Sad to hear the hassle 300zx_Newbie is having - heartbreaking when you've got your dream car, lashed out some dosh on getting it going and then bang - it all goes pear-shaped again. I really feel for you, mate.

 

This is why I've held off getting a zed for so long. I do a lot of miles and the zed would be my only car. I'm prepared to swallow the higher insurance, petrol and servicing costs that come with having a swish car like the zed, but the cost of having an unreliable car is much more than the money. It seems like the zed - especially the TT - has an air of unreliability about it and I downright refuse to have a car - no matter how good it looks, or fast it goes - which runs great for a month and then spends 3 months in the hands of a mechanic and costs loads more money on top. My car is a necessity for getting to work and back and I'd just like to do it in a head-turning car that can shift a bit too.

 

This may be a bit off-target of course, because the 'Help and Advice' forum is just where you'd expect to see lots of posts about problems with cars - this doesn't mean that the majority of zeds are unreliable, I guess. And 300zx_Newbie's problems aren't with the zed per se, but rather with a new(ish) component within. It's just a scary story and makes me think thrice about ever getting a zed (not least until I win the lottery, or something!!)

 

Just my 2p worth....

FWIW iv only ever had 1 breakdown on mine. the PTU.

 

thats it.

 

& mines a daily driver too :)

As you say, you will read about problems alot more than 'my Z is running fine' I suppose. On the help & advice its going to be a mine of problems just like any other car forum.

I've had mine nearly 3 years now, 6 months after I bought it, it blew up costing me £2,500 for new engine from SE. Since then another £6ish k on mods and maintenance (mainly mods!) I'm not well off by any means and sometimes has been a struggle to keep the Z........but I don't regret buying it for one second. I love it to bits. Its more than just owning a car, its kinda like a hobby. I've never been as passionate about a car.

 

Go on.......get one........you know you want to.........you just got to be patient and the right one will turn up.

 

Anything that goes wrong.........we'll always help you out!

Well not wanting to rub salt into 300zx_newbie's problems,(i just posted on that thread)so far i would stick my neck out here and say(touchwood)that so far outa the three Zs i have had they have never gone wrong,nothings fell of,started first time,i done shit loads of miles in em,they've taken plenty of stick,i cant wait to get in it and drive the thing,gives me bags of fun and enjoyment,would say the best car i have ever had,sure there a bit highly strung so to speak and can be tempremental for some owners,but what beats it for the money,sod all i think, lifes a gamble,so is car ownership,look at the JDPOWER owners surveys that are done,some of those so called top cars/manufactures are shite for reliability,and they cost thousands more than a Z,and in context these are the items i have had to replace in the last 12 months in the house,Tumble dryer,hoover,video player,mobile phone,DVDplayer went tits up,Scanner,Printer,Garage door needed fixing,shower switch fooked,roof eves replaced,kitchen ceiling big hole due to leak,Sky digi box burnt out,and the TV's on its last legs,the list goes on,give me a Z any day:D :D ;)

I only think they are unreliable if they haven't been properly looked after - or u r very unlucky. They are hard to work on compared to most other cars, which makes problems a lot worse.

 

If you buy a poorly maintained one, sooner or later, you'll have big probs - buy a goodun and look after it with frequent servicing - u shud be alright.

 

I posted a reliability survey not long ago and gave the following conclusion...

 

---------->It seems from results above that the Zed is a generally reliable car - maybe we are taking into account that it is a performance car, and so exaggerating the reliability ? BUT, most of our cars are pretty old and this coupled with the complexity of the cars, makes the reliability even more impressive. What I think most of us know is (like with most things) you generally get out what you put in. I do believe though that Zeds are very well built. Sure, some parts (eg. brakes) could have been better, but the engines are sound. The tatty zeds which occasionally crop up are probably suffering from years of abuse.

:cool: spot on with that Nelson,owning a Z should be looked upon as a something like a hobby too,needs a good amount of care and work from the owner;)

Bottom line is go buy any hi performance car that is nigh on 13 years old and you are guarenteed it has had the shit rung out of it at some point in its life, spend money on a decent one and youll have relaitvily few problems, get one for under 5 k and be aware of the costs involeved in maintaining them.

 

Take any other car at the same age, and im willing to be you get as many hassles..

 

 

besides people dont come on here and just start a thread saying " my car is running great cheers"

Originally posted by 300z

Bottom line is go buy any hi performance car that is nigh on 13 years old and you are guarenteed it has had the shit rung out of it at some point in its life, spend money on a decent one and youll have relaitvily few problems, get one for under 5 k and be aware of the costs involeved in maintaining them.

 

Take any other car at the same age, and im willing to be you get as many hassles..

 

 

besides people dont come on here and just start a thread saying " my car is running great cheers"

 

TRUE. Considering what a bargain Zeds are, u shud be happy to pay some of the money you saved not buying another high performance car toward maintenance/repairs/servicing etc.

 

Even if the Zed costs u more to maintain/repair service etc., u will probably still be quids in.

Well I bought mine about 4 years ago and I've definitely been 'quids out', but what the hell - it's been fun and continues to be so. What else would I have done with the £30K plus that I've basically burnt travelling to work and back in that time ....

 

 

Even if the Zed costs u more to maintain/repair service etc., u will probably still be quids in. [/b]

Sorry to deviate from the topic slightly.....but 300z - where did you get your bodykit from?

I'm not questioning the money aspect of it primarily. I agree the zed is, pound-for-pound, a whole lot of performance car. And yes, getting a zed for a relatively low price (compared to other marques) then leaves more money for maintenance costs etc. - accepted.

 

However, as I said at the outset, having an unreliable car is more than just the monetary cost. I need my car EVERY SINGLE DAY - period. If something goes fundamentally tits up with my car (e.g. turbos) and it is off the road for weeks then I need another car. I can't afford a second car. I don't have room for a second car. I don't WANT a second car. I want a zed. And I want to drive it at ease, not thinking every rattle, clunk, creak or squeak that you get from time to time in a car - any car - is going to result in the car being off the road for who-knows-how long. I would expect to drive a zed fairly sensibly and not be going hell-for-leather all the time - just the odd occasion, 'cos that's why I'd own a zed and not a snails-pace Golf (like I currently do) - to have the odd moment of madness. If I'm not thrashing the pants off the zed as an everyday habit then I would not expect any MAJOR difficulties - from what I've read over the past 6-8 months or so I'm not thoroughly convinced of that. The zed is a sophisticated piece of machinery and there are so many bits that can - and invariably do - go wrong.

 

Nelson, your previous post indicates that maybe zeds are in fact OK and there is nothing to get too bothered about, so maybe my worries are for nothing. It's finding the right one is the key point here - this is a message which has been issued many times whilst I've been reading this forum!

 

Maybe I've been a bit spoilt, having owned a VW for the last 4 years. It has never missed a bit except for the usual (brakes, tyres, exhaust) and I've racked up 600 miles per week over that time - 'reliable' is not a big enough word for this car. However, fast it is not, hence my attention turns to the zed....

 

Anyway, I'll be heading for the Essex meet later this month to talk to some of you zedders mano-e-mano, and also check your rides out of course. And I'll hide my VW out round the back!

 

Thanks for all your informed responses too!!

Originally posted by AndyP

Well I bought mine about 4 years ago and I've definitely been 'quids out', but what the hell - it's been fun and continues to be so. What else would I have done with the £30K plus that I've basically burnt travelling to work and back in that time ....

 

But imagine if you'd bought a TVR - wudav cost u about 30k to start with !

Originally posted by Chris1971

 

Maybe I've been a bit spoilt, having owned a VW for the last 4 years. It has never missed a bit except for the usual (brakes, tyres, exhaust) and I've racked up 600 miles per week over that time - 'reliable' is not a big enough word for this car. However, fast it is not, hence my attention turns to the zed....

 

 

I owned a VW Polo and it was only about 5 years old when it kept stalling on me and garages couldn't fix it as it was an intermittent fault (wiring loom I think). My 300ZX TT has been far more reliable.

 

So luck comes into it - any car can be a pup.

 

Also - many standard production cars are virtually designed to fail at a certain age - I believe Zeds were made like Mercedes - to go and go.

Too right and I was considering those sorts of cars at the same time as I bought the Zed. However, if I'd have just stuck with my old Renault (same age as the Zed), then it would probably have only cost me a few grand in fuel/tyres etc and then I would be quids in.

 

 

 

Originally posted by Nelson MainFella

But imagine if you'd bought a TVR - wudav cost u about 30k to start with !

Also you dont really hear about people complining about thier family car. I know the Sierra we had:

the rear axel , front suspention, radiator, electric windows, exhaust all broke in the first few year and that was a brand new car.

IN all honesty i would not get one in that case, because i certainly dont belive thses cars are everyday users (i speak form my own on which is pretty heavily modified)

Originally posted by 300z

IN all honesty i would not get one in that case, because i certainly dont belive thses cars are everyday users (i speak form my own on which is pretty heavily modified)

 

Isn't your other car a Metro Warren ?:D

You can always buy a vectra / mondeo / passat / bmw / audi etc only. A new one will be really reliable and will depreciate at about £400 per month just sitting outside your house. You will also relish the driving experience as you realise your life is ebbing away like all the other clones in the matrix!

 

Or follow my strategy and have both - a totally depreciated large saloon that did high motorway miles and a zed. Both cars dont depreciate anymore just need maintenance and a bit of knowhow to keep them sane.

 

Sure you have 2 lots of insurance and road tax but you also get the best of both worlds and dont need to wear out the zed in lousy weather if you dont want to. You also have a backup when one will inevitably give a problem.

 

You can drive a thousand miles in a zed and not see another one!

 

(Go on some wag say thats cos the rest are all broke!)

This is asking for trouble so my fingers are firmly crossed on this one - since Aug 1999 I have had two side-of-road breakdowns: water pump failed 2 days after buying it (warranty job) and last month, the rad cap let all the coolant dump itself over the road (thanks RAC man).

 

Yes, there have been other problems (clutch, clutch master cylinder, brake master cylinder blah blah) but these were all spotted and cured by regular maintenance to Nissan schedule.

 

And I'm just coming up to the big belt change malarkey with some other preventative stuff.

 

But actually, nothing that I wouldn't have expected from a 13 year old car. Probably miles and a large fortune cheaper than any other car with its performance (13 year old Ferrari, anyone? Service bills on an NSX?). And not a lot of difference between this and, say, a 13 year old Sierra or Carlton or whatever. (And it's cheaper to run than my mate's M3 which has needed two engine rebuilds in 3 years since new hehehe).

 

I have no worries about this being my only car and daily driver.

 

But it is basically stock. IMHO the more radically you tweak your motor and the harder you drive it, the less reliable it gets and the more risk you take.

 

FWIW - :D - Gio

mines been my daily driver for the last 9 months, its never broken down mechanically, i had a burst water pipe but thats to be expected on 13 year old rubber, if you change your oil often 3k miles or so and keep it stock you have a better chance of it not going bang, but lots of zedders on hear have mild to mad mods and have no problems, no car is guaranteed never to break down, beemers mercs audis etc are respected for there reliability, but they still do go wrong.

 

imo a low mileage import is the best way to go

Originally posted by Nelson MainFella

Isn't your other car a Metro Warren ?:D

Sigh it was until some scrawny little ****er broke inot it and tried to drive it away while i had the clutch in pieces lol :D

i bet he felt like a real old fool lmffao :D

 

its now in the rubbish bin :(

Just to reinforce the perception that some performance cars can go on and on I have a mate with a B10 Alpina bmw, his dads from new in 1989 with 277k miles on it and its still able to exceed silly 150mph speeds on a private test track. Its had some engine work but to be expected surely.

 

I get nervous when I hear of fewer and fewer zeds with no major problems and high mileage - like mine - original non smoking turbos, but I'm glad they're out there and find it re assuring when I hear about them! Mostly you only hear about the problems and where possible we try to help each other fix them.

 

How to kill a zed - mod to stage 111plus take it to a quarter mile track and do about 30 flat out standing starts. No surprise if turbos fry, transmissions liquify clutches dont and so on!

Originally posted by Nelson MainFella

I believe Zeds were made like Mercedes - to go and go.

 

LMAO!!! :rolleyes: im saying nothing ;)

I've had my fair share of over epense on my car but I still love it. Haven't driven it for over a month now, but still nice to look at it out the kitchen window of a weekend. However Mrs T uses it as a daily driver, few small probs need sorting now like the 1 year old coolant leak...happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you...happy birthday dear coolant leak...happy birthday to you! :D

 

Lessons you slowly learn as mentioned above...

 

Raz the Phuck out of them everywhere all the time and they will go bang sooner rather than later. Common dog really.

 

Track day the lardy ar5ed beast all year round and it will suffer big time.

 

Change oil on the Turbo every 3000 without fail with pukka stuff and change the filter.

 

Keep your eye on all the fluid levels regularly, I mean none of this is unique to the Shed-X. I used to follow these rules on my Poopra Turbo and my 185,000 mile Saab T16S before that. ;)

 

Thing is do you wanna spend all that money on getting your car half decent only to sell it and lose a sh1t load of hard earned to make some other bloke/chick happy??? Phuck that now, I'd rather burn mine unless I needed the money for another kidney or a liver so that I could still drink! Then it would go! :D :D

I use my Z every day for work, had it 6 months now, I have had no problems so far, (touching wood franticly) needed new battery, but that was replacing the Jap original (13 yrs old).

 

Mine is one of the first Z 32's, early 90s, so no real refinements or extras as standard.

 

Just to echo the comments above, turbo's require new oil and filters at least every 3,000 miles.

As with buying any second hand car, reseach is the key word, also luck does play a hand, if you are buying something 13 years old, you must be prepared for parts to wear out and need replacing.

As with all favourite cars they need love and attention, and they will return it 2 fold.

 

Lifes a gamble anyway Chris, who wants to drive a Mondeo or Vectra to work every day.

 

Keep your VW as a back up and go for a Z.

 

:) :)

Bob

Guys, seems I've started off quite a topic here.......

 

To be honest with y'all, I dont know what to say apart from when I drive the zed I feel on top of the world.

 

Only problem is, I dont drive it much.....I have now done 1300mile in it in total and spent over £5K in repairs and £1K in mods, would have been lovely to have it the other way round.:p

 

Its a great car, its a cool car, and Jeff TT came with me to inspect it. I know you all have different views about him but I still think he did a really good job that day and the problems that have gone wrong are down to general wear and tear on the car because of its age.......somethings gonna go eventually I guess......

 

Timmy: I dont wanna sell the car now, especially with all the work its had done........but how much longer is this going to go on??? All these repairs I mean???? Like Chris has stipulated, I wanted this as an everyday car, I have now had to humiliate myself by driving an XR2 (could be worse I know) in my shirt and tie every morning! People probably look at me and think:

 

'Ahhhh, bless him, in his little shirt and tie, tootling along in his black XR2, thinking he's fast'...........maybe I am just paranoid but I am sure this bloke was laughing at me at the traffic light, should have got out and smacked the tw*t!!!:D :D :D :D

 

I WANT MY ZED BACKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!:( :( :( :(