Early GT86- Pitfalls?

[W201_190e]

Seeing that these can be had for circa £10k, it's a consideration for a bit of a fun 2nd car for not mega running costs? I understand they aren't terribly quick, but are there any potential drawbacks to consider?

[ZX10R NIN]

The only drawback is the flat spot when driving but this can be solved for not a lot of cash that's about the only drawback, at the other end of the scale the 370Z is another good steer with very sensible running costs apart from the road tax £300 more per year & fuel consumption difference of around 6mpg real world.

Both are god steers but for me the Z is the winner my brother prefers a sorted GT86 without the flat spot otherwise if you're talking out of the factory he'd take the 370,

The real answer will come when you test drive one & then you'll know if it's for you.

[Scootersp]

Worth noting if you look at these years that it's been done.

https://car-recalls.eu/recall/toyota-gt86-2012-201...

[W201_190e]

Thanks both. I also like the 370Z but stories of engine issues scare me. I'll look out for cars that have had the recall done.

I'm thinking about moving away from German stuff for a change. It will be a good few months yet

[samoht]

W201_190e said:

I also like the 370Z but stories of engine issues scare me.

If you mean the oil gallery gasket on the early 370Zs, it's only ~£700 or so to fix and I've never heard it blowing up the engine, so not that scary I'd have thought? Or are you thinking of something else?

Not to say you shouldn't get a GT86 instead, just that I'd think the reasons to do so would be handling and fuel economy, rather than engine reliability ;-)

[sandman77]

Are these still £10k for an early one? It seems they have been that price for years. I’m sure they were under £20k brand new so £10k for a 8/9 year old one sounds pretty expensive to me.

[samoht]

sandman77 said:

Are these still £10k for an early one? It seems they have been that price for years. I’m sure they were under £20k brand new so £10k for a 8/9 year old one sounds pretty expensive to me.

Yes (a handful for £9k but assume there's something wrong with 'em)

They were never under £20k new, I think £25k was the lowest RRP although there may well have been deals.

They're the kind of car that is much more popular with used-car buyers than new-car buyers, hence have always had strong residuals. Plus a lot of 7-10+ year old cars have seen values rise modestly in the past 12 months.

[Om]

samoht said:

If you mean the oil gallery gasket on the early 370Zs, it's only ~£700 or so to fix and I've never heard it blowing up the engine, so not that scary I'd have thought? Or are you thinking of something else?

Not to say you shouldn't get a GT86 instead, just that I'd think the reasons to do so would be handling and fuel economy, rather than engine reliability ;-)

I am not aware of any other engine issues on the 370z. The gallery gasket leaks were resolved by the 2013 'facelift' but even on the earlier cars were never a big deal. These engines do relatively huge mileages in the US and there is nothing being highlighted there. There is a potential need for an oil cooler in hot countries if being driven hard/tracked (again resolved by the 2013 facelift) that is the only other engine related thing that springs to mind.

[nickfrog]

sandman77 said:

Are these still £10k for an early one? It seems they have been that price for years. I’m sure they were under £20k brand new so £10k for a 8/9 year old one sounds pretty expensive to me.

Or very cost effective if they indeed don't depreciate much.

The price list was never that low but the transaction prices corrected the fact they were too expensive quite quickly and you could indeed buy a £20k with less than 5k miles a few months after launch.

Which makes for very cheap motoring long term.

But I urge you to have a long test drive to make sure you can live with the engine, and not just because of the torque dip. I found it quite unpleasant in other ways.