Zach Hill wrote:
Didn't you just buy a second set of wheels anyway?
Yes.
Kevin Allen wrote:
It's funny how certain things just don't work the same, and you don't really think about it being a problem until it happens, and you go, "WTF?"
When I was swapping on that set of wheels yesterday, I put in in reverse with the parking brake on, jacked up the front driver's side, and with force intended to overcome the first lug nut, proceeded to turn the entire wheel a good eighth of a turn. Apparently on a RWD car, both the drive wheels and the parking brake are in the rear!
Zach Hill wrote:
Appraised? If you took it to a dealer, they probably told you ... snip ... blah blah blah
I took it to Carmax first to get a baseline offer. They didn't notice the problem with the exhaust or the AC (it does blow cold). Even still, theirs was predictably low.
The next day I posted an ad on Craigslist, then immediately headed to Leith Nissan. The entire time I was en route, my phone was blowing up. The sales manager appraised it for less than what Carmax offered me. After I test drove a 370Z and a Leaf (stories for another time), he offered me a little bit more than Carmax, but privately (not through Leith). I told him I had to follow up with some craigslist hits.
Out of those hits, only one of them seemed like a qualified buyer, so I invited him for a test drive. The dad was shopping for a first car for his son, so they both came together. The dad told me he didn't have enough for the asking price, and started trying to haggle me before he had even sat in it. He was also trying to pressure me into selling it right there on the spot, because he was going out of state the next day. This was on a Sunday, btw. I wouldn't take anything short of a cashier's check as payment from a buyer who's planning to leave the state basically immediately. So that set off a huge red flag. I almost asked him to leave right there, but I thought maybe if he drives it he'll be a little more reasonable, maybe willing to do the deal on Monday. I didn't want to just call him out directly on that, after all. On the test drive, he didn't wear his seat belt, didn't stop at any of the stop signs, and ground the gears every time he tried to change up. We returned, and he wanted to negotiate down some more, despite nothing going wrong with the car. I asked him why, and he couldn't give a reason. I apologized, and said I'd have to decline his offer. Then he tried to suggest that I was a racist for not doing business with him (I'm white, he's latino). Sorry, still no deal.
Steven Carter wrote:
DD the Altima as a 3-season car and drive the S2000 in the summer
That's the plan - defer the AC compressor. Driving without defrost is not much fun on cold wet evenings though. The midpipe is probably something I can DIY, but I'd need to find somewhere to work on it safely. Jacking it up in the parking lot won't do. Also, see above for an example of my mechanical ineptitude.
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