NITO

I can't believe no one has mentioned this yet........300ZX,300ZX,300ZX!!! Awesome cars. I prefer it to the Supra a million times. Sorry Supra boys, it's the steering, it pulls you around all over the place, after a scoob it's just no good! The 300zx on the other hand is beautifully balanced, has excellent steering, very well mannered etc...plus it's a twin targa for the summer, has climate control leather/electric seats is powerful enough with it's 3 litre six cylinder 24v Twin Turbo, cruises very comfortably on the motorway and is pretty good on the twisty stuff etc.

My g/f just bought one and I love it!!!

Nito

MattN

How much are those Supra's!!!!!!

24k for a 93 no wonder it's on sale!!!

Well if your talking twin turbos don't forget Subaru's own Legacy. In GT-B guise you can't go wrong 260-280bhp 4WD goes round corners like a true sports car. Sixty in 6 secs and a top whack in excess of 150mph. Not bad seeing as a good 95 model is only about 10k well in budget.

MattN (yes I do own one, did I mention it's for sale?)

NickM

NITO.

Sorry, I don't understand what you mean by the steering pulling you around but I agree, the 300ZX is a great car.

AWD

The 300ZX is a very good car. I am looking forward to seeing what Nissan's new Z car is going to be like when it is released next year.

Mulder

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by NITO:
<B>I can't believe no one has mentioned this yet........300ZX,300ZX,300ZX!!! Awesome cars. I prefer it to the Supra a million times. Sorry Supra boys, it's the steering, it pulls you around all over the place, after a scoob it's just no good! The 300zx on the other hand is beautifully balanced, has excellent steering, very well mannered etc...plus it's a twin targa for the summer, has climate control leather/electric seats is powerful enough with it's 3 litre six cylinder 24v Twin Turbo, cruises very comfortably on the motorway and is pretty good on the twisty stuff etc.

My g/f just bought one and I love it!!!

Nito [/quote]

I take it you know how outrageously unreliable they are then? You do? Good.

Mulder

Oh and before you say "How the hell would you know?" I nearly bought one, I spoke to the owners club. THEY put me off.

AWD

Mulder - why are they so unreliable when all other Nissans (including the 200SX) are very reliable?

Is it the modified 300ZXs that are unreliable or do you mean even standard spec ones?

NeilR

Version II or III STi

£13-15k will get you a nice one, including a coupe.

NeilR

NITO

Hi guys,

Nick...what I mean about the steering on the supra is that it follows every rut in the road. When I was out test driving one the car wanted to pull over to the other side of the motorway at 120mph just coz a wheel touched one of the ruts left by the lorries. The Skyline also has a lot of bump steer/tramlining probably due to the large tyres. It was the same story in town and braking for roundabouts. Personally I didn't feel comfortable with it, I imagine it's something you grow used to all the same!

Mulder, the Nissan isn't at all unreliable. The only problem being that when something does go wrong it costs a lot of money to fix. The main problem is labour charges, the engine looks like it's been shoe horned in so access for the simplest of jobs turns it into a marathon. The key to buying a Nissan (as with any car) is to take a lot of care when buying it. I looked at a lot of crap ones before we found this one. If you buy a duffer then the chances are it will cost you thousands! Find one that's been looked after and they are awesome, autos also tend to have less problems than manuals and every imported 300 I've seen has been absolute **** so better to stick with uk on these!

The 200 is a very nice car too, especially the new shape, I saw a bodykit for one from Japan the other day and it looked brilliant!!

Nito

Bernmc2

Gary

Problems you've mentiooned with expensive running costs have been one of my main concerns. NIce to hear from people who actually own some of these cars as it's the only way to find out what they really cost!

I'll definately be trying a 200. What's the insurance like?

Other problem is that the only other car in our family is a coupe, so the bratskis have been eyeing all these 2+2's with scepticism!

Mulder

Just re-read my last posts, they looked a bit short tempered, sorry. When I spoke to the owners club and asked what I should look out for, the list that was given to me was huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge. It included very worrying things like the 4WS and HICAS amoungst "when you replace the turbos the engine has to come out - thousands to fix" and "when a head gasket goes it easier to get a new engine" stuff like that.

I quite agree that the 200sx is reliable, I bought one (Branners one)!!!! Cracking cars. I think it was a case of they stuffed SO much technology into the 300zx that it became.......Querky? I agree, if you find a minter, look after very well, it'll be fine. It just that MOST people don't and there are ALLOT of snotters out there. And as you say it WILL cost you allot of money when it goes wrong, and be prepared for it to be off the road for months at a time.

Cheers

Dave

AWD

I used to have a 200SX. Loved it - well right up until I tried to avoid a dog and wrote the motor off on a roadsign/kerb combination.

Very cheap to run, maintain, service - and loads of fun. Well specced for a reasonable price (second hand) as well. You can buy them new (from some places in the UK) for £16,000 so you can imagine what that has done for the second hand prices.

Mulder

Mines the S13, I prefer the shape to the new one. The mods are on the way though! Filter already in, full exhaust and actuator next month. Then FMIC!

AWD

Mulder - I had teh S13 as well. Definitely prefer the looks to the current look (even though the newer one is better specced, 30BHP more etc.) I'd still consider getting an S14 though as mint S13s are pretty hard to come across, and S14s are everywhere and at pretty good prices.

GCollier

I'd add a further nomination for the 200SX. I've had a 96P 200SX as an "interim" car for the past 6 months, bought from a guy on this board. Apart from a dead battery caused by cold weather and a long spell of non-use whilst on holiday, it's been totally reliable. Servicing has been cheap (paid just over £200 for the biggie "C" service), and it sailed through the MOT no probs at all. It's also a let better built than an impreza.

Very enjoyable and entertaining to drive (took it to Don Palmers wet handling course, and whilst the other cars - caterhams, MR2, TVR Cerbera were spinning all over the place, the 200SX could be drifted around the circles with ease for entire laps on full opposite lock). In fact both me and my girlfriend like the car so much, that when I buy something new later in the year (hopefully!), rather than sell it, she's going to have it, and we'll sell her car instead.

If you're selling the P1 to save money, then I can't really see the sense in some of the other suggestions for e.g. Skylines, Supras, Porsches etc, which may give you £10K+ in the bank to start with, only to have to eat heavily into it later if anything goes wrong with what will be a much older car.

Gary.

AWD

When I had the 200SX only the Nissan Micra was cheaper to service. i.e. the 200SX was the same cost to service as Primera, Almera, etc.

Parts are relatively cheap, you can tune them (if you so choose) to your heart's content, and they are very reliable.

Did I mention how much fun they are?

AWD

The only downside IMO is that the rear space is not too good for adults. You can get 4 adults in there but you wouldn't want to do long journeys like that.

GCollier

Insurance on the 200SX is a touch on the expensive side, but not as bad as an impreza. My premium based on a Kingston-upon-Thame address (outer London, and a reasonably high-risk area, but which I've moved from last weekend) was £700, car left on street, 29yr old, full protected NCB, full breakdown cover included. This was with Bell Direct. I think it's falling to around £600 now that I've moved to Hitchin, Herts.

If you take a look at them, try out a Touring model, which has air-con, full leather and a CD-Multichanger as standard equipment. I've seen delivery-miles, pre-registered examples offered for sale in mags recently for arounf £16K.

AWD is right - room in the back is not especially generous, but it is possible to fit 4 adults in the car at a pinch if you have to. With just one or 2 up, there is loads of space, very comfortable indeed.

NickM

NITO

I remember someone else saying this on the board a while ago and the UK spec car I first test drove was similar. I put it down to the road surface as it was a rather poor A road, a lot of camber and very rutted.

My current Supra's very composed even when it's off the clock and doesn't wander in the slightest, even after fitting much larger wheels (235/40ZR18 & 275/35ZR18).
If it did wander I wouldn't be happy with it at all so I appreciate what you're saying.
Suspension geometry out perhaps? I dunno.



[This message has been edited by NickM (edited 02 November 2000).]

S600BYY

i don't need to say any more than a vr6 corrado
they are a top motor and cheap,very good motorway manners due to more torque than clive anderson
they are fwd but don't let that put you off
please do yourself a favour and just try one what have you got to lose?

S600BYY

AWD

If you're considering a VR6 Corrado make sure that you get a mint example - they are becoming quite rare as they have been out of production for a while. Very nice cars - interior is looking a bit dated now IMO.

Mr Leigh

S600BBY Did I see you go through Kingsthorpe Northampton yesterday?

NickF

A friend bought an Audi S2 (1992 J reg) for £9k last year. It had almost 100k miles on it, but has been rock solid in terms of reliability. Servicing isn't too stupid, and insurance, although pricy, is way less than you're paying at the moment.

Plus it has 4wd, a bit of class, goes well, and handles acceptably.

Worth a thought, though buy with care - turbos are very expensive when they go, as are some of the consumables (discs, exhausts).

Nick

Bernmc2

I'm a bit wary of Audi's - not because of the cars, but because of the dealers. I had an A4, which was quite nice in a calm, plush sort of a way. Thing is, there were endless niggles - electrical gremlins, alarm, idle etc. Never anything serious, but stuff that needed to get sorted. It was amazing how many holes the dealership managed to find in the warranty, and I always seemed to be forking out cash. Also, I'd often book the car in to be sorted, they'd find that they didn't have the right bits despite having several weeks of warning, didn't bother to contact me, and I'd arrive to collect with nothing done and the need to make another booking. They could never keep the car and sort it out either - always over-booked, and weeks before they had space again.

So I'm afraid it would have to be a pretty good Audi to even make me sit in one now! Life's too short to have to deal with that sort of cr4p, and there are plenty of alternative cars!

grrrrrrr!

AWD

I would have thought that most Audi dealers wouldn't deal with cars of 92 reg or older, so you may not have to deal with an Audi dealer.

NickF

I know what you mean about the dealers - I was looking for a Passat TDI estate some years back (don't laugh!) and although there were some good dealers, many of them were really condescending.

Buy from a specialist, get it serviced by a non-franchised specialist as well - as with almost all cars, the specialist will be cheaper and better than the main dealer.

Nick

Mulder

Not sure about the new 200sx, but the older s13 is a group 17. I am sooooooo pleased that I bought one, fantastic motor.

AWD

New 200SX is meant to be either 17 or 18.

Definitely worth considering. Touring pack adds twin airbags, CD stacker, leather to the normal car. a/c is standard on both I believe.

tizard99

Guys, you've forgotten the most important car out there the good old CAV. nice 2litre 4x4 GSi (turbo?)

"Light touch paper and retreat to a safe distance...." well, it is that time of year.

Trev.