I am considering not buying a 300zx now. I went to the Nissan dealership and they said that 300zx's are very expensive to maintain, they said that bearings would cost a minimum of £500!!! Is this true? I know a japanese import it would be expensive for part, but is it the same for a UK car??

Yes and No. A 300zx can be expensive if you try to right everything on it or go up the upgrade/power hungry path. There are a number of owners on here that are happy with their 300zx's as standard and do not run up big bills. However like many/most high performance cars the 300zx gets expensive if something BIG goes bang, thats just life. However unlike many performance cars the 300zx has useable power and some of us actually use it as our day to day vehicle quite happily.

 

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John Newcomb

www.geocities.com/jn300zxtt

I use it as my daily driver and have had no real problems as of yet. Touching wood right now.

 

Stuart

Daily driver for me - wouldn't have anything else.

 

(oh god it's going in to a Nelson tomorrow for 80,000 miles B service - pray for me now)

May your god look kindly on your bill.

 

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John Newcomb

www.geocities.com/jn300zxtt

Ta, JN, chewing fingers as I type.... no phone calls yet, tho. - Gio

Mine is going in whilst I am on holiday for 2 weeks. The list gets longer and longer as I keep inventing jobs to be done whilst its in there. ahhhhhh

 

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John Newcomb

www.geocities.com/jn300zxtt

I do over 15000 miles a year and she has just hit 160,000 miles. Only major bills have been replacement turbos which is only to be expected and one cracked cylinder head when a coolant hose split which probably would not of happened if I had kept an eye on the temperature guage

...ive done 36k miles in the 2 years 2 months I've had my jap normally aspirated z and apart from tyres it's cost me 1 timing belt £60, 1 front stay £108, 4 air filters (2 at a time) £64, various bulbs £30, oil changes £120, centre bearing £70, gearbox mount £15, window motor £60. And loads of petrol.

 

...do the work yourself.

 

good luck

 

Jack

damn it sounds like this car will get me bankrupt if something goes wrong. I think I am gonna change my mind and buy a Peugeot 406 Coupe instead. I know its not as good as the rip off 300zx. But its still a slick car.

ummmmm a Peugeot 406 Coupe or a Nissan 300zxTT. No I'm sorry not even on my worst day after getting the largest bill on the car or loosing both my legs would I EVER give up my Z. Whatever it costs is cheaper, as fast or faster and more fun than anything under £100k

 

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John Newcomb

www.geocities.com/jn300zxtt

Originally posted by tuffshot:

damn it sounds like this car will get me bankrupt if something goes wrong. I think I am gonna change my mind and buy a Peugeot 406 Coupe instead. I know its not as good as the rip off 300zx. But its still a slick car.

 

I took a 406 coupe (the 2 litre one) for a test drive before I bought my Z. The handling was great, I was drifting sideways around a big roundabout beautifully, the salesman was looking a bit scared, its a much lighter car than the Z to throw around. The acceleration was complete pants though, the engine was wheezing away pathetically. And the interior felt like a boring family car (reminded me of my Mum's old Peugeot 205 LOL).

I got in the Z a week later and what a difference, the Z felt like a supercar in comparison, the choice was easy (10k for a family runabout with a nice paint job or 6k for a supercar?)

 

My advice would definitely be to take both for a test drive and see which one is for you

 

 

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[This message has been edited by Dylan (edited 12-04-2002).]

Will a 406 Coupe do 0-60 in under 5 seconds and 180mph?

My Z will and it turns heads like you wouldn't believe. The 406 is nice but the Z is in a different league entirely.

If you think the spares are expensive remember they cost about £40K new!

The 406 is based on a family car that you could buy for about £5K when it's a couple of years old.

& its french crap!!!!

 

sorry! had to be said!!

 

--

 

 

I rest my case.

 

Treat any car right and stick to the services and it should in theory be ok, you gotta remember these cars are getting on for 10 years old and you have to expect stuff to go wrong, I have an MG midget and in 4 months it cost me 5k in repairs (the ones i have bothered to count) and I stil havn;t finished with her, infact i am selling her on

 

any enthusiast takes the good with the bad and the bad sometimes cost $$$$,

 

nissan dealership told me not to get a 300zx, they said handling was shite and they would step out on you at the slightest hint of a turn at speed, bollocks i say, best goddamn ride ive ever had, sticks to roundabouts like a cheap hooker on hugh grants knob,

 

 

if you want a car that puts a smile on ya face evertime u drive it, get a 300zx - simple!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Vijay

Ditto. I've had my Zed for about 2 and a half years now, daily driver for 2 of those years and apart from PTU, Turbos and Battery, I haven't had to replace anything. Good servicing and maintenance are all these cars need to remain fighting fit.

 

My boss has a 406 as his company car - "rep's car". I've driven in it...it's ok, nothing special...I took him for a drive in mine and even from the passenger seat he was grinning. Unfortunately, 300s are no longer on the Company Car list...and you have to get special permission from the Area Manager and your boss before they'll let you drive anything above a Group 12 insurance anyway.

 

Get a Zed, best decision you'll make.

 

Anita.

dont want to put u off!!

but i'm on my 3rd engine,the car cost me 20k 4 yrs ago and ive spent the same on it

ive had :- 2 engines

1 rebuild

2 uprated turbo's

1 radiator

12 tryes

1 ecu

body kit

1 window motor

and loads of petrol and oil changes

there is probably more ive forgot about

but this just shows how much u get hooked on zeds once u have bought one,i'll never sell mine mind u a second car helps!!

 

You have to accept that owning a Z is going to cost and it depends if you intend to use the car eveyday or as a weekend toy.

 

I just got rid of mine simply because I couldnt trust it to get me from A to B without breaking down and stranding me in the middle of nowhere.

 

I think that unless you are only using the car locally and not relying on the car for long business trips etc you cannot use a Z with confidence everyday.

 

That said I will probably have another one day as they are a very cheap (to Buy), and I agree they are in a different league to a Peugeot.

 

Also remember that the jap imports have inferior cooling to the UK ones and that can become a problem if you are doing long motorway trips because diffs and especially auto gearboxes can overheat, and a rebuild of a box with an uprated oil cooler (to stop it recurring) will cost you at least £2K

Senna makes the best point on this subject, but to labour the reliability side of things.

have done VERY frequent oil and filter changes and the car still runs as well as when I bought it last August, I have done 30,000 miles since then.

 

new tryes

new exhaust middle section

new headlight bulb

oil

oil filters

and a looming £80 bill for a sensor that goes in the gearbox to tell the speedo where to point its needle.

Not an advert for an unreliable car.

However, I have to buy a house so it's for sale - offers please adam_sizer@hotmail.com

 

ooops, one more - a radiator hose £35 from nissan and fitted in 5 minutes.