Potential New 350 Owner - Some Random Questions

[Rob89]

Guys hi,

 

Been doing a load of reading up on the Zed's and they sound like a great car which I really want to try. I'm coming from over 7 years of Renaultsports, the last 2 and half years being in an R26 which has been an amazing car, really capable, but itching for something that isn't a hot hatch with a nice big engine and more than 4 cylinders!

 

So a couple of random questions:

 

- Anyone come from owning a Megane or a Renaultsport? How do the maintenance and running costs compare? Other than normal maintenance the Meg has never let me down, though I have had to deal with a new clutch and flywheel as well as a cambelt change, both of which were over £700.

- From my looking around on Autotrader, roadsters seem to be quite a bit cheaper than the coupe, why is this? Are the roofs a nightmare? I'm after a coupe, but I do admit the cheaper roadsters do catch my eye! What are the roofs like to repair/replace?

- I'm based in South Wiltshire, not far from the Hampshire border. Are there any good specialists out this way? 

Thanks

 

[coldel]

Welcome along.

 

Maintenance wise, I dont have much of a benchmark, my wife has a boggo 2.0l mk2 megane and certain bits are cheap others a pain in the backside. Electronics are pain also. For the zed its a bit more industrial, I would expect clutch changes to be expensive, I did mine back in 2012 with OEM parts and parts alone were £700. Discs and pads can be pricey, easily end up spending £500+. Tyres I would suspect are more expensive than the Renaultsport.

 

Historically I hadnt noticed the roadsters being cheaper, then again havent looked in a while. 

 

You should look up Horsham Developments, Jez is a great guy there and will know the zed inside out - based near Newbury so probably not far from you.

Edited November 9, 2018 by coldel

[pagan]

+1 on above, and welcome.

[Andy Carfax]

Interested in you saying Roadsters being cheaper, not something I've ever found.  One thing I would say, if you want to go track day racing a lot of places will say that you'll need a roll bar if you have a Roadster so you'll need to think about this.

 

I think general maintenance is reasonable BUT you will get hooked probably on modification and this may get expensive.

 

Other main point is that we do go through a fair amount of petrol but it's worth it to hear that noise.

 

Unless you're into your working on your cars I'd recommend spending some more money and getting a really well maintained (most are) one, it'll save you in the long run.  I think I paid top dollar for mine but it had been serviced every 3,000 miles for the last 4 years and treated to £4k of upgrades too, including that expensive clutch replacement.

 

Roadster for me though.  Top down, heater on

[Mambofever]

I had a black R26, AU08 KJJ before my 350z. 

Was standard apart from cooksport springs and spacers. Incredible bit of kit, miss it quite a bit. 

I remember doing the big 5 year service on it. Belts, pumps plugs etc. That was around £700. 

The 350z is cheaper for me to service because the parts are easily available and the cars are fairly straightforward to work on.  Fuel is about the same on super unleaded. 

However I spend more money on the 350z because zedditus is a real thing, and there is soo much customisation available 

[scobie140]

Roadsters could be cheaper just now with the time of year? Its that time where sporty convertibles go down and big 4x4's go up.

 

[Rob89]

Cheers for all the replies guys. Interesting that they aren't generally cheaper, maybe I'm just imagining things! Again it is that time of year to sell them too. I would ideally like to find one with the clutch and flywheel done already as I got burnt with that with the Meg, had to get it done within 2 months of ownership, doh!

 

To put the R26 into perspective, a full set of discs and pads are around £400 - £600 depending on where you buy them thanks to the discs being drilled and the rears contain the wheel bearing and ABS ring. Tyres are about £130 a corner if you go for the proper size (235/40/18) and I average about 30 mpg, though you can be knocking on the door of 40 on a steady long run.

 

I also forgot to mention that I only see this being a relatively short term car, maybe a year or so. But then I may catch the dreaded zedditus so you never know!