Hi all

I have been browsing the forum on and off for a long while now and checking out info on the 300zx tt and there are some very nice 300's on here ;)

 

I have been wanting a 300zxtt for many years now as its the 1st car i really fell in love with when they came out and i have bought and read many many buyers guide's on them, the Evo mag with Gio's now gone silver 300 from 2002 and the latest one with Funkysi's very lovely 300 in this momths Jap mag, and although i find these very very informative .... the end result is i get scared witless at the things that go wrong with them, the way the mags go on i always end up getting the impression that the car is always giving trouble, i know they are getting on abit and therefor allowance's should be made so my question is .... are they really that bad for things going wrong or are the mags just warning us of the things that "might" go wrong ?

 

I would love to own one of these cars, and now that the prices of them are criminal its a good time but i would hate for it to be constantly needing fixing.

 

 

Thanks guys

;)

Depends on the car you buy some are a bit unreliable, and others are just bloody awful. End of the day, they require money spending on them. When released they were considered a bit of a supercar, whoever heard of a supercar thats cheap to run

 

Most are getting very old now and its common for UK ones and even japs that have been here a few years to get a bit of the old tin worm. Obviously one thats been neglected, thrashed from cold, stopped too quickly when hot and never serviced is just asking for trouble... On the other hand you can find them that have been cossetted, kept in a heated garage and serviced ever 1500 miles, obviously these are in better condition and are more reliable. Turbos are said to last 60k, there are plenty of cars about with 100k plus that are on original turbos, and they are fine... So to sum up, the mags list what can go wrong (but in this day and age with old cars, it all fairly often does!)

 

Golden rule, have at least £1500 cash available at anytime for the Z, and it wont give you trouble... These things can auto-sense your bank balance. If your cash reserve drops it will go bang!

Thanks Quavey ;)

 

Golden rule, have at least £1500 cash available at anytime for the Z, and it wont give you trouble... These things can auto-sense your bank balance. If your cash reserve drops it will go bang!

 

 

Very good point.

 

 

;)

Welcome to the nut house buddy.

 

In my opinion these cars are not as bad as they may seem. Obviously you only hear about the bad things on here generally. I have had mine around 18 months and thus far it has been fairly reliable. (touch wood). In my ophion they are as reliable as any 17/18 year old car.

 

Most of the problems I have had with mine have been caused by me trying to upgrade stuff like the brakes and the speedo. In fact the only thing that has really gone wrong is the heater matrix failing.

 

The best advice with buying one of these great cars is to take your time and find a good one.

 

Good luck with the hunt.

 

Darrell

Thanks for taking the time to reply ..... much appriciated.

 

;)

Never had a problem with mine :duffer:

Mind you it was and NA ;)

welcome buddy

The Nissan 300ZX is only trouble when it breaks. All the other time its fantastic. :D

 

Years ago (70's) my old man told me "Never get an automatic car, they are nothing but trouble".

 

I was told by a senior work mate (80's) "these cars with computers will never work properly".

 

I was told (90's) that Japanese cars were made from shite components.

 

In 2005 When I got my 300ZX I was told that it would be broken down more than it would not. [it still hasn't let me down]. :D

 

Just goes to prove you cant always believe what you hear? :hyper:

I have been checking out zedworlds site to get an idea of service and repairs costs and everything seems not too bad tbh considering the type of car we're talking about and it would not be my everyday car anyway so running costs would be kept managable.

 

I really do hope one finds its way onto my driveway, but as i have never drivin one of these beasts i'll be taking the buyers guide's advice and getting somebody who knows these cars to come with me so may be back asking if somebody would do the honours when the time come's .... :bow:

 

 

;)

I have been checking out zedworlds site to get an idea of service and repairs costs and everything seems not too bad tbh considering the type of car we're talking about and it would not be my everyday car anyway so running costs would be kept managable.

 

I really do hope one finds its way onto my driveway, but as i have never drivin one of these beasts i'll be taking the buyers guide's advice and getting somebody who knows these cars to come with me so may be back asking if somebody would do the honours when the time come's .... :bow:

 

 

;)

 

I have a good friend in Glasgow. He has a Skyline now but used to have a 300ZX and he knows them quite well. If you need any help I'll ask if he can go with you.

I have a good friend in Glasgow. He has a Skyline now but used to have a 300ZX and he knows them quite well. If you need any help I'll ask if he can go with you.

 

Cheers Viniboy, i'll be keeping that in mind mate ;)

Cheers Viniboy, i'll be keeping that in mind mate ;)

 

NP. You wont be able to PM me as you are not subscribed but if you need just post up I check in most days mate.

Buy a 300zx with the view that it WILL be going wrong and it WILL cost loads of moneyt to fix. If it doesn't go wrong then happy days, if it does then at lest your prepaird for it.

Roddy - better to die broke and 'pumped up' then rich and bored to death................

 

Don't take that literally - but sort of sums up adrenaline junkies.

peranaman and takemetothepub ...... thats 2 ways to definetly look at it i supouse ... :rofl:

Buy a 300zx with the view that it WILL be going wrong and it WILL cost loads of moneyt to fix. If it doesn't go wrong then happy days, if it does then at lest your prepaird for it.

 

I must be off ma head maybe buying a car that i know is most likely gonna cost me lots of my hard earned ..... :confused: :)

try and buy a well known one of this site, it will be easier to trace its history and use, someone's like mine (£4850 OVNO)

Welcome to the forum Roddy, and good luck finding a Z. I'm in Falkirk and there's a few others north of the border if your looking for some local advice.

 

When your looking for a car bare in mind that they are relatively rare so be prepared to travel to find the right one, and decide what your after first ie UK or Jap, auto or manal, lwb-swb, TT -NA, leather or poxy tweed :D

 

Me I wanted a UK manual and easily travelled over 3000mls in a 6 month period looking for one. I ended up buying one that needed work doing, but which was far cheaper than any of the others that i'd looked at, from a member in Ediburgh (most of the other cars i looked at needed quite a bit of work as well, some were in even worse nick).

 

If insurance is a concern then more than likely a UK will usually be far cheaper on the wallet. But make sure you check the body work out because as already said rust may well be a serious problem unless the car has been cosseted.

 

An import car should have less rust provided its not been over here too long (some of the earlier imports must be every bit as bad as UK models by now).

 

As for mechanical problems, yes there can be some, I've had to change the brake master cylinder, clutch master and slave cylinders, free of the front brake calipers and replace the brake pipes. when you think of it though the car is 16 years old and has done 150000mls so isnt it isnt surprising that some work has to be carried out, most other cars of this age and milage need much the same sort of work doing.

 

I'm also in the middle of some major body repairs, but I new when I bought the car that this was likely, but luckily for me I can do a lot of the work myself which keeps the cost down.

 

What I would avoid are heavily modified cars unless you can be sure everything has been done correctly.

 

Do your homework, decide what your after, have a good look and dont just jump at the first car you see.

 

Happy hunting

should also have said do a forum search, there are a couple of good threads on what to look out for when buying a Z.

Thanks Ossian,

Good advice there and thanks for the offer of assistance ;)

 

I would like a good UK model but after reading the write up recently i might have a tough time in finding one, so i may go for a good J spec. I have been trawling through the sales section's on various place's and i am seeing that there are still a fair few 300's still being imported so that would be handy to get one and get it undersealed before our weather has a chance to get at it.

I would like a lwb, manual, tt with leather, either white, silver or black and near as standard as possible ... maybe a set of bigger alloys as the 300 really suits them i think.

 

Im also gathering unless i really lucky that i will have to maybe get one and tidy it up abit, thats not a problem, as long as it pretty mechanically sound and not rusting i dont mind tidying up abit.

 

I see Kiethly motors have just got a white one in, its an auto but im not just ready at this exact moment anyway ... anybody had any dealing with them ?

UK models tend to have higher miles than a Jap import. Mine is an import and it's gorgeous at 55 k miles

 

Here's mine - only washed it once at this point:-

 

http://www.300zx.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=970694&postcount=59

 

 

cheers Chris

Very lovely 300 there mate, its stunning in the silver and the bigger wheels really makes it stand out, im liking that .... :)

Very lovely 300 there mate, its stunning in the silver and the bigger wheels really makes it stand out, im liking that .... :)

 

Roddy see my reply to you on the other thread that I sent you

It is all about buying the right car in the first place.

 

If you were to buy a 1994 MkIV supra you'll be spending between £9K and £12K.

You can buy a 1994 Z for between £3.5K and £6K and proberbly need to do nothing but maintain it. Well sorted ones will cost more.

 

For £5K you can have new turbos and engine rebuild and still be cheeper than a Supra with the same power, handling etc and better looks. Brakes Wheels Clutches etc need changing on all cars as they are consumables.

 

Too many people think it a dirt cheep super car. Well the reason so many are dirt cheep is because loads are neglected and need serious wonga spending on them, but it doesn't have to be the case. I recently bought a SWB NA manual for £1500. thinking it would be good for spares. It turned out to be a real cracking little moter and better than the SWB I was going to use it for as spares for..