newish member here. just wondering how reliable these cars are. i've had a 200sx (ca18det) and i've had no end of problems. hoping that these engines are more reliable, i'm heading towards the twin turbo :D

also i was wondering what the difference is between the import and the UK models.

thanks for any help.

Dan

run a search you will find lots of info on the subject on here

Lol you don't need to do a search just look at the first page! Just from there we can see about an uncurable misfire,

a mystery water leak,

a dead master cylinder,

broken MAF,

broken starter,

broken autobox x3

 

and so on ;)

Well, my NA runs spot on - kept on the drive in all weathers, starts first time and in 2 1/2 years I've replaced the starter motor (precautionary measure), the radiator, tension rod bushes and the brake pipes at MOT time. It returns 23-24 mpg for everyday driving and insurance is less than £310 fully comp. :D :D

They are about as reliable as any other high performance 15 year old car. Some that are looked after and arnt subjected to half assed bodge jobs and never go near a cowboy in thier life actualy never go wrong.

There is teh odd exception to teh rule.

 

Most of teh faults are because of teh age and sever lack of attention teh car needs. But you can say that about any car.

My import zed TT has started every time - from -5C to 32C. It runs like a pussycat around town and could idle up the face of a cliff in first with the foot of the throttle.

 

Changing the oil every 3000 miles helps and not ragging it all the time.

As above I reckon, my first zed was a nightmare from start to finish, my second zed was a dream and needed virtually no work what so ever. If you go bargain bucket you'll get a shed, if you hang around and wait for a goodun and spend a few grand more you'll just have the (expensive) running costs for things like tyres and so on. All worthit though if you can manage it. Do a search for average costs: £1k a year for tyres aprox, 15-25mpg for a TT,etc

It's pick of the draw at this age with them. I bought a seemingly faultless one, payed above book price and I still had to rebuild the engine. I now have a very very good example as it was an almost imaculate car to begin with. Still not happy about it though.

 

Some members though have bought cheaper examples and have had trouble free motoring. But don't go for cheap examples. The likelyhood is they'll be shitters.

 

I'd still look for the best one you can find. Budget for about £4k - £5k for purchase and keep aside a few £k for any unforseen problems.

 

Steer clear of autoboxes though. One less thing to go wrong.

If you go to say the Skyline,Mitsi,Niissan,Honda,etc etc performance car forums you can soon get a list up of problems owners have had,thats life,if i were to pay 10k say for a Skyline i would not buy it thinking i wont get a problem,sooner or later i prob will have to pay out for something,hopefully not bank breaking amounts,if you were to buy a Ferrari same scenario,just look on their forums,a Z is a high performance super car,expect to have a problem,then when it happens you wont be too dissapointed,for reliability out of 100 i would give the Z a rating of 75,having owned 6 now i think that would be a fair figure.So be realistic in your approach to buying something thats 16 or more years old,with prob many owners and prob not stock,i would class the owner of a Z more of a enthusiast keeping these cars on the road,rather than a daily driver with no worries on maintanance.

 

Tony :)

It's pick of the draw at this age with them. I bought a seemingly faultless one, payed above book price and I still had to rebuild the engine. I now have a very very good example as it was an almost imaculate car to begin with. Still not happy about it though.

 

Some members though have bought cheaper examples and have had trouble free motoring. But don't go for cheap examples. The likelyhood is they'll be shitters.

 

I'd still look for the best one you can find. Budget for about £4k - £5k for purchase and keep aside a few £k for any unforseen problems.

 

Steer clear of autoboxes though. One less thing to go wrong.

 

That statement does not make sense

Buy one Above book and still end up with one that has a fooked engine and your not happy with :x:

 

Its time people realised the Arse has dropped out of the 300zx market and you can wrap it up anyway you like and Pontificate about everything Deemed to cheap being a "SHITTER" But it just is not true

Look at the for sale section 2 or 3 UK Manuals for sale these were considered gold dust not long ago, now they are not shifting at under £3000

I am not having a Pop Si I just think your stock answer to every single person that asks buying advice is Unfounded and unrealistic in the present 300zx Market.

 

By the way I have a 1992 N/a 60,000 mile service had just been done and I have done 1500 miles in it since buying and had no probs at all it had 12 months test and 6 months Tax and I paid £900

SO A REAL SHITTER

:rolleyes:

I agree with Si. His experience aside, I still think its very good advice to spend 4-5k on a zed. There may be many going for 3kish but how many of these have got reconned gearboxes, new turbos, and/or an engine rebuild. This is a very definate risk at the age and milage of most of these cars. People may not like to accept this but take a look on the rx7 forums which have had to deal with this stage a few years back. Its standard advice that you don't buy an rx7 without a rebuild already done, and if it hasn't been done then expect to do one very soon. I think this will be the same with zeds very soon, personally I think we are already there.

My friend bought a stock W reg 2000 Mitsubishi Evo 6 and paid £15000 for it about 18 months ago. It had only done about 30k miles and one lady owner.

 

Its now running 388bhp at the fly and did 12.7 seconds 1/4 mile on a standard clutch. He's got a MoTeC ECU (£2.5k), Blitz boost controller, Kakimoto Exhaust and Magnex decat and is running 1.6 bar boost and anti-lag by a flick of a button.

 

Pretty much everything that is likely to wrong on his car has gone wrong i.e. slipping clutch so he fitted an Exedy twin plate racing clutch, Turbo actuator went so he fitted a new one, warped discs and so he fitted new AP brakes and the list goes on.

 

I think it all depends on how you treat the car and how it has been treated previously. All performance cars need a lot of TLC and is likely to cost you £££

I agree with Si. His experience aside, I still think its very good advice to spend 4-5k on a zed. There may be many going for 3kish but how many of these have got reconned gearboxes, new turbos, and/or an engine rebuild. This is a very definate risk at the age and milage of most of these cars. People may not like to accept this but take a look on the rx7 forums which have had to deal with this stage a few years back. Its standard advice that you don't buy an rx7 without a rebuild already done, and if it hasn't been done then expect to do one very soon. I think this will be the same with zeds very soon, personally I think we are already there.

 

 

Now that argument I agree with :duffer:

But that is different to saying everything under £3000 is a shitter

you need to Know your stuff of what needs replacing and what that is likely to cost like in the RX7 case

But

http://www.300zx.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=74825

 

And what I am saying Is There are some Incredible Bargains out there at the moment in this depressed 300zx market

as well as some real CRAP

BUT NOT ALL CRAP

:)

There has to be something wrong with that UK TT. No one in their right mind sells a 78k UK TT Manual for that price.

That statement does not make sense

Buy one Above book and still end up with one that has a fooked engine and your not happy with :x:

 

No, that was in my case if you re-read...I stated, still look at spending good money for a nice one. No need to scrimp on the outlay, as I have stated, the percentage of crap ones, goes down the less you pay hence my comments.

*percentage of crap ones goes up, the less you pay*

By the way I have a 1992 N/a 60,000 mile service had just been done and I have done 1500 miles in it since buying and had no probs at all it had 12 months test and 6 months Tax and I paid £900

SO A REAL SHITTER

:rolleyes:

 

We're also talking about TT manual's here where their price is usually double, sometimes treble to that of NAs.

*percentage of crap ones goes up, the less you pay*

 

Well thats a kind of obvious statement is it not

I agree with 90% of your advice

BUT I still maintain that there are some incredible bargains out there and more and more are coming because no matter how you wrap it up the Arse has dropped out of the 300zx market at the moment and some allowance for this is needed in the advice given to potential new owners

Rather than your stock and sweeping out of date answer

Well thats a kind of obvious statement is it not

I agree with 90% of your advice

BUT I still maintain that there are some incredible bargains out there and more and more are coming because no matter how you wrap it up the Arse has dropped out of the 300zx market at the moment and some allowance for this is needed in the advice given to potential new owners

Rather than your stock and sweeping out of date answer

 

Of course there, are, hence my original statement 'Some members though have bought cheaper examples and have had trouble free motoring'.

 

Good ones are still worth paying the premium for and always will be. If I was looking at buying another, I'd be looking at spending the same again and finding the best one I possibly could. :)

Bargains can be a gamble...and therefore, my 'stock and out of date' answer, is very much still a relevant one.

Well ok mate we will have to agree to disagree or we will go round in circles because it seems that all of them are a gamble now, as you stated

you paid over the odds for yours and THAT gamble went sour

 

Like I said I did not want to cause upset so I will leave it at that

 

:duffer: :duffer:

Should have said bargains are 'more of a gamble'. ;)

I think the important thing about buying a zed is to qualify what you are buying. get someone with knowledge to inspect and if necessary test various components. It may take a couple of hours but it will save a thousand tears. They are very over engineered and thus subject to a variety of different faults, which actually will not be picked up during any inspection, but at least you will know the basics are sound. Price may not be an indicator of condition as Si found out, and there are some bargains to be had. Just be aware of the dogs.

It's pick of the draw at this age with them. I bought a seemingly faultless one, payed above book price and I still had to rebuild the engine. I now have a very very good example as it was an almost imaculate car to begin with. Still not happy about it though.

 

Some members though have bought cheaper examples and have had trouble free motoring. But don't go for cheap examples. The likelyhood is they'll be shitters.

 

I'd still look for the best one you can find. Budget for about £4k - £5k for purchase and keep aside a few £k for any unforseen problems.

 

Steer clear of autoboxes though. One less thing to go wrong.

 

Could not agree more !

Mine has been hastle free for just over a year until my Autobox blew on sunday ! :cry:

At this age you take a chance whatever you buy !!

Good luck

At the end of the day, the car is only as realiable as the service history and the way the owner treats it. Personally I paid more for my first Z and that just died on me a year later. So I got myself another one and that one is running fine with no problems at all.

 

Price on the other hand doesnt always dictate the quality of the car. And there's nothing wrong with autoboxes, as long as it's got the extra cooling if your going for a Jap import.

If you buy one that has been owned buy the same owner for several years, got full history, had oil changed every 3000 to 4000 miles with good grade oil, is well kept up to even if its been modified or not. Then you'll expect to pay up to £10k even now. I know of three that have sold in the last 4 months for between £9K and £10K, but you'll have something that you know is sorted and you'll get plenty of enjoyment out of it.

 

However it is a car and things can go that were unforseen, but the right car and you've should be confident that the usualy major problems have been ironed out or delt with.

 

The real problem with these cars is not the car. Its the people that buy them and think they are a bugget super car. There's no such thing and to keep and maintain it will cost as much as a Porsche, Ferrari or Lambo. If corners have been cut it will come back to haunt you.