Z32 It's Sad Day for me and Z guys

Discussion in 'Non Technical' started by ADAMZX, Nov 15, 2021.

  1. geron

    geron National Petroleum Equipm

    Also keep in mind, these cars and Zds in general are collectables, keep on top of it so that it gets repaired 'properly'
     
  2. ADAMZX

    ADAMZX 2000spec Conversion

    So I got a phone call from the panel shop this afternoon wanting to ask me about sourcing some parts for the repair quote. Now funny enough I totally forget to see if the 2 aussie Z32 part suppliers on the net, CarCraze & RGS Performance could supply any of the damage parts to the panel shop locally and I actually rang Rob from RGS Performance and enquired about his supply of a 2kspec front bar and a pair of fog lights. The front bar wont be instock until the end of the month but the fog lights were in stock, so I was ready to past this information onto the panel shop when they called.

    Now when they did call the panel shop gave me a quick run down of all the parts they listed that were damaged in the accident.

    - front bar
    - both fog lights
    - bonnet
    - nose panel
    - headlights:(
    - reo bar
    - upper radiator support and headlight chassis panels
    - condenser
    - radiator
    - radiator fan
    - radiator shroud
    - bonnet latch
    - he didnt mention it but Id assume MAS and Pod filter were probably crushed as well.

    He then stated that the impact had pushed the radiator support along with the radiator and fan into the front of the engine so I dont know if their is damage on the timing covers or not but its possible.

    From there I started to mention that I had spare parts at home like my old reo bar, radiator and headlights to help reduce the cost of the repair quote as I know the 2kspec headlights would be a no no for replacement due to their cost and I had my old reo bar sitting in my room somewhere along with a brand new Koyo radiator I was intending to replace the old PWR Alloy rad with when my car did its next 100km service anyways. As for the headlights he stated that they got pushed backwards into the chassis panel and were cracked at the back of the housing but I hope I can just put my old headlights in and try and repair the 2kspec headlights myself later one.

    Now I know I had stated in my insurance mod list that I had all these specific aftermarket mods to the car and they should replace those damage parts with new ones of the exact same part but we know that these cars are old and parts like the 2kspec headlights would not be worth the insurance company to replace and I know it may not be the right thing to do but I just want my car fixed and if offering the repairer my old parts to help reduce the repair quote enough to make the insurance company go ahead with the repair Im happy to accept that loss as long as i get my car fixed and back up and running again. So please understand I know its not the best option but I will do anything to get my car fixed.

    Then I tried to explain that the car was modified from its original state and this is were the bloke I was talking too didnt really understand what i meant exactly and this is what i was worried about but after some explaining he kinda understand I had added later model parts to the car but he was worried as he had been pricing parts to replace with the original 89 model parts. So thanks to my detailed track of all the parts I purchased for my 2kspec build I was happy to offer the shop a full list of part numbers for all the damage parts I could think of. I also thought it was a good idea for me to make a face to face talk with the repair shop to help explain my cars mods more efficiently then off the top of my head over the phone.

    So my plans are to find all the spare parts revelent to the repair I mentioned above to the shop this weekend to safe guard those parts if they get the go ahead with the repair. They also want me to give them a price for those second hand parts which they will use for reduce the overall quote the repair. On monday I will go down to the shop in person and speak to the repairer myself and detail everything I can about the car and the mods and the build everything so they know ehat I mean when I say my car is 2kspec 300zx.

    if anyone has any other adivce or suggests please post it here.
     
  3. Jason ttz32

    Jason ttz32 Active Member

    Hi Adam, I've been down this road before. My car interior was vandalised, the insurance company deemed the car a write off and paid me out. The car went to auction a month later, and I bought it back. Insurance paid 14k. I rebought the the car for 4k. (As a repairable write off.)
    Just another option to consider.
     
    ADAMZX likes this.
  4. ADAMZX

    ADAMZX 2000spec Conversion

    Hey jason thanks for the advice, i have also considered this option as well and it is a very viable 0ne to take if the car doesnt get repaired and I get paid out by shannons. Atm i want to try get the car repaired now and i would look at those kind of options if the car is written off by shannons.

    Strangely though the shannons rep i spoke to when making the claim on monday told me that if the car was written off I could buy the car back off the insurance company for a wreckers fee or something along those lines and he stated be could be around a couple hundred bucks for the whole car which sounded weird but it was an option I could consider.

    I have also checked the avaliablity and costs of buying another Z and potentially transferring all the parts over from my crashed Z to the new one but it seems Z32's are no longer under 10k anymore and not as plentyful as I remember when looking 14 years ago which is it be expected. Which means my $13k pay out for my car minus the cost to buy it back might not be enough to buy a replacement Z without more funds and considering Im about to put a deposoit on a new house soon this is not at all an ideal situation to spend money I dont have.

    So that is why I'm going to push for the repair as much as possible.
     
  5. geron

    geron National Petroleum Equipm

    Don't make your car a repairable write off, it's a PITA to re-register. P.I.T.A.
     
    ADAMZX likes this.
  6. ADAMZX

    ADAMZX 2000spec Conversion

    So thats the catch huh and its in my best interests to get the car repaired now not later. All this information has been extremely valuable to me everyone and i am now more aware of the hurdles im still yet to face with this repair process over the next few months.

    I discovered last night as well the reality of sourcing replacement parts was going to be the biggest problem with this repair with parts like the headlights and even the reo bar all nla with $1k+ price tags on any website i enquired with.

    However I was able to find all the parts i had mentioned to the panel shop minus the reo bar yesterday and it looks like they will all need to be used to just get the car fixed to a repaired state and my cars dream 2kspec look may no longer be possible to fully bring back to what it once was.

    So I have been trying to look at what offer options i have to take such as maybe its time to move on from the 300zx to say a 350z but my $13k pay out is just not enough to buy a new z without putting in extra funds in which i dont really have to spare right now plus the time to find a decent one get it registered etc etc.

    Well it seems getting my car fixed is going to be the best option me in the long run and would solves more problems then it creates and hopefully i can be back to driving my car in the new year if all goes to plan.
     
  7. BigCol

    BigCol That's what she said...

    20 years ago - and before I discovered Aus300zx - I had a fairly large accident in my zed and was in a similar situation as you. Insurance told me that the cost of repairing the car was $1500 over their write off value. I paid that $1500 so quickly it didn't matter. Didn't want that voice in the back of my mind saying you killed a great car. 20 years and over 200 thousand kilometres later and I've never regretted it once.

    Even if you look at it from a financial perspective, if you have to pay a little now to get it repaired I reckon you'd get more than the payout figure if you sold it in 6-12 months as a clean running car. We have all been waiting for zed prices to finally rise, but the one downside is that some parts are getting more expensive and harder to find.

    Maybe the dream of the 2000 model replica will be difficult to hang on to, but maybe there is a new future with a unique ADAMZX spec zed.
     
    MickW and ADAMZX like this.
  8. ADAMZX

    ADAMZX 2000spec Conversion

    Thanks col, your 100% right and though these past few days have been extremely depressing and emtional for me, the emotional side of me has slowly started to subsided and im finally beginning to look at this from a more financial and practical stand point.

    As long as i get my car back repaired and running that is going to be the best outcome i can hope for and if i can source parts for the repairer new or used he cant find, then so be it, i can deal with it all stuff later and its possible i can even fix the broken parts myself in my own time and replace them with better condition parts later on in life when i have the spare cash to do so.
     
    BigCol likes this.
  9. NI85

    NI85 Active Member

    Besides the Lights and front bar, what else is 2K spec that you've damaged?
     
  10. ADAMZX

    ADAMZX 2000spec Conversion

    To be honest there is nothing else really to worry about. The 2kspec front bar grill mesh panel i think is undamaged as the impact site was above the mounting point for the grill piece and it looks like it probably just popped it off the plastic tabs it was clipped onto. There were also pin strips that most people dont even bother installing on the 2kspec front bar which i can get added during the painting phase as a painted pin strip anyways, so no there is no other 2kspec specific part that you would need to source which was the beauty about the fact all those later model parts were just bascially bolt ons to the existing chassis structure.

    And the only aftermarket part that would have been affected would be the stillen hi flow k&n pod filter which is a servicable part i have found still for sale online for $95 dollars.

    I dont know how the bonnet, nose panel, radiator support rail and headlight panels would be either repaired or replaced but i intend to ask them that tomorrow when i drop off my spare parts price list in person.
     
  11. geron

    geron National Petroleum Equipm

    Try to source good second hand parts and supply the panel beater. Get on Facebook market place and have a look at what's avaialble or ebay or on here. Concept Z performance and Z1.
    Replacement parts don't have to be new with the exception of support panel and the light housings where they mount on the body which should be available from Nissan New.
    Bar re-enforcement should be available second hand somewhere.

    IMO, this is the issue with the 2k spec Z, limited production and limited parts availability specifically to that year model. So if you have an accident try to source air bags for eg.
    Earlier Z32 FTW, much better!
     
  12. ADAMZX

    ADAMZX 2000spec Conversion

    Well things arnt good atm guys, I went to the repairers today with my dad to give them a list of spare parts I had avaliable and a list of new parts for them to source that I could find on RGS performance website to help with the repair quote. I even gave him several pages of part diagram blowups of the front bar, bonnet and radiator sections to help him pinout parts he may need to source for the repair from nissan directly, but it just seemed like a complete waste of time. His responses to me were, "I cant get the parts for the car they say their on backorder and nissan 4x4 (wreckers) dont have any cars to source parts from". "Can you get a bonnet and or fenders at all etc etc. and I'm thinking what am i a parts supplier or the customer of an insurance company trying to get my car fixed.

    I know I dont know how the business of repairing cars works and i understand its all business and everyone is thinking of their own pocket and I know this guy doesnt care about the car or my situation and he just didnt have any answers to my questions. I more or not got the impression from him that if you cant find parts for me the car it most likely wont get repaired which is at this point in time my worst fears. Now im thinking I pay for insurance so i dont have to deal with all this crap and that the repairer has to deal with this and I am just surpose to sit back and wait for the car to be repaired or not. I get it they cant make parts appear out of thin air but to me he hadnt even pulled the front bar off to see what was actually damaged and instead he was asking me to find lesser second hand parts to hopefully bring the repair cost down so the car wont get written off.

    Needless to say i am extremely pissed off. I thought these guys would of least source prices on all the basic Z parts we know are still avaliable from nissan in the damaged area and then use my list of parts for the stuff they cant find, but instead he hands down had nothing to offer me and was instead looking at me to find answers to our missing part problems. He kepted going on about having to wait for the salvage price of the car to come through before continuing with the repair but then why did he make me come all the way down there if he couldnt use the information i had to help with the repairs. My life has just imploded since this accident, nothing is going right for me at all and no matter how hard i try to make it better someone or something brings me back down into the mud and I am at wits end. Im turning into a angry depressed person and I know i fucked up but thats what i pay insurance so mistakes like this can be fixed and instead im more stressed, depressed and more angry then I have even been in my life and its so hard to think there is way out of this mess ive created.

    I have come to the conclusion that they are probably going to write my car off due to the fact they cant source all the parts they need to fix the damage in a timeframe that suits them and I am unsure what payment I'm going to have to pay to buy the car back from shannons but I believe the best course of action to take now is to accept I will have to fix the car myself over a period time using whatever money I get from the payout and hopefully my car will be back on the road one day.
     
  13. Dreilide

    Dreilide New Member

    Honestly, the only thing i can think of being hard to get/expensive are the headlights. Everything else you can get from RGS or gumtree/facebook/wreckers/ebay. But yeah conventional parts sourcing (just going to nissan) won't work with a car this old.

    I visited Niss4x4 last Feb and they had a silver Z with side impact damage, couldn't they just cut the panels you need and weld them in? Not a body guy so dunno if thats doable.

    You could probably create fake 2kspec headlights using a painted bezel insert, i actually think this is better as the real 2kspec headlights eventually delaminate when exposed to sunlight (search jap forums) and you can put whatever type of light you want in a fake one.

    Really hope she recovers, I am building my slicktop in along similar lines.
     
  14. BigCol

    BigCol That's what she said...

    Can you have a chat with Shannons about moving the car to another repairer?
     
    geron and IB like this.
  15. lidz

    lidz Well-Known Member

    Yeah I'm with Col mate, get on the phone to Shannons. "Your Choice of Repairer" is literally one of their big things or you can choose that 'Shannons will manage the repair process for you'.

    Did Shannons (or yourself) suggest the repairer it's ended up with or is that just where the tow truck took it?

    As you said, you pay good premiums so you don't need to handle this yourself.
     
    ADAMZX likes this.
  16. ryzan

    ryzan Moderator Staff Member

    Do you have any photos of the car with the bonnet up, curious to see the damage to the radiator support. Sounds like the panel shop isn't that keen to repair it.
     
  17. ADAMZX

    ADAMZX 2000spec Conversion

    From what the guy stated, nissan 4x4 didnt have any 300zx wrecks to source parts from in their yard and nissan direct said all the parts he enquired about were all on backorder. I can totally understand this car is 30 years old and new parts and even used parts are not easy to source for anyone but i would have though a panel shop who has repaired cars like this in the past and agreed to take the car in for a repair quote would have more connection to talk to about sourcing parts, im sure there are wreckers on the other side of the state that may have 300zx wrecks to source from I just dont understand why he has just tried 2 places and thats it, it just all seemed half arsed.

    I dunno, for me I felt like I achieved nothing with this face to face meeting with this guy, he seemed disinterested in the information I provided him and he just didnt give us a straight answer on anything he was doing or could do for the repair. things like using my original front bar instead of a 2kspec front bar and all this shit, that should not be a choice I need to make and he should just quote them what I priced him for and leave it at, and let the insurance company determine whether its worth it or not.

    I accept that the 2kspec headlights are now discontinued and out of anyones control to source at this point in time. My plans are to allow them use of my original oem headlights I have had sitting in storage as spare parts to fit to the car for the repair at a second hand rate and I would then try and fix the damage housings on the 2kspec lights myself later on.

    Mine headlights alos had already started peeling the chrome like you said due to the sun damage and I had plans to pull them apart and repaint the bezels myself one day when I had the time and money to do so so this idea to use my old lights though not ideal could allow me to push this repair foward at my own lesiure.

    I dunno col I really dont want to deal these guys again and I wouldnt want them to repair the car even if they were allowed to and this probably stems from my bad experiences in the past with panel beaters and the guy who painted my Z in 2012 where I got very poor results from the workmanship I paid for.

    I also dont have any recommendations for and panel shop to have the car sent to for the repair quote and I just dont want to have to deal with another shop and go through this all again.
     
  18. ADAMZX

    ADAMZX 2000spec Conversion

    I do, I took a ton of photos plus a video of the damage when I saw the car today, its pretty ugly but still It doesnt look as bad as you might think. Ill have to post them up tomorrow as its late and i need to try and get some sleep if i can.
     
  19. ADAMZX

    ADAMZX 2000spec Conversion

    I know but this repairer experience today just scares me to much to try and send the car somewhere else. If i can just get the car back and in my possession I can finally rest easy and not have to worry about being on a clock and I can take my time to order parts in myself and deal with it all on my own and this will make sure I get the quality repair I dont think anyone else could provide me.
     
  20. NI85

    NI85 Active Member

    While having to source parts yourself may be a pain. Have you looked at Import Nation? https://importnationaus.com/ (also sell on Gumtree). They generally have quite a bit of 300zx bits and pieces, some things they may have, and just not listed
     

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