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The Z32 is at best an 11 yr old car (most closer to 17) and will definitely be expensive to maintain. The cars themselves can be found for reasonable prices now, but the suspension, seals, hoses, etc will most likely be crap. The engine compartment is tight and hot (good for a gf, but bad for a car) making it hard to work on and baking everything made of rubber and almost everything made of plastic to a brittle crisp. If it's a TT, it's even worse, and the turbos, if original, will almost certainly be at or near end of life. Replacing them will realistically end up costing you at least $3000 (for stock replacement) in parts and labor. You can save maybe a grand if you do it yourself, but it's no simple task. All that said, the Z32 is a great car. I love mine. I also hate it. Any Z owner can probably relate, and any TT owner definitely knows what I'm talking about. Some thoughts if you move forward: 1) A TT is WAY more fun to drive than an NA.
2) A TT is WAY more expensive to own than an NA.
3) A TT has WAY more potential as a project car.
4) See #2.
5) As a 1st car, you will still love the NA. And if it's a 2+2, you can even take along two stumpy friends.
6) Whatever you get, make sure it's had the required 60k (if your lucky enough to find a low mi Z) or 120k (more likely) maintenance. The Z32 is an interference fit engine. If the timing belt breaks, your engine will likely be toast. There should be a metallic sticker under the hood with the maintenance date if it was done properly.
7) Look for a car that has some known history. Many Z owners eventually find their way to this forum. Ask the owner if he/she has a SN on here. Then check their post history to get an idea if the car's been well maintained or owned by an idiot.
8) Run the car for 10 minutes with the heater on full, then feel along the underside of the dash, right below the center console. If there's coolant on your fingers, the heater core is bad (or replaced but not cleaned up). This requires a full dash pull to fix, or bypassing of the heater altogether.
9) Check under the front of the car for leaking tension rods. Do a search if you don't know what those are. The originals will definitely be blown. Extra points if the previous owner already replaced them. Handling will be seriously unimpressive if they are in bad shape.
10) Look for nice new rubber or silicone hoses under the hood. Most all except the high pressure fuel lines should be soft and pliable to the touch. If all you find are hard, shiny hoses, expect to be chasing down vacuum and/or boost leaks regularly. Hell, expect to be doing that regularly anyway! On a TT, expect to drop the tranny if a turbo coolant hose starts leaking. Btw, there are two. Do them both or do it twice. Leaking or not.
11) Avoid TTs with shiny new BOVs and not much else. The previous owner had serious priority issues.
12) Avoid NAs with shiny new BOVs and not much else. The previous owner frequents 300zxclub.com and uses Ebay as a mod source.
13) Avoid using Ebay as a mod source.
14) Avoid purchasing a Z if you didn't get #12.
15) Enjoy your new car and your lighter wallet! Good luck!
Ted
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02:02:22 06/22/07
