A friend of mine restores all sorts of cars, whether wrecked or insanely abused over some years of hard driving, so when I was offered a 91 Maxima for $50, I immediately thought of selling it to him.

I paid the previous owner $50, took the title, and took $70.02 from the other guy. A clean $20.02 profit for a 251K mile Maxima.

Reportedly, the car kept overheating. The guy replaced the thermostat for $9, the radiator hosing for whatever it costs, and the brake pads as well. The car has the original 3L V6, rated as one of the top 10 best engines in the world as of 1991. It drives so beautifully now, and the acceleration on that light car with the 160hp/182ft-lb is fantastic. The Sony CD player, quad Bose speakers, leather seats, all power, and working AC/heating are amazing.

Basically, the guy did a sub-$100 repair on the car, and he has already found a buyer for it who will pay the car off in payments. Here'* what I think of this sale:
1st payment - initial purchase, parts, and labor
2nd payment - net profit
3rd payment - likewise

I keep thinking that I should have kept the car. However, what if it had turned out that the engine was totally ruined by heat? At the time, it was better for me to get a quick $20 profit to fill up my gas tank than to risk hauling in a 15 yr-old car to work on it and see if I can make money after perhaps a huge investment of time and money. Would you gamble with a $50 car?

I'd have probably examined the car in more detail rather than selling it right away... and kept it if it was worthy or worth repairing.

I'd love a '91 Maxima, especially one that runs nice for $70 + $100. Especially if it was a Maxima SE, which this one might have been? Great handling cars with good zip to boot.

i too, would have held onto it if it was an SE.. my wife had a 91 SE that we ended up selling off cheap, but that was because it needed 1500 worth of work to get it up and street worthy again.

I didn't know how much work it needed. Time was of the essence, and $20 isn't bad for a tank of gas. The car is running fine now, though.

Why $70.02 and also I dont think $20.00 would fill anyones gas tank anymore..lol

More like a top off..than a fill up.

I'm all about turning the profit for little or no work.

1993 Volvo 850 with rod knock. bought: $100. hour and 30 minutes loading it, breaking the lower valence and busting an AC line. washing the car and cleaning the interior in 45 minutes. sitting in the back yard for 3 week. $350 net profit for myself and $120 for my roommate to tow it 2 hrs away.

1994 Mitsubishi eclipse 1.8L Bought for $400 on a friday. Drove home running rough. Turned idle screw 1/4 turn sold following friday for $800.

1993 SSE SC - bought for $400. Sold or used $600 worth in parts, removed another $400 worth of parts, junked for $91 profit.

1989 Sunbird. Bought for $200. Should sell in parts for more than that.

1996 Integra GSR 4 dr. Bought for a steal. Driving for a long while. Selling for what I paid for or more in 2-3 years.

Well, I've had several Maxima'*, the first one was a 1993. It had 199k on it when i got rid of it in 2003. Then I bought an 2003 Maxima. Those are great cars. But, the reason I got rid of the 93 was a crack in the engine block and oil leaking from three different places. I guess prolonged heat damage would be a concern though.