Hi there,

 

I'm on a very long holiday in Canada with my girlfriend (we are both British) and we are about to buy a car a drive across the US.

 

We have mostly been looking at boring sensible cars but recently looked a 1986 300ZX Turbo and it felt really solid and is priced at $2000 about £800.

 

We only really need it to last 2 months and about 7000 miles but I've heard they are buily like brick sh!t houses! Any truth to this?

 

What sort of things should I look for? Sorry for the vague questions but does anyone think this is a practical car for a 7000 mile road trip? Just the two of us so luggage space isn't a big deal.

 

Thanks people,

 

Ross

hi it may possibly be a dog at that price,and if these cars go wrong then they are a bitch to repair,both in the amount of time it would be off the road and the cost of the repairs is astonomical.

try this link for reference

http://www.300zx.co.uk/tech/BuyingZ.htm

hi also you,ll b spending all your hard earned on lots of fill ups for gas on your trip but if your ok for cash ,pedal to the metal and av a nice journey!!! cully z

300zx on an 86 so im presuming its the old shape?

Thanks for the advice, yeah its an old shape very 80's. It is cheap but not much below the "blue book" value which is the US equivalent of the little black book dealers have in the UK. But the bumpers knackered as is the front wing, I would say its in fair condition.

 

Also petrol is cheap out here so it is tempting to do a road trip in a targa roofed turbo warrior rather than an old chevrolet cavalier or something.

 

Thanks

 

Ross

Sounds like fun, go for it.

 

The body condition is not too important providing it's legal, but at that sort of money you must be preapred to write the whole cost off on day two!!! If the engine blows up (doesn'/t matter if it uses a lot of oil or the turbo weeps) you'll have to throw it away.

 

You could write a diary - across the country on a "balding tyre and a faulty oil pressure gauge"!!!

Great holiday Ross, id love to do that!

If the Z seems sound there's no reason why it shouldnt make it, give it a service before you set off. Sell it when you're done and all it's cost is the gas.

ps. how much is a gallon there now? and can u bring some back please :-)

in Canada petrol is about 1/3 of th price of th UK. And varies from 1.49 to 2.39 for a US gallon in the states, im not sure what the equivalent UK gallon is but its still a hell of a lot cheaper!

oh and if we do indeed go for it, I'll post the results here after two months :) Lets just hope it doesn't go bang in the middle of LA