300ZX: is the price right?

[st3fan]

Hi,

New here, just signed up as I'm considering a 300zx and need a bit of advice. I've done some reading around, but I'm not too sure of where the prices are exactly. I'm ideally looking for a UK manual, with a good/full service history, and as original as possible. I found the following ad, which looks really interesting, but I'm wondering if it's overpriced? Any thoughts on it would be appreciated!

https://www.smspecialistcars.co.uk/used-nissan-300-zx-bedford-bedfordshire-1909382

Thanks

 

[moggy240]

You can check the mot history on the government website. A very handy tool sometimes.
I had a quick look and I think it might put you off considering it.

 

[st3fan]

Thanks for that! Forgot about that tool. Yep, had a look and it's rather off-putting... I'm also intrigued by the fact that the dealer says the last service stamp is in 2006, which corresponds to the last healthy mot before all the probs. I wonder if he's deliberately hiding the rest of the service history...

 

[Peter loveday]

My strong advice is to not buy a uk car unless you are totally confident there is no rust. There are many great newly imported jdm cars at that sort of money and they will be in better condition than that I’m sure. In the 300zx community there is no real difference seen between a uk and Japanese model.

 

[st3fan]

Ok. For some reason I had the impression that UK cars would be more sought after than imports. But if that's the case, I'll happily look at the latter. Thanks!

 

[AndrewG]

UK cars are more sought after than JDM imports, but as has been mentioned they have had more time to be
attacked by rust mainly caused by the salting of our roads in the winter. JDM cars for the same age are generally
(but not always) in better shape as the Japanese don't salt their roads. All Z32s came from the
factory with the same anti-corrosion coatings. Good UK spec cars do come onto the market, you just have to be
patient and careful in finding one.

 

[st3fan]

Ok, good to know about the anti-corrosion. As it seems these cars are getting increasingly rare and I need a car by end of January, I don't really mind if its imported or UK, as long as it's in good condition and with a service history.

I'm planning on using it as a daily driver, up north (i.e. frequently wet roads?), and don't have a garage. Am I asking for trouble?!

 

[AndrewG]

Personally I wouldn't use one as a daily driver especially in the winter. Not just for the ongoing issues with salt - the TT's
can have a tendency to break away suddenly at the back end in slippery conditions when the boost comes on. Mechanically
there is a lot going on in Z32s and the cars can be anything up to 30 years old with the last JDMs sold in Japan in 2000.
Looked after they can be reliable cars, but I wouldn't want to rely on one for my every day transport.

 

[Peter loveday]

As Andrew says, I wouldn’t want to rely on a 300as a daily. Most of us tend to use them as weekend/summer cars. On a positive note there is a great community behind them in the U.K.
Nice to see you on here Andrew . (Dougal 200)

 

[st3fan]

Thanks to both of you. It hadn't really occurred to me previously whether they would be particularly unsuitable as daily drivers. I also just saw a post on the 300zx forums from someone who spun in the wet and wrote off their car... Unfortunately I'll need something I can rely on day in, day out and through the winter, so it looks like I'll have to put the 300zx dream on hold for now...