daveofedinburgh

True, it does vary alot from car to car. Generally, imports that are undersealed immediately on coming to the UK seem to be pretty safe. I picked up a N/A Supra last year with 85k miles, manufactured 1994 but not imported until 2003 with a receipt for undersealing, and it was totally immaculate. It does seem to be a good general rule. Im convinced there will be rot-free Zs out there sub £1.5k. Whether or not they'll throw up other issues is a different matter! Anyone who knows of/ has a decent NA SWB auto targa for sale, please let me know. Will consider LWBs and perhaps some manuals, not looking for a TT or 'slicktop' though. Also, any decent insurance tips would be appreciated.

Spotted that last night! Love the interior, although if I remember correctly shes starting to rust in afew places. Reckon even on my budget I could still find a rot-free one. Nice car though.

Its an automatic, bought specifically for the commute, so its not the nice snickety gearchangy manual model, and Im getting a bit bored. Plus its thirstier than people think (Mk1 MX5s seem to drink for some reason). I love big, 90s Japanese leviathans like the Supra, R33 Skyline and 300ZX, always have. My N/A automatic Supra was easily the best cruiser Ive ever owned (and actually way smoother than the holy grail Getrag 6-speed manual SZ-R model that I owned before it). I tend to work a day at the weekend, so perhaps the Z could come out then, and I could have a proper diesel beater for the week. Anyone on here have classic insurance on a car thats not garaged? I could easily manage less than 5k miles per year, but a garage would cost a million pounds where I live.

Thanks for the comments so far guys, plenty to think about. The reason I dont scare easily from old cars is that Im driving a 1990 'H' reg MX5/ Eunos right now which I bought for £850, and its been the most stupidly reliable car Ive ever owned (as was the 1992 'J' reg MX5 I had before that, and the 1995 'M' reg Supra before that...). I personally believe there is alot of luck involved when it comes to reliablity too, although Id ideally try to take a club member with me if I went to buy a Z. Ill concede that perhaps Id do better to keep a cheap daily driver than rely solely on a Z, the trouble being that I dont have a drive/ garage and live in a W4 postcode, so insurance is going to be stupid. As far as I understand, you cant get classic insurance even if you have limited miles etc. if the car is parked on a public road. Other than that then, what should I be aiming for model-wise? As a complete noob to these cars, Id like a non-turbo SWB auto with targa roof, if such a thing exists. Id have a 2+2, but dont really need the extra bench! Also looking to spend not much more than £1.5-2k.

Thanks Groover, I do about 32 miles per day 4-5 days per week, around 50:50 town/ motorway split. If more people come back telling me its insanely expensive, Ill consider a sub £500 diesel beater, but would like to try a Z daily. Used a Supra (two of them!) as a daily in Edinburgh for over a year, although did maybe half the miles I do now. Curious about reliability more than anything...

Hi guys, Longtime fan of these cars, and a major Jap import fan (owned several Supras, Celicas some Mazdas over the years) but first time poster. As per the title really, looking to buy a budget 300ZX to use as a daily driver for a bit. Live in Chiswick, which is fairly central London and commute up the M1 to Watford, so preferably an auto. Ive seen what appear to be very clean cars for not much more than £1k. Looking at N/As as I believe them to be generally less trouble/ maintenance than turbos (Supra experience talking there!). Also like the idea of the targa roof panels. How reliable are the cars in general if were being totally honest? There are some haters out there for the old Fairlady. Also, Im not expecting an old automatic 3.0 V6 to sip, but what kind of mpg do they generally return on a combo of town and motorway driving? Any particular models to go for over the others? I appreciate these seem like FAQs or 'search button' questions, but I find people often love to throw in their two shillings to newbies on forums! Thanks, Dave.