Just stacked my car against a kerb. wasnt going that fast but new to the car and it spun on me. the rear offside wheel hit a kerb with some force and now it doesnt feel right at all. feels like driving on ice and lots of funny scrapping noises at low speeds and when turning right. The steering wheel is now pointing at 1 'o' clock when going straight and looking from the outside the alloy looks out of shape.

Diagonsis?

Just a bent alloy or have I bent the suspension out of place. i am obviously going to take it to the garage tomorrow but any ideas now so i dont get ripped off. Can anyone recomend any garges in the NW london area? I have heard of the Zen garage in Putney but it seems like they are too busy at the moment.......

its quite leikely you have bent the wishbone and possibly more mate.

johnboy did the same thing a few weeks ago, and he had a lot of damage, get it to a specialist as quick as you can for a check up mate

Zen Garage is still worth trying, they are one of the traders on here.

Yes, I wouldn't drive far like that.

 

Get it to the nearest place with a ramp - a tyre fitting centre or somewhere you can have a look at it. Sounds like something's bent.

 

 

If they say it's ok to drive, get it to a specialist.

 

Zen Garage are excellent.

 

f they're too busy, I'd try Whifbitz in Enfield. Not Zed specialists but good with most imports and not too far away.

 

AndyZ (Supercarparts, Thetford) will probably be able to get the parts you need from a car he's breaking. Or someone else on here can possibly do the same.

Sad to see something like this thread, guess we heading in to the time of year where we will see more and more of these! Hope its nothing major

I have just had a call back from the garage who has done the inspection and I have done in the rear suspension.

I need new; top, lower and middle suspension arms and a new alloy wheel and then the tracking will need to be done allround. They are quoting me £667 all in to do it but they cant get hold of the wheel. They say it is not really safe to drive but i am prepared to try and get it to Zen Centre or Ztech if it is better / cheaper, on tow if i have to (and can find someone with a man enough car to tow it, I guess my girlfriends 1.4 Polo wont be able to lug it all the way to Swindon from London!).

Does that sound expensive to anyone?

Zen or Ztech will probably be able to offer you second hand or discounted parts and even if they arent any cheaper they will most likely be better and you have the peace of mind that someone who knows Z's will have dont it. got any pics of the wheel? and do yourself a favour, dont drive it like that cuz if something gives up alltogether you're looking at the car going down the road on its backside at best and into another car/ lorry/wall/ person/etc.

get it on a good trailer and try to get a transit/4x4, etc to pull it with.

it would actually be illegal for you to tow it with the polo as the Z's too heavy.

if you can wait till next week i'll be breaking my red one so all the parts are there (and they'll be cheap). i have to pick the other Z up from southampton anyway so we could meet up to sort them out if you like?

si.

I have just had a call back from the garage who has done the inspection and I have done in the rear suspension.

I need new; top, lower and middle suspension arms and a new alloy wheel and then the tracking will need to be done allround. They are quoting me £667 all in to do it but they cant get hold of the wheel. They say it is not really safe to drive but i am prepared to try and get it to Zen Centre or Ztech if it is better / cheaper, on tow if i have to (and can find someone with a man enough car to tow it, I guess my girlfriends 1.4 Polo wont be able to lug it all the way to Swindon from London!).

Does that sound expensive to anyone?

 

The reason Zen Garage is busy is because they're one of the most trusted zed specialists in the UK so if you don't feel like waiting then get it fixed at your local garage and most probably part with that extra £400-500.

Give them a ring, their numbers are listed in our traders section. At least you know your car would be in safe hands. HTH

Thanks for the advice guys. I have rung both Zen and Ztech and they cant fit me in until the end of the month. Will it really be £400-£500 cheaper?! Is that not including parts? If I can get a better breakdown of exactly what needs replacing from the garage it would be great if i can get the parts from you Si and could easily meet you in southampton. Could you give me a ring this evenning if possible 07786010689. I might well be prepared to wait until the end of the month if is will be cheaper but it will mean getting tubes to work or driving an old escort around!!

It's hard to say how much cheaper they will be. You'd have to ask them and it's hard for them to say until they see the car.

 

They probably have access to 'broken' Zeds so can sell you the parts for less.

Doesn't mean it will be cheaper, my point was some garages you just can't trust. You describe the same symptoms my car had when the wishbone was broken and that's all it was, a £60 wishbone. The garage could be using the suspension story just to get more money out of you. Maybe this garage you took your car to is honest but all I'm saying is get a second opinion from a specialist when a huge amount of money is concerned.

no problem clive. im waiting to hear from the guy im buying the other Z from so we can arrange a date/time to pick it up then i'll know when im going to be around that way.

parts costs aside, i'd always rather trust one of the Z specialists on here than a local garage.

there's just too many horror storys on here from people who thought the local garage were going to be ok then ended up spending a lot more time/money/effort to rectify problems that were either missed in the first place or created by the local garage.

any of the good Z places on here (Zen, Ztech, Zcentre, etc etc) will know the cars inside out and have all the hard to get tech info at hand so they'll know whats supposed to be where and what the EXACT measurements for geometry, etc will be.

these cars need to be exact in my opinion as a half ar5ed mechanic or someone not skilled enough to do the job properly will more likely do you more harm than good.

TBH after a bump, even if i had to wait till the end of the month and pay double, i'd still want one of the guys off here to do it so i know im not going to have a dodgy Z.

have a look at my post in general discussion about having to break the red one. if it was suspension like yours it'd be booked in at jeffs in tamworth asap.

si.

http://www.whifbitz.co.uk

 

Not a 300ZX expert or one of our traders but I'd trust them over a regular garage. And near you?

are Whifbitz a garage or do they just do parts? I just phoned the garage that my car is in and asked for a braekdown of the quote;

labour 2 hours = £90

4 wheel Tracking = £49

top suspension arm = £126

lower suspension arm = £227.21

bottom suspension arm = £61.20

bolts and bits = £15

+ VAT

TOTAL = £667

 

So the cost is all parts that are from Nissan only so if i can get the parts cheaper from someone who is breaking a zed (hoping you can come through for me on that one siraff - give me a call). finding a good garage like whifbitz or Zen or Ztech to spend a couple of hours labour will be great. The garage it is in at the moment want me to ring them back in 45mins so they know to order the parts, i think i am just going to tell them to leave it and pick the car up but any advice from you guys to reassure me would be great.

Ta

Clive

Whifbitz do everything: importing cars, supplying parts, servicing, tuning, repairs. They would probably know specialist breakers who could supply the parts - I don't know them well, you'd have to ask them though.

 

They're more famous for Mk IV Supras and to a lesser extent RX7s and Skylines.

 

If a 300ZX specialist (like Zen or Z-Tech or Zed World) isn't feasible for whatever reason, I'd say they're much much better than a random garage who don't know much about 300ZXs / imports.

 

AndyZ - an official trader on here - has a business called Super Car Parts (http://www.supercarparts.co.uk) . I think he breaks quite a few 300ZXs and could probably supply the parts for a good price.

 

Several other people on here have broken cars in the past - if you search around you might find them.

Clive, your 45mins is up but........breakdown doesn't look too bad...can you supply second hand parts and leave it with them till you supply them?? Most big garages will be unable to to warranty the work replacing s/h parts, which is why they're probably quoting for replacement of all the parts?.....only one might be knackered?.....worth a shot asking them?

you're right my time was up and i ended up getting it back from the garage. The deal breaker was AndyZ offering me the parts for £60 + £11p&p and Siraff offering me the same so they can stick their nissan parts which cost the best part of £500!

I didnt ask whether they would use s/h parts as they seemed quite cheesed off with me for not getting the work done so i left it. I will ring whifbitz and the other zed garages and see if they can fit me in when i can get the parts if that is no help i may go back there. I think a specialist garage will be best as normal garage might not understand what to do with the HICAS stuff.

Does anyone know where exactly whifbitz is based i cant find it on their website??

 

Also, i now need to source an alloy to replace my buckled one and not having much luck. They are 18" Mille Miliga Action's. Any idea who stocks Mille Miliga because the usual suspects dont seem to????

Good old Andy - £60 sounds much better that £500!

 

 

Whifbitz are in Enfield - EN2 9DS.

 

I'd go to a Zed specilaist over them but if they can't fit you in soon or they're too far, Whifbitz should see you right.

 

 

No idea about the wheels I'm afraid. Standard 300ZX wheels are two a penny (well £100-£150 for a good set with good tyres) so if you're stuck they might be a temporary fix - and you can always sell them on when you don't need them any more. Again I bet Andy could help with these or even another set of 18" wheels you could stick your existing tyres on as a last resort.

 

Edit - some wheel specialists can straighten a buckled alloy - it depends how bad the damage is.

Whifbitz wont use second hand parts which is a bit of a blow. i think the ztech boys have gone home now so will try them in the morning. Hopefully, they will be happy to use second hand parts so will just have to swallow how long it will take to do.

I may try AndyZ for standard wheels too if im getting the suspension parts from him but it needs to be local to me so i can pick them up. I am going to start a seperate thread RE: the mille miliga wheels and hopefully I can get a replacment in time for my car being back on the road.

Is it going to be safer to put on the spacesaver wheel rather than use the buckled wheel to get me the 6 miles home from work today bearing in mind that the other 3 wheels will be 18" + tyre width of 225??