Dan

P.S. The issue with paint repairs is not the paint in itself, the issue is WHY has the car been painted. Lets be careful out there.

HPI check on an import is next to useless mate, it won't tell you anything about the car before it came into the UK which is the biggest issue with buying an import. Almost every import I've seen in the last 20 years has had a second rate paint job. Most importers buy low grade damaged cars for peanuts and repair them on the cheap over here, be very careful as the vast majority of the public cannot spot a crap paint job right under their noses. Take someone with you who really knows his way around a car. The AA and RAC inspections will not pick up paint repairs either, only mechanical problems. Unless you are an expert I wouldn't touch one with a barge pole mate.

"Can I have some Irish Sausages, please?" asked the Irishman, walking up to the counter. The assistant looked at him and asked: "Are you Irish?" "If I had asked you for Italian sausage, would you ask me if I was Italian? demanded the Irishman indignantly." Or, if I asked for German Bratwurst, would you ask me if I was German?" then, warming to his theme, he went on: "Or if I asked you for a Kosher hot dog, would you ask me if I was Jewish? Or, if I asked you for a taco, would you ask me if I was Mexican? Would ya? Would Ya?" The assistant said: "Well no". Suitably encouraged by the success of his logic, the Irishman steps it up a gear. "And if I asked you for frogs legs, would you ask me if I was French? What about Danish Bacon, would you ask me if I was Danish?" "Well, I probably wouldn't," conceded the assistant. So, now bursting with righteous indignation, the Irishman says, "Well, all right then, why did you ask me if I'm Irish just because I asked for Irish sausages?" The assistant replied: "Because you're in ***king Homebase."

"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." -- Winston Churchill "A modest little person, with much to be modest about." -- Winston Churchill "I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." -- Clarence Darrow "He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." -- William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway) "Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?" -- Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner) "Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it." -- Moses Hadas "He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know." -- Abraham Lincoln "I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it." -- Groucho Marx "I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." -- Mark Twain "He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends." -- Oscar Wilde "I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play, bring a friend... if you have one." -- George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill "Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second... if there is one." -- Winston Churchill, in response "I feel so miserable without you, it's almost like having you here." -- Stephen Bishop "He is a self-made man and worships his creator." -- John Bright "I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial." -- Irvin S. Cobb "He is not only dull himself, he is the cause of dullness in others." -- Samuel Johnson "He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up." -- Paul Keating "He had delusions of adequacy." -- Walter Kerr "There's nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won't cure." -- Jack E. Leonard "He has the attention span of a lightning bolt." -- Robert Redford "They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge." -- Thomas Brackett Reed "He inherited some good instincts from his Quaker forebears, but by diligent hard work - he overcame them." -- James Reston (about Richard Nixon) "In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily." -- Charles, Count Talleyrand "He loves nature, in spite of what it did to him." -- Forrest Tucker "Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?" -- Mark Twain "His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork." -- Mae West "Some cause happiness wherever they go; others - whenever they go." -- Oscar Wilde "He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support, rather than illumination." -- Andrew Lang (1844-1912) "He has Van Gogh's ear for music." -- Billy Wilder

Just a reminder for you all. I won't be able to make this one but I will do my best to make the next one. Someone please have my Stella for me, it will be waiting on the bar

Too right, you can't beat freedom of choice.

H5, the issue with the left hand drive 911's is that they are substantially cheaper then the equivalent RHD cars, particularly when you move into the newer cars where the price difference can be £10,000 to £15,000. With the 350Z this is not the case as most imports are priced within a couple of grand of the Uk cars. I've even seen a few imports priced well into Uk car money. Like you say, if you like what you see you buy it. Once again I have nothing against imports, I have owned hundreds of Supras, 3000GT, Skylines etc but I wouldn't buy a import Z when I can have a UK car for a couple of grand more. Finding a UK Supra is like looking for needle in a haystack, same with 3000GT, and Uk Skylines are nothing remotely like the price of imports. But with the 350Z there are plenty of Uk cars out there and the prices are not vastly different, so I personally don't see the point.

They would take your car in on the basis of an underwrite from another dealer - an underwrite is basically a promise to buy the car. So you go into the dealer with your import, they phone their contacts and get bids on your car, then offer you a couple of hundred quid less than they have been bid. You would do better to deal directly with the specialist import dealers, or even phone the dealer and ask them for a phone number for someone who might underwrite an imported car and phone them yourself. Of course for the best possible price for you car you need to sell it yourself. Most dealers are looking for at least £2,000 margin on a car like this, so they will basically offer you around £2,000 less than they can sell it for.

Well you can partly blame the imports on that Digsy because they are dragging down the values of the cars. Imports come into the country at £12k or less and you can buy privately off Auto Trader for £14k or less. Uk cars with average mileage start around the £16k mark without the GT pack, but then these cars were only £24k when new, so the Z is still faring better than many, bar the German stuff. Don't worry, it's only money, and you can't put a price on the enjoyment you get from the car

This is why you don't see women working in car sales - can you imagine the mess when they try to line up the stock !

Got a phone call from a gorgeous ex-girlfriend of mine the other day. We lost track of time, chatting about the wild, romantic nights we used to enjoy together. I couldn't believe it when she asked if I'd be interested in meeting up and rekindling a little of that 'magic`. "Wow!" I said, "I don't know if I could keep pace with you now! I'm a bit older and a bit balder than when you last saw me!" She just giggled and said she was sure I'd rise to the challenge!!! "Yeah" I said, "just so long as you don't mind a man with a waist line that's a few inches wider these days!" She laughed and told me to stop being so silly! She teased me saying that tubby bald men were cute! "Anyway, I've put on a few pounds myself!" she giggled... So I told her to sod off.

HOW TO IMPRESS A WOMEN COMPLIMENT HER, RESPECT HER, HONOUR HER, CUDDLE HER, KISS HER, CARESS HER, LOVE HER, STROKE HER, TEASE HER, COMFORT HER, PROTECT HER, HUG HER, HOLD HER, SPEND MONEY ON HER, WINE AND DINE HER, BUY THINGS FOR HER, LISTEN TO HER, CARE FOR HER, STAND BY HER, SUPPORT HER, HOLD HER, GO TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH FOR HER, HOW TO IMPRESS A MAN SHOW UP NAKED, BRING FOOD

Absolute monster. They sound amazing too, though I've not driven the Supercharged version.

DOH ! Yes I mean Jan 07 !!! Thanks for the good wishes M13KYF.

The workshop side of the business doesn't become mine until Jan 06. From then I will certainly be looking at servicing deals for group members, I'll offer the same deal to the Supra Club. The problem with most main dealers as far as I can see is that they are "too big for their own boots". They don't value the individual, they work on the basis that they have hundreds of other customers anyway and if one person gets upset it doesn't really matter. I think they are wrong. Time will tell !

Ah I see, said the blind man. I'll get my diary again ! Twice in a day FFS, this is becoming a habit

I'm with Lomoto, the styling behind the doors spoils it, otherwise it's a beauty. £80k though, hmmm, I'd rather have a 997 Carrera S.

P.S. We got the car on the ramps this afternoon and it needs a near side rear wheel bearing...meanwhile I'll just turn up the stereo

Tyres would not be replaced under warranty for causing excessive road noise. It would be deemed to be a characteristic of the tyre...however a car which was for sale on the forecourt with 11,000 miles could well have been ready for a set of tyres...therefore I would guess the dealer made a warranty claim for some other part and used the money to replace worn tyres at Nissans expense Either that or they very cleverly managed to blame uneven tyre wear on the failure of some other part which was covered under warranty... Either way doesn't really matter, cos you got FREE tyres

Sorry if that sounded like a rant, it wasn't meant that way I actually own a Nissan dealership - to be more precise it's an ex-Nissan franchised dealership and I run it as an "independent Nissan specialist" because I simply cannot afford to make all the changes to the site that Nissan demand to remain a franchised dealer. To be frank, we simply don't shift the volume of new Nissans to warrant all the expenditure they require. We do maybe half a dozen new Nissans each month, and will continue to supply new Nissans to order. My core business is used cars, mainly Nissan, and we do 30+ units per month. However, the workshop ( which will be mine from Jan 06 ) is Nissan approved and employs Nissan "high tech" trained technicians, so I have ( all too ) regular dealings with Nissan I didn't want to mention this as I don't want people thinking I joined the forum to promote my business, therefore I simply referred to myself as a "car dealer". I have been a member of Uk Supras for over ten years, and they will tell you that I don't use the forum to promote my business. I joined because I bought my first 350Z on Thursday and I love it

Rubbish , the previous owner to my import had a P2 service done at the main dealer... got the invoivce to prove...not a one of either, most dealers will bend over backwards to take your money off you.. (not me though I steer well away from those clowns ) You misunderstood my post which was not rubbish I can assure you. Leenx was talking about trading his car in at a Nissan franchised dealer, not getting it serviced there. A Nissan franchised dealer cannot sell an imported Nissan or he would be in direct contravention of his franchise agreement with Nissan GB. IF he does take an import in part exchange then it will be on the basis of an underwrite from another dealer, he cannot retail that vehicle himself. You will never see an imported car for sale on a franchised main dealer forecourt. This is fact, not rubbish.

I stand corrected ! Note for diary: Dear Diary, today I was wrong...again

I'd be surprised if Nissan would pay out for Tyres under warranty. They don't pay out for any "consumables" normally. Plus I would say this is the second set of Tyres, not the originals. But the wheelbearing, if faulty, will be covered.

Leenx - you have to be careful as a Nissan Franchised Dealer will not touch an import at all. They are not allowed to - their deal with Nissan GB prevents them from doing so. The only people who will touch them are the import dealers. I can pick up an import Z for well under £12,000 today, in 2 years time it will be worth half that, as a guess. As mighty Z states, the marked it saturated with imports. You can go buy one off Auto Trader privately for £14k or less. It's simple supply and demand, there are too many for sale so the prices take a dive. On the plus side it is dragging down the values of UK cars which is a benefit for us all...but the uk cars only dropped £175 in Glass's this month. The story about Japs looking after their cars better is marketing hype pushed around by the import trade to help them peddle their wares. The Japs are notorious for street racing, hard driving, traffic light GP and treating their cars as machines - they only spend money on them when something breaks. Jap cars are not even undersealed, so they won't take kindly to the British Winter. The biggest issue with imports is that there is no watertight way to check the history and mileage of the cars. Don't you think it's strange how every imported Skyline and Supra has done 60,000 miles, regardless of age !!! Once again, I'm not saying don't buy an import, just be careful what you buy and be prepared to take a big hit on the resale value.

Aha, thanks guys. Much appreciated. As it's under warranty I will get the wheel bearings checked anyway. Thanks again