350z - import or not?
Discussion
About 9 months ago I posted on here asking if I should get a Porsche 911 (993) or a 350z. Due to my requirements for some luggage space, most people on both the Jap forum and Porsche forum, advised the 993, which I did. I love it to bits, but driving it up the M4 every day as a commuter is killing it's low mileage, so I'm now looking at the cheeky option of getting a 350z as my main commuter car and long distance running, keeping the porker for more 'special' occasions.
Now, the market for Z's has changed a lot recently, what with the recession and the 370z on the near horizon, meaning that prices have dropped a lot since I was last looking.
My question is this:
I saw a Jap imported 350z for sub £10k on s2000-4u.co.uk and I was wondering what the downsides would be of owning a jap import? Spiel says that it is fully UK Nissan serviced since import (in the old days main dealers used to avoid touching imports??).
Or am I crazy and should I not consider jap imports and only focus on getting a genuine UK car and pay a little extra?
Now, the market for Z's has changed a lot recently, what with the recession and the 370z on the near horizon, meaning that prices have dropped a lot since I was last looking.
My question is this:
I saw a Jap imported 350z for sub £10k on s2000-4u.co.uk and I was wondering what the downsides would be of owning a jap import? Spiel says that it is fully UK Nissan serviced since import (in the old days main dealers used to avoid touching imports??).
Or am I crazy and should I not consider jap imports and only focus on getting a genuine UK car and pay a little extra?
I drive a 993...I barely get 17mpg from that, but boy is it fun!!
Always fancied an S2000 as well, maybe I'll look into that as well. All I really want is a nice daily driver that has elements of fun (my Mk4 Golf GTi sadly falls short), but also reliability. Also the 993 interior is...how shall I describe this....'classic', and I'm a bit of a techie geek so love the 350z interior.
I guess I'm looking for...you know...safe, simple, but fun to throw into corners...not to replace the Porsche, but to enhance it when the mood suits, and something that doesn't mind having 90 miles a day put on the clock.
Always fancied an S2000 as well, maybe I'll look into that as well. All I really want is a nice daily driver that has elements of fun (my Mk4 Golf GTi sadly falls short), but also reliability. Also the 993 interior is...how shall I describe this....'classic', and I'm a bit of a techie geek so love the 350z interior.
I guess I'm looking for...you know...safe, simple, but fun to throw into corners...not to replace the Porsche, but to enhance it when the mood suits, and something that doesn't mind having 90 miles a day put on the clock.
AlienGhost said:
I drive a 993...I barely get 17mpg from that, but boy is it fun!!
that's fine if it's your only car, but i thought you might wanna be a bit more sensible with running costs if you're running two cars etc....but i'm guessing money's not the problem for you? lol
still, they are a bit noisy/drony on the motorway, at least my OH's is, albeit one of the earlier ones (05) with the 280odd bhp rather than the 300 or the 313....
if you're doing serious mileage, make sure you take one down the motorway for an hour before parting with any cash....
Whilst I cant argue the Z isnt exactly quiet - 2 weeks ago we did a 700 mile round trip in it, cruising between 70-95mph and neither of us mentioned the noise - and I dont recall whinging about - and trust me, I would whinge. I am not trying to say its quiet - but its not bad enough not to buy one.
As said - try one if this is a worry.
Also - the road tax import Vs UK, the UK cars before 2006 are not supertax, so ignore the £400 comment above unless your buying a 2006+
As for Import Vs UK - I drove both, and bought a UK car. They are so cheap now the cost saving you get from an Import really isnt worth it IMHO. I drove an import and it was not as nice as the UK car - which I ended up buying. By the time you have found a decent import, with all the toys that the UK GT has, and a manual gearbox you will be paying very similar money to a UK GT, which has the UK clocks, Stereo, Sat Nav, History, and probably most importantly it is set up for UK roads - couldnt tell you how, but they drive different - try both. I prefer the look of the UK car - when I see an import now I am glad I didnt get one.
I got a 2005 GunMetal GT Coupe, with heated Alzean electric leather, Bluetooth, Sat Nav, Parking Sensors, Xenons, Brembo's, etc etc. 50k, full Nissan history at the same supplying dealer, Mint car - needed a service and tyres (which equates to £1k) I paid £10k for it - its a buyers market!
I read about heavy steering, clutch - pleased to report mine has neither. We also got 31.8mpg on a 350 mile trip, which cant be sniffed at for such a car. I also find the boot space plenty big enough for our needs - your not going to get huge amounts in there, but we can get some pretty big bags in there,
Good points: Large fuel tank, a lot of fun, fairly rare, comfy, pretty quick, toys, very mechanical feel - chunky gearing, reliable, cheap insurance
Bad points: Tyre bills, certain parts are pricey - brake pads and plugs, factory sat nav isnt all that, parking sensors are hugely over sensitive
I love mine - and for the money I really couldn't find much else to touch it. E46 M3 - yes, but 10k gets you a 2001 with 90k.
Go drive a Z - you will like it :-)
As said - try one if this is a worry.
Also - the road tax import Vs UK, the UK cars before 2006 are not supertax, so ignore the £400 comment above unless your buying a 2006+
As for Import Vs UK - I drove both, and bought a UK car. They are so cheap now the cost saving you get from an Import really isnt worth it IMHO. I drove an import and it was not as nice as the UK car - which I ended up buying. By the time you have found a decent import, with all the toys that the UK GT has, and a manual gearbox you will be paying very similar money to a UK GT, which has the UK clocks, Stereo, Sat Nav, History, and probably most importantly it is set up for UK roads - couldnt tell you how, but they drive different - try both. I prefer the look of the UK car - when I see an import now I am glad I didnt get one.
I got a 2005 GunMetal GT Coupe, with heated Alzean electric leather, Bluetooth, Sat Nav, Parking Sensors, Xenons, Brembo's, etc etc. 50k, full Nissan history at the same supplying dealer, Mint car - needed a service and tyres (which equates to £1k) I paid £10k for it - its a buyers market!
I read about heavy steering, clutch - pleased to report mine has neither. We also got 31.8mpg on a 350 mile trip, which cant be sniffed at for such a car. I also find the boot space plenty big enough for our needs - your not going to get huge amounts in there, but we can get some pretty big bags in there,
Good points: Large fuel tank, a lot of fun, fairly rare, comfy, pretty quick, toys, very mechanical feel - chunky gearing, reliable, cheap insurance
Bad points: Tyre bills, certain parts are pricey - brake pads and plugs, factory sat nav isnt all that, parking sensors are hugely over sensitive
I love mine - and for the money I really couldn't find much else to touch it. E46 M3 - yes, but 10k gets you a 2001 with 90k.
Go drive a Z - you will like it :-)
gilla said:
define TOO noisy Martin... I have no issues with my standard roadster up to acceptable road speeds, does this Nismo change the pitch much at the upper end or is it mainly lower end growl? I've been debating on a pop charger and an exhaust change 
OK, its a very nice noise and its not too loud unless I give it some right foot. As such I dont have any problems with it.if you go for an import, get one imported fresh from japan, as they tend to use their cars less over there and do look after them a great deal better then us brits,
but on the flip side the yen is rocketing against the GBP at the moment so prices will be a bit higher than this time last year
but on the flip side the yen is rocketing against the GBP at the moment so prices will be a bit higher than this time last year
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