Just scouting about for another car and was wondering whats the best model to look out (not neccesarly for speed, but also reliability)

 

Normal aspirated, twin turbo, auto, manual, targa tops, (not intersted in a short wheel base model) and finally UK or Import?

 

Any advice glady appreciated...

 

Nath

Firstly all UK are 2+2 Twinturbo with Targas. Infact there are very few without Targas.

Insurance generally is cheaper on a UK Twin Turbo than a Jap Import NA. When I started looking for a ZX I was quoted £1,100 for a UK TT, £1,250 for a Jap NA and £1,900 for a Jap TT. :S

 

Secondly, dont mention Auto/Manual

It starts off huge fights. That is 100% your choice. If you want an Auto you get an Auto you want Manual you get Manual. There are more Autos than Manuals though, and its harder to find a Manual in good condition than an Auto in good condition.

 

The general rule is stay away from the first model of any car. So stay away from 89 and 90 regs. Some even say stay away from 91, which I have and have had no problems with. 91 however was said to be the fastest of all the years.

So generally go for a Series II which is 92 J/K Reg or onwards. There are a few suttle differences but nothing too major untill 1994 when the 4 Wheel Steering went to Electrical instead of Mechanical.

 

You will get more advice soon. Most people are at JAE, a huge Jap car expidition at Billing.

 

Stuart

Everyone will disagree with me, but I vote for non turbo's for lower maintenance costs and greater reliability. The NA has less parts to break and is less likely to have been pushed to the limits.

 

Insurance can be higher, but if your over 30 with another car you should be able to get classic car insurance.

 

I have had a 91 2+2 NA as my only car for the last three years. I walk to work so I mainly drive for long trips and grocery shopping. Most of those trips have been in the range of three to four hours round trip, but a few have been longer. For example we took a trip with three people in the car from London to Lands End and back in a day, the whole trip was 23 hours, and another with 4 people in the car through Belguim and France for a four day weekend.

 

There are three options as far as choice of top goes Targa, convertible and slick top. The Targa is by far the most common, I have only ever seen two convertibles and have never seen a slick top in person. The slicktop was a special non turbo version made for racing.

If you are buying the 300ZX for its speed then you have to go for the Turbo. The NA is quick but is really nothing special.

Its true about the maintance. But the MPG is only a little higher in a NA over a Turbo and the oil changes have to be made at the same interval.

Really the only difference in maintaince is the changing of the turbos which will set you back £1500 ish. Turbos are said to last 70,000 miles but mine have done 152,000 miles and are still going, and Craigs have done about 140,000 and still going too.

 

Stuart

yup, have to disagree with bruce!!

 

if your gonna buy a car like this, get a TT. not even sure why nelson even THOUGHT about making an NA one!!!

 

as for a na less likely to be pushed to the limits, consider this: the TT engine is more efficient, therefore your gonna have to push the NA engine harder to get anywhere near the performance of the TT.

 

but really it all comes down to personal preference.

 

just buy a nice one!

 

------------------

I feel the need, the need for speed!

 

PS

 

The short wheel base slicktop was produced with both N/A and TT engines only accounted for less than 8% sales in Japan

 

Mines is a SWB Slicktop TT Auto

Thanks for the replies guys.

 

I like the look of the 300's but have only driven a non turbo and that was a few years ago.

 

I can handle the fuel consumption and the Insurance (been an old git ). The last sensible'ish car I had was a '92 Cossy which I might as well of just thrown my wallet away...I dont want to go down the same road again.

 

Are they still reliable for there age and are parts cheap enough and readily available?

 

I'd prefer a UK car, but will consider an import...I'd like a twin turbo, but how they compare with fuel, reliabilty?

 

So many questions....so cr4p and slow at typing

 

Nath

Like buying any other car look as best you can at it's history and service intervals. Always check that the cambelts have been replaced, that it's had regular oil changes and just general overall condition. Again don't start an argument over auto's v manuals...everyone starts to kill oneanother on here! But as stated more auto's than manuals. As for imports v UK models..well again it's down to history and preference. Imports usually come with some form of inspection report and should go through a rigourous MOT before being registered here but I may be wrong so guys don't kill me if I am! Imports usually come fully loaded..though import Auto's usually come with Power Mode and Hold as standard on the box. I have an import and I was also told they come 20HP more (300HP) against the UK 280HP. As with any other High Performance

car in the 300 League parts aren't going to be cheap! Things to look out for are the dreaded PTU (Power Transistor Units) which have a nasty habit of packing up now and again and your car won't start! But many guys on here will again point you to the best places and we all do our best to avoid being ripped off by Nissan UK. Courtesy Nissan in the US is a great place for parts.

Anyway do your homework on here and get the real tech guys to point you the right way..and if you become a proud and at times frustrated owner of these supercars help on here is never far away. Wanna soup it up? Talk to Mac or JeffTT on here..those guys and others know their stuff on these babies...

Happy hunting...

Id get a Skyline, shortly afterwards I would be getting my coat

 

Seriously - just sold mine, its still in my garage at the moment and it saddens me that its gone - I was gonna replace it with a Skyline but to be honest its impossible to replace.

 

My advice - a good Twin Turbo Manual Import.

 

Just my €0.02

 

Originally posted by senna:

My advice - a good Twin Turbo Manual Import.

 

Just my €0.02

 

Well, there you go, Glen. You may live on a different island but my teapot tells me you do the good advice thing.

 

Twin Turbo Manual Import - yes. Of course, the import silver colour a) looks better and b) has lower drag.

 

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We are on the same frequency Gio my AldousHuxleyistic friend

 

 

never thought i'd hear huxley mentioned on here. one of the best writers ever. has anyone read the doors of perception? mind bending stuff!!!

If you see and good UK TT it's more easy to check the history, an import you never really know... there is some database to check if it's stolen or not... check the old posts.

 

The a uk tt, you can normally phone the garages stamped in the book and confirm milage and sometimes even how much was spent on the car and what work was done. I did that with mine, Nissan were quite good.

 

TT vs non-TT is up to you, but you'll probably pay a similar price for a TT which is a bit more fun and has a few stock extras like rear spoiler.

 

The turbos, best bet get someone from the forum to drive it to listen for noises, feel how it goes. Obviosuly check the car from a cold start up.

hi,

just look at as many as you can,read some of the previous posts as things to check,i went for a turbo for future upgrades(easier than n/a)as you will want to tune it!!!!!

both man and auto have pro's and con's so you deceide,if poss take the car for an mot even if it already got one,

a=you can see if the owner trusts the car(a nice sign of confidence)

b=take it for a test drive for atleast 1 hour try to drive on all types of roads listening for rattles,squeaks,noises that shouldn't be there!!!!in any car!!!!!

c=try to check on as much of the cars past has you can(most garages are helpful if a little slow)

d=don't get wowed over by it,read into how the seller is,rich enough to keep up with the maintainence,understanding to the way the car is!!i.e-does he thrash it from cold,switch it straight off after a hard run,etc murder for the turbos

e=when you get there are the brake biscs rusty a sign that the car hasn't moved for a while(ask yourself why)

when i bought mine looked at 7-8 different ones(man ,autos,jap,uk)test drove them all for a minimum of1-2 hours(except one the man said no got in my car and drove off) and the car i have now i took to 7 different garages for mots and it passed them all!!!!

a bit excessive maybe but time will tell sofar no probs and super relieble done 10000miles in it in 8months only sevicing and petrol

---hth---

--neil--

 

I spent about 6 months hunting around for a decent one. Looked at some TOTAL sheds. In the end managed to get my silver Auto TT, it'd been in the country for 1 month before I bought it, garage had spent £1800 on an auto box overhaul, and it had full JAP service history with it. Mint bodywork.. lovely, got that for £5k (no radio no immobiliser) and 80k miles on the clock.

 

Checking stuff.. I had a little list that people on the net helped me with:

 

At idle, does it idle smooth, and where's the turbo gaugue sitting (one red one idled at 0 vac).

 

Also, get yourself in the car and do a self Diag. of the auto box.. the instructions for it are on this site somewhere. Mine showed up fine, but two didn't.

 

Other things of the sheds I drove before finding mine.. prop shaft vibration, dodgy gear changes in the auto... etc.

 

Very very happy with mine.

Wow (and this is from a newbie... ) Cheers for the advice yet again. The Cossy I use to have was a 376bhp (dyno), but I'm not looking to get pillaged again and to me the UK TT with a Targa Top seems the on to go for (not yet driven one..do they suffer from scuttle shake?)

 

I'm not looking for standing starts and that shit..just pure drive-abilty and less wallet throwing action...

 

Secondly, whos up for helping me find one at a reasonable price (beers as a reward )

 

Nath