Went to look at a 350z I am interested in buying but noticed some issues.

What I know.

• Needs a battery.
• Hasn't been cranked in ~4 years
• Ran when it was delivered to Louisiana from California and was parked.
• 80k miles

Checked it out this morning. It's very dirty but oil and the air filter looked pretty clean. The battery was dead, hooked some cables to it and let it sit for about 5 minutes when I tried cranking it sounded like it was barely turning over like it was really really dead. Was planning on going over tomorrow to give it another shot with some gas, a new battery, and possibly some carb cleaner. In your honest opinion, what would you suspect or try? Is it even worth it? The asking price is $2000, other than not seeing it running everything looks ok. Has some faded paint/peeling clear coat. I can post some pictures of it if you guys would like.

 

I wouldn't crank it after sitting for 4 years. Needs a few squirts of lube into the cylinders. Everything would be bone dry. Correct me if I'm wrong but that would cause some major stress on the rings.

 

That's pretty much what I was thinking.

 

Yank the fuel pump relay, hook it up to a battery and check the compression (it's a bit of work, but it's necessary for a non-running vehicle where you have no idea what's going on with it.) A compression test will give you a good indication of the condition of the engine itself. Do not try to turn over a car with 4-year old gasoline in the tank. Use a decent scanner to check for codes, and injector and coil testers will come in handy as well after you do the compression test.

For $2K, assuming the rest of the car's in good shape, that's a great price. If you decide to buy the car, have it flatbed towed to your house. Before you re-connect the fuel pump, purge the fuel. By now it's turned to varnish and will just muck up your injectors, cats and sensors. The car is going to need some prep work to get it back to full running order (new tires, complete fluid change, etc..) You'll come out ahead if you just want to flip it. If you want to keep it, then I tip my hat to you, sir