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What can I get for my budget


Red_rider

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Hi All...

Well I am looking to get a fun car... something to drive on the weekend... so after much looking thinking etc I have settled on trying to buy a 350z... it looks sexy... reading up on them they seem to be a good reliable car that are fun to drive... and fits into my budget of around 3k. I would like to get a stock manual GT version. Not too fussed if it's a coupe or roadster. 

My question is would I get a decent car for that price... I have seen some but the mileage on them tends to be above 100k+. Part of me think that's not too high. but the another bit of thinks I could be inviting trouble. What are your thoughts... 

 

 

Also I'd appreciate it if you can give me a heads up of any on sale or coming up for sale in and around London...though tbh if the price is right I would travel further a field.

 

Edited by Red_rider
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Dont underestimate what Doogy says - do you have around a grand spare in case the clutch goes on your high miler? New brakes and pads will set you back five hundred quid. Tyres around one hundred a corner. Personally, I would think £3k is a stretch for a 'decent car' and you would be buying into pretty much the cheapest ones on the market which will be knocking on the door of 15 years old now. Make sure all perishables have been done recently and check for rust etc.

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Just to echo what Coldel and Doogyrev have already said, don't forget tax is at least £315/year plus they're pretty thirsty and have to be run on super unleaded. They're a sports car so they're not particularly cheap run but are well worth it imo. 

 

If you really want one I'd advise saving up about 5k which should get you a decent example, then another 1k or so for repairs/maintenance. Even if it's been well looked after it's bound to need some money spending on it at some point given its age. 

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I just bought mine at the end of last year, just over 100k on it and paid over £4k for mine, and the next service isn't going to be cheap so will be about £5000 in total (excluding tax and insurance) so would say its all about the condition, yes you can get cheaper cars but more than likely need a lot of work, as said previously might be worth saving a bit more getting an example thats not going to need as much spent on it.

 

Mileage wasn't a concern for me at all as engine always well maintained, its when its not got full history, not been ran on super unleaded dodgy repairs that would put me off.  But as said its a 15 year old car there can always be issues.

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Red_rider:

'Decent' - no (although that depends on your expectation of the word) ;)
You may well be able to find a (dog) example of a Z unless you happen to be lucky but I think perhaps you should read more posts, look/read before you leap.

Search for the typical things that need maintenance and then how much it costs to sort out.

 

Unless you have a decent budget (time/tools or reputable garage) for the work it'll undoubtedly need...be careful and see a few examples first.

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I bought mine fairly recently and been looking at them for a while, I would echo what others have said. For £3k it will be one of the earlier ones in tatty condition and probably previously written off or with something wrong with it. If it's not been a cat c/d previously and doesn't have anything wrong with it, it will probably be in poor condition and have been run into the ground, with bills in the near future on consumables (brakes, tyres, clutch, etc). 

 

They are not a cheap car to run, and as others have said I would set aside £1k for repairs/consumables. A set of tyres are >£500 for example and a clutch would be £1k. On the earlier models there can be gearbox issues. Also watch out for imports, they are a different spec and will probably cost more to insure. 

 

They are lovely cars and I love mine but you need to make sure you have realistic expectations of what you're going to get for that much money, and also regarding running costs.

 

All that said best of luck finding one in decent condition! :thumbs:

Edited by Rikz2004
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Thank you for the feedback... tbh I know these are expensive cars to run...  i knew that the 3k budget was on the low side ... i guess could go to 5k but that would be the max... I wanted to hold some back in case the car i bought had some issues. But I guess lower the price higher the risk of it being a lemon.

 

 

Ok question wat are ur thoughts on reliability of a manual vs automatic... I would pref manual. But what are ur thought...

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10 hours ago, CAL-85 said:

I just bought mine at the end of last year, just over 100k on it and paid over £4k for mine, and the next service isn't going to be cheap so will be about £5000 in total (excluding tax and insurance) so would say its all about the condition, yes you can get cheaper cars but more than likely need a lot of work, as said previously might be worth saving a bit more getting an example thats not going to need as much spent on it.

 

Mileage wasn't a concern for me at all as engine always well maintained, its when its not got full history, not been ran on super unleaded dodgy repairs that would put me off.  But as said its a 15 year old car there can always be issues.

What vers did u opt for? What was the mileage and what was the condition like

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Id go manual all day long, picked mine up. Non GT as heard the sat nav is a waste of time, i'd ever use CC and the leathers don't have as much grip for your arse.

 

Manual DE 19,000 miles Roadster, body work pretty much spotless barring the usual stone chips on the front £6500- Knocked him down to £6000 as it needs a new roof skin. That was 3 years ago.

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7 hours ago, Red_rider said:

What vers did u opt for? What was the mileage and what was the condition like

54 plate GT with 104k miles manual, good condition, seats not torn etc.  Still has stone chips to front bumper and bonnet as expected.  Brakes are probably going to need done within 1-2k miles, and although everything was fine when purchased, drivers side banana arm needs replacing now (common fault), service history is perfect you can tell from it whenever anything was required it was done, which is something will continue to do.  Alot of people mention tyre prices on this as expensive but im coming from a car that was £250 per corner and would go through them in less that 6000 miles so to be honest i find tyres very reasonable.  But as said before mileage isnt an issue as long as its been well serviced, id prefer high miler compared to one thats not had oils done regularly and has obviously just been used to get thrashed a few miles every month or so.

 

Roadsters seem to be going cheaper tbh but have the issue of a very expensive repair or replacement of the roof when or if required.

 

Worth mentioning as well its worth travelling for the right car, dont let a £50 train fair put you off travelling to see a car, mine was in lake district and im in Glasgow, think i got a return ticket for £36 so no issue if i got there and it wasn't right.

Edited by CAL-85
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My advice is to not go for a cheap 350z unless you can work on them confidently by yourself or with friends in the trade. Make sure that you can get a good look under it at the W brace and rear crossmember stays (kidney shaped) to check for rust. I paid £4250 for mine nearly 2 years ago (80000 miles) and it failed its first MOT due to rust 5 months after I bought it (car was sitting low on HSD coilovers so I couldn't get a good look under the car when buying it). Luckily they were all bolt on parts, but still set me back £400. Along with that the rear brakes needed changing (pads, disks and handbrake shoes) which set me back around £250 for the parts, but I changed them myself. My Banana arms need doing too so that's going to be around £250 fitted by myself, I've also done the front and rear drop links at £100. It's not only the big things with the Z too, there are a lot of small niggly bits that need sorting (unless you're not too OCD). All of the parts mentioned were not in my plans at all for the car as I wanted to spend money on the aesthetics rather than mechanics. Sorry for the slight thread hijack, but I wanted to share my personal experience with you so that you don't waste your money on a poor example.

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Sorry, just noticed ho negative that sounded. These are amazing cars and one in decent nick is especially nice so take your time to find the right one in the right spec for you. Also as you've already found the 350z community is also amazing so it's not just the car you'll be getting into. Good luck with your search. You won't be disappointed.

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Nothing wrong with the auto, as the box is pretty bullet proof, and none of the usual clutch problems. I find Jap imports are usually better cars as there is no salt on roads and the "mot" is much more involved than ours.

The downside is you sometimes don't get any Jap service history.

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54 minutes ago, Rikz2004 said:

Aren't Autos quite a bit slower than manuals? (Genuine question.)

 

3 hours ago, Sainz92 said:

My advice is to not go for a cheap 350z unless you can work on them confidently by yourself or with friends in the trade. Make sure that you can get a good look under it at the W brace and rear crossmember stays (kidney shaped) to check for rust. I paid £4250 for mine nearly 2 years ago (80000 miles) and it failed its first MOT due to rust 5 months after I bought it (car was sitting low on HSD coilovers so I couldn't get a good look under the car when buying it). Luckily they were all bolt on parts, but still set me back £400. Along with that the rear brakes needed changing (pads, disks and handbrake shoes) which set me back around £250 for the parts, but I changed them myself. My Banana arms need doing too so that's going to be around £250 fitted by myself, I've also done the front and rear drop links at £100. It's not only the big things with the Z too, there are a lot of small niggly bits that need sorting (unless you're not too OCD). All of the parts mentioned were not in my plans at all for the car as I wanted to spend money on the aesthetics rather than mechanics. Sorry for the slight thread hijack, but I wanted to share my personal experience with you so that you don't waste your money on a poor example.

Thanks you for your advice.. It's good to know other people's experiences that's how we all learn. 

 

I am pretty handy with a spanner... in the past I've done  a few jobs timing belts head gasket. Engine swaps. Etc. To that bit is good.

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2 hours ago, pagan said:

Nothing wrong with the auto, as the box is pretty bullet proof, and none of the usual clutch problems. I find Jap imports are usually better cars as there is no salt on roads and the "mot" is much more involved than ours.

The downside is you sometimes don't get any Jap service history.

 

Just now, Red_rider said:

 

Thanks you for your advice.. It's good to know other people's experiences that's how we all learn. 

 

I am pretty handy with a spanner... in the past I've done  a few jobs timing belts head gasket. Engine swaps. Etc. To that bit is good.

I thought Jap imports  were to be avoided. Cos there could be issue with insurance and such... am I wrong?

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