Hi all, name's Ghaleon (from Melbourne), nice to meetcha =] I've been considering upgrading (from my 97' Integra) to a 4th Gen Zed for a while (have spent a month or so reading through forums and Z Garage) and just this morning inspected the following : http://www.carsales.com.au/private/...=Stock&Range=Price:Min,10000~0.5&sort=default Apparently a J-spec import. There were a number of niggly issues : i) Timing belt and tensioner requires changing soon (no service records unfortunately) ii) Hand brake and brakes are relatively weak. iii) Small rust spots on several areas (rear bumper, left door) iv) Tyres threads are not too worn v) General paint needs some TLC . vi) Kinda on the high side on mileage (179ks) No leaks , exhaust smells fine, injectors were apparently replaced recently. I also intend to remove the entire body kit (spoiler,skirts,front bumpers) ; paint work on it is awful I'm not certain how much RWC's gonna be , from what I understand new requirements have jacked up the price a fair bit (due to the need for photos and what not) and have no idea how much it'll actually cost to replace the belt and tensioner (my own Integra was upwards of 1.5k..) in addition to other possible mechanical issues. The seller is not very flexible price wise, and has precious little, if not no knowledge about the general servicing. Would really appreciate your opinions of it ! (My apologies if I am not supposed to be posting here)
Price does not seem too bad, not exactly a steal either but getting twin turbo for under $10k can really be hit and miss. You are going to have or pour some cash into it if you don't like the body kit and selling the one you have will be hard as there are a lot of veil side haters in the world. Timing belt change you will be a looking at around $1200 for parts and labour if you can't do this yourself. Older Z's these days unless they have had a decent investment of maintenance will cost you quite a bit if you are not mechanically inclined.
umm.. well, price is good. but as for taste?? at least it seems to have good tyres. thats something... i know it says Very powerful clean engine for speed up and beat cars in the street! but at that many k's, might want to make sure compression is ok and mechanically its not a full rebuild case... auto could be dodgy if its original k's too, so theres another 1500+ for rebuild..
Why not get one without a bodykit? Rather than getting one with then having it removed. Just doesn't seem logical. And I'm sure you could find one for the price that is in better condition. Also, get a manual
I know, my Integra's a manual too. Kinda feels weird not having to clutch and shift XD. I have been tracking carsales for a while now, haven't seen any within my price range unfortunately (around 6-8k). Not picky about whether it's a turbo or not either.
Hey and welcome. I can't say whether it is too pricey or not, but what I can say is that it sounds a bit senseless to buy a car just to pull it apart because the bodykit doesn't measure up cosmetically. Find something that you're happy with from the get-go. If you're aiming at spending $7K only to have to turn around and spend another $2K (ballpark figure) on replacement body parts and paint - without ensuring the mechanical side is all Ok first - then it would indeed be a bit of a facepalm by my reasoning. My advice is to remain patient, hang out on here keeping a hawk's eye on the Zeds For Sale section. Everyone here will tell you it is the best place to buy a decent Zed(with a known history, most likely) and quite often a genuine bargain sits in there, feeling unloved, longing for a spirited driver/owner and ready to go to the right person when the stars align ... such as this one -> click me Chill, settle in, get ready to spend on the perfect Zed for your taste.
not a fan, the guy clearly has no clue what hes talking about when it comes to performance of the car. The street racing line is a killer for me...
Thanks a lot for the responses guys, really helped =] I am in absolutely no hurry whatsoever to acquire the car itself, and yes, I did contact Robert about this (sadly, a buyer has been found =(). The pricing point was merely a gauge , considering I had no real idea how much a car of this make would be (I've seen anything between 5k to 20k , both on these forums and Carsales!) . Most of it was comparisons with vehicles of similar mechnical specs and age. Hope to be part of the gang soon =p
If you want to buy a really good Z32 then you need to look at this car. It has a very good history and well known in this club: http://www.aus300zx.com/forum/showthread.php?t=319332
Easy there you Z snob, he's going to think we're not nice guys here . Now tell us what you really think
there are a few good buys on the forum like this one http://www.aus300zx.com/forum/showthread.php?t=318284 This one... http://www.aus300zx.com/forum/showthread.php?t=320187 & this one... http://www.aus300zx.com/forum/showthread.php?t=319925 all reduced in price & you could probly get for a bit for less, nice z's for age.
Preferences : Manual , 2+2 , TT , stock body is perfect (I personally find anything aside from maybe sports rims spoils the aesthetic of it ) . Its getting increasingly hard to find one with low ks and decent condition in Melbourne (Vic) . I wanted to check out the general condition of the above to see how much more on top of the (bargained down price ) I'd have to invest to get it squeaky clean . Also , I did contact ZZhed about the 7.5k rebuild he posted up ; it has sadly been reserved for a potential buyer =[
Just a tip, almost every grey import out of japan has had the clock wound back so don't go by the odometer readings but rather the overall condition of the car. I've seen zeds with 90 000km on the clock that look worse than zeds with 250 000+km on them.