That is ******* awful to hear. Wow, I'd be heated if I drove all the way there for a shitty car. But how come you didn't look at the CarFax? The CarFax shows this car is a piece of ****. It was literally at the dealership every 3 weeks.
The owner also beat the **** out of it for Nissan to have to service and check the transmission.
CARFAX Vehicle History Report on JN1AR54F79M251497
-Interior trim checked
-Brakes checked
-Automatic transmission checked
-Drivability/performance checked
-Drivability/performance checked
-Four wheel alignment performed at a dealership in Florida 300 miles away from Macon/ATL, GA. He likely hit something.
-Engine/powertrain computer/module checked
-Automatic transmission fluid and filter changed (at 20K miles? That's not right)
-Drivability/performance checked at 22K @ 5/2011
Here's the shady part, at one point after buying the car the owner drove this car 1-2K miles a month. But after that last service, something clearly went very, very wrong. Because between May 2011 and October 2011 (when the car was sold to the dealer) he only drove it 1K miles.
Chances are the car was crashed or something got really f*cked up to the point it couldn't be driven. CarFax is not just for accidents, if you know how to read the patterns of service intervals and how to interpret what the "descriptions" are, you'll know how to avoid a lemon like this.
Glad this happened to you before you signed any paper work.