First of all, apologies if something along these lines has been posted before, but after a lengthy trawl, I can't find it....

 

My problem is that I'm after buying a 300 next year, roughly about april/may time. I was pretty easygoing with getting a Jap or UK car, but a friend recently told me that import cars are more trouble than their money's-worth. This has put me in some serious doubts, as it seems there are a lot more Jap than UK cars available out there.

 

Has anyone got any advice or information to either counter his claims, or show a non-financially-suicidal way of owning one of these beautiful pieces of road-engineering art.

 

Yours Hopefully

 

Kyy

I have a Jap import and have owned it now for 2-3 years and its been a super car, always starts first time, never ever broken down and its flown through every MOT its ever had, so overall I would say I am impressed and if I had not settled down and had kids and house etc I would keep it. I do have an N/A though I believe T/Ts are more troublesome.

I have a Jap import and have owned it now for 2-3 years and its been a super car, always starts first time, never ever broken down and its flown through every MOT its ever had, so overall I would say I am impressed and if I had not settled down and had kids and house etc I would keep it. I do have an N/A though I believe T/Ts are more troublesome.

 

How about parts though? I'm told they're difficult to get and fairly pricey?

How about parts though? I'm told they're difficult to get and fairly pricey?

Your right there as I have said in a previous post, but if you stick to this forum and use the Traders here as well as shopping around you can normally get a deal. But if cost is a big factor I personally would suggest starting with an N/A then if you decide you can afford to spend a bit more get a T/T. It all depends what you want out of a Z, whether its fast and reliable or very fast and reasonably reliable, with risk of replacing turbo's etc.

P.s I would not say parts where that difficult to get unless they where really specialised, but then you order them and wait a few days.

First of all, apologies if something along these lines has been posted before, but after a lengthy trawl, I can't find it....

 

My problem is that I'm after buying a 300 next year, roughly about april/may time. I was pretty easygoing with getting a Jap or UK car, but a friend recently told me that import cars are more trouble than their money's-worth. This has put me in some serious doubts, as it seems there are a lot more Jap than UK cars available out there.

 

Has anyone got any advice or information to either counter his claims, or show a non-financially-suicidal way of owning one of these beautiful pieces of road-engineering art.

 

Yours Hopefully

 

Kyy

 

Dont believe a lot of the hype from the mis-informed.

 

Uk and Jap are pretty much identical apart from minor differences, but obtaining parts for both is the same, available from dealers or independent suppliers

 

The differences are:

 

Uk had wider rear wheels

Uk had rear fogs but no front fogs

Jap has front fogs but no rear fogs

Uk speedo in MPH

Jap in KPH

UK Auto has auto cooler

Jap has electric folding mirrors

Jap has rear lap belts and seatbelts on doors up to late 92

UK has electric adjustable rear shocks for sport/comfort (operated by lifting handbrake handle one notch)

 

UK's can suffer from rust and will be usually be higher mileage.

I also have a jap tt, starts first turn , had a few minor probs but only down to wear and tear but the body,s are usually very good on imports, mines a 1990 and theres not a spot of rust :bow: :bow:

A few members i know with uk cars are having to have sills , wheelarch,s, front Xmembers done to get em through MOT,s. :headvswal

I suppose there are good and bad points on both but i don,t regret getting an import at all :hyper: HTH

Doesn't matter which one you buy mate ;)

I have a UK for cheaper insurance, but If that wasn't an issue, I would have gone with an import. Usually in better condition, and less miles

I have a UK for cheaper insurance, but If that wasn't an issue, I would have gone with an import. Usually in better condition, and less miles

 

I would agree but if you search you can find a good UK one. I personally would go fo a UK if you want an auto as the gearbox has a cooler and would probably last longer than an import box. However in hindsight I would now have probably searched and searched and searched and gone for a SWB Manual TT.

Personlly i would go for a Jap Import Manual. My 1991 is so clean, in particular underneath, with zero rust. I have seem quite a few imports an they are the same. Little to no stone chips on the front of the car too. Limited to 112mph as well, so less likely to be abused.

Jap service shedules are far stricter too.

 

Cant think of anything thats on the UK model that would make me choose one over a Jap car.

 

A

Personlly i would go for a Jap Import Manual. My 1991 is so clean, in particular underneath, with zero rust. I have seem quite a few imports an they are the same. Little to no stone chips on the front of the car too. Limited to 112mph as well, so less likely to be abused.

Jap service shedules are far stricter too.

 

Cant think of anything thats on the UK model that would make me choose one over a Jap car.

 

A

Thats what everybody thats seen my Z says, how clean and tidy it is.

Dont believe a lot of the hype from the mis-informed.

 

Uk and Jap are pretty much identical apart from minor differences, but obtaining parts for both is the same, available from dealers or independent suppliers

 

QUOTE]

 

I'd read that headlamp bulbs were different and expensive, is this still the case? or can you retro-fit a UK-spec headlight unit to use brit parts?

 

Thanks for clearing some of those issues up, as parts cost and availability is my only concern, as I don't really care about insurance :P

Dont believe a lot of the hype from the mis-informed.

 

Uk and Jap are pretty much identical apart from minor differences, but obtaining parts for both is the same, available from dealers or independent suppliers

 

QUOTE]

 

I'd read that headlamp bulbs were different and expensive, is this still the case? or can you retro-fit a UK-spec headlight unit to use brit parts?

 

Thanks for clearing some of those issues up, as parts cost and availability is my only concern, as I don't really care about insurance :P

The Headlamp bulbs on Jap imports are H3c and can be bought off the traders on here very easily and cheaply, unless you buy a Z with a H.I.D conversion (like mine) then I have H3 H.I.D bulbs and can actually see the road at night ;) .

bulbs off ebay, £6.99 delivered to your door in less than a week.

You can also very easily convert the H3c bulbs to H3, it basically just involves wiring in an extra earth from the bulb to the housing surround.

I have a Jap 91 TT and its fantastic. Always starts first time and it quite tidy. Mechanically its the dogs