TimFF

Went out last night to see what happens and it's about 2 mins to fall from 1800 to 850 or so, and the aircon made an almost negligible difference - maybe 50rpm or so. You could hear it change the tickover slightly, but the tacho needle barely moves. Anyway, I'm happy enough to know mine's 'normal'. Cheers Tim

Thanks for the confirmation guys! I don't care about the old bag at all, in fact she will probably go apoplectic next year when the Zeds out of warranty and I take a trip to Abbey for the Uprev and associated exhaust mods. Due to the ground slope our garage door faces her bedroom window at bedroom window height so she'll be treated to a few minutes of tickover. Shame... But at least I can say it's 'working as designed'!

Morning What's the normal post cold start idle speed? Mine's an 09 313 with 17k and it seems to settle on about 1800 for a few mins, rather higher than I expected. It is a lovely burble, but as my normal work departure time (when it become my daily drive) is 0530 I don't want to bug the neighbours... We have one VERY touchy PITA who complains about the noise buses make ferchrissakes and she whinged incessantly when I left at 0630 on the bike! I'm used to modern ECU equipped cars starting with a rise in revs, but both the current other moderns (56 Cooper S R56, 08 Civic 1.8) then drop back to 'normal' idle within a second or two. Is this a normal Zed trait? I've had a search but couldn't see this covered anywhere. cheers Tim

I did wave, honest... On my way (the long way round...) to get a rear wiper blade.

Sorry, I forgot I'd said that! viewtopic.php?f=9&t=47325

Here's an eclectic mix... 1969 Rover 2000 1976 Chevrolet Caprice Wagon 1973 Ford Mustang Mach 1 1974 Reliant Scimitar SE5a 1971 BMW 2002 1980 Rover SD1 2.6 1976 Reliant Scimitar SE6a 1979 Rover SD1 3.5 1974 Reliant Scimitar SE5a 1974 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow I (half share...) 1979 Range Rover and I could do a similar list with my bikes! Like so many of my peers I learnt an awful lot about kerbside repairs with this lot. I think the 1st Scim had 5 engines changes in the year or so I had it, and the Rover allowed you to unbolt any rusty panels including the roof! That didn't address the terminal rust in the monocoque of course. The Chevy was a bargain this 19 year old couldn't miss, complete with acres of red naugahyde inside, fake wood panelling and electric clamshell tailgate. A 17' long 7' wide car wasn't the most practical on my commute to Crystal Palace though. I swapped it for the far more practical Mustang... There's a story behind every car too - and a whole load of grazed knuckles and one broken finger! There's a theme to the engine size here too - nothing less than 2 litres and most considerably more. And now with the Zed it's a return to form. Yay!

It hasn't got any of the 'watch out for's' so fingers x'd it is indeed a good 'un! I've already picked up another set of Rays complete with good Re50s which match what I've got on there so that's the winter set of wheels and a set of summer tyres sorted too - thanks to iain10101 for those. Now for a service and to decide between reversing camera (as part an impending headunit change) or sensors. The rear view when reversing isn't too good and occasionally I have to be very accurate... It's going to live on the drive so you might even see it parked up just off the Balcombe Road if I'm not out enjoying myself.

I picked up the Zed last Friday during the worst rain in a while... On Saturday and Sunday it went out briefly with Management in the other seat. I had Monday off, and having got most of the long outstanding jobs out of the way I had a few hours to spare. So should I clean it, or drive it? I went for a drive! For the first time in a very long time I just drove for about an hour with the window down and the stereo off with just the V6 to hear both growling and screaming... And I think something's not quite right - I kept getting a yellow light flashing in the bottom right of the tacho, I was only 'making progress' out of roundabouts and tight corners! Anyway, this is what was responsible for my attack on the tyres: So now I really do need to give it a decent clean!

Parked outside the house now is what was until midday an immaculately clean Midnight Blue GT coupe. Sadly the pouring rain, subsequent monstrous puddles and several roads where Farmer Giles seemed intent on moving his field onto the tarmac has put paid to the hard work the previous keeper had put into preparing it for sale... Glad I wasn't on the bike though! I will post some pics soon but I don't have an underwater camera. I did manage to extend it's legs a couple of times but all in all it was a pretty cautious 50 miles or so. Management didn't actually see this before purchase but has since heartily approved of the colour, but has insisted we change the rego as it's YCK... Literally. And the original spec I listed was achieved in a pretty short period of time. And now for the iPod Bose hack so I don't have to resort to digging out the CDs once more... A very happy TimFF!

Well, after a relatively short search for a Midnight Blue GT coupe, Autotrader turned up a winner. It's an early 09 car with black leather and just 17500 miles on the clock. No obvious gearbox issues and it's amazingly clean and tidy. It probably won't stay that way too long! 2 previous owners so I'm the 3rd now, but this is a keeper unless Lotto or Ernie slings us a bit of good news. Yes, I realise this thread is worthless without pics, but I don't pick it up until Friday so if you're on the A331, A31, A3 and A25 on Friday morning and are dazzled by a pair of teeth grinning inanely, that's me. Now the question (I get there eventually, bear with me...) - it's still under the last year of the Nissan warranty but my experince of my local Nissan dealer hasn't been wonderful on the basis of the single visit there. We were completely and totally ignored by the salesman despite attempting to view a car that was probably the most expensive 2nd hand car on the forecourt. I appreciate sales isn't service but if that's prevalent throughout the company then that doesn't bode well. Anyway, am I right in thinking that having a car serviced by a non-Nissan workshop, but using Nissan parts and on the time or miles according to the Nissan schedule of servicing, does not invalidate the Nissan warranty? cheers Tim

Somehow I don't see a dealer dropping down close to my budget even if I was waving notes under his nose - not that he would take cash these days anyway! As an aside I put a call into a dealer who has a car advertised on various sites at the beginning of the week - someone was going to call me back within the hour. I chased it up earlier today, same response - I'm still waiting for a call back... Obviously trade is so good at the moment they can afford to ignore phone calls. Even if they rang back now I'm hardly feeling like I want to make a trip to see it.

Hi Triggered by a post elsewhere in here with a successful outcome I thought I'd post in here too - you never know. With management approval granted and cash burning a hole in the bank I'm looking for a Midnight Blue UK GT coupe at around £15k and with up to around 30k miles. It needs to be visually standard (part of the approval deal...) and not too heavily modded elsewhere (not part of the approval deal! ). I have a feeling satnav was standard on the late GTs but if I'm wrong I'm not fussed about it; I have a trusty Garmin with the PGPS speed camera database anyway. I'm willing to travel within reason but am limited by family care arrangements so no more than around 90 mins from Gatwick. So on a good day that means as far as Bristol and on the M25 in the morning that means Heathrow... So if anyone was debating chopping a car in part ex to a stealer or selling in the near future then drop me a PM. I've got a few months until the current company lease car goes back. cheers Tim

Management would prefer blue (Midnight or Azure), and as we already have a silver / grey Cooper S it looks a bit like we're stuck in a rut... I was sat at some traffic lights last weekend and realised that I was the car in the middle of a noughts and crosses box (if you see what I mean) and all 9 cars were silver. If we approach lease car return without having found what we'd like then the choice does in indeed widen if we include silver / grey. That car has been on sale for a while but I'm sure that at first it was priced much higher hence it's reduction to £13k.

It followed a Rover 2000 which rusted away as you looked at it, and a Chevrolet Caprice Estate which wouldn't fit through width barriers but didn't notice towing an 18' speedboat - the car was longer... I got the Scimitar bug then, and had one for 21 years before lack of use and lack of spare time persuaded me to sell it. I guess the Zed can be seen as a slightly more compact GTE!

No, I won't take any chances and as I mentioned before I'm happy enough to travel - within reason... We have a few months before the Civic goes back so there's no immediate rush but if the right car presents itself in the right place then we'll see if we can get it at the right price. I'm fortunate that most of my commuting mileage is expensed so the probable fuel price rise isn't a major concern, I'm happy to pay to have some fun. I seem to recall exactly the same conversation about fuel prices when I was but a callow youth indulging in a 5.7 litre Mustang!

Dunfermline is maybe a little toooo far... And if it's at a dealer it will no doubt take 2 visits to collect it - 1 to see it and 1 to collect it after it's been through the workshop to service it / cure any issues. I did manage to see and drive a dealer car yesterday - I expect a bit of road noise but this seemed excessive to the point where both the salesman and I thought a wheel bearing was shot. Do they run bearings at 50k or so? My research so far suggests that's not normal. It also had a pair of rear tyres on the wear marks so although it looked OK this one would definitely need a trip through the workshop!

I completely appreciate we're talking a different generation of cars and it wouldn't overly worry me but Management has decreed... Given that a sneaky visit to Abbey ("it needs a service dear!") for some tinkering is almost certainly going to take place I'm happy to not push the issue!

The one we saw in Pound Hill definitely wasn't an import and it didn't have any body kit. I tend not to be around town much as I either work from home and barely venture out when doing so or am en route to or from Farnborough - the Hampshire one! And yes, I had realised blue (Azure or Midnight) was relatively rare. However there's no real rush as the Zed is to replace my wifes company car which goes back in August. But then having the OK and money waiting means I'm itching already! Distance isn't really too much of an issue - we've got cars from Bristol before now. There is one in Hove which seems to tick all the boxes except it's kept outside and almost within sight of the sea. Having had a seaside car once before which fell apart (admittedly it wasn't a Nissan) I don't want to take another chance...

OK, fair cop - yes, it's Crawley in West Sussex. Not to be confused (sadly...) with Crawley in Hampshire which is a real picture postcard village with thatched cottages and all the trimmings. Or Crawley in Devon, Oxfordshire or Gloucestershire. We used to see a silver / grey 350 around Grattons Park - that's not you is it? cheers Tim

Thanks for the offers guys. I'll drop you a PM once I know when I've got more than a couple of minutes free over the weekend. Tim

Afternoon folks I'm now looking for a 350z having got management approval. The budget is up to £15k so having been poking around various websites that seems to mean I'm after a 313bhp car whether it's bought privately or via the trade. It's got to be a UK coupe, and the approval has come with the proviso that we get a blue one and no body kits... Is there any kind soul within within easy reach of Gatwick who wouldn't mind letting me poke around their car (preferably not modified too much as that's what I'm after) and taking me for a short trip? It might sound daft but I've never even sat in a 350 let alone driven one - I hate wasting folks time if I have no intention of buying it... cheers Tim