Hi All,

 

I have decided to get shot of my current nissan and buy something else and I will very soon have 3k to buy another car as quick as possible as nobody likes being without a car! I had been looking at things like punto gt turbos etc but then my thoughts have returned to the real object of my desires, the 300zx. There seems to be a lot out there for around this money but what I am asking the experts here is am I wasting my money? I want the excitement that the 300zx will no doubt bring but once I buy it, I can't afford to be replacing turbos and expensive parts all the time. I understand that it will be around the H reg area for that money so faults are inevitable but has anybody spent around that amount on their zed and has a smooth ride without bankrupting themselves on bits?! Any advice would be appreciated, I know it's down to the individual car but you guys will basically know what I'd get for that cash. Thanks a lot.

Have a look in the for sale section here. £3K is not going to buy you very much unless you get lucky and meet a willing / desperate seller. At G/H reg the car is probably going to need a new cambelt and water pump plus maybe replacement hoses? You're looking at sub 20mpg and oil changes every 3,000 miles plus as you said if a bit falls off it will be serious - these are still complex supercars, just cheap to buy.

 

If £3K is your top budget - I'd go and look at the smaller, but still capable brother, the 200SX.

 

Have you investigated insurance costs? Your budget might stretch to an imported (read expensive insurance) NA...

 

Good luck though, I hope you find a car you like - it's possible that the seller needs to raise a couple of grand quickly and your offer will be all he has by the weekend.

you get what you pay for mate

3k aint alot you will brob have to pay another 2k on it

save some money and buy a good one off here

 

steve

hello mate, glad youre starting to look in the right direction. £3000 is a little cheep for a z32, although its about right for n/a 300. best thing to do is take someone who knows about z"S . i took a mate who has had many ttzs. the car was up for £3750, full m.o.t etc. we nearly had a fight over who was going to buy it, it was and still is a jem and has never let me down in any way, never even had to change a bulb. might just be lucky though. still, do some reaserch first and look at several before you make a choice. it will be worth it in the end. happy hunting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cheers for the replies, your answers are pretty much what I expected. What about buying one from one of these performance garages with a warranty and keeping it for a year until the warranty runs out. Would a warranty cover the major bits like the turbos etc? I am just at the point in my life where I am going to be moving into a house in a few months and I want to buy my dream car even if I can only have it for a year. I'm sure you all understand the desire to own a zed. I take heed of the advice though, if I can only get a dog for 3k then it's maybe worth looking elsewhere, chhers guys.

Warranty!!!

 

From what I know of them they might only just about cover a blown fuse. Not worth the paper they are written on. Ask the people who sell them if they will write up the same thing as a guarantee instead of a warranty and see what they say.

 

There may be some good ones out there but I have never heard of them.

for 3k m8, id go the import auction route, but get to know the car your after

read this forum, check out the signs of clocking etc

 

you can get some good cars through the import auctions, but visit a few times before deciding to buy, as you can also get some dogs, on the whole

i'd say, they're better quality than the run of the mill auctions

 

i know a few people from the north east who travel to the north west jap auction every week, ive so far bought 7 vehicles from there, 3 sports, and touch wood nothing to regret so far, i was down there wed' and a 1990

zx black/leathered/tt went for 2.5k but was a dog (bodywise)

yet ive seen others mint for a few hundred more,

 

after buying you have to pay for registration and tax (£128) and within a week your on the road, (more if its under 10 years, but not for 3k) i can't honestly see you getting a car for 3k via the trader/ebay etc and be happy with it, as most have said you get what you pay for, and generally 3k will buy you someone elses heartache :(

:) If your gona buy one dude buy it from some one on this site, at least in most cases you know that to some degree that it would have come from someone that is an enthusist or just seriously into their Z's. Chances are that they would have done their research and hopefully maintained their cars properly. Good luck.

Cheers for all those tips, maybe a 200sx would be a fair compromise then with the money I have to play with. I will one day own one of these but I don't want to buy a heap of scrap just so that I can have a zed, that would be crazy! Cheers.

I'd go for a 200sx. I had one and they're great. The S14 (94 onwards) is probably better, especially the S14A (from 97).

 

A £3K 300 may well be grief. It may not, but if it is, you'll have some big bills.

add 2.5k and u can have mine, add 1k and you can have nelsons, hes virtually giving his away!

I bought an H red NA and it cost me a fair bit over £3k, but its the running costs that are the killer. Ive not had any major problems yet, but general maintanace, insurance and even petrol costs a packet! Worth it though!

Bought my TT auto H reg nearly 3yrs ago, paid nearly 6K!

Thought it was the biz! After 12 months auto box failed. Repaired £1400! Before this MOT & bill of £500, set of tyres ontop £500. one minor & one major service plus another two oil changes £300. Oh! & 23K milage in petrol costs!

3K um! get a 200sx.

Bought my TT auto H reg nearly 3yrs ago, paid nearly 6K!

Thought it was the biz! After 12 months auto box failed. Repaired £1400! Before this MOT & bill of £500, set of tyres ontop £500. one minor & one major service plus another two oil changes £300. Oh! & 23K milage in petrol costs!

3K um! get a 200sx.

 

Are you trying to put him off arthur??;) I bought mine for just over 2K with a blown head gasket, (still dont think it was though, think it was diagnosed wrong!)good bodywork, mint leather interior and generally a good car. Once I got it up and running it hasnt really given me that many problems, so as long as your handy with some tools you can do all the general maintainence yourself, (oil,filter,belts etc) saving yourself some big bucks as Arthur pointed out. The main worry is the Auto gearbox, just too expensive when it goes kaput! :cry:

Manual gearboxes go too, but hey're just a little bit cheaper, but these are not cars you can expect to run on a tight budget, so if 3K is all you have I think you've been well advised not to risk it, you'll be in debt before the end of a year.

 

When I bought mine (a year ago) I looked at a few cheapies (under 4k) - all from private sellers and all well tired, you would have had to spend money on them to tidy up the basic mechanicals, replace belts, tyres, brakes.....

 

And the 'youngest' of these had 103K miles on the clock. They're tough, but they're not indestructable!

If you do go for the 200SX you'll be able to keep it for years and they are still quick, although not 300ZX quick. I've had an S13 for 4 years (that cost me £3K then) and its been totally reliable. As a dialy driver its now on 130K with the original Turbo, all I've done is three oil changes a year, discs and pads and front dampers. It's still got loads of life yet and it's 14 years old!

my 1993 S13 neede an engine rebuild after 1 year of ownership, so S13s can be trouble too.

 

buy my 1992 UK 300ZX TT for a giveaway £4k if u want a Zed.

I can't believe Matty hasn't been on with his "Bargain UK TT Z Purchase Of The Year Award Winner 2003 and 2004"

Obviously too busy on the Saxo forum!! :tongue: :p :rofl:

Warranty!!!

 

From what I know of them they might only just about cover a blown fuse. Not worth the paper they are written on. Ask the people who sell them if they will write up the same thing as a guarantee instead of a warranty and see what they say.

 

There may be some good ones out there but I have never heard of them.

 

I bought a warranty from Private Car Warranties for £350 (valid 15 months) when I bought my ZX. So far they have paid for a new PTU, water pump, oil pressure sender unit and temp sensor. Total claims value including labour and VAT somewhere around £800.......

 

They paid up without question and even covered the cost of replacing antifreeze with the 'pump.... :cool:

 

I'd recommend them to any ZX owner

 

Richard ;)