700 on mine (Tein RA's).

If all you plan on doing is putting a CAI and exhaust, you wont have any probs. KA24's breathe fine with their stock exhaust, but you'll probably want that cool car sound or something (I dunno, I'm bad with this kinda stuff, anything that isnt a needed for my car, I dont buy, hence the reason I dont have a stereo =P ) so a catback is probably in order.

Gas milage on them is pretty cheap, assuming you dont drive your car like a wanna-be racer. Treat your car good, and you can get some decent miles from that truck motor. Regular oil changes, good oil filters, and an all around general maintenance can stretch your cars life very nicely. With that KA24 in your car, you can feed it that crap 87 gas too and not worry about it, as it will just take it and keep on ticking =) I have a buddy who has his S13 going on 170k miles with stock KA, and hes done this just through treating his vehicle well.
 
why not upgrade to a 300zx for only a few more $$$'s......I could give you every reason to get one but that would take forever:D

Seriously, 240's are great as DD and as a 1st car. RWD is fun, but can be dangerous(hehe) so be careful and "experiment" only in large, empty parking lots.....god im a bad influence:lol:
 
Originally posted by 300ZX_lover
why not upgrade to a 300zx for only a few more $$$'s......I could give you every reason to get one but that would take forever:D

Seriously, 240's are great as DD and as a 1st car. RWD is fun, but can be dangerous(hehe) so be careful and "experiment" only in large, empty parking lots.....god im a bad influence:lol:
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I'm thinking about a 300ZX but I heard that despite also being very reliable, they have high maintenence costs. I'm still keeping it in mind though!
 
If you're talking about replacing pieces, yes, but that is true for most imports (non-honda). The problem with both 240sx's and 300zx's is that they are not abundant in scrap yards like some other Nissan cars (sentra's, maxima's, etc) as they were not a very mainstream car. Not being in junkyards as often means you'll have to buy a new part, ebay, or use car-parts.com to find a replacement for whatever needs fixing. Usually at junkyards you can cut a deal with the guy and get a fairly used part as a killer price, this is something I very rarely have been able to do, but my friends who have Rustangs, vettes, F150's, they always take advantage of junkyards and make me utterly jealous of what they can obtain. Nissan Hardbody pickups can be found in junkyards and sometimes Nissan Frontiers, so you may be able to salvage some parts from those, as they share the same motor as a stock 240sx.

If you're worried about cost, perhaps you should think about getting a domestic vehicle. Owning an import is rewarding, but its also a little taxing on the checkbook (especially when you start to mod). My buddy who has a 5.0 Rustang can do SO MUCH MORE with a grand than I could... When I told him that my exhaust system up to my turbo extention cost me about $875, he laughed at me for about half the day.
 
Yea the maintenence costs can be high, i can see that. Still you can pick up a nice non-turbo for pretty cheap these days, the potential for HP isn't there though....a maxed out 300ZX NA would be lucky to hit 220rwhp w/o spray, or a built motor. Even so, the car looks awesome without any bodykit or anything so that makes up for it. And it still feels fast too:)
 

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