Blue Straggler

You don't even have to cohabit. My 73 year old dad who I don't intend to ever put in the driving seat of my car, brings down the premium by a bigger margin than adding my 40-year-old mate who lives nearby and who is more likely (on paper) to sometimes share some driving with me. I actually asked a chap from Aviva about this (several years ago and two cars ago), I was totally open as I want to check that it was above board. I said "look, my Dad lives 110 miles away, what is the score?", and helpful chap said that from an insurers' point of view, they just like to know that if I as main driver were incapacitated in an incident, that there is someone who could legally come and collect the car so that it's not (say) stranded in a ditch for a week before police remove it! Weirdly though, adding a DIFFERENT local friend, who is 35 and married with two kids so you'd think he'd be a safe bet, always INCREASES the premium and we have not worked out why. Mate #1 is a nurse. Mate #2 is a schoolteacher. I imagine the companies look at occupation and calculate a "tiredness / stress" level, so on that assumption, state education is the occupation more likely to make you crash a car than is the NHS

This is of interest. Until just now I was not interested in dashcams (worrying that having one might affect the way I drive and at worst turn me into one of those losers who go around seeking dodgy traffic to make stupid clickbait "look at this crazy white van man" clips) but as I am about to buy a Zed, I need to switch the car on my existing policy and I've been running a few scenarios involving additional drivers and date of purchase etc. There was a dashcam option and I was surprised at the discount - not huge but would actually pay for the device itself! Is GPS important on these? I should have thought not, apart from geek interest. Dan @Adrian Flux - I see your approved list. So I guess I should get one of those as there will be no discount if I get one not on the list (my very quick research just now flagged up Transcend 220 which is not on your list). I am with AXA at the moment but come renewal time in April I think I will switch to Adrian Flux (I am going to do the RideDrive course between now and then too!). Thanks all

I bought a toy red one on eBay last night

Cheers Oliver. Glad you got a red that you like! My search is over, I have plumped for an Azure Blue one (the advert has now been taken down; not got the car yet but given the guy a deposit - and got receipt for it of couse - and true to his word the ads are down). It's a private sale and I need to sort out my own car - easy enough as I'm selling to a mate - and also give my vendor a bit of a chance to possibly pick up his next car, but all being well I'll be in the Zed club on 16 or 23 Jan. I am going to book a full day with Ride Drive which has been mentioned on here, but I'll split it across two different dates, a half day at a time, as I think 8 hours of driving and learning might just melt my brain.

What does that mean? Thanks

Ha ha! I don't think that is the one as yours has smart wheels that look good with the red. The one I was on about originally (I think!) was in Mansfield just north of Nottingham and I am sure it had "plain" silver alloys. I had only wanted to go see it on the way up to my parents' house for Christmas break - at that point I was not yet ready to buy anyway. Is that the one? Cheers

You make a good point, given that that is pretty much the only reason that anyone not trying to shave hundredths of a second off on a real track race has alloys, is for looks

I thought they sold for more than (if sold slowly?) like £1500. Or is that generally including 4 spanking good newish tyres on? And of course I'd need to replace them, that won't come for free. ANYWAY I haven;t even got the car yet and certainly should not be talking about a wheel sale that is unlikely to occur

Yes, he used this as a selling point in the ad and at first I thought "yeah right" but have now looked them up and it seems he is right. Aside from the looks, what is so good about them? All I know is that they are light. I am not enough of a driver to know how that alone is an advantage (and I doubt I would feel the difference!). They may go up for sale as long as I can get a convenient swap for Rays....although knowing me, once I have the car I'll just keep it as it is UNLESS I suddenly need a cash boost (hopefully unlikely...)

PS I love tapes!

Ahhh G-G-G-G-Granville, sorry you took the time to inspect the ad so closely and write all that out and post just as I was writing my post about forgetting the whole notion (at least of that one in London). Even with my non-existent level of expertise, I thought that ad was "too good to be true". I'm getting an 04 UK GT with the 19" LMGT4 wheels (and 4 Falkenberg453s), Scorpion exhaust and Black Diamond brakes. 64k miles. Strengthened boot struts. Owner for the last 3 years is an engineer and project manager at Aston Martin and this was his second Zed. I don't think I'd find a better vendor or car at my price point. I won't link the ad as it will be taken down within the week, leaving the forum with a tatty broken link. But here is one of the pics from his rather good "I saw you coming" ad :-) not sure how gumtree works but hopefully this won't disappear when the ad does. https://ssli.ebayimg.com/00/s/NjgzWDEwMjQ=/z/cwgAAOSwv-NWZg3b/$_86.JPG Excited now!

Everybody - thanks! Through today I magically managed to put myself right off red Zeds! And I have decided to buy one in Azure blue. In 2 or 3 weeks you can expect a slew of "new owner" queries from me

I am still new here so I hope I am not speaking out of turn, but from what I've seen, you are about to start a friendly and oft-repeated debate about the pros and cons of imports I'll get the popcorn !

On a sub £5k budget maybe consider this? disclaimer, I have not yet owned a Zed myself so I claim no expertise. Advert seems pretty plain and open, it's an import blah blah. Manual gearbox. https://www.gumtree.com/p/nissan/nissan-350z-bronze/1147087325

Thanks all, and yes I belatedly spotted that the red one on Autotrader is an import (well that was my guess based upon no rear spoiler at all - are there other signs?) G, I am in Loughborough (Leicestershire).

Ok I have used this thing called Google! So a wrap is...a wrap! Hmm

Thanks, I've seen a few things on here about wrapping - is that just a different term for "respray" or is it a different technique? I had thought about the respray possibility which might have allowed to take my pick from the many many silver ones that seem to be on the market, but a full body respray is, I'm told, likely to be north of £2k which at my end of the market (£6k to £7.5k) feels like too great a proportion of the overall cost.

Thanks....but how so? (not arguing! Just trying to learn )

Hi all, I started a thread before Christmas which has been useful but has run its course and I think this specific question warrants its own thread. I ideally had my heart set on a red Zed, based purely on seeing pictures of them on the Internet. They look lovely to me - perhaps my favourite of all the colours. But I soon gave up on the idea as there are SO FEW available (e.g. I did a quick Autotrader search around Christmas time, nationwide, all mileage, all prices) and only about 5 came up. One that I knew to be sold, one or two CAT C/D, and some that were too many hundreds of miles away (and 100k+ on the mileage, which I am trying to avoid - that's a discussion/argument for elsewhere). Gumtree and eBay and pistonheads similar. I concluded that if I do hold out for a red, I might end up compromising on some other aspect. Then this one came up. 100 miles from me so not out of the question to go have a look. Price is nice, it is old being a 2002 but it's a GT, got Rays alloys, low mileage etc. http://bit.ly/1O4LehV My question is two-fold: 1) why are there so few reds? Was it always an undesirable colour in the UK so perhaps far fewer original orders for them? 2) are there any issues with the red paintjob? Having owned three red cars of entirely different branding and vintage over the years, and seen the red form dull patches quite randomly on all three cars, I wonder if it is inherently something about red! Also someone I know who has looked at red Zed in the flesh, said the paint seemed somehow "thin" or "flat" (not literally thin, but just...no "life" to the paintjob, as it were). He was biased though as he is trying to sell me one in a different colour :-) He did also make the good point that the tail lights kind of get absorbed into the red. Any forum consensus on red Zeds? One to avoid? Do they hike up insurance premiums on reds? I am slightly going off the red ones already (I am so fickle!) but maybe just because the one in this ad looks more "tomato" than "Chilli" :-D Azure Blue seems (aside from the various orange/bronze options) to be the "unique" Zed paint. Sorry, bit of a rambling post but you get the gist!

Ah OK thought you might have done but posted "just in case". Good luck!

Can't help you find the seller but if you go here https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/ and put in its reg, you can see its MOT history (and mileage). Handy little site!

No news yet, what with it being Christmas and all. Went and tyre-kicked a couple at dealerships (one low mileage at 33k, one high mileage at 76k, no obvious difference apart from a "Nismo" badge on the high mileage one). No test drive but fired up the high mileage one from cold in the showroom, seemed OK but not sure what I should have been looking for. They were the same price. Salesman for low mileage one was rubbish. Sales lady for higher mileage one was excellent. I would not buy either of those cars - I was really just there to have a close look to see if I like the colour :-) I did get a good 15 minutes to explore all the nooks and crannies of the higher mileage one, which was nice. Viewing both cars was useful even if I didn't drive them. I also need to work out how to sell a red Kia Cee'd 1.6 CRDi on an 09 plate! I have never sold a car for anything other than scrap before. Tried once with a VW Polo Saloon worth about £2.5k at the time, and it was such a PITA trying to sell, that I just gave up (ended up getting £2k for it on Government scrappage scheme when Mama Straggler wanted a brand new car and I bought it for her with her money and sold it to her for a sandwich ALL TOTALLY ABOVE BOARD THANK YOU!) .

Coldel I am applying similar logic about higher mileage taking longer to sell on, and TBH if it takes 2 months of viewings to get the right buyer, rather than 2 weeks, and you value your own time, then the costs might end up more than cancelling out!

An interesting (and odd - especially for those who didn't do so!) comment in this sober and generally super-positive RAC review. I like the RAC reviews, they are succinct and straightforward, even if their positive review of the MG ZT-T ended up costing me a bit of heartache and £££ :-) http://www.rac.co.uk/buying-a-car/car-reviews/nissan/350z/207710 "Steer clear of blacks, reds and yellows" Blacks I can understand simply on a washing basis but then that would apply to any black car, not just a black 350Z! I must admit that I rather like the reds and yellows but maybe that's only because you don't see many. In fact I am a bit in love with this car in red....