Hi there, i have just signed up to the forum. I have had a Subaru Impretza fro the last year and a half. Within the next month or so i am looking at selling it because its costing me too much money with reliabillity issues. I love Jap performance cars and so am looking at buying a 300ZX.

 

I would like to know an honest view on the reliabillity of the cars and what to look for when buying. I apreciate these cars are not like your average Ford Mondeo so are never going to be cheap to run but just some general info would be good.

 

Also performance wise compared to my Subaru which is running at about 280bhp- i'm guessing that the 300 is a bit quicker looking at some of the figures on this site.

 

Thanks very much

Scott

heres my bit... i have a 99 subaru impreza turbo as a daily drive, it is far more reliable than my 300zx! but then when you start to modify cars to that extent you will always lose some reliability. i would also say that a 280hp impreza would probably be faster than most of the standard zeds on the road today :)

 

Joel

Yeah I agree with Joel :(

Don't know how old your Impreza is but most of these Z's are heading for 17 years old and need a fair bit of work.

I've replaced almost every part of the car over the 7 years I've had it, although it is heavily modified and will have caused a lot more strain on things.

You can fairly easily and cheaply get 350 to 400bhp out of one but your Impreza is probably lighter and giving similar performance anyway.

with that being said there are people on here who have bought one and had absolutely no realiability issues, though unfortunately, with the junk that is being imported for a recently booming business, this is a rare occurance amongst us zed owners!

 

italso depends on how much u want to spend, you can indeed pick up unmolested minters for a low price but be careful there are plenty of money pits out there. so choose carefully and remember 'buy cheap, pay twice' (or in some cases 'pay twice, then pay 4 times again' lol)

 

Joel

I am one of the luckier one's. I have an imported TT with only 56.000 KHM's on the clock. I have had no serious problems....YET! and I also have no trouble beating a STi impreza's. I would say though. If you are going to get a 300 then make sure you drive one first? They (as you will imagine) are nothing in this world like the Subaru. Even the best 300ZX could leave you skint mate. BUT! they are a great car to own. But by the way people come onto this site and within a few weeks/months sell up. I think you can safelty say that the stayers are the enthusiasts.

 

Vini

I've had mine for two months now, not been any trouble for me. Other than the issue that were with it when i bought it (clock, cruise ariel etc) but mechanically mine is spot on.

But looking back through her history details that alot has been changed (PTU, full replumb of the cooling system, new gear box etc etc)

Mine is an import , came into the country in 1997 and has to date covered about 59,300 miles.

 

I think you've gotta be lucky, but also really try and find out why the vehicle is for sale, and also why its at a certain price. I paid £4500 for mine, heading towards top book for what it is, but i go out to it at 5 in the morning when its covered in ice and not been started for a week. Pop the key in and hey presto, she starts quicker than my van when its been running all day and its nice and warm!

Oh ok, thanks very much, some honest answers there. As many opinions as poss would help. My Subaru is a 1999 classic shape. Bought it for 6k, spent 6k keeping it on the road and will probs sell it for 6k! Its been a big loss and i cant afford to be doing it again so i need to make sure this is the right choice. I will also add that this is not my everyday car! Its a weekend toy and i have a pickup for during the week. I will not be doing loads of miles in it. By peoples posts i'm not sure that this could end up just like the Subaru so maybe not the right choice?

i can only repeat whats been said really. there are some knackered Zs out there, and there are some sweet ones. ones that havent been looked after will be a let-down in performance, while ones that have been looked after and modified will be a joy to drive and will give a lot of Scoobys a run for their money. the thing about Scoobys for me is that they are so damn common, while the Z will never fail to turn heads. nobody's trying to put you off mate, but we're being honest in that if you love your Z and are prepared to pay into it to keep it running smooth, it'll become a big part of your life (a bit like your wife :p )

i owned a vectra b 2.2 sri, which i paid 5 grand for, and swaped for the z which my mother has owned for 4 years which she paid 7 grand for, its an import and its just about to hit the 60k miles mark. the mechanics are in great shape but the cosmetic side was a bit scruffy.

Ive cleaned it so much it now looks brand new but still has minor problems like the engine undertray has hit that many speed bumps its all bent out of shape and only this morning dropped onto the road whilst i was driving. not a big issue but an annoyance all the same, eigher way you look at it, its nothing for the sort of problems you would expect from a car hitting 17 years old now.

But like people said if you buy one which has been well looked after you wont run into any problems.