Nissan 300ZX (Z32) Prices

First off, I'm not looking to start another thread bashing used car prices, however I am curious.......

About 10 years ago I owned a Jap spec Twin Turbo LWB 300ZX (manual). Aside from the SWB, pretty much the spec you'd want. Cloth interior with the deep pile jap spec mats, series 2 climate control, low miles etc etc. Probably the most problematic car I've ever owned It was a pain to work on as the engine bay was so tight, there were (and still are) only a handful of specialists. That all said, I still think it's one of the most beautiful car designs and was way ahead of its time. Every few months I head off to the classified just to see what's about.

This brings me to this topic. There are currently 7 for sale on PH with 4 of them up for £25k (with one POA). Of those 4 one is stock Jap import, and one is a heavily (but looks well done) modified one. The others vary in condition but appear nice. I sold mine, with no issues and about 60k on the clock for roughly a quarter of that ten years ago.

My question is, are people actually paying that for them now? I'd always thought they were undervalued compared to Skylines/Supras from the same era and in that respect, they're still well under what those fetch today so might be considered a "bargain" for 90s Jap machinery. But as far as I can tell their popularity hasn't changed, it's still the same folks interested in them as before.

Yeah that's right about when I had mine and they still certainly are all those things which makes it more surprising to see these kinds of asking prices. There was a decent running story on Jalopnik of a guy who bought one and went about fixing everything himself to make it reliable, it still cost a fortune in parts and took a long time due to needing to dismantle so much.

If I were in the US I think I'd be much happier buying and running one given the support over there. In all honesty I'd probably just drop in an LS and be done with it.

I had one for over 9 years. As a second car I would have one again if the prices were much lower. It could do daily driver, long distances and although only slightly warmed up went really well. What is not to like. Externally it was virtually stock and I think an attractive looking vehicle.

But they are getting old and many have been somewhat butchered by the customisers - which rarely produces a better car. , Parts availability is pretty good from the USA and if you want something a little different and very capable - what else is there?

The Supras always commanded a premium in the past, but apart from the big spoiler had little else unless heavily worked on. Now all of these cars are thin on the ground due to corrosion and their technical issues. Yes they are expensive, but they do represent a real high water mark technically. Twin turbo, rear wheel steer, great aeros, targa, a/c, cruise. leather. At 15k they would be cheap.

Thats a great pic and what a nice example you had, thanks for sharing!

That's a lovely stock looking example, hope it does well. Unfortunately if I ever had another it would have to be a TT+Manual as I had before.

Oh I have not, thanks for sharing! Will watch that later.

You've just reminded me that I still have a copy of the book "300ZX An Enthusiasts Companion" somewhere. Brand new as well. Just seen what the used ones are going for on Ebay, not sure I want to actually read it now

It was about 6-7 years back I wanted one so badly...looked at a few and they were utter rust heaps, and yes can remember the engine bay being packed tight on the TT I considered the NA just for ease of maintenance.

I actually ended up chancing on a Celica GT4 ST205 and in comparison it was cheaper and utterly mint and bought that instead. What a brilliant car it was for £5k at the time.

I dont think I could land 25k on a 300zx now though, I think it would have to be one of those 'its always been my dream' cars to pay north of that.

Indeed, apart from the autobox and slightly different cloth, identical.
Up for 3 times what mine went for, but then I only paid 3k for it in 2009 with 55k on the clock.
Would make a good stablemate for my 350. Must resist...

Haha, my GF has a 350 and I'll be honest I think to live with it's a far better car overall and probably much better in terms of performance if compared with the NA 300. It's not as much of an "event" as the TT 300s but then it also doesn't require taking it all apart every time something is playing up.

Not nearly as pretty though, they've aged very well IMO.

An early TT has seemingly appeared on a drive not far from me. It's been off the road since 2017, but I am sure it's not been parked there since then. No idea on which transmission.