LeoE

My insurance at 19 was £1600 fully comp. That was with Admiral... The game may have changed since then though!

MX-5's are great! I bought one for my girlfriend (to learn to drive in actually) and it's so much fun. I keep finding excuses to drive it all the time! The nice thing is that you can really drive it hard without worrying about going too fast, whereas with the Zed you're over the speed limit in a matter of seconds. Give the zed an empty stretch of motorway and it's very easy to get into very illegal speeds. The MX-5 is a pain in the ass to drive at 70, let alone anything faster given the gearing. That said, the Zed was my first car (sort of). As I mentioned to you over email I passed my test in an old Skoda, drove that for a while and then bought my Zed about a year later (when I was 19). I would say it's fine as a first car, but only IF you can trust yourself to be sensible. As others have said you can get yourself into trouble very quickly if you aren't careful. The Zed has more drama, rarity and excitement. However that comes with a much higher cost than an MX-5 in all areas (insurance, maintenance, fuel). The big one is maintenance, I'd budget about £1,500 per year (excluding fuel & insurance). It probably won't cost anywhere near that, but these cars can (and will) throw up big bills from time to time.

My Zed lives in a garage, and has lived in a garage for the 5 years I've owned it. That said, one of my most memorable drives was digging it out of said garage to go for a hoon in the snow at 2am one winter! You learn a hell of a lot about car control from driving it in awful conditions, although I'm sure I wouldn't have had to spend so much £££ on removing/repairing rust if I kept it as a fair-weather car so I can see why people do!

Christ. On the *very* rare occasions I've let someone behind the wheel of my car it's always been on the "you break it you bought it" premise. Hope he pays up...

Yeah, pedal to the floor isn't a good sign! I rebuilt mine a few years ago and they've been fine - as above not brilliant but more than acceptable for fast road use. Sounds like it could be air in the system somewhere - as above it may be worth bleeding the ABS unit first... (Assuming that it isn't losing fluid?)

Love it, best colour for a Nissan... Makes me wanna keep my zed hah! What size/offset are those wheels?

Hello, I've come to the sad realization over the past few weeks that I can no longer justify keeping a second car in my life - mainly from a financial perspective having just bought a house, but also because I'm keen to consolidate both my cars into one car which fills both needs (I.e. fun + practical). So, here are the details on my Zed: Here's the spec as I bought it: Electric/heated black leather interior Sigma cat 1 alarm and immobilser Fully pollybushed Tokicho shocks and Eibach springs 18' Ultralite A-tecs 99 spec rear lights 99 spec spoiler 99 spec front bumper Rear tailgate skin HID Headlights Japseed divorced downpipes Japseed back boxes,de-cats Aftermarket auto meter/ boost,water temp,oil pressure gauge Polished steel rad hoses RPS max clutch Fidanza flywheel Apexi induction JD chip 14 psi boost jets Lightened crank pulley Koyo Rad Viscous fan Blitz fatt dc turbo timer Nismo carbon fibre gear knob Turbo xs replica bov's Gtr skyline drilled and grooved 318mm discs Ferrodo DS 2500 front pads EBC drilled and grooved rear discs and red stuff pads Hicas removed and lock out bar fitted a/c and cruise control removed Alpine head unit with iPod connection It's mostly the same spec right now, although I've added the following: Braided fuel lines Braided brake lines Refurbished the brake calipers 25mm spacers Grounding kit New radiator Intake hard pipes Soundproofing on the doors Upgraded the speakers + added subwoofer It has had a new engine at 106k miles (car is currently on 111k). The new engine was from Zedworld and was on 72k miles when it was installed. They did a 120k service on it and replaced the cambelt etc... See thread about why I needed a new engine here. I have a folder of receipts and invoices for items I've had done, as well as the work that previous owners have had. It also comes with conzult and an old laptop to plug in. In my ownership I've changed the oil every 3,000 miles, as well as kept up with usual maintenance requirements. It has also recently had the rear arches replaced, along with the inner and outer sills. Bad points: The turbos are smoking slightly The bodywork isn't perfect, but then it is 21 years old! I've showed the worst parts in the pics. The front bumper has a crack in it (pictured) and there is a small depression where the rear wiper was removed (pictured). There is a bit of paint peeling from the front passenger side sill also (pictured). There is also a small patch of rust in the passenger side engine bay (pictured). There was also a patch on the driver's side but this was cut out and replaced. Here is a link to the pictures, let me know if you need more: https://www.flickr.com/gp/identiti_rider/2443k5/ In summary: 1993 UK Car Twin Turbo Manual TK3 Blue 111,500 miles (in regular use so will go up slightly) Engine on approx. 78k miles MOT until August 2015 Tax until January 2015 I think that is everything! I'm looking for £3,250 or offers. Let me know if you want to come have a look, or give it an inspection. The car is in Milton Keynes. UPDATE: I've updated the price, as well as the "bad points" list. The boost leak is sorted and it's boosting as it should. I've had the smoke issue diagnosed and it's almost certainly down to the turbo seals. I had a compression test done and a leak down test also, and it seems to indicate that the engine is in good health. The results of the compression test were: 1 180psi 2 160psi 3 175psi 4 170psi 5 175psi 6 175psi Leo

I may be able to make it, although I think it may clash with a family do that weekend...

Well, the car is now through its MOT and back on the road after having a ton of work done to it. It has had the sills replaced, arches on both sides, plus a few other bits. I had the biggest grin on my face when driving it home having not driven it for a year or so. Now it goes in for a bit of paintwork on Monday, so am planning a roadtrip to celebrate in early September!

Just re-subscribed. I went for renewal rather than new member as per Tulip's post the other day... - - - Updated - - - Paid via bank transfer btw

Haha! Thanks all! I'll keep this thread updated with the progress...

Thanks... It failed on rust - sigh. It wasn't totally unexpected, but a bit worse than I had thought. It's basically in the usual places - sills, inner arches. I'm getting a quote in the morning for the work needed to pass, plus additional work (rusty arches). Will see what the likely damage is...

My Zed has been tucked up in the garage for the past year as I've had other priorties (saving for a house) so couldn't justify keeping two cars on the road. It's having an MOT done this afternoon so I'll have it back on the road for the summer while I decide what to do with it (keep it/sell it/spend money on it etc...). Can't wait to drive it again! :dance:

Nice compilation! Busy year I was born in! It's amazing how much things change, yet stay the same.

Noo my car's twin! Sorry to see that, glad to hear the driver was ok...

Ouch, sorry didn't realise you were in Scotland!

Land Registry is only £3... http://www.landregistry.gov.uk/public/property-ownership

I'm also gonna need a set of arches in near future as mine are starting to bubble, so it would be useful to figure this out. Is there anywhere in the US that sells the panels? Or any traders on here who could make some if were to do a group buy?

Best wishes for retirement Jeff, my Zed probably wouldn't be on the road without your and Jamie's work! Good luck to the new owners of Zedworld, hopefully they can continue the reputation...

I love it, apart from the wood, and that steering wheel! And the dash pods date it a little bit...

Thanks both :-)

Nice! I wanted one of these instead when I bought my Zed but the insurance was insane! Hopefully be able to get into one in a year or so. My old housemate had one and it was just awesome, so comfy and refined compared to the zed...

I'm with Ian here... The ideas she has presented would make this country a far worse place, and only serve to increase inequality and poverty. As Ian points out, the majority of those on benefits aren't defrauding the system, it is the minority who give them a bad name...

I know it's a common debate on these forums, but I'm wondering if the lower numbers will result in increased prices in the long term. A lot of older cars are starting to enjoy higher values, although they're mostly european cars - old fords, old BMWs (E34 M5's have gone up a lot in value recently I think, and E30 M3 prices are insane!). Who knows, could be a good market for clean, unmolested Zeds in the future...

The Falken 452's are pretty decent in the wet, cheap too! They were okay in the snow last winter also, not as terrible as you'd expect given the width (255)...