Hi guys,

 

Longtime fan of these cars, and a major Jap import fan (owned several Supras, Celicas some Mazdas over the years) but first time poster.

As per the title really, looking to buy a budget 300ZX to use as a daily driver for a bit. Live in Chiswick, which is fairly central London and commute up the M1 to Watford, so preferably an auto.

Ive seen what appear to be very clean cars for not much more than £1k. Looking at N/As as I believe them to be generally less trouble/ maintenance than turbos (Supra experience talking there!). Also like the idea of the targa roof panels.

How reliable are the cars in general if were being totally honest? There are some haters out there for the old Fairlady. Also, Im not expecting an old automatic 3.0 V6 to sip, but what kind of mpg do they generally return on a combo of town and motorway driving?

Any particular models to go for over the others?

I appreciate these seem like FAQs or 'search button' questions, but I find people often love to throw in their two shillings to newbies on forums!

 

Thanks, Dave.

Hi Dave and welcome to the club.

Obviously you may get varying views, hence the question.

The N/A auto can be as juicy as a TT if not running right and dependent on how heavy your right foot becomes. I use my N/A as a daily driver, but by no means is it cheap to run. If you fill the tank up with super unleaded, it will run more efficiently and last longer than putting smaller amounts in each day. I dont now whether its psycological or not, but it definitely lasts longer from a full tank lol.

 

You will get better MPG on the motorway at a constant speed, but still fairly low around town, could be as bad as 16-18mpg or less.

As a commuting vehicle i would look at a cheap diesel to run, although sometimes not as fun lol or you could be putting in £80 plus per week with a zed.

Hi Dave and welcome to the club.

Obviously you may get varying views, hence the question.

The N/A auto can be as juicy as a TT if not running right and dependent on how heavy your right foot becomes. I use my N/A as a daily driver, but by no means is it cheap to run. If you fill the tank up with super unleaded, it will run more efficiently and last longer than putting smaller amounts in each day. I dont now whether its psycological or not, but it definitely lasts longer from a full tank lol.

 

You will get better MPG on the motorway at a constant speed, but still fairly low around town, could be as bad as 16-18mpg or less.

As a commuting vehicle i would look at a cheap diesel to run, although sometimes not as fun lol or you could be putting in £80 plus per week with a zed.

 

Thanks Groover,

 

I do about 32 miles per day 4-5 days per week, around 50:50 town/ motorway split.

If more people come back telling me its insanely expensive, Ill consider a sub £500 diesel beater, but would like to try a Z daily. Used a Supra (two of them!) as a daily in Edinburgh for over a year, although did maybe half the miles I do now.

Curious about reliability more than anything...

Thanks Groover,

 

I do about 32 miles per day 4-5 days per week, around 50:50 town/ motorway split.

If more people come back telling me its insanely expensive, Ill consider a sub £500 diesel beater, but would like to try a Z daily. Used a Supra (two of them!) as a daily in Edinburgh for over a year, although did maybe half the miles I do now.

Curious about reliability more than anything...

 

Problem with reliability especially now the oldest of the z32 is 21 years old. is things are starting to go wrong. so unless you know for defiant that the zed you are buying has been well looked after, the likely hood is, your going to be paying a lot more on sorting out age related problems.

 

The likely hood you will get a well looked after 300zx for "cheap" is highly unlikely.

 

its a bit of a lottery with buying a zed unless you get one that has forum history and is easily checkable.

 

Id explain owning a 300zx as a enthusiasts car. due to the fact that you will buy one and will be repairing it in the first few months of ownership.

ive found mine to be very reliable, (and its the oldest one going! lol) but im doing 50 miles every weekend tops! whereas your going to be almost doing that every day. i get 15mpg around town or playing around and i had last weekend 27mpg on a run going to the coast.

 

all i do is keep it clean and change the oil every 3000 miles. will be doing cam-belt and fuel filter this year but apart from that its been fairly cheap on the maintenance side of things.

 

My daily driveris (was!! somone smashed into it yesterday!!) a Honda prelude 2.2 manual, plenty of poke/fun and good mpg when driven tidy, i regularly get almost 40mpg, its extremely reliable and very cheap to buy.... as much i love the zed and dont really want to put people off buying one, i dont think they are best suited as an every day car. not any more in these times/prices.

I do 60 miles a day 5 days a week from Fife to Livingston and the conditions of the commute are variable to say the least. I think I use about three gallons a day, but a fair proportion of that is sat in queues and I am by no means gentle when the roads clear. So I guess that's around 20 MPG which I think is acceptable for the circumstances.

 

Compare that to when I worked in Dorking and I used a gallon each way on the 8 mile commute because I crawled in traffic for about 95% of it.

 

Overall, my TT has never actually thrown its toys out proper but it niggles me on a regular basis. For instance, recently I thought the CHG had blown and it turned out to be nothing more than a blocked expansion tank hose.

 

Taking the roof off on a drive home from work especially on a sunny Friday like this is absolute bliss and believe it or not, because you're driving a quite rare car, (I still get asked quite regularly what it is.), people are quite courteous. I can't wait for 5pm to come around!! :)

Live in Chiswick, which is fairly central London and commute up the M1 to Watford, so preferably an auto.

...

How reliable are the cars in general if were being totally honest?

...

There are some haters out there for the old Fairlady.

...

Also, Im not expecting an old automatic 3.0 V6 to sip, but what kind of mpg do they generally return on a combo of town and motorway driving?

 

Hi Dave, I do Colnbrook to Staples Corner daily in my NA Auto and have done since I sold the TT manual. Because of the traffic, switched to Auto and because of the maintenance/petrol/heat, switched to NA. It's a 50 mile round trip and if that's all I do, fill up once a week. Mileage in sig and best ever (long legal motorway) 28mpg.

 

The reliability depends. 1) how many "modifications" (a lot of mods rarely improve reliability or mpg) 2) how well maintained and 3) remember how old they are.

 

I've used a Z as daily driver for 12 years. Not as reliable as a new modern car for sure but I'm still doing it!

 

I would say that if you are looking at a really cheap one, the risks go up but then a few years ago, Pete in the ZClub bought what he cheerfully described as a "shed" for £800 and had loads of fun. But then he knows what he's doing and I don't.

 

"Fairlady" is what all Z and ZX cars were called in Japan from the beginning. In fact Datsun called their sports cars "Fairlady" even before there were ANY Zeds. SPL212 1960

 

My advice is don't go cheap if you want a daily driver and avoid too many / badly done mods. But then I would say that as I am selling my blue NA Auto daily driver! At least it knows most of the way for your commute, it sounds like.

Cheers - Gio

Well first things first, these cars are highly reliable in the sense that even when there is shit loads wrong with them, they just keep running. I've just taken mine off the road because I finally needed to start sorting it out, but when I've taken it apart, my front strut was leaking, my thermostat had seized open, my radiator cap had stopped sealing, one of my water pipes was leaking, my balance bar doesn't seal properly on the passenger side, my cam belt tensioners were foobarred completely and I'm fairly sure I had a boost leak. I was using the car as a daily driver with all of these problems for about 7 months and although I noticed them and knew it was either going to blow or I would have to fix them, the car just kept running.

 

All this being said, I wouldn't recommend doing it! I picked mine up relatively cheap, although not for £800, but then I was faced with taking it off the road and sorting the problems out, because they bugged me too much and it failed it's MOT. This revealed that the sills were completely shot, and I need to replace both sills entirely, which is not a cheap job, my repair bill on the car is now easily over £2K, just swapping out parts mostly with a few upgrades since I'm changing the parts anyway, had I not changed jobs and started working from home, allowing me to use the Z purely as a weekend/track/fun car, I'd have sold it dirt cheap or broken it for parts and moved on, just because of the repair bill outweighing the value of the car.

 

If you're wanting a Z to commute in, reliably, I'd buy an expensive one, not a cheap one. There are plenty out there, both TT and NA, Auto and Manual, and they have been well looked after, thousands spent on them, had things go wrong which have been put right, etc. My car for example, by the end of the year, will have virtually nothing left that even could go wrong with it, because I'll have done all the work, but there's no way in hell, after what I'll have spent on it, that I'd let it go for less than about £4K at that point and I reckon I'll still be out of pocket at that if I did let it go.

 

All this aside, the Z gives you a feeling like no other car. It's like a go-kart that has road tax and an MOT, which they actually let you drive on the road. The reaction you get from other people, literally kids as young as 5 or 6 to adults in their twighlight years almost makes it all worth while, because you just know you're driving something super special.

Thanks for the comments so far guys, plenty to think about.

The reason I dont scare easily from old cars is that Im driving a 1990 'H' reg MX5/ Eunos right now which I bought for £850, and its been the most stupidly reliable car Ive ever owned (as was the 1992 'J' reg MX5 I had before that, and the 1995 'M' reg Supra before that...). I personally believe there is alot of luck involved when it comes to reliablity too, although Id ideally try to take a club member with me if I went to buy a Z.

Ill concede that perhaps Id do better to keep a cheap daily driver than rely solely on a Z, the trouble being that I dont have a drive/ garage and live in a W4 postcode, so insurance is going to be stupid. As far as I understand, you cant get classic insurance even if you have limited miles etc. if the car is parked on a public road.

Other than that then, what should I be aiming for model-wise? As a complete noob to these cars, Id like a non-turbo SWB auto with targa roof, if such a thing exists. Id have a 2+2, but dont really need the extra bench! Also looking to spend not much more than £1.5-2k.

dave I used to say the same thing. I have always driven older cars, I used to use a 20 year old Ford Capri 2.8i V6 to drive to work every day when I was 19, but although it was tonnes less reliable than the Z is, I had to spend bugger all putting the thing right again, half the time I could hit the engine with my torque wrench and it'd just start working again, the Z isn't like that, far more advanced engineering, means far more can/will go wrong once it's two decades old.

 

I too have had a few older Jap cars too, I had an R32 GTS-T and R32 GTR, a MkIII Supra Turbo, Mitsubishi Legnum VR4 then a Galant VR4 etc. All getting on in their years, but all a bit more reliable than the Z is and all that little bit easier to work on. The fact is with the Z, it will likely go wrong at some point (Unless as previously stated you buy one that's already been a lemon and has been put right at great cost) and when it does, it'll cost you an arm and a leg to put it right. There are some absolute nightmare threads on this forum, where people have bought a Z, discovered it's had more problems than they originally thought, then when they start digging, they find even more, just like I did, many, just give up, I myself very nearly sold the car for £1000 a few months ago, not even knowing about half the problems it had, and considered breaking it out as well.

 

I'm not saying don't buy one, the more Z owners the better IMO. They are awesome cars, that give you a great deal of pleasure, but you kind of have to have deep pockets and not want to run them on a shoestring as a reliable every day car, is all I'm saying.

It can be done, and as long as the car is in good health and you look after it you'll have no real problems. Other than your wallet taking a beating and it will need looking after!

 

I bought a TT auto as my first zed, had it for just less than 2 years and did around 12k and it never once let me down. I didn't commute in it much as I had a shed to do that in, (The irony being that when the shed died i resorted to the zed to get to work...!) I converted it to a manual part way through that which just made it a better drivers car although I admit for a traffic heavy commute the auto would be better.

 

You can get SWB cars, with a targa roof, with an auto box with an NA engine they are not as common as the LWB cars and usually more sought after so you might struggle with the budget. You would probably find a better LWB car, the autoboxes are not renowed for being reliable an awful lot of cars do get converted to a manual when the autobox fails although I'm not sure if its as bad on NA's?

 

Realistically your going to average high teens then if you get twenty you'll be a happy man! Does of course depend on driving style and the health of the car, a sick one will do less of course.

Welcome to the club mate, there is some very good advice readily available here that will help you make a good choice.

i use my TT as a daily and it aint too bad , like everything else depends how you drive it, deffienetely alot cheaper to run than any evo/impreza ive owned and ive owned a few, like any other car just get a good look over it before parting with cash

i don't use mine as a daily any more... i did for about 6 months to a year but in the end went back to the rocco. It just wasn't financially viable for me... £80-£90 a tank and at least a tank a week. £5k a year to get to work and back was too much for me so now she comes out on the weekends, and i have to say that i appreiciate her all the more for it.

 

Reliability wise i had no real issues. I hope you find what your after bud, but i would have thought that your little mx5 would be a perfect, cheap, fun daily driver?

Where about in Hamilton you live RS?

http://300zx.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=151161

 

here you go, do a geabox swap and make a bit of money selling the manual box etc... conversions go for about £500ish.

i would have thought that your little mx5 would be a perfect, cheap, fun daily driver?

 

Its an automatic, bought specifically for the commute, so its not the nice snickety gearchangy manual model, and Im getting a bit bored. Plus its thirstier than people think (Mk1 MX5s seem to drink for some reason).

I love big, 90s Japanese leviathans like the Supra, R33 Skyline and 300ZX, always have. My N/A automatic Supra was easily the best cruiser Ive ever owned (and actually way smoother than the holy grail Getrag 6-speed manual SZ-R model that I owned before it).

I tend to work a day at the weekend, so perhaps the Z could come out then, and I could have a proper diesel beater for the week.

Anyone on here have classic insurance on a car thats not garaged? I could easily manage less than 5k miles per year, but a garage would cost a million pounds where I live.

 

here you go, do a geabox swap and make a bit of money selling the manual box etc... conversions go for about £500ish.

 

Spotted that last night! Love the interior, although if I remember correctly shes starting to rust in afew places. Reckon even on my budget I could still find a rot-free one.

Nice car though.

look hard buy a decent recently imported jap one with a good club/entusiast background. sounds like youve already talked yourself into one lol. mine was a dick when i first got it the engine overheated and blew. then i got it fixed by some cowboys and it carried on beating a dick. the rac knew me by my first name over those 6 months. anyways it got sorted out cost me a few quid and now it seems to be fine no issues touch wood for over a year. everything is difficult or expensive to fix on this car though. they really are a nightmare to work on at home so bare this in mind. buy a good one and i hope you enjoy it.

Spotted that last night! Love the interior, although if I remember correctly shes starting to rust in afew places. Reckon even on my budget I could still find a rot-free one.

Nice car though.

 

Rot free could be a challenge on your budget mate. Mine was roughly what you want to pay, no rot on the chassis itself, but the sills are rotten through and the arches have started to go. Most of them have some kind of rot in them now, visible or not yet.

There is a certain amount of luck involved, mostly down to how the car has been treated its entire life and at the cheaper end of the market there is very little room for luck.

 

My previous Z's were daily drivers and were highly reliable, more reliable than my much newer Daily drivers and company cars even. The only real downside being fuel costs.

 

Like all cars, there are common faults, spending money on prevention can certainly help with any reliablity worries.

 

The NA is slightly more economical than the TT in regular driving, but a lot more economical if your very heavy footed.

 

If you want to go NA, then I would go SWB NA Manual, lost of fun. If you must have rear seats then the LWB NA Manual is a great car too.

 

Rot free could be a challenge on your budget mate. Mine was roughly what you want to pay, no rot on the chassis itself, but the sills are rotten through and the arches have started to go. Most of them have some kind of rot in them now, visible or not yet.

 

To be fair, yours is a UK, and unfortunatly this is the norm for UK models.

 

Most Imports are like new underneath. Ofcourse some Imports are suffering from rot (those imported very early on or badly repaired accident damaged), but it is not the norm for them yet.

Edited June 3, 201114 yr by Yowser

To be fair, yours is a UK, and unfortunatly this is the norm for UK models.

 

Most Imports are like new underneath. Ofcourse some Imports are suffering from rot (those imported very early on or badly repaired accident damaged), but it is not the norm for them yet.

 

Although I agree with it, that's a generalisation. Don't go buying an import without checking it thoroughly, just because you think it'll be rust free.

 

I've seen imports that have far more rust on them than mine. My chassis is virtually rust free, just the sills (Another common fault, I believe because of the way the targas get rid of water?) and some bubbling on the arches.

 

I've also seen imports that have suffered from chassis rust because they weren't undersealed properly when they came in from Japan or since. I'm not just talking about Z's there though, I'm talking about Jap imports period, which you have some experience in, so possibly already have seen yourself.

I'm not just talking about Z's there though, I'm talking about Jap imports period, which you have some experience in, so possibly already have seen yourself.

 

True, it does vary alot from car to car. Generally, imports that are undersealed immediately on coming to the UK seem to be pretty safe. I picked up a N/A Supra last year with 85k miles, manufactured 1994 but not imported until 2003 with a receipt for undersealing, and it was totally immaculate. It does seem to be a good general rule.

Im convinced there will be rot-free Zs out there sub £1.5k. Whether or not they'll throw up other issues is a different matter!

Anyone who knows of/ has a decent NA SWB auto targa for sale, please let me know. Will consider LWBs and perhaps some manuals, not looking for a TT or 'slicktop' though.

Also, any decent insurance tips would be appreciated.

Although I agree with it, that's a generalisation. Don't go buying an import without checking it thoroughly, just because you think it'll be rust free.

 

I've seen imports that have far more rust on them than mine. My chassis is virtually rust free, just the sills (Another common fault, I believe because of the way the targas get rid of water?) and some bubbling on the arches.

 

I've also seen imports that have suffered from chassis rust because they weren't undersealed properly when they came in from Japan or since. I'm not just talking about Z's there though, I'm talking about Jap imports period, which you have some experience in, so possibly already have seen yourself.

Absolutely, 'Norm' = generally/typically/on average..etc , but always inspect. Key areas being Rear sills, front crossmember, behind rear bumper, arch lips, engine bay strut area and battery tray.

 

The targa drains that exit at the rear sills (and another at the front) can become split or blocked from road debris or aftermarket side skirts, allowing water into the inner sill skins. Quite often any corrosion seen on the outer sills, is far worse on the inner skins.

 

Some of the Jap stuff (non-z) have a lack of Undersealing - Mitsubishi's, some toyotas...etc , But all Z's Import or UK come with the same undersealing. Its always a good idea to redo the undersealing to recover any damage to it from road debris.