Mercedes, if you REALLY want a rust free A Class, buy it from Brazil. No snow, no salt, and nowadays they are cheap.
Not necessarily well maintained, but rust free and cheap.
Here 2 almost running for ~USD1.400, you could build one out of these 2, probably.
There better ones, you can find one in a really decent shape and with a reasonable mileage for around USD 3.200.
Member
S13 Sedan
37 minutes ago
As much as I love old Nissans, they really are just kind of thrown together. When I lowered my Laurel more and put different wheels and tires on, I noticed that the top of the tire on the driver’s side was closer to the fender than the one on the passenger side but my alignment was good and camber was equal on both sides.
This sent me into a frenzy. Did the subframe shift? Was my car previously crashed and I wasn’t aware of it? Eventually after doing some research I found many posts on Australian Skyline forums of people having the same issue on various Nissans of the era.
Turns out the answer was that’s just how it is sometimes. Nissan just cranked those cars out fast and the tolerances aren’t good. You’d never notice it at stock height and with stock wheels anyway.
Member
Cerberus
41 minutes ago
Over 20 years ago, I drove from north of Boston to Detroit to look at a Legacy turbo that was in “great shape for its age with almost no rust at all”. Got there and the paint was holding much of it together among a lot of other issues that showed the car had been beat to hell its whole life. After some less than cordial interacting, he admitted it was pretty bad and offered to drop the price a little. I drove home without engaging in violence and was proud of myself for that.
If the dental procedure is gum grafts, I found the worst part to be the later stage of healing, a few days before the stitches are removed, as the wound pulls at the threads. Getting them removed, every cut was an immediate relief.
The procedure is implants, a whole lot of them! Half of my adult teeth never came in and I’ve been rocking baby teeth in those spots for my whole life.
I didn’t know it was possible to retain baby teeth. I imagine that’s not a pleasant procedure to remedy. I’ve had wisdom teeth pulled (which I guess is why I’m a dumbass) and 4 or 5 grafts thanks to some genetics and overzealous brushing. What hurt the most, though, was the bills.
I hope they don’t aggravate the nerves with that drill!
Yeah! I had an ex that had one baby tooth just kinda hanging out up front. It was just the one and didn’t impact her like in Mercedes’ situation but it’s a thing!
Member
TheDrunkenWrench
46 minutes ago
I remember someone asking for a service right as I was about to take lunch (semi truck, a service is billed at 2.5hrs, and takes at least 2). In those days I had a high metabolism, and I’d get SUPREMELY hangry.
I did the service, cursing and swearing my way through. In the end, the driver tipped me $20. and I managed to time taking my “lunch” break so that it lined up with our afternoon coffee break.
So I worked through lunch, but got a 45 minute break and an extra $20. That money got reinvested in Cold Snacks after work.
Absolutely! I miss that shop. We used to have the friday night “church meetings” when we’d close down for the week. Cold snacks, wrenching on personal projects, and just generally decompressing with co-workers.
Member
Angry Bob
51 minutes ago
Tipping the welder is nice. In my years as an auto mechanic, I think got a tip from a customer like three times. That was a lunch that I otherwise wasn’t going to get!
That welder uses a hell of a lot more skill than the barista that gets the same tip for pouring an iced coffee.
I truly feel that small acts of appreciation go a long way when it comes to the person that is working on what is usually your second-most valuable possession (after a house).
I got a tip for doing an alignment once. That felt pretty cool, not gonna lie.
Member
Tbird
59 minutes ago
Agree with Stephen, Nissan’s seem unnecessarily difficult to work on compared to Toyota/Honda. I did work on a friend’s Murano years ago, and every job had some frustratingly difficult to access bolt or fitting. Also agree about the cheap hardware. I snapped a valve cover bolt or two changing leaking spark plug tube gaskets (which requires new valve covers as they are captive .. Seriously?!) I was using an inch/lb 1/4″ drive torque wrench!! The same job on my MDX took less than half the time with no broken/stripped fasteners. And the gaskets are replaceable for a few bucks.
They were like taffy, maybe M6 on the threads with big washered pan-heads.
Love to see the response from you and the Autopian team. I’m heading to Florida next week to help settle an estate, but likely won’t be dropping by Wilmington on this trip. Going inland I’m afraid as it is on the Gulf coast.
Last edited 7 minutes ago by Tbird
A. Barth
1 hour ago
I am excited about the motorcycle! Just wait until you see what I got.
Admittedly, the Discord people sometimes get a sneak peek into what’s going on in my life/fleet, but that’s because it takes 30 seconds to fire off a post on Discord and hours to publish something on this site. But I always eventually post about the shenanigans on the site! 🙂
Member
Aaronaut
1 hour ago
Try not to beat yourself up about this stuff, Mercedes! I learn the hard way too.
Example: Years ago I lost $2k on the (apparently very common) CraigsList larceny tactic where the buyer sends a cashier’s check for way too much money, then asks if I could send the excess back. A week later, the bank rejects the cashier’s check, the buyer ghosts you, and you’re out of luck (and money). Yaaaayyyyyyyy
Ouch! Apparently, my parents lost $6k to a Craigslist scam in about 2016 or so. Guy pretending to be a contractor took their $6k for a mild remodeling job. He plopped the cheapest possible vinyl down onto the floor, not even securing it in place or making sure the pieces fit. Then he didn’t do anything else before disappearing with the rest of the money. Cops didn’t really do a whole lot about it. IIRC, he was one of two guys who scammed them during the rehab of that house. My parents learned the hard way not to hire the cheapest contractors from Craigslist.
It’s not like she has to PAY the lawyer’s fees! A nice date night might cover it!
Member
NC Miata NA
1 hour ago
As someone who has experienced Wilmington mid-day traffic, I can only assume extracting snapped bolts was the more enjoyable part of the project.
Member
The Sparkalator Connects To The Whirligig
1 hour ago
I live in the PNW, so most of my dealing with rusty things have been on vehicles that did not spend their lives here. Given that there are so many rust-free vehicles available locally, that has generally been because I was a cheap bastard. The rustiest vehicles I’ve owned were both Hondas. One was a ‘Passport’ (Super Cub). I got a pair of them (runner and parts vehicle) from Idaho for $500 plus $200 to have the guy drive them out to Seattle for me. The second was a Honda Acty when I was going through a divorce and I decided I needed a vehicle my ex would not agree to in a million years, but I was on a budget. Bought the worst one on the lot. I think it was a lot van in a coastal town, given the rusting from the top down. Came with a full ashtray. But it ran, mostly. Hilarious machine. But, now in Oregon, I couldn’t register it. Broke several bolts working on that one. I’ve never owned a Nissan. At least the bolts weren’t that hard to get to on the Hondas.
In other news, I got a welder for Christmas this year. It was, I think, something like $200. It’s surprisingly capable for the money, especially on 240V power. I was just welding up some 1/8″ tubing and plate last night and the thing didn’t even sweat. A buddy of mine who used to weld for a living suggested the even the cheapest Harbor Freight special will do fine for automotive work. I think those are, somehow, in the year of hell that is 2026, still $100. 3 broken bolts would pay for the thing at those rates.
Member
James McHenry
1 hour ago
I’m glad Mercedes at least got something back. Also totally get the kicking oneself. Had a tool I bought on eBay that never arrived, despite tracking saying it had. Was so distraught I accidentally left bad feedback for the wrong thing by mistake, which made me feel more bad when that seller contacted me with “What the hell, man?!”
750 is still a lot of money, and I’d be freaking out a bit too. But I am glad you found your dream bike! Even if it’s a bagger with an exhaust that’d wake the dead. ;3
Also. Screw Rust. Iron Oxide holes killed my Sentra, and I cannot tell you just how many bolts I’ve broken…
Member
Zipn Zipn
1 hour ago
Sorry to hear about the lost deposit.
I try to avoid buying things sight-unseen and un-tested, but sometimes a too-good-to-be-true deal pops up that’s legit and worth the risk.
That said, any money I send is either credit card, PayPal or maybe Venmo as long as it qualifies for buyer protection. Seems like the guy who held back the money is just being a dick.
In the scheme of things, the money you spent isn’t worth worrying about. Just go out for a ride on your new bike and enjoy it.
Member
Dogpatch
1 hour ago
Every simple one hour project is one rusted broken bolt away from from being a few hundred dollars more and 2 days extra days work.
Ran into this last night – Oh, I’ll fix that leaking hose bib. Shut off all water to the house, pull the stem, see the bad rubber flat washer. Put screwdriver on the screw – it falls apart. F****. Cut old washer off with razor blade, try vice grips on screw stub. No dice. Of course it’s a 50 yr old stem not stocked by the local (privately owned and good) hardware store. The good local plumbing supply shop closed 2 hours ago. Stuffed an oversized rubber washer in the hole, cranked down the stem and prayed.
And I get asked why I don’t want to start stuff like this after dinner?
I keep a stock of toilet parts, flat washers and faucet/shower cartridges in my plumbing box. Murphy’s Law ALWAYS applies.
One year, Thanksgiving morning, a shower cartridge blew out. Thank God it was the hot side. I was able to shut the valve at the water heater only. Now I stock a spare hot and cold valve for that shower, spare seals and seats for the other. I always have a spare kitchen faucet cartridge on hand.
Last edited 17 minutes ago by Tbird
Rick Cavaretti
1 hour ago
How familiar do those little fatigued aluminum chunks look! That is what happens when you buy and use cheaply made aluminum wheel spacers. Luckily, I wasn’t on the track yet when one failed. There’s a reason they were sold to me so cheaply by the original owner.
Mercedes, if you REALLY want a rust free A Class, buy it from Brazil. No snow, no salt, and nowadays they are cheap.
Not necessarily well maintained, but rust free and cheap.
Here 2 almost running for ~USD1.400, you could build one out of these 2, probably.
There better ones, you can find one in a really decent shape and with a reasonable mileage for around USD 3.200.
As much as I love old Nissans, they really are just kind of thrown together. When I lowered my Laurel more and put different wheels and tires on, I noticed that the top of the tire on the driver’s side was closer to the fender than the one on the passenger side but my alignment was good and camber was equal on both sides.
This sent me into a frenzy. Did the subframe shift? Was my car previously crashed and I wasn’t aware of it? Eventually after doing some research I found many posts on Australian Skyline forums of people having the same issue on various Nissans of the era.
Turns out the answer was that’s just how it is sometimes. Nissan just cranked those cars out fast and the tolerances aren’t good. You’d never notice it at stock height and with stock wheels anyway.
Over 20 years ago, I drove from north of Boston to Detroit to look at a Legacy turbo that was in “great shape for its age with almost no rust at all”. Got there and the paint was holding much of it together among a lot of other issues that showed the car had been beat to hell its whole life. After some less than cordial interacting, he admitted it was pretty bad and offered to drop the price a little. I drove home without engaging in violence and was proud of myself for that.
If the dental procedure is gum grafts, I found the worst part to be the later stage of healing, a few days before the stitches are removed, as the wound pulls at the threads. Getting them removed, every cut was an immediate relief.
The procedure is implants, a whole lot of them! Half of my adult teeth never came in and I’ve been rocking baby teeth in those spots for my whole life.
I didn’t know it was possible to retain baby teeth. I imagine that’s not a pleasant procedure to remedy. I’ve had wisdom teeth pulled (which I guess is why I’m a dumbass) and 4 or 5 grafts thanks to some genetics and overzealous brushing. What hurt the most, though, was the bills.
I hope they don’t aggravate the nerves with that drill!
Yeah! I had an ex that had one baby tooth just kinda hanging out up front. It was just the one and didn’t impact her like in Mercedes’ situation but it’s a thing!
I remember someone asking for a service right as I was about to take lunch (semi truck, a service is billed at 2.5hrs, and takes at least 2). In those days I had a high metabolism, and I’d get SUPREMELY hangry.
I did the service, cursing and swearing my way through. In the end, the driver tipped me $20. and I managed to time taking my “lunch” break so that it lined up with our afternoon coffee break.
So I worked through lunch, but got a 45 minute break and an extra $20. That money got reinvested in Cold Snacks after work.
Kindness and Cold Snacks for the win!
Absolutely! I miss that shop. We used to have the friday night “church meetings” when we’d close down for the week. Cold snacks, wrenching on personal projects, and just generally decompressing with co-workers.
Tipping the welder is nice. In my years as an auto mechanic, I think got a tip from a customer like three times. That was a lunch that I otherwise wasn’t going to get!
That welder uses a hell of a lot more skill than the barista that gets the same tip for pouring an iced coffee.
I truly feel that small acts of appreciation go a long way when it comes to the person that is working on what is usually your second-most valuable possession (after a house).
I got a tip for doing an alignment once. That felt pretty cool, not gonna lie.
Agree with Stephen, Nissan’s seem unnecessarily difficult to work on compared to Toyota/Honda. I did work on a friend’s Murano years ago, and every job had some frustratingly difficult to access bolt or fitting. Also agree about the cheap hardware. I snapped a valve cover bolt or two changing leaking spark plug tube gaskets (which requires new valve covers as they are captive .. Seriously?!) I was using an inch/lb 1/4″ drive torque wrench!! The same job on my MDX took less than half the time with no broken/stripped fasteners. And the gaskets are replaceable for a few bucks.
Snapping bolts with a 1/4″ ratchet is wild! Thanks for reading and for the Comment, Tbird.
It’s always a pleasure to see your name pop up. Cheers bud!
They were like taffy, maybe M6 on the threads with big washered pan-heads.
Love to see the response from you and the Autopian team. I’m heading to Florida next week to help settle an estate, but likely won’t be dropping by Wilmington on this trip. Going inland I’m afraid as it is on the Gulf coast.
But you’ve already told us what you got 🙂
Shhhhhhhh not everyone is on the Discord. 🙂
Exactly. And I never will be, so thanks for thinking of us!
Admittedly, the Discord people sometimes get a sneak peek into what’s going on in my life/fleet, but that’s because it takes 30 seconds to fire off a post on Discord and hours to publish something on this site. But I always eventually post about the shenanigans on the site! 🙂
Try not to beat yourself up about this stuff, Mercedes! I learn the hard way too.
Example: Years ago I lost $2k on the (apparently very common) CraigsList larceny tactic where the buyer sends a cashier’s check for way too much money, then asks if I could send the excess back. A week later, the bank rejects the cashier’s check, the buyer ghosts you, and you’re out of luck (and money). Yaaaayyyyyyyy
Ouch! Apparently, my parents lost $6k to a Craigslist scam in about 2016 or so. Guy pretending to be a contractor took their $6k for a mild remodeling job. He plopped the cheapest possible vinyl down onto the floor, not even securing it in place or making sure the pieces fit. Then he didn’t do anything else before disappearing with the rest of the money. Cops didn’t really do a whole lot about it. IIRC, he was one of two guys who scammed them during the rehab of that house. My parents learned the hard way not to hire the cheapest contractors from Craigslist.
Let her go after the guy.
It’s not like she has to PAY the lawyer’s fees! A nice date night might cover it!
As someone who has experienced Wilmington mid-day traffic, I can only assume extracting snapped bolts was the more enjoyable part of the project.
I live in the PNW, so most of my dealing with rusty things have been on vehicles that did not spend their lives here. Given that there are so many rust-free vehicles available locally, that has generally been because I was a cheap bastard. The rustiest vehicles I’ve owned were both Hondas. One was a ‘Passport’ (Super Cub). I got a pair of them (runner and parts vehicle) from Idaho for $500 plus $200 to have the guy drive them out to Seattle for me. The second was a Honda Acty when I was going through a divorce and I decided I needed a vehicle my ex would not agree to in a million years, but I was on a budget. Bought the worst one on the lot. I think it was a lot van in a coastal town, given the rusting from the top down. Came with a full ashtray. But it ran, mostly. Hilarious machine. But, now in Oregon, I couldn’t register it. Broke several bolts working on that one. I’ve never owned a Nissan. At least the bolts weren’t that hard to get to on the Hondas.
In other news, I got a welder for Christmas this year. It was, I think, something like $200. It’s surprisingly capable for the money, especially on 240V power. I was just welding up some 1/8″ tubing and plate last night and the thing didn’t even sweat. A buddy of mine who used to weld for a living suggested the even the cheapest Harbor Freight special will do fine for automotive work. I think those are, somehow, in the year of hell that is 2026, still $100. 3 broken bolts would pay for the thing at those rates.
I’m glad Mercedes at least got something back. Also totally get the kicking oneself. Had a tool I bought on eBay that never arrived, despite tracking saying it had. Was so distraught I accidentally left bad feedback for the wrong thing by mistake, which made me feel more bad when that seller contacted me with “What the hell, man?!”
750 is still a lot of money, and I’d be freaking out a bit too. But I am glad you found your dream bike! Even if it’s a bagger with an exhaust that’d wake the dead. ;3
Also. Screw Rust. Iron Oxide holes killed my Sentra, and I cannot tell you just how many bolts I’ve broken…
Sorry to hear about the lost deposit.
I try to avoid buying things sight-unseen and un-tested, but sometimes a too-good-to-be-true deal pops up that’s legit and worth the risk.
That said, any money I send is either credit card, PayPal or maybe Venmo as long as it qualifies for buyer protection. Seems like the guy who held back the money is just being a dick.
In the scheme of things, the money you spent isn’t worth worrying about. Just go out for a ride on your new bike and enjoy it.
Every simple one hour project is one rusted broken bolt away from from being a few hundred dollars more and 2 days extra days work.
Ran into this last night – Oh, I’ll fix that leaking hose bib. Shut off all water to the house, pull the stem, see the bad rubber flat washer. Put screwdriver on the screw – it falls apart. F****. Cut old washer off with razor blade, try vice grips on screw stub. No dice. Of course it’s a 50 yr old stem not stocked by the local (privately owned and good) hardware store. The good local plumbing supply shop closed 2 hours ago. Stuffed an oversized rubber washer in the hole, cranked down the stem and prayed.
And I get asked why I don’t want to start stuff like this after dinner?
No good deed goes unpunished
Preach.
I keep a stock of toilet parts, flat washers and faucet/shower cartridges in my plumbing box. Murphy’s Law ALWAYS applies.
One year, Thanksgiving morning, a shower cartridge blew out. Thank God it was the hot side. I was able to shut the valve at the water heater only. Now I stock a spare hot and cold valve for that shower, spare seals and seats for the other. I always have a spare kitchen faucet cartridge on hand.
How familiar do those little fatigued aluminum chunks look! That is what happens when you buy and use cheaply made aluminum wheel spacers. Luckily, I wasn’t on the track yet when one failed. There’s a reason they were sold to me so cheaply by the original owner.