I want to buy sc400, is it a good idea?
12-09-12, 05:22 PM
#1
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I want to buy sc400, is it a good idea?
Hi guys! My name is David and my neighbor has a SC400 that has been sitting in his driveway since before i moved in a little over 4 years ago. I don't know too much about the car besides that. Haha. I have talked to him about buying the car a few times before, but he has never been to interested in selling it. But just yesterday he came up to me as i was getting out of my truck and said that hes ready to sell it. When i go to talk to him in a few days im going to get all the details of the car. When i talked to him about the car before, he said that the motor is still healthy and the car starts but when you put it into drive there isn't any power, its like it is hesitant to get up to speed. He thinks it has something to do with the transmission, but i don't think that's it. He said that he would sell me the car $1000. I know that is an awesome deal but im not gonna do anything until i get the car started. Plus the car isn't going anywhere, so im not in too much of a rush to get it. What could be some things that would cause it to not be getting any power? The only two things me and my friend could think of would be the catalytic converters are in need of replacement, or to replace the spark plug wires, and coils. Any input from SC owners would be awesome. i would love to get this car and make it into a project that would eventually turn into a daily. Thank you in advance!
12-09-12, 05:41 PM
#3
Sounds like a coil pack issue.
Does the car start but is just really sluggish? Like the is just really slow and not running properly? It could be that it's only running on 4 cylinders. A coil pack went on me once while driving and the car still worked but it ran like a dog. To fix a coil pack it isn't that expensive. Not sure if this is your issue but just trying to help.
Does the car start but is just really sluggish? Like the is just really slow and not running properly? It could be that it's only running on 4 cylinders. A coil pack went on me once while driving and the car still worked but it ran like a dog. To fix a coil pack it isn't that expensive. Not sure if this is your issue but just trying to help.
12-09-12, 05:45 PM
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That's not a bad deal. You can probably get your hands on a new motor and tranny for another grand (1UZ or 2JZGE). You could also go with a GTE swap depending on your goals. I bought my SC for 500 that runs but has bad rings.
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12-09-12, 07:52 PM
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The car is clean title and the body is clean, just in dyer need of a paint job. The interior isn't the best but I'm not to worried about that right now. I'd rather get the car running. It is a clean title, and the body is straight. I think it's a 93 or 94 and I'm not sure of mileage. I'll post pics tomorrow. But from what my neighbor told me it will drive down the street he just can't get it above 15mph or something like that. I haven't talked to him to in depth about the car just yet. Next time I talk to him I will get all the details I can and let you guys know.
12-09-12, 08:28 PM
#10
Not to scare you guys, but if I were to do it again, I would buy a well maintained or even a dealership maintained and garaged or totally babied SC for $10,000+ rather than getting a totally beat up $1,000+ SC. And my SC's body isn't even bad, just a lot of maintainance not done to it, that's starting to catch up now that its being daily'd by me.
12-09-12, 09:17 PM
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I would ask as many questions as you can aswell, if he already replaced the coils then your on the hunt for what can be wrong which can get pricey. Still a good deal for a project tho 
Last edited by Joey-E; 12-09-12 at 09:22 PM.
12-09-12, 11:52 PM
#13
Not to scare you guys, but if I were to do it again, I would buy a well maintained or even a dealership maintained and garaged or totally babied SC for $10,000+ rather than getting a totally beat up $1,000+ SC. And my SC's body isn't even bad, just a lot of maintainance not done to it, that's starting to catch up now that its being daily'd by me.
12-10-12, 12:32 AM
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if you can get pic's that would really help. as mentioned above worse case senerio you can pick up a cheap 1uz for around 700 bucks.. i absolutely love my Sc400 one of the best cars ive owned the best part is you just don't see these cars out on the road..