Thursday I was searching the local classified that is posted every Thursday and I ran across this car in the "Antiques & Collectibles" section. Every so often someone posts an over 25 car there. I saw an "82 Datsun Maxima" posted. Ad stated "Original owner, diesel, all original manuals, garaged". I was intrigued so I called. All there was, was an answering machine message (elderly man voice) - I left a message. No answer until yesterday afternoon. I rushed down to see it. (an hour away since I live in the country)
What it was....
Original paint - Owner stated he NEVER waxed it. Just Turtle Wax wash and wax. I think once I wax it the light scratches will come out and the paint will shine more. Nary a ding in the car, straight as an arrow! When he said garage kept, he meant for the last 25 years!!
113,800 miles- Sounds nice, but here was the kicker. Not only did he have the MX manuals but he kept every last reciept and record on ANYTHING that has been done to it in the last 25 years. A little Memorandum book has it all written down. Oh, he even had the original bill of sale and window sticker. The car was $11,800 new.
Original interior - Nice shape. Some slight fading but material excellent. I can't help but think Armor All may have played a part with a bit of dash discoloration. The dash is immaculate though. Voice system works fine.
Under the hood, you can eat off the engine and it looks as though he kept it that way since Day 1 - he stated he had. I also got a LARGE box of parts. He stockpiled OEM Nissan hoses, filters etc. This car is not a smoker. I did notice a bit last night when I turned on the A/C and I was going up a hill at the same time. He regularly put IP cleaner in it and the pump belt was fairly recently changed.
About 2 months ago I got my Jetta diesel stating to my wife finding a low mileage, very original, original owner, all MX records pre-computer / pre-turbo diesel would be few and far between and that was why I needed to get my Jetta. Then this came up - she's NOT HAPPY! :roll: She'll get over it. I had went to look at this with the intention of doing a conversion on it as well (WVO), this is too much of a survivor to do that to so it will go in the garage as a back-up car to the others. With a little detailing, it would be show condition as it is as nice as maybe a 2-3 year old car.
Problem areas with it:
Cruise Control - not sure yet. No light on switch, does not engage either.
Brake lights - I swore I saw them work when he backed it out of the garage. According to records, he's driven the car 200 miles over the last 2 years. He said he took it out once a week, but didn't go far. I suspect the brake light switch is out. I'll check the fuses first though.
A/C needed charged/converted - I did it in Oreilly's parking lot last night and it worked great on the 50 mile trip home.
Now IYO, what was a good price for it? I'm not really going to disclose the price yet as I hate to be told I'm an idiot even though IMO I paid a VERY GOOD price for it.
The original owner watched me as I drove away last night, he said his wife was inside crying. Said he couldn't understand that as they had both agreed to sell it. I can understand, the car has a lot of memories. 25 years is a long time and as immaculate as it was kept - I would consider it was treated as a family member or as my wife says I treat my cars BETTER than a family member. I assured him it was going to the best buyer he could of found for it and she shouldn't be worried as it will be taken care of.
The Metro has to go.
I'm not happy about letting it go as it was my uncle's car, but he wasn't too attached to it anyway.
Here are some pics, the car already got dirty going down my road!
Anyway, the hood waxed up nice. The rest of the car should turn out nice, I think I'll pop it into a little show just for the heck of it. I hate bringing the same cars to a show over and over - plus 1982 was just a neat time for me I could almost throw some Star Wars figures in there and a Rubik's Cube and some Smurfs in there for good measure. See, I've got a theme going.....
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