Hi guys newby here, been looking for my first z for a little while now. Been finding it quite hard to actually find anything half decent. I'm specifically looking for a 5spd turbo slicktop which seem to be far and few between. So far its been between an unmaintained (although not bad looking) car owned by an ol greek fella who wants top dollar and one thats been resprayed a different colour and needs its bars sprayed to suit the unknown colour.. Just by going off threads in the for sale section it looks like clean ones go for 7.5-8.5K. Does that sound right? Another problem is there is nothing but NA autos in SA :bash: Are there any other resources besides gumtree and carsales I should be looking in? Cheers.
The classifieds of this forum and the Australian Z facebook pages are good ones to watch. Slicktops definitely still exist and often don't even sell for much of a premium, they are more likely to be NA though. You will have to be willing to travel and like all Zs you'll have to pay one way or another, whether you get a rough but straight (possibly NA) base and refurb it or pay for a concourse or already rebuilt car expect to pay $20-30k by the time it's on the road and in good condition. You can do it cheaper, but if expect to get out of it for $10k total you're not likely to be happy. A good price for a Z is anywhere from $5k to $15 maybe $20k if it's brilliant with tasteful mods and very well serviced.
Cars that are 10K+ have pretty much not sold since i started looking. Prices seem to be all over the place but from what I've seen they dont seem to go till the price is fairly low. Any idea how often slicktops pop up for sale?
while cars over 10k may be slow movers they do sell there have been several closer to 20 in the last year. Keep an eye on the for sale posts here and you will see some nice cars come up. You have narrowed your target to a pretty hard to find model as well so it may take some time. And yes plenty of bad examples around that ask silly prices but the reality is finding a good one is getting harder, that pushes their price up which also pushes up the value of a poor example.
Any particular reason for wanting a "slick top"?(you are severely restricting your chances of finding a "good" example, by eliminating MOST of the available vehicles out there).
Even more specific "Slicktop Manual TT" But they do exist "in parts" Hhttp://www.aus300zx.com/forum/showthread.php?t=336462
If you're looking for a good reliable Z32 TT, that has been well maintained, it is unlikely you will get one for around $7.5 to $8.5K. Plus, you are going to get sick of looking at Z's that are advertised as being in excellent condition, with low milage, only to discover that are misrepresented, as evidenced by your sentence. "Been finding it quite hard to actually find anything half decent." Unfortunately, this statement is oh so true.......... You need to know what you're looking at, or engage the services of someone that does, otherwise what initially appears to be a good deal will end in tears. If you want a really good 2.0 seater manual, I have one available in Sydney, but it's a targa roof version. Having owned both a slicktop & a targa, in my opinion a targa is preferable. Why? If you have a slicktop, that's it, no options. With the roof shades in place, a targa has the ability to appear almost the same as a slicktop, from the interior view point. With the roof shades removed, has the option of a tinted glass roof. With the targa tops removed, has the no roof option.
this is kind of like the good/fast/cheap matrix, when you can only pick 2 If you are looking for a good contition zx, it wont be cheap and you probably wont find it quickly. My view is that if you want to buy one soonish then you should be prepared to compromise on some of your requirements. If you must have one in good condition which is smart, then you may have to compromise on the slick top, TT or manual. Or extend the budget , in which case you can approach owners of cars that may not be actively for sale but where an owner will accept a good offer. Or if you are not willing to do any of these then extend the timeframe and just keep waiting for the exact car to come up, which most likely will happen if you wait
Neglected to mention it is a TT. The silver one, actually it's KL0 - Platinum Metallic. A couple of pics are available at: http://www.aus300zx.com/forum/showthread.php?t=331212&highlight=hunter+cruise
Dont get me wrong, it doesn't have to be perfect. I guess I'm more interested in something that hasn't been cut up and messed around with too much (ie not converted turbo/manual etc). I'm quite capable of fixing most things and if it has faults thats fine, just as long as the price reflects it. I'm pretty keen on one thats on gumtree, but its a bit of a high risk proposition. Then again I guess all old cars are. On a side note has anybody had to take an import through regency, for an ID check, here in SA? edit: thats been another road block.. car that I dont think regency would let through from interstate.
It took me ages to find my zed ( although it is a bit of a distant memory - over 10 years ago). Patience is key and paying for a good zed will save you in the long run. I hear so many stories of people saying how unreliable zeds are and I have never had 1 issue with my zed. I have a 92 TT Slicktop Manual Happy hunting and enjoy looking around!
Also... may I add that well maintained (great condition) Zd's are most likely to be held on to by the owners nowadays who *value and appreciate them* and are now getting rare and especially in good condition. If an offer is made, I don't think they will be sold for peanuts. Just go to a Z-FEST to see the awesome examples and owner pride for inspiration. It's hard to justify letting go of such machines and good examples at that for cheap. I personally, totally understand if someone asks for 20+k for one. Those cars are not your 3k car with the level of upkeep, sweat blood and tears gone into these. It has to be appreciated In addition, new EOM parts still cost an arm a leg and prices of a few bits add up very quickly. If someone replaces old worn out parts or trim, etc... with new, at significant cost, and the car itself is in very good shape, it won't go for cheap. There are shit versions out there, but soon they will be parts cars or for a salvage job by an enthusiast who I'm sure after rebuilding to an acceptable stage, they too won't be letting them go for 50c. Especially after realising how much the new parts are. Changing with second hand 25+ year old parts, especially interior trim items, to keep things cheap, is nothing like buying NEW!! Especially where rubber is involved. Just to pay someone for example to change the 25+YO HICAS ball joints, is at least a $450 job. Don't ask how much the ball joints themselves cost from NISSAN. And that is of coarse if the shop has the right press. Supercheap press won't do it, I know, after 2hrs of trying and getting super creative and no result. Also, how are the rubber mounting points on the hub assembly after 25yrs? 3 per side. Not cheap. Try pressing them out! Now I'm sure someone here is thinking, Just chuck the HICAS damn thing out. To me doing that, is instant depreciation right there! A trany rebuild is 2.5K and that's not even removing & replacing the damn thing. You see where I'm going with this. That's why there are 20K+ Z's out there.
The following applies to any car really. If you like tinkering with cars. Buy a cheap one, then fix it up as you go. Then you know where the car actually stands mechanically wise, and not relying on what a seller says how good their car is/was. As you can buy a $2,000 car and sink $10,000 in it, or you can by $10,000 car and still sink another $10,000 in it for the same issues. Expensive cars: I would want recent work receipts to prove the car's condition; as high price vehicles can be just people trying to recoup the cost of what they were suckered into paying.
"If you like tinkering with cars. Buy a cheap one, then fix it up as you go. Then you know where the car actually stands mechanically wise, and not relying on what a seller says how good their car is/was." This is certainly an option & members on this forum would of taken this route. However the cheap Z32 is cheap for a reason. "As you can buy a $2,000 car and sink $10,000 in it, or you can by $10,000 car and still sink another $10,000 in it for the same issues." This is very true, that is why it is advisable to have someone familiar with these vehicles inspect the car prior to purchase. An engine rebuild can easily reduce $10,000.00 to loose change. Then you still have a Z32 with a great engine & numerous other items to fix. Add in the price of a good respray & you're in the area of investment you could have bought an excellent example of in the first instance. "Expensive cars: I would want recent work receipts to prove the car's condition; as high price vehicles can be just people trying to recoup the cost of what they were suckered into paying." You may require recent work receipts to prove a cars condition. However this is not a viable method of proof by any means. A good condition well maintained Z32 may not, & probably would not have had any "recent work" done.
Lots of good points / advice in this thread. Having parted out 5 Z's now & bought / fixed up / sold quite a few of them over the last 19yrs since first importing them, I'd suggest anyone pay the extra to get a clearly well looked after, genuinely low mileage Z. Considering a good full respray on its own can set you back $8k, those cheap Z's can cost a fortune to restore to a good standard. Normally, you run out of money & love and you just end up with a tidied up shitbox that you're stuck with because it owes you over $20k! Anyway, be sure to look at a few expensive ones so you get to know what a nice example actually is. That way you'll know it when you're looking at tarted up shitter. Buy a good one or you'll most likely end up joining the long line of people who had a Z that always had a dozen things wrong with it, was constantly costing you thousands & just never got finished...
Being willing to travel helps. I drove from Melbourne to South Australia and back in a day to pick up my TT with my old man and best mate (who went on to run it into a bus shelter a few years later). I also wouldn't be afraid of picking up a fixerup car if it's mechanically sound but aesthetically compromised. You can pick up an enormous amount of interior bits and pieces of conceptz.
Definately lots of useful information here and I appreciate everybodies input. I do enjoy restoring what I am capable of, it helps to learn the cars ins and outs. I went through the same issues when buying my e34 bmw. Most are unloved and owners just let them fail. Its so simple to upkeep them with a bit of mechanical inclination and knowledge resources such as forums like this. I dont know why you'd own a niche car without being prepared to give it the love it deserves.
these? Link 1989, TT, Manual, Slicktop, 45,000, No Accident History (rusty a bit underneath) one owner, in Hiroshima. Link 1993, 45,000 km, TT, Manual, Slick Top, Has Accident History, Alot of aftermarket gear (not to my liking)
