He wanted $2700 for it. I offered him $2200 and he would not budge.
Mechanically, this thing was great. The mileage is on point. The body is fucked up though. You cannot see it in some pictures but this is not shiny. The car was dirty, the clear coat was wasted on the roof and trunk. The driver's side wheel well has rust just beginning to develop. The driver's side door step (where you would swing your feet over when getting in) was totally sanded, bondoed, and painted with something that was not correctly matched. I pointed out to him how totally different the driver's side was compared to the passenger side. Another thing that was missing were the stickers on the door and door frame. Ones with the vin number and the one with weight and PSI sticker. Gone.
As Vadim pointed out, the driver's side rear panel has the paint flaking and cracking (early sign of rust) but was simply sprayed over by whatever he used on the driver's side door step. The front and rear bumpers both had the classic "spider web cracks" on them caddy corner from one another.
Suspension was good, no weird noises, engine was nice and healthy, spirited little sucker. Just like I remember the first day I drove him my current SE-R. The best drive of my life, the one that started it all. Engine idled well, sun roof worked, everything was great. But the body was fucked up. Stratches were on both sides of the front bumper and quarter panels, like someone just ran into a guardrail and slide along that, or just side swiped a car. There is a gap in its history which can be seen on that auction site.
The picture with the corner does look like it was messed up, but in person it was not. Everything looked original on the car. Maybe the corners were new, but the headlights had classic fading and looked original.
This pictures were very deceiving to be honest. I thought this thing looked great in the pics. Just like when Miko actually saw that NX 2000 in person. I did not drive three hours, only 45 minutes (and no waiting!) but I felt like I drove for nothing. I schooled this old gentlemen about this car for free and pointed out everything that was wrong. 98% of it was body or cosmetic shit, but that is why I want to get another 200SX. MIne is rusted very bad, almost to the point of no return and it would cost more money for me to repair it compared to trying to find a new car for much less money.
I really wish I could find a decent looking, rust-free 200SX.