Hi Everyone,

 

I am buying my 1st 300zx, which I absolutely adore, just like all you guys and girls.

 

I would welcome any advice,crits & tips on buying the following car eg. import (parts),is this cheap, milege, non turbo and anything you think of.

 

This is what it is:

 

NISSAN 300ZX AUTO K reg black japenese import non turbo 65000 miles sports mode box £4495

 

I hope to join the club very soon with a big Grin.

 

Thanks

 

Nel

 

I would recomend that you spend a bit of time and read through some of the previous posts on the forum, you will learn a lot more than what anyone can tell you in one post. Parts,insurance and good advice(thanks to this forum) are a lot easier to get now than they were 2 years ago when I bought my Zed.

If its a good car you will be well happy but if it turns out to be a stinker you could end up bankrupt.

Depending on where you live someone here might be kind enough to go and look it over with you.

See Ya

Paul

 

.....Wait a bit

 

.........Save a bit more

 

.............Get a Twin Turbo

 

....You know it makes sense

 

I looked at it this way - if I didn't get a TT I would always have that little pang of regret every time I saw one, and every time a naff Ford RS Turbo beats you off the lights!!

 

I love mine, although it scares the life out of me (bit of advice though from a newly wed!) read my topic Dan spins his Z, something to be aware of. I looked at about 10 Z's before I bought mine and there are a lot of tatty ones out there, dont think any of them on this forum are though as they are much loved here. If you can, check for full history especially if it is an import, mine came with full Jap nissan history which I confirmed the mileage on and all that. Check for vibrations, although I would not go for an Auto without turbo, the auto can be a bit slow sometimes in changing but the Twin Turbo more than makes up for it. Good luck, hope to see you at the next meet !!

 

Dan

 

Nel,

 

Who are you buying your Z from? Make sure it's a proper garage and not some fly-by-night place with a mobile phone number! I am talking from experience here!

 

Have the car RAC checked after you have looked over it and driven it for a while on a test drive.

 

I was given a list of what to look for on here ages ago by Lymon, hang on i'll go look and paste it on here......

 

Here it is and it's all Eric's work so I am not going to take any credit for it but stick to this list and you can't go wrong!Ok..here's a 'small' list apart from the basic things that I could think of and that you might want to check :-)

Engine/Mechanical-stuff:

-Have a compression-test done

-Check ECU for error codes, if everything's ok it should show code 55.

-listen for weird sounds during test-drive. (whining, rattling sounds from the engine bay is generally not a good sign)

-after you drove the car hard during a test-drive, let the car idle and open the hood and see if smoke is coming from the area around turbo's or on the bottom of the car from the cats-area.

Also check if blue smoke is coming from the exhaust (this might take a little while, so let the engine idle for a few minutes)

-maximum boost-level on a stock 300Z should be around the first and second positive line on the stock boost-meter. (which is around 9psi, 0.6bar)..although the stock boost-gauge might not be very accurate.

If it doesn't go past the first positive line it's probably in safety-boost and something is wrong.

if it wanders off the scale, the boost has been increased...and without the right chip (JWT) this is NOT good.

-oil pressure should be between 30 and 60 psi during normal driving.

-Timing belt should have been replaced every 60k miles..make sure this has been done !

 

(Automatic) gearbox-stuff:

-try to avoid automatics from '90/early '91,

especially higher mileage ones..

-check (dipstick) oil-color and smell of gearbox-oil (dipstick is behind the engine)

Dark or black oil and/or burned smell is generally not a good sign.

-Do a Automatic-gearbox diagnostic

-check for oil leakage from gearbox/differential

-check for grinding.

 

Body-stuff:

-Lift up any rubber seals on the car even around the windows & look for a paint edge.

-Check every wheel well & even see if you can lift up the edge of the liner to see if there is a paint edge.

-Pop the hood & hatch. Check the bolts that hold the quarter panel on, should be covered with factory paint & look like it's never been removed, if it's been removed you will know it because it's near impossible to line it back up & not show where bolt location was previously.

-Check the gaps on both sides of hood, should be small & equal. Check the gaps right under door where fender meets door, make sure same on both sides.

-Check gaps on both sides of bumpers front & back.

-Open doors & look through hinge ares for messed up sheet metal on the pillar.

-Check in back upper hatch seal area for signs of wreck.

-Always look in the spare tire well.

-Look for OEM glass & always check for cracked windshield this is easy to miss & not uncommon.

-Look up under the bumper at the frame that connects to it, look under hood area at that also, this is what gets straightened from a head on collision.

-Whatever you do NEVER & I mean NEVER buy a car at night! Even if you go where lights are. In the day look down the body for dings & depressions especially since Zs are durasteel.

-I don't use a magnet since I can generally knock & tell if has bondo but feel free. Owners will look at you funny & get irate sometimes...hey, if they don't like it, don't buy it, this is NOT a small investment. If the owner knows the car is excellent they will have no problem whatsoever letting you check it up & down, normally they are pretty proud when it's really clean.

-I prefer stock paint that has been maintained.

-Check the calipers, see if they look all the same.

-Check lights for condensation..though sometimes this is not indicative or wreck, check the seal area & alignment around the lights very hard to get to factory spec.

 

 

Also it might be worthwhile to try to get someone from this forum to come with you if you think you have found one that you're considering to buy :-)

 

 

I stuck to that list and waited till the right Z came along now I have a spanky new Z that I love.....I would agree with Jerboa though, Get a TT....they are just the Muts Nuts....I had a N/A before and it was really quick but I have a TT now and it's Ohhhhh so much more quicker....(dribbles)#

 

Remember be patient and buy the right Z, Not the first one that comes along just for the sake of having one, you could end up with mountains of problems if you buy a naff one!

 

Hope this has not put you off, Well, It better not have as the Z is just the best car on the road......

 

:o)

 

Matty.

 

P.S. Just for the record that must be the longest reply I have ever sent!!!!!!

 

 

 

Thanks for you replys - Paul, Jerboa, Dan & Matty.

 

I do appreciate you comments and understand exactly what you are all saying about the TT which I must admit I would probably never forgive myself for buying a non turbo version. As for checking out the right 300zx from the bad and biding my time, you're all RIGHT! Thanks for the great advice and time to reply.

 

I've always wanted a 300zx and have had a lot of cars during the past 10 years but I feel that there is really no other car on the road like the 300zx so being patience and sourcing the right one is certainly the way ahead.

 

I will let you know how I get on during my search for my dream car!

 

Thanks guy!!

 

Neil

 

Hi,

I have a manual NA, and find it fast enough for most purposes.I don't think you would be very happy with an auto NA though...they are much slower!(only 200bhp as std)

As for Ford RS Turbos...My car is very quick off the line...You'd be a hundred yards ahead before their turbo had even spooled up!

A well driven NA can still frighten a lot of cars...without fishtailing all over the road!(0-60mph 6.7/100mph 18.6)

Happy hunting,

JEZ

 

Nel,

 

Can only over emphasise what the other guys have already said and some.

 

Example: I bought my car b4 I had a chance to find this site...result...bought a bad one and car has spent two weeks on the road out of six months. Engine is knackered and is having to be rebuilt. Be very careful when looking these cars over. I spent a good hour or so at the garage on my own with my Mrs. looking at every inch of the car. I had access to all the documentation, car had FSH and only a few owners.

 

Quentin will always tell you this is enough for buying a minter and not a lemon...WRONG!

 

These cars can be mint to look at but can have some seriously deep problems which may only manifest themselves with a vibration or a slightly rough idle. Mine idled slightly roughly but conked out when selecting auto. gears...after being ripped off by two Nissan main agents I finally found someone who could tell me what was wrong and now I am in so deep that I will probably never be able to sell this car as I will have invested so much money into it, I will pass it down to my Grandchildren...be warned...

 

As the others have said, read as much as you can on this site and I would most definitely recommend twinturbo.net...absolutely brilliant sites...both of them...GOOD LUCK MATEY!

 

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