A little info on the 350Z

[StevoD]

if your changing water pump put a fresh chain on tho

[jimboy2]

Isn't replacing the chain a really expensive job? I though it was un-necessary

[StevoD]

Isn't replacing the chain a really expensive job? I though it was un-necessary

 

and so is the water pump if its working fine

[jimboy2]

Yeah thought so. Op don't worry about those bits. Check the clutch as that's a grand to sort. The clutch can be quite noisy so try to ignore that unless it's obviously really broken. The bite point is also quite high.

 

I personally would look at the For sale section on here, You can then have a hunt through the forum and see exactly what's issues if any your car has had before.

[DiMarco]

yeah I will keep my eye out on forum and in the uk.

 

I didn't know she was chain driven but that should last the life of the engine.

[gort]

I had a FTO import straight off the boat from Japan, had it for over 11 years with no major problems over that time, thought it was a gamble at the time but turned out to be a excellent buy

 

good luck with the search,

[coldel]

I would be very surprised if you could import one fresh off the boat for £6k with that spec list - there is a fair cost to add to imports along with the auction costs.

 

There is no shortage of 350z's for sale at the moment, last time I looked 150 odd on AT, about half that on PH and so on and so forth. Import cars tend to be cheaper as people have a fear of grey history cars but you have to know what you are looking at, as I said the spec varies on imports vs UK cars where its very easy to spot if its a GT or not. I would also think about reconsidering the mileage requirement, for £6k you are not going to find many under 60k KM if at all - probably in the 80k miles mark I would think at that budget and look for decent service history but more importantly receipts of work done.

[GMballistic]

Imo Op I'd forget about all this import malarkey. With a £6K budget you should be able to find a good UK GT 350Z like below.

 

2004 Nissan 350Z, 60K miles, 2 owners, Rays alloys with FSH: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201410318637108/sort/default/page/1/postcode/cf158rl/radius/1500/usedcars/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/model/350_z/price-to/6000/maximum-mileage/up_to_60000_miles/make/nissan?logcode=p

 

Also there are plenty of professional traders on here that can sort you out with a good exhaust system & new wing afterwards if you really want them, not to mention the opportunity for great secondhand parts from the for sale section on here

.

 

Insurance wise tbh I don't think it matters with these cars whether it's an import or UK car as some have found great insurance deals on both so neither is necessarily more expensive to insure than the other anymore.

 

 

I'd also consider the fact that if you do buy an import it will more than likely be limited to a top speed of 112mph & you may not know any of the history of the vehicle as lot's of imports have very little or no service history.

 

The other thing is it used to be beneficial to get certain cars in import guise with regards to extra power. For example I used to own an imported (JDM) Subaru Impreza WRX my96 which from Japan had around 276ps. The UK variant of the same year/model had something like 256bhp so I did have extra bhp/torque because I had the JDM version in comparison to the UK version but that isn't the case with the 350Z AFAIK.

[DiMarco]

Thank you all very much for the help and advise I am still in to minds about importing. My brother will be importing a civic type r and I was thinking of doing the same its all about finding the right importer.

[coldel]

With so many good history UK cars and many modified I would agree with GMB on this, I looked at the import route for my R33 but ended up buying one already here and had all the work done to it already. It will cost you extra ££££ on top of the auction price to import and will have to wait 3 months'ish for it to arrive. Come resale time you will have the same issue that is potentially a bonus to you now, that owning an import it will have grey history and it will be worth less and harder to sell on.

 

If you want to continue down this route the importers I was speaking with were:

 

Torque GT (who seemed the best of them)

DCY Europe

SVA

JM Imports (on this site you can get access to the Jap auction sites live to see whats there - go to sales/auctions section)

Edited November 23, 2014 by coldel

[Jud1]

Being the (new) owner of an import ....( I didn't import ) - I would say, hang out for UK model - wishing perhaps I did for ease, the Ins Co "tried" to take me for more money - but I have a multicar and they risked loosing all of the cars so compromised .. but there was a moment there, I had the quote, I bought the car .. rang the Ins Co and they bumped me up another £200! after a few phone calls .. they rectified and honored original, I had not told them it was / might be an import.... (didn't know myself until I saw it!)

 

so far I've found..

 

Headlights are different on import ... not massive unless you want to change them out, then it's a purchase from US or modify UK ones

Battery connections are different size ( though probably easy to get around these days )

Car is limited / restricted (+4>500 for removal, or cheaper HK Defence)

 

Couple of other bits that escape me at moment ....

[Desey]

Being the (new) owner of an import ....( I didn't import ) - I would say, hang out for UK model - wishing perhaps I did for ease, the Ins Co "tried" to take me for more money - but I have a multicar and they risked loosing all of the cars so compromised .. but there was a moment there, I had the quote, I bought the car .. rang the Ins Co and they bumped me up another £200! after a few phone calls .. they rectified and honored original, I had not told them it was / might be an import.... (didn't know myself until I saw it!)

 

so far I've found..

 

Headlights are different on import ... not massive unless you want to change them out, then it's a purchase from US or modify UK ones

Battery connections are different size ( though probably easy to get around these days )

Car is limited / restricted (+4>500 for removal, or cheaper HK Defence)

 

Couple of other bits that escape me at moment ....

 

there are a lot of little subtle differences yes, but not all of them are bad

 

ie auto fold mirrors

centre console cubby thing is wayyy better

different colours

ECU can hold multiple maps

 

as previously said i have had both an import and a UK (the import first, and going to a UK was no different really)

 

only reason i changed was i broke it

 

also insurance for me was the same price, changed about £20 or so, but that will be different from person to person

Edited November 24, 2014 by Desey

[DiMarco]

Well it seems like it will cost more to import than It would to get a uk model. I believed from importing last time it would be a lot cheaper.

[The Seasider]

Imports are fine - as others have said.

 

There's enough already here to choose from so you don't need to buy unseen.

 

I've got one of each - I prefer the import in most respects (and its an auto) other than the brakes (non Brembo) and the audio equipment (poor).

[WhackyWill]

Here's something well written by Ian and worth reading .

 

http://www.350z-uk.c...6-buyers-guide/

 

And one by Martinmac

 

http://www.350z-uk.c...tential-buyers/

Edited November 25, 2014 by WhackyWill

[zippypooz]

Hurry up and buy one!! I love mine!! Plus you'll have full back up on here, there's some great owners on here, full of knowledge and always willing to help out. You'll love every minute owning your zed...try not to look at yourself as you pass large shop windows though!!!!