shall I buy a 300zxTT ?

in total ive got £6000 maybe 7 to spend.

im looking for a car around £4500, is buying one 1 this cheap! ok ?

Im 21 and have 2NCB and can only afford 3rdpFTheft insurance i guess its around £1500, thats all my savings gone.

seriously shall I get 1, am I taking a risk that the Z I buy will need repairs ??

 

plz help i think im in coockoo land so my dad says? he says I keep drivin his 92 BMW320iSE for free like I have been for the past year but im getting bored of it now.

SHOVE IT UP YER ARSE TIMMY!

 

In the immortal words of Derek and Clive:

 

'He was a prevocative fucker!'

 

Tim

 

[This message has been edited by TT Tim (edited 28-06-2002).]

Originally posted by TT Tim:

SHOVE IT UP YER ARSE TIMMY!

 

In the immortal words of Derek and Cliver:

 

'He was a prevocative fucker!'

 

Tim

 

Hit a nerve then? Now I know why you had it in for K4$H...never anything to do with his car, you couldn't understand the lingo! LMFAO

 

Growup Grandad FFS!!!

 

 

 

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I paid £4,500 for mine. It had 139,000 miles on it and now it has 151,000 miles on it.

I did need body work when I saw it. Both rear sills where rusty and so was a small part of the subframe near the sills. The rear bumper was missing about 1/4 of the paint. But becuase of the stippled effect of bumper I quickly went over it was a brush at a temp solution untill I could get time to spray it, but you cant tell any different so I left it.

 

Stuart.

No nerve m8, you're just a PITA!

Can someone translate the nonsensical jibberish that is 'm8' and PITA for me??? ROFLMFAO

 

I thought a PITA was a type of bread?

 

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[This message has been edited by Timmy_Turbo (edited 28-06-2002).]

My 300ZX TT is a second car. My 200SX is cheaper to run and it keeps the insurance down on the 300 - ~£440 for 5k miles a year[Norton - Heritage Policy]. Insurance for the 200 is about £300something with Protected No Claims [More Than] ! I have 5+ yrs of no claims, no endorsements(lucky after doing 130 on the A50 and 125 on the A55 - it doesn't FEEL fast in a 300 !!), and I'm 32.

 

A 200SX is much cheaper to buy and run and not that much slower. Looks OK as well. Feels looser and more by racerish. you could get a 200SX (older 1.8 turbo version) for less than 2 grand (170bhp, 30mpg).

 

I prefer Automatics but they have the advantage that they probably have suffered less stress than a manual (most speed merchants prefer manuals?) and the manual gearboxes can suffer from the high engine power of a 300. My feeling is that unless you are very unlucky, the more you look after your car the more it will reward you. But a 300ZX will cost you lots more than an ordinary car. You may be OK with reliability if you get a good one, look after it and don't tune it higher than exhaust, air filter and ECU.

Hi, yeah I have already have been saving for 2 years for a nice car, in that time I was driving a 91 Citroen AX10E 1.0, any other student wud of changed it after the 1st year but I really wanted to save for a nice car. I can relate to SRRAE bcuz I also dont go out clubbing i dont drink or smoke n also go and play pool once a week. Finally I have a chance to get a Z after persuading my parents to let me have 1 as my dad at first said no bloody chance cause its a 3.0 and he said i cud get 200sx but i dont like the shape of em and my mum said she needed my alive!, Suppose wat i really want to know is wat is the general condition of these £4500 Z cars that are up for sale? and if summat goes wrong where wud i get the parts from and the work done ??

i dont plan on upgrading it at all but u never know!

Depends what goes wrong fella, there are always guys breaking Z's in the "For Sale & Wanted" section of the forum so you can save money big time with them.

 

Also there are quite a few Jap Spares scrappies dotted around the country so again you can get certain parts cheaply.

 

However, you have a Turbo seize or the engine blow up then you will be talking thousands to repair.

 

I would say go and have a look...JUST A LOOK...at some Z's in your price range. Take a few out for a drive then come back here and ask more questions. Why did it do this? What's that noise? Is this supposed to be like this? etc. etc.

 

When you know more and have more research under yer belt then try and track a car down that looks good and get someone on here to go with you if possible!

 

You have to be careful, I paid good money for my car a few years ago. On the outside(at the time) it was a minter and had an ever so slightly rough tickover. Because the garage I bought it off had upped the tickover to hide the stalling problem when you engaged the Auto.

 

So Engine rebuild, new wiring loom, gearbox rebuilt and bodywork done it owes me thousands.

 

Not uncommon on these cars I have to say.

 

Some of the guys have had their cars for years and never had too much go wrong. Others like myself have had more time off the road than the car has been driveable!!! Scarey, frustrating and a pain if you rely on it as your daily driver.

 

IMHO

 

 

 

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is just me or does it seem that the Z cars are highly unreliable? is that y nissan stopped makin em?? cuz readin these forums every next man is doing an engine rebuild and needing some sort of sensor(s).

 

so when idling cold wat should it rev at ??

and when warmed up what shud it rev at??

i suppose this appiles to manual and auto.

(just so i know wen i look at some within a couple of weeks), also how long do they generally stay on sale for as I wud probably wud need to take an expert with me the 2nd time around if i liked it (which shouldnt be 2 hard!) and wudnt want it to be snapped up straight away?, ie. is there a high demand for em?

 

thanks again.

Same old story though bud, folks dont come on here and say 'my car is running great and I have no problems'

 

You only hear the bad things because if everyone mentioned all day long that their cars are running lovely this place would start to resemble an episode of the tellytubbies.

 

Which it does sometimes.

 

 

Glen

 

 

Every new owner of a Z MUST plant a tree in the boot of their car.

 

This piece of timber keeps all bad luck away.

 

I have an 80yr old Oak tree in the back of mine

 

 

Robert. (Mine's running great also )

 

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I only use the brakes so I can accelerate all over again.

wat u have got to think about m8,is these cars are ten years old and are gonna need repairs,its easy to buy one but lookin after it is another matter!

as you have found this place youve just made lookin after a zed half the cost at least.

if ya dont mind working on ur car then it will save you a load again,

this place has saved me thousands and ive only been on here a couple of months.

good luck with ya zed hunting and i hope ya find a good one.

best advice anyone on here can give is take someone from on here to view the car.they really do no there shit.

good luck ..jay

My S13 200SX cost me £3,000 and a Polo worth about £1,500 [it had an intermittent electrical problem so I did a good deal by selling it - to a dealer!]. That was a little over 2 years ago. I have had to spend about £2,000 on it in that time [done 30,000 mile in it tho']. It is only worth ~£2,000 now but the engine has been virtually rebuilt (the engine's been out of the car about 3 times) - hence I don't want to sell it.

 

Some of it was my fault as I didn't realise how frequently oil needs changing when you have a Turbo, but I should have got it inspected. Parts can often be bought cheaper from specialist breakers, so the major cost is labour; £30 per hour at my garage, because these cars are not easy to work on and often require a lot of engine dismantling or engine removal just to obtain access to what you need to work on! This takes time and expertise and cost MONEY.

 

As a supercar a 300ZX requires a lot of TLC to keep it from developing avoidable problems. Many buy one becasue they are relatively cheap, but cannot afford/choose not to spend enough on servicing/maintenance, so the car becomes unreliable and gets an undeserved bad reputation. Also many tune the cars to get even more power from an already powerful engine. This inevitably reduces reliability. Remember this is a very complicated engine - 24V V6 DOHC VVT Twin Turbo with HiCAS ABS Cruise Control and numerous elecrical gadgets. It's like a fucking spaceship for God's sake. I have also been told that the electrics are not brilliant in them, so I pray I never develop a problem with it as the wiring loom is probably several miles long !A 'simple' job like changing spark plugs can take over an hour !!

 

Nissan cars have a reputation for being well built and reliable but you have to remember a 300ZX is very complicated and powerful, so inherently less reliable than a Nissan Sunny.

 

My 300ZX has been OK so far (I GOT IT INSPECTED BY THE AA), touch wood - I am not rich but can afford to run these cars because I, like others here, am a bit sad and love the car so much I accept the costs - BUT both these cars cost me less than £9,000 to buy - less than a new Astra, so I save money there . With an old car, there is little depreciation - so what I save by not driving a new car I put into maintaining my old cars. You have to enjoy it a little though as a challenge or it would be a pain.

what is TLC ??

Timely Lubricant Changes !!

 

OR

 

Tender Loving Care ? (300ZX's have feeling too !)

to be fair pallys, most of the ones that have had engine rebuilds seem to be the ones that have been tuned to f**K!! push an engine too far & it will break

 

but, yes ur gonna need some spare cash to look after one of these babies! they are not cheap to keep but are worth it (imo).

 

if buying one is gonna break the bank, then id think twice. if your prepared to spend some money then you will have some fun

 

on the whole, in standard trim, they are not that unreliable. no more than any car - I work for Mercs, the amount of owners that tell me they wish they bought a bimmer cos their car has broken down x amount of times!! guess what - Bee em owners say the same & wish they bought a merc!!!

 

anything mechanical can & will break, how much & how often depends on many things, regular maintainance helps but a lot is down to bad luck!! my PTU gave up the other day & left me at the side of the road - nothing i could have done to prevent it (other than periodically replacing everything on the car!!) but i repaired it & have just got a new one from the states at less than half the cost of one over here. so parts dont have to be that expensive.

 

if you get one, you'll have fun - if you dont, you'll have money!!

The choice is yours!

 

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I feel the need, the need for speed!

 

 

[This message has been edited by Paul C (edited 29-06-2002).]

I agree. If you think you can afford it, and by afford I mean keep up with the costs of the car and then have very little money left after, , go for it.

I was like you. I had a 1.3 G reg Astra Merit as my first car, and when my friends where buying younger, better and faster cars, I stuck with my Astra because I didnt want to waste money on an "inbetween" car. A car inbetween the one I wanted. I stuck with my Astra for 4 years and now I own a Z.

 

Stuart

Hello Mate,

 

Why don't you go for an NA Z, they are cheaper, same look but more reliable.

 

Or a 200SX S13, cheap on parts, very fast for the money.

 

If I was in your shoes again, I would wait until I had got my degree, before I spend money and time on me motor.

 

Best route to pulling birds at college!

Don't get a decent motor, get a job behind the college bar, and get a VW camper so you've got somewhere discreet to give 'em a right good seeing to?

 

Not that I have ever thought about these things!!!!

 

Mark

I say buy yourself a Z. You will be skint, but in a happy kind of way safe in the knowledge that you have a car faster than most of the people around you. They are expensive to run and maintain, but when you're behind the wheel by fuck they're worth it.

REALITY CHECK TIME:

I bought a 300TT 92 UK. had it two weeks, took it to nissan for the cambelt to be changed.. then blew both head gaskets...6K pounds had to be spent on labour and several new parts, lifters, water pump, 2 turbos, god knows what else. Be warned man.

 

Ok got that off my chest...apart from that they are a barrel of fun, everyone looks at it (as someone said on this stie "its like being a film star" ), they are quick as fuk, and there are few cars that give it a spanking (ooeerr), and the feeling when those twin turbos kick in is just the best.

 

Do not be under any illusions pally, theses are very expensive to run, but an ablsolute pleaure to own. my 2p worth.

 

steve

does any1 know how reliable the HICAS is on these cars, has ne1 had to get theirs done and if so how much did it cost?

or if it gets knackered can u just dissconnect it and carry on ??

 

many thanks again for advice.

Budget about 9 grand for a really pukka Zed.

 

Then another 4 grand for mods.

 

And a further 4 grand for repairs.

 

Total 17k.

 

You got 17k to spend FFS!??? get a Skyline.

 

The Hicas system itself is quite reliable but the inner joints on the arms are prone to wear. they cost around £50 a side and are easy to replace.

 

you can remove the hicas & fit a fixed link arm system instead if you really want.

 

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I feel the need, the need for speed!

 

also does ne1 know how much it costs to get to get the turbos for these (second? new? recond? ie. if a seal has gone ect) and then labour cost estimates ?