Need some help on making the choice. My current ride is a 2000 ZX2 Escort and I am looking at this 94 300ZX N/A. They are asking 8k for it and its sitting in a Nissan Dealership. Its a trade-in. I have already looked at insurance and I wont have a problem there but as for the reliability I was wondering about that. Not alot of experiance with 90+ Z cars. If I get it I will be trading the Escort in for it, so the 300ZX will become my daily driver.


Stats on car as far as I can remember.

117k miles, 1 owner, Red, 2+2 coupe, 5-speed manual. front bumper has been repainted but no signs of curb checking. Interiour in good condition. Thats all I can remember right now.

PLEAZE help me.

Thanx

Sounds like they want a lil' too much...

Like I said its at a dealership, I can talk them down without a doubt. But I need to have a clue on where to start. I plan on test driving it tonight.

Talk it down to... (jump in here on this George) about $5,800-$6,200. Then it sounds like a deal.

But stay away from '90 Model Zed Cars, they were the problem year.

If you are mechanically or financially inclined... Go for a good '90. But if you are neither, dont.

But if you can talk them down... Welcome to the Zed club. :D

-Wes

I guess I am mechanicaly inclined, but my speciality is Volvos and Fords, I am a service technician. But one engine isnt much different than another, unless its a Wankel. They all Suck, Squish, Bang, and Blow..... now I just need to get a girl to do that ;)

HEY! I have a '90!!!!!


Yeah I agree... with 117K miles? I'd pay no more than $5K!!! What's the Bluebook?

i bought mine with 129k miles for $6200, the bluebook was $7000. anyways, if you think all engines (piston) are the same, then you have not looked/worked on a vg. hope you have liquid hands to work on it. now, reliability, if you take care of it, the vg is good for 200k. but that is if you take care of it. just make sure you don't want any other car, once you have a z, you are hooked.

Yea I have a '90 too George... '90's suck unless they were taken care of, or unless your rebuilding them COMPLETELY.

Like in my case.

But stick with the higher years if you can afford to.

(Wankels rock man... Dont talk down to them :D )

-Wes

Yeah thanks for the help but unfortantly that zed had some further deeper issues to work out. Like when you turned the wheel it made the whole car shudder when driving, almost to the point it was undrivable. and then it allso need a new cat, O2 sensor, and a PCV if it had one. It didnt pass the emissions test so they wouldnt even think about selling it to me unless I bought as is, and I aint doing that, yet.

But on the plus side I found a '95 300ZX 2+2 N/A w/ 137k miles on it auto, with only 1 major problem so far, dead alternator and battery. The Nissan dealer ship that has it is saying that so far they are willing to part with it for 9950, I think thats WAY to high and I am already talking them down, or giving me a hella lot more for my escort. If I can get a Ford dealership down to 12k on a new mustang I can get a Nissan dealer down to 7500 on a 300ZX. With some minor cosmetic damage, the front bottum of the bumper has been curb checked and is cracked but not bad only a 2 inch crack on both sides. Otherwise it looks good, It does need new weather stripping though on the drivers side and the seats are worn, but thats to be expected. Finding a 300ZX or a 240SX (S14) in Phoenix AZ is like finding a black guy in a Klan rally. (Its ok I am black, although my freinds dont say so) :)

O your in Phoenix?

Haha, give me a PM dude, we gotta talk :D

-Wes

BUY A TT AND UPGRADE THE TURBOS WITH A FULL ENGINE REBUILD AND A STAGED NITROUS SYSTEM!!!


...must resist...power...500 rwhp...must resist...

*runs out to the garage and stares at the Z*

...there we go...much better now...anyway...a VG isn't really that hard to work on...its actually laid out in a very simple, direct setup once you start breaking it down into sub systems. If you can take something apart and put it back together its not something you can't do. As a service tech I doubt you'll have a problem, just not alot of room in there is all. And since the VG motor was designed to be a turbo motor, the extra beefiness it brings to the table in its NA form will take it to 200k or better with routine maintence. Just don't buy something you don't want.

Broke you must be a hell of a wrencher... I hate working on the VG. Im using HATE properly here.

That upper plenum is a bitch to get off... But after you get past that... It's ok I guess.

God I wish the Z32's had VQ's.

-Wes

Broke as*

No no Nitrous systems for me, I am a road racer not a 1/4 horse. As for the turbos, hmmmm....... I luvs BOOST! Thats one of the reasons I work on Volvos. Most of them have turbos. I was thinking though is it possible to get a centrifigul supercharger set up for the VG30DE...... I know its not the most practical thing to put on but its different. plus I kinda like the sound of a nice supercharger whining up to speed.... WEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!! Granted I do love the sound of nice twin turbo too.

The nitrous is a small shot at low boost levels to help larger turbos spool faster. Basically its not so much a performance upgrade in an outright sense as it is an add on to the turbo system. Improved acceleration is a plus no matter where you want to be. This isn't an issue with anything but the largest top power turbos however. There is medium sized ball bearing turbo systems that can be setup to the point virtually having to lag. Jump on the gas and be making boost. Yay!

yes, i have heard of a few poeple having a shot of nitrous go through until 3k when the turbos finally kick in. that is a pretty good idea i thought when i first heard it. what would be crazy is to have two superchargers, one on each side of the intake plenum. that would be nuts.

Well the final verdict is, I ended up with the 95 silver 300ZX N/A 2+2. I had them perform a COMPLETE check on it before I take delivery of it tonight. Downside is I am paying WAY TOO MUCH FOR IT! I got them down to 9500, and got them to give me 4000 for the Escort. But financing is killing me 12% interest rate is OUTRAGOUS. So I am shopping around for a new finance company. Monday I will be bringing it into the shop and putting it up on a lift to perform a inspection on it myself, if I find something wrong with it I am taking it back. (Gotta love the lemon law)

I am also tring to get them to give me a Nissan 300ZX repair manual with the car. Figured, "Hell if I am getting raped for the car, they should give me a manual to work on it."

Patience is a vertue, young grasshopper...

Sounds like you got yourself into something you didnt want to do... O well, at least you got a good car out of it.

-Wes

i love 300zx's in silver. that is my third favorite color after mine and black. get pics up as soon as you can.

is it the charcoal silver or the platinum silver. i like my color (platinum silver but i love the charcoal even more. beauiful color especially on the z's

Yeah I am having second thoughts but thats to be expected after you get raped by the dealership and not even get a reach around. But all in all I am happy with the car. Its the platinum silver color. It needs some paint and a front bumper, the bottum lip is cracked but not worried about it. Any Z owners in the Phoenix area knowing of a Z club or just willing to meet with me.


I need knowledge on the car now that I have it. :)

Dude it sounds like you got screwed... For the price you payed it should be a flawless Zed.

My personal thoughts on this... You should have waited a BIT longer.

... Dont take that personal, just saying...

-Wes

dont mean to bring your joy down but i have to agree with samhain....u got ripped off unless their is close to no miles on that car. i have your same exact car (same color, same model, same everything) but a 90 and i only paid 5500 for it and it only had 80,000 miles on it and it is near flawless. anyways good luck with the z. i hope everything works out the way u want.

damn, you got a hell of a deal k3. dealerships like to screw people over. get pics of it as soon as possible.

I know we all like to think of our cars, especially a car with no other purpose then to go fast and look good, as flawless works of rolling art, highly tuned performance machines. But as there is flaws in every human there is flaws in every car. Thats was one of the things that got me about my 240SX (which was like a Ferrari compared to the wagon). It really isn't that much of a sports car, if at all. But you couldn't have convinced me otherwise, until I started working on it myself that is. Then i learned it was pretty much just another imported small car with high miles, nice looking and fun to drive but still just another car.
And I'm sorry to say that you were less than fortunate with the purchase price and condition of the vehicle. My TT only cost 10,500, however that was a great deal, especially given its superior condition. But provided the rest of the car is in good shape and it was loaded from the factory, its not as bad a deal as some would make it out to be.

Have fun with your new purchase and enjoy the rest of the summer (which I guess is year round down there) in a T topped sports car.

Yeah as I said, I wasnt overly pleased with the deal but hey, sometimes you get the bull by the horns and sometimes it gets you.

I just got the horns....... Its ok I am not overly worried about the price on things cause I am not in a overly bad finacial situation. Now I just need to find some Z owners in the Phoenix area anyone know some one, or some site that could help. THX

Try www.twinturbo.net, its probably the largest Z32 forum around. I'm sure there is some people from your neck of the woods on there, just search the members section.

if you want to wait a couple of years i plan on moving down there and enjoy the beautiful weather compared to up here by the windy city.