I sold my 1996 twin turbo manual for about £2500 a few years ago, and I am looking to buy one again.

 

I have around £25,000 as a budget, and I know JDM cars have gone through the roof in recent years price wise so just wondering if that will go very far?

 

Thanks!

25k will get you the best.

You should be able to get 2 and a bit good ones for that!

Provided you bide your time you could get a very nice UK spec for that price. For example the car in this thread subsequently came

up for sale at £22K back in July '18.

 

https://www.300zx.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?188339-New-Owner&

 

https://imgur.com/gallery/PjMlJ

Save your money mate I wouldn't pay no more than 6000 there still half decent ones popping up between £2000 to 9000 and another thing the jap car market is dead even car parts are not selling ,

 

I think there is a recession kicking in lol ???

And yes before anyone says anything I own a uk spec standard even I wouldn't pay No more than 9000 to many overprice jap cars like skylines rx7 fd Evo etc. It just takes a couple of people to price there cars at 10000 plus and then the rest follow thinking its a classic and all that nonsense then you will find theses cars will be up fire sale for ages and only a couple of cars will sell for a big price because you have a newcomer paying out top price then he or she after a year would sell or break car or sit back seeing the same car they own which they could of picked up cheaper on Facebook ?

 

We already have the ford cosworth or anything crew with there cocaine prices and now the same with jap cars

 

I remember when you could pick up a r33 gtr skyline between £6995 £9995 now there going for over £20000. I wouldn't pay it ??

 

Funny thing is you can still find half decent 300zx tt for under £7000 right down to £3000 they do pop up at times on gumtree eBay FB

 

And even if I came across a z which has had sills done body work full service cambelt full history looked after etc £10000 would be the very max I would offer only if this z was worked on by P or Z and came with full folder of paperwork ?

 

Wave £9000 grand about and your phone / messages will be busy at this time of year ?

We all have different ideas on prices and as classic Jap cars go the 300zx is under priced but thats just my opinion.

Well the good news is by looking around the various trade sellers have stopped trying to sell 30 year old zeds for £20k in a bid to create a fake price structure !

 

Many of these cars have been previously mentioned here as they tumbled to £15k, £10k and then disappeared, no doubt selling for a more reasonable price.

 

So now there is many really good sub £8k zeds around and some less than perfect sub £4k zeds around, of course there are some exceptional cars owned by members here which I doubt will ever be sold and they would command very exclusive pricing.

 

So that leaved the current price range on E-bay, Piston Heads and Auto trader and range from £4k to £8k

 

Inspection, mileage, condition and paper work is the key, oh and inspection cannot be emphasised enough, buying from Japan has the advantage of not been subject to UK winters and salt, but and has been witnessed here more than once, there are still some less than perfect zeds sold through auction houses with dubious condition reports.

 

Personally, I think when buying a 30 year old car, finding one you can put your hands on really is a better choice.

 

 

Jeff

 

 

Fair difference in quality between these two..as reflected in the price

 

£7,495

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nissan-300-ZX-Twin-Turbo-Very-Low-Miles/254026881454?_trkparms=aid%3D888007%26algo%3DDISC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D55677%26meid%3Da610c89c47cd4e158628e7526d2f27bc%26pid%3D100009%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26sd%3D303042666209%26itm%3D254026881454&_trksid=p2047675.c100009.m1982

 

 

 

 

£3,800

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nissan-300ZX-Auto-Twin-Turbo-UK-Spec-Fully-Restored-and-MOTd/303042666209?hash=item468ec01ee1:g:pBsAAOSwzFhcPkoz:rk:2:pf:0

 

Edited February 3, 20196 yr by JeffTT

I must admit I have been looking for a while and I haven't seen anything that appeals to me as of yet; but I think I will be waiting a very long time to find what I want.

 

I am not interested in UK spec cars, especially at £22,000 for a 1991 model! Unfortuantely it seems that the 300ZX has gone the same way as the Supra when it comes to UK models; despite being inferior to the JDM counterparts and generally in poorer condition people double the price simply because it is UK spec.

I must admit I have been looking for a while and I haven't seen anything that appeals to me as of yet; but I think I will be waiting a very long time to find what I want.

 

I am not interested in UK spec cars, especially at £22,000 for a 1991 model! Unfortuantely it seems that the 300ZX has gone the same way as the Supra when it comes to UK models; despite being inferior to the JDM counterparts and generally in poorer condition people double the price simply because it is UK spec.

 

Hi Alex, in what way are UK spec 300zxs inferior to JDM counterparts - condition aside (for fresh imports, certainly) as you have suggested is one thing; but if anything, the UK spec cars were generally superior to JDM cars in standard spec. UK cars pretty much all came with leather and cruise - and JDM cars had increasingly poorer spec later in the model's life, as Nissan cut costs to keep the price low!

 

Good luck in your search, by the way. As suggested above, you'll certainly find a very nice example for circa £8000-£10,000. They are about, they just don't come up for sake that often.

I must admit I have been looking for a while and I haven't seen anything that appeals to me as of yet; but I think I will be waiting a very long time to find what I want.

 

I am not interested in UK spec cars, especially at £22,000 for a 1991 model! Unfortuantely it seems that the 300ZX has gone the same way as the Supra when it comes to UK models; despite being inferior to the JDM counterparts and generally in poorer condition people double the price simply because it is UK spec.

 

Not seen too many zeds at £22k recently, that said you are bang on the money how UK spec cars have been lorded over imports despite having less toys on and been more subject to UK winters, what often misses on UK models is there was base options and many came with manual seats as an example, of course all of these are essentially the same car, but and we had many a laugh at this in the day, when UK cars are advertised as having full Nissan service history as if that made it better ? erm no, we actually did work for two Nissan dealers who would send any zeds that came in, we did the work and they passed it off as their own.

 

 

Jeff

Hi Alex, in what way are UK spec 300zxs inferior to JDM counterparts - condition aside (for fresh imports, certainly) as you have suggested is one thing; but if anything, the UK spec cars were generally superior to JDM cars in standard spec. UK cars pretty much all came with leather and cruise - and JDM cars had increasingly poorer spec later in the model's life, as Nissan cut costs to keep the price low!

 

 

Richard I will have to disagree in part with you, the UK cars and import cars both have merits, the UK car is not superior, the import car is not superior. many, many UK cars were produced and I worked on with cloth manual seats and no cruise control ( mainly manuals) the leather series II with heated seats and alcantara trim are truly lush, automatic control on import ( hold and power ) is a feature, along with fold back mirrors the UK zed never got, like wise the UK cars all had manual and diff oil coolers that the import cars did not get ( although never seen a true reason for them) along with electrically adjustable rear dampers, all good standard fittings. The import cars though had front lower spot lights to aid the appalling headlights and front corner indicators, all nice and seemingly "extra" to UK trim, but hey the cars are basically the same, even though it took the insurance companies a long time to accept.

 

Later cars are viewed poor man version in many ways, poor insulation, minus variable valve timing, poor carpets and boost gauge removed from the speedo cluster, however they added other parts like recaro seats, 99 spec bumpers, lights etc. so they now are sought after.

 

Jeff

Richard I will have to disagree in part with you, the UK cars and import cars both have merits, the UK car is not superior, the import car is not superior. many, many UK cars were produced and I worked on with cloth manual seats and no cruise control ( mainly manuals) the leather series II with heated seats and alcantara trim are truly lush, automatic control on import ( hold and power ) is a feature, along with fold back mirrors the UK zed never got, like wise the UK cars all had manual and diff oil coolers that the import cars did not get ( although never seen a true reason for them) along with electrically adjustable rear dampers, all good standard fittings. The import cars though had front lower spot lights to aid the appalling headlights and front corner indicators, all nice and seemingly "extra" to UK trim, but hey the cars are basically the same, even though it took the insurance companies a long time to accept.

 

Later cars are viewed poor man version in many ways, poor insulation, minus variable valve timing, poor carpets and boost gauge removed from the speedo cluster, however they added other parts like recaro seats, 99 spec bumpers, lights etc. so they now are sought after.

 

Jeff

 

Good points Jeff - I completely agree that both versions have their merits and neither one is superior to the other. You have naturally seen more Zeds than most, so will have that extended knowledge. All I know, is that when I was looking at potential purchases, the UK cars all seemed to be better specced than imports. Most likely due to more options boxed being ticked, no doubt!! Not that it swayed me against imports in any way - I'd happily have either; especially a SWB TT targa like Gary's....:thumbup:

 

In fact the 300zx, along with mk4 Supra, were cars where the UK certainly didn't receive poorer spec than their JDM counterparts. The Subaru Imprezza, Mitsi Evo, Honda Civic and Integra were all better equipped in J-Spec form (according to magazine articles of the day).

I was originally after a mk4 Supra but after looking at £20k rough cars I decided on the 300zx.

 

I started looking for cars in Japan because the one thing I can’t stand is rust. The Z I ended up with is a fresh import so totally rust free for £7k.

If i had that money burning in a hole in my pocket and wanted a 300zx i would be looking in Japan.Some real nice cars turn up from time to time.Seen a few grade 4+ cars of late for sale.Josh Lake is a member on here and is also on Facebook under Gorilla Imports he can get you one.

Hi Alex, in what way are UK spec 300zxs inferior to JDM counterparts - condition aside (for fresh imports, certainly) as you have suggested is one thing; but if anything, the UK spec cars were generally superior to JDM cars in standard spec. UK cars pretty much all came with leather and cruise - and JDM cars had increasingly poorer spec later in the model's life, as Nissan cut costs to keep the price low!

 

Good luck in your search, by the way. As suggested above, you'll certainly find a very nice example for circa £8000-£10,000. They are about, they just don't come up for sake that often.

 

The later JDM models had completely different bumpers, side skirts and spoilers not available in any other region. As Jeff mentioned they had new lights and Recaro seats as an option not seen anywhere else. There were also many interior differences (gauge colours etc), and I believe the manual gearbox had some improvements.

 

It's very difficult to find any information about the Japanese spec cars, particularly in the later years so there could be a lot of things we are missing.

The later JDM models had completely different bumpers, side skirts and spoilers not available in any other region. As Jeff mentioned they had new lights and Recaro seats as an option not seen anywhere else. There were also many interior differences (gauge colours etc), and I believe the manual gearbox had some improvements.

 

It's very difficult to find any information about the Japanese spec cars, particularly in the later years so there could be a lot of things we are missing.

 

I know mate...:wink:

 

Different, yes, inferior, not necessarily - it's all down to personal preference. And the changes you refer to were facelifts and modifications during the car's lifespan. New 300zx sales ceased in the UK/EU in 1994; US new car sales ceased circa 1996, but the Z32 continued on sale in Japan until 2000.

Save your money mate I wouldn't pay no more than 6000

 

:lol: :lol:

 

Ignore this comment.

 

Pay what you think you feel is the right value for a top quality car. £6k will get you fairly decent one but it certainly won't get you the best TT manual, go higher and you should be be able to source a concourse example of a late spec car should you be able to source one in Japan and I'd suggest going there. High calibre cars in the UK are almost always owned and for long periods of time.

 

I'd laugh if someone offered me £6k for mine, as I'm sure Joel, Andrew and Gary would. Scott sold his UK manual for £10k a few weeks ago which needed some minor bodywork and a low mileage bog standard Japanese TT manual in decent shape went for £8k toward the beginning of last year. What you see on ebay is mostly grot.

 

Values in Japan are going up in line with global markets for 90s cars and late spec car Z32 values are getting high. Some Version R 99 spec Twin Turbo manuals in mint low mileage condition are going for over well over £10k in Japan.

 

If you have the budget for the very best, go for the very best. It's a false economy to go for a cheaper one.

Edited February 5, 20196 yr by Funkysi

Yes prices in Japan on all 90s car are on the up. Namely due to the USA market opening up as the cars are now over 25 years old.

 

I was quoted £10k - £12k for a Jap import.

The £3,800 one is mine unfortunately, 3 year project finished but now I'm back on the job market with an upcoming redundancy.

 

Pricing it wasn't easy. As Jeff said, just have to balance the quality. Mine is high mileage and has both tasteful and un-tasteful mods on a UK model and an imperfect body, versus a clean import with lower mileage.

The Yanks are the primary factor in the price hike due to their 25 year rule. Three years ago you could pick up an immaculate fresh import low mile R32 GTR for 10k, now you're closer to 40k, the same goes for Supras etc. - But what happened to the 3000gt/gto and the 300zx? Well those were available in their top spec to the American Market so their prices haven't risen as sharply and aren't in much demand from Japan, despite traders' efforts to make it appear that way. They aren't as desirable and people wont pay the price tag that comes with the supra/skyline - personal opinions and technical comparisons of the marques aside.

 

The UK's own little Jap-market has traders have ramping the prices of anything old and jap; pulsars are sitting on ebay and going up in value by 3k a year but guess what? They arent selling, im looking at a lot of the same cars advertised now that were advertised years ago by the same traders. Some punters buy into this and are willing to pay the outrageous price for a rusty shitty 200sx's, gtst's etc.

 

I'm all for appreciating classics, but the problem is that these cars were great cars FOR their price band. They had their own charm FOR their price band. A £2000 crx SIR is a great little motor, cracking hot hatch and handles very well. But a £10,000 one with 8 further uk winters under its belt? I don't think it represents good value... and whilst gtr's/supras are iconic and a likely investment, the majority of the gran-turismo class aren't in the same league of desirability.

 

I predict the prices will acctually drop again, because I can't forsee the public buying into the demand. The car's simply aren't worth it.

The Yanks are the primary factor in the price hike due to their 25 year rule. Three years ago you could pick up an immaculate fresh import low mile R32 GTR for 10k, now you're closer to 40k, the same goes for Supras etc. - But what happened to the 3000gt/gto and the 300zx? Well those were available in their top spec to the American Market so their prices haven't risen as sharply and aren't in much demand from Japan, despite traders' efforts to make it appear that way. They aren't as desirable and people wont pay the price tag that comes with the supra/skyline - personal opinions and technical comparisons of the marques aside.

 

The UK's own little Jap-market has traders have ramping the prices of anything old and jap; pulsars are sitting on ebay and going up in value by 3k a year but guess what? They arent selling, im looking at a lot of the same cars advertised now that were advertised years ago by the same traders. Some punters buy into this and are willing to pay the outrageous price for a rusty shitty 200sx's, gtst's etc.

 

I'm all for appreciating classics, but the problem is that these cars were great cars FOR their price band. They had their own charm FOR their price band. A £2000 crx SIR is a great little motor, cracking hot hatch and handles very well. But a £10,000 one with 8 further uk winters under its belt? I don't think it represents good value... and whilst gtr's/supras are iconic and a likely investment, the majority of the gran-turismo class aren't in the same league of desirability.

 

I predict the prices will acctually drop again, because I can't forsee the public buying into the demand. The car's simply aren't worth it.

 

???

Just to be clear I think the 300zx represents excellent value at the current 3-7k price range for an average to good import where performance and looks are concerned, its easily faster and better in nearly all aspects than an R33 GTST for example; but it does come with the expected heavy maintenance and repair costs. But irrespective of the 'deal' buyers are getting I don't forsee the prices rising much over the coming years.

Just to be clear I think the 300zx represents excellent value at the current 3-7k price range for an average to good import where performance and looks are concerned, its easily faster and better in nearly all aspects than an R33 GTST for example; but it does come with the expected heavy maintenance and repair costs. But irrespective of the 'deal' buyers are getting I don't forsee the prices rising much over the coming years.

 

Actually, their values for top condition ones have nearly doubled in the last 5-7 years since reaching the bottom of their depreciation curve; immaculate examples were fetching around £4k-£5k back then for top quality TT manuals, now they're around the £8k-£10k mark for immaculate ones. Ebay is the worst gauge of car values if you're looking for high quality examples although even their values are slowly rising. Whilst monetarily, that's not a huge amount of money, as a ratio, that's very high. If for example, their values keep appreciating at that pace, the Z32 will actually rise quite a bit. I think their level of appreciation will certainly slow, but they've already gained considerably as a ratio and as numbers reduce globally, increased demand from the US and the general increase in values of retro-90s cars, there's nothing stopping their values increasing still further, nothing at all. I'm not saying we're going to reach stupid levels the Supra and NSX have achieved as numbers produced are too high for that, but they'll certainly gain value.

 

I remember when people said the same about the Z32's prices back when they were at the bottom of their depreciation curve that they'd never appreciate much.....but they have and by quite a ratio.

I'm all for appreciating classics, but the problem is that these cars were great cars FOR their price band.

 

As the price band of everything else around it continues to rise at their respective rates, even as the Z32 appreciates, they're still great cars FOR their price band. The whole lot is moving up in value; the Z32 will always be the best value of all the large super coupes from the era.

 

The deal with the Z32 is that there are precious few high quality ones on the open market, in fact I rarely see them. Those high calibre cars would often come in the form of a fresh import. Z32 prices in Japan are rising pretty quickly, so you ARE having to pay more for a high quality example. The facts are in the numbers.

 

The general market still has poor quality examples about, poorly modified, lower value NA and auto models, but that doesn't take away from the fact that high calibre examples of TT Manuals are going up and will continue to do so.

Edited February 14, 20196 yr by Funkysi

I get what you mean with the price band bud, and yeah whilst on one-hand I think you can pick up a modern hot hatch which is better in nearly all aspects than a late 80's for half the money; they lack a certain appeal and character that can't be replicated; so I guess that's what you're paying for now - and I'm sure we all hope the values do increase! :-) Hell, it's a good looking and bad-ass car, it should be fetching good money by now :thumbs: