Thinking about becoming an owner, few questions :)

[oMIKEYo]

Well firstly, hello to all. Im Mikey and im 22 from stockton (north east) and now im looking for a 350z butttt i have a few questions before hand..

 

I was driving a celica however someone in a supra kindly flicked their back end in to my car which caused a write off.. so now im looking for something celica-ish shaped (coupe lol), but something with more power.

 

Heres my celica

 

And this is her now

 

Its been registered as a cat c now, and tbh there is no point in putting money back in to her to bring her back to life as its just not financially viable. The car had cost over £11k and will be split when the insurance decide to offer me..

 

Good thing is though, the supra driver admitted liability, so all is fine in that department.

 

Anyways, back to the 350z...

 

I've never driven a rear wheel drive car before, the supra was - and the way that spun out sort of scared me off them, so how bad are they to actually drive? sun, snow, rain, wind etc etc.. as much info as possible!

 

Is there a facelift and a prefacelift model? If so, whats the difference?

 

Are there any faults to look out for? Common problems etc etc?

 

Tuning options? I know with the celica, it had a daft ecu so tuning was limited unless lots of ££'s where spent - doesn't bother me although its easier to know sooner rather than later

 

Any issues with mileage? Whats high? Whats low? Engines go bang? Eat oil? and what not

 

And just any other general information about them you can give me as a first time owner going to look for the one for me

 

I think ill be going for a < 2006 model as thats the cheaper tax bracket i believe? I begrudge paying near on £500 a year to drive my car, so the cheaper tax is the best option i believe. Shame really as newer models are obviously more desirable.

 

And lastly, i'm thinking white is the way forward? Although if i really had to, it would be red or yellow if white wasn't available...

 

That's it really, i hope to see you all sometime at some meets and shows and get to know some of you You may have seen my car at a show before, i don't know, but i look forward to the replies

 

Cheers and hello again to all

 

Mikey

[Gball1973]

to the forum Mikey. Shame about the Celica Great looking car and, in my neck of the woods, don't see too many that have been nicely modded.

As for your questions about the zed, most if not all have been answered before and can be found using search

[thetranquilbass]

 

a lot of useful info here to get you started http://www.350z-uk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=23843

[MITZ@CougarStore]

Welcome to the forum...

[sparky370z]

 

use the search in the top right. it will answer alot of questions.

 

white ones are uber rare and if i remember import only. yellow will be a GT4 edition and Chilli (<06) and rosso (>06) red are also very rare.

 

good luck with the hunt. it will be well worth it........... trust me.

 

also have deep pockets as the traders on here relieve you of money VERY easily!! LOL

[BulletMagnet]

Have I seen you over on CCUK?

I'm Zorgs brother

Welcome to the club

[Bockaaarck]

Hi Mikey, welcome aboard

 

Damn shame about your Celica, great looking car, must have been gutting. The guys have already recommended using the search and FAQ's section so that's been covered. Have a good nose around, you'll find all sorts of info, if you can't find what you're after feel free to ask.

 

As for rear wheel drive you really shouldn't let it worry you. You'll find it's a different type of driving style but IMO ultimately more rewarding than front wheel drive when you're driving a car with a certain level of performance and power.

 

The key is smooth progressive driving, no snatching and stabbing at the loud pedal and graduated steering input. That's not to say you can't flick up through the box and make 'progress' easily. Its just that the method of doing things like that takes a bit more consideration initially, but that just comes with practice, you'll soon suss it out.

 

Plus the Zed has traction control to help keep you pointed in the right direction if you slightly overstep things, not that you should take that as an invitation to light up the rears because it's there to protect you. You shouldn't really be putting yourself in a position that often that the TCS has to kick in, if you are, you're doing something wrong.

 

EDIT: Forgot to mention that I've driven my Zed in driving rain, sleet n snow (although not deep snow) without any major issues. Making sure you fit decent tyres at the correct pressure will make a significant difference. In the wet its best to be aware you have a big lump up the front with not a lot of weight on the rear, where you have around 276 BHP going through the wheels. If you fail to consider this and drive as you would in the dry you're promoting an opportunity to spin it and bin it, just bear the road and tyre conditions in mind.

 

That being said all that I've written about isn't particular or specific to the Zed, that's just about good, measured driving.

[Ian]

[dragon]

[JetSet]

Welcome to the forum

 

 

As stated white Zed's are extremely rare. In the lower tax bracket there are just a handful of imported Zed's in the country plus a small number of wrapped Zed's. The only U.K white Zeds were from around 2008 and these are also rare.

 

 

Yellow was only available on the limited edition GT4 although there are a few yellow non GT4 imports knocking around. While red Zed's are not rare they certainly aren't common either, so good luck with the search.

 

I also came over from a Celica, I think there are quite a few on here who followed that route.

 

 

Pete

[glrnet]

all of the above is sound advice, however BM, that sounds like a line from a Sci Fi movie, "I'm Zorg's bother"

[rtbiscuit]

 

zeds possibly one of the safest RWD cars to start off in, as RWD goes its very progressive, very planted and very predictable. i would say the zed is a great first step in to the world of RWD.

 

decent tyres will solve most issues, dont turn TCS off for a while as you learn the car

 

and the trick with RWD is smooth. smooth acceleration, smooth braking, smooth steering.

 

as for tuning it has the same problems as the celica, mucho £££ to get any decent gains.

[DoogyRev]

Welcome Along

 

This is a really great picture

 

 

I think you would love the Zed as a replacement

[bronzee]

We'll watch with interest, at your Zed to be. Given what your Celica was like. Were you on your way to a meet? Given there's a black Celica behind you. On the upside, even in the Supra muppet did write your car off, gives you a chance to step into something new. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

[oMIKEYo]

Hey hey

 

Thanks to all for the friendly welcomes

 

To the above, yep you will have seen me over on ccuk haha. And if the way is common Celica -> 350z then maybe there are some more members I will know haha.

 

Also to the above, yep I was on the way to a meet haha, was a general one not just Celicas, I just traveled down with some Celica friends! Really sad and such a shame but as said it opens doors to move on and get something new. As long as I can get it looking some what as nice, I'll be happy

 

I've had a look around over the last few days, not intense but just a little browse.

 

Came up against a problem-

 

I can't seem to find ANY for sale round here in garages! Haha all seem to be private :-/ and with that I'd rather be able to go and view a couple and test drive one atleast (hence garage) without having the intention to buy that specific car!

 

Looks like its Gunna be a longgggggg road to finding the right one for me! And I'm in to thinking I'm going to end up having to travel!

 

What I want is:

 

Nismo kit if possible. Can buy later so not a great need.

Lower mileage (54k sounds good with service done)

I want full black leather, with heated and electric seats

And I want the built in sat nav

 

Not too fussed on the colour now, I've came to the conclusion to buy a more common colour for cheaper than the colour I want and use the savings to have it wrapped. Probably white.

 

Looking to spend between around 6-8k and I'm wanting a totally unmolested blank canvas

 

I dont want much do I haha.

 

I'll carry on my search

 

Thanks again people!

 

Mikey

[evilscorp]

Hi Mikey

My sister has a celica which I borrowed for the winter a few years ago, nice car but the engine noise is a bit you will love the V6 sound track

Yours however looks such a shame, I'am guessing you will be modding your new car

[Sam]

[sparky370z]

if your gonna wrap it then get a common colour.

 

7k will get you a decent one i would think. sold mine for 7k with a few mods with 45k on the clock.

 

you MUST be willing to travel for the right one.

 

my mrs family are from boro and there are a few members up there.

[Stuart H]

Welcome and to see your pride and joy in pieces

I recently got myself lovely Z. You are comming from a front wheel drice celica to a rear wheel drive Z. Rear wheel drive is so much more fun.

You will love it.

I love the look of your Toyota before the damage, STUNNiNG!

[ewan221]

Welcome to the forum

 

I would not get too hung up on the sat nav it really is pretty poor and you could always fit a satnav head unit in place of the stock one if you want.

[SteveRS]

[Fodder]

 

I came from a 190 to the 350z and what a leap it was. The cars are totally different to drive, the Zed to me is a lot more relaxed for day to day driving (IMO). You had to be quite harsh on the 190 for even around town as there was just no torque there however they do come alive when you want a spirited drive.

 

The Zed as I mentioned is just a very easy car to drive day to day, someone else mentioned the key is to be smooth and i cant agree more. I too was a little concerned about moving from a FWD Celica to a RWD but you soon adjust your driving style, start thinking about the roads a lot more especially on roundabouts and exiting corners where you wouldnt typically care in the celica.

 

The other thing I found was it doesnt feel quick compared to the high revving shouty VVTLi... but boy it is; it may not get you up to warp speed but it's quick enough to get you a ban in a fairly short amount of time.

 

I suggest you book a test drive at a local stealer to get a feel for the car and get along to one of your local meets to talk to local owners who will be able to show you the differences between revisions etc.

 

Good luck, i dont think you will look back

 

Oh yeah i sometimes go on CCUK to see if my old 190 has turned up... it hasnt yet

[370Ad]

Hi Mikey,

 

Shame to hear about your Celica, i watched you mod it up from stock on CCUK. My forum name was Adam190.

 

 

I was very scared moving from the Celica to the 350 (cost, reliability, rwd....!) But TBH it has surprised me, if you source parts efficiently (traders/eBay) etc you will find its not too much more to run than the Celica. My insurance was also cheaper on the 350 than the Celica....work that one out!

 

With your budget your looking at the 276bhp one in GT spec. You will find colour makes a dramatic difference in the price of these Nissan's, i was really shocked when i looked. Silver and gunmetal seem to be the cheapest and blue/black being the most sought after.

 

Good luck with the hunt!