A few weeks ago I decided after months of pain from my left ankle (6mt owner) it was time I take my physical therapists advice and drive an automatic. I did some searching and came by somebody on craigslist who was selling there 05 coupe almost identical to mine (salvage title) and I sent a message and he was interested in a trade. We met up and he was a cool guy around the same age as me (19) and the car looked amazing. Perfect paint, projector headlights, jdm aftermarket faceplate, clean interior. I took the car around he block and noticed a few difference things. First off the alignment was pretty bad. The wheel needed to be at about 10 oclock ankle to go straight. I asked him why that was and he said when he got the car repaired that the wheel bearing needed a replacement. Which I'm up to replace but I'm wondering if that coule be the reason why the car is such a bad alignment issue. The second and last problem I noticed was the rpm was a bit laggy and jumpy. The acceleration was fine and no lag there it was just an eye sore looking at it because I plan on using manual mode quite often. The damage the car was in was a fender bender. No engine bay damage just some suspension fixes. Costed him about $800 and he has all paperwork ready to go.
What would you guys say? Sound like some fixable issues?
If I didn't make anything confusing just ask and ill clear it up.
My car I'm trading him is in no way flawless either but it's mostly cosmetic issues.

 

Are you sure he got an alignment done correctly after all his suspension work?

I replaced my suspension recently also, but I did it little bit at a time and after I changed each piece I needed a new alignment. I bought a lifetime alignment at FireStone, since I knew this was going to happen anyway.

Perfect example I change my ball joints, LCA, and struts. Took it an for an alignment and it seemed okay. I then needed to replace my driver side LCA after I did that the steering wheel was way off again. I just took it back to FireStone and they realigned it again all in the green and the steering wheel was fixed also.

Ask him to see his alignment paperwork or get a printout on it.

 

Cars don't really just fall out of alignment, they are forced out of center. You typically see issues with this when a car is drifted and slammed into a curb or something similar.

Get it professional checked by a mechanic kick.

 

Salvage Title...red flag! You don't know if this coupes issues are alignment or the fact that it's a "Junk Yard Dog." Possible the sub frame could be twisted...don't walk, run away!
Gary

 

Ok so ill ask him for some alignment paperwork tomorrow.

And Gary I know it's a red flag salvage but it has no subframe damage and it was honestly a pretty minor accident and he has all paperwork for the fix and I'm gonna research guys who fixed her up. My brother drives a salvaged is250 and it runs fine and never gives him any problems and it took a worse accident.

 

the 10 o clock position on the steering wheel to go straight is incredibly off.

 

I think you want to pay attention to the SAI and Included angle numbers. Those shouldn't be off that much even if the car is off alignment; I'm not a 100% positive on that though. Those two numbers usually can't be adjusted and if they are off then it could mean there is some subframe damage.

But, salvage title yea unless you can pull up what exactly happened to it; I'd hold onto your car and wait for something better.

 

Kicknshift, make sure you do a lot of research because honestly our cars don't get totaled for minor scrapes! Remember you're getting information from the seller who may be "Sugar Coating" what really happened to this coupe. Steering wheel being that far off after having alignment done tells me two things, really bad mechanic doing the alignment or subframe/suspension has hidden issues or both. I still say run...
Gary

 

"I see said the blind man to his deaf wife." Run for the hills. As suggested abouve.

 

Yeah these cars are out there, find yourself a good one..

 

T H I S ! ! ! !

just keep looking

 

I'm always looking but I'm still gonna take it to a good mechanic and get a full inspection. I'm even gonna go beforehand and talk to the mechanic and tell him about the accident so he can thoroughly look at the damaged area.

 

A bad wheel bearing will not cause an alignment issue. Holding the steering wheel at 10 o'clock to go straight is a serious alignment issue.

That, plus salvage title would make me run away.


These cars aren't exactly rare, so why not look for another? Does this car fall in your budget better? Are you trading?

 

He just took a guess and doesn't seem like he knows much about cars so I knew that sure wasn't the problem.
The alignment is bad I know but only a mechanic will tell.

Im trading my 6mt for an auto, so not many people agree for trades and he seemed willing and knew how to drive the 6mt really well. (former 350z 6mt owner)

 

I'm surprised not more trades in that direction.