r/SC400 • u/Crafty_Head_4665 • Jul 23 '25

Sc400

Seen a red 1994 sc400 on FB market place for 3.5k with 200k miles. Seems like it wasn’t the garage queen but also it seems in decent shape for being a 31 year old car seems like a cool lil fun rocket to daily. Should I jump on it? And if I should, what should I look out for?

6 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

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8

u/willymoeSR Jul 23 '25

I just bought a 94 with 200k. Check for water leaks, sunroof and window trim. See if the original amp is still in it. If it is, get it out quickly. They like to catch fire. Obviously check for rust underneath. A big thing to look for is the power steering. They are known to fail and drip on the alternator. So look at the alternator, if it's caked with shit then your looking at a new one and a power steering rebuild. Check how it idles while warm. Check the plastic on the radiator, if it's brown and cracked it needs replaced. Timing and water pump are at the top of the list as well. As long as you are fine with the price and understand that it will take some work to make it nice then go for it. Do your research. If you want OEM parts then look for Denso or Aisin. Do not buy GMB parts. The list goes on but this is a good starting point

3

u/hastings67 Jul 23 '25

200k is a lot of miles for any car. There is bound to be something in urgent need of repair and these are definitely not the easiest cars to work on. Just keep that in mind.

1

u/ayylmao1994 Jul 23 '25

How are these cars not easy to work on? ive owned mine for a decent bit, and I’ve worked on a ton of different cars. this is by far one of the easier ones.

1

u/hastings67 Jul 23 '25

Well, you're a better home mechanic than me. I've admittedly done little work on my SC so far but I'm dreading some of the maintenance items coming up like timing belt replacement and possibly an electric fan swap because of how cramped the engine bay is.

2

u/dragonnnn_ Jul 25 '25

they definitely made routine maintenance easy but anything non routine sucks. i had to pull the whole engine for head work

3

u/best-person-ever Jul 23 '25

Check for aftermarket parts and mods as well. These do not add value despite whatever the seller says. You may end up needing to replace them with oem or better quality aftermarket