bugglet

Pay-per-mile taxation of cars - what a brilliant idea, I'm all for it!!! ........oh hang on.......isn't that what already happens every time my car uses a litre of fuel???!!!

I'm sure ultimately I'll end up replacing it once it has annoyed me enough!! At the moment I've found that if you move it on to the 3rd or 4th track it will settle down a bit. Oddly the other morning I was sat with the power on swapping CDs before heading off and it was playing them fine. It was only when I actually started the engine that it started to skip.

Ok, I know the fact that the Bose system is prone to skipping is old news, but I was just wondering if anyone had found a way of improving it with out replacing it? The reason for asking is that the car is out of warranty so getting Nissan to replace it is not an option. All I can find on the forum is info on replacing the unit which seems to involve a lot of adaptors for the amp, the steering wheel and the phone which all seems a lot of hassle since I'm happy with the system when it decides it'll play a CD! Thanks guys.

I am jealous, and I don't think he's stupid. If I could afford to spend that sort of money on a car I certainly wouldn't leave it in a garage. I be doing exactly the same as him and having a laugh in it!! If you think about it £5k of damage on that car is about 1% of it's value, and I doubt you could get a quality paint job to fix the stone chips on the front of a Zed for 1% of it's value yet you all still drive your cars!!

If you're interested in findng reviews of tyres these sites may be of interest to you.... http://www.mytyres.co.uk/start.html http://www.tyretest.com/ (Note that in the reviews the lower the number the better the performance.)

P.s.... If you think putting a bike on the back of a Zed is bad, I've overtaken a Jag XKR towing a caravan!!!???

I have exactly the same problem. When I'm not enjoying the Zed I like to mess about on mountain bikes, but the Zed is my only vehicle and although the boot it big enough the cross brace means I cant get a bike in it. The only option is to bag it and put it on the passenger seat - not ideal!!!! So I've been looking at bike racks - thanks for posting the vid, at least now I know it's possible!!

"No chassis damage" ??!! (Sorry - cassie damage!) Those shut lines on the rear corner look big enough to fit a hand in!!

They do thanks, and it explains the name change. I know people's opinions and experiences of dealers can be alarmingly different depending on the situations. I just wanted to get a feel for any history good or bad to give me an idea of what to expect from them.

Having started this I'd better defend her corner! She used to drive my Dutton, (Caterham 7 style kit car), which kicked out around 250bhp per tonne so she has experience of silly amounts of power going out through the back wheels. Plus we're currently in the middle of building a beach buggy which will be hers after cutting the body off her pride and joy that was the Beetle that was her first car. It now has a fully balanced and lightened 1.8 with twin carbs in the back of it and a plastic body so it should be swift enough! Finally for me to get the purchase of a car with only two seats and minimal loadspace past the committee then it had to be insured in both our names! Like she'll get a chance to drive it anyway, I'll be out in it 24/7!!

Got one on Saturday from 10 till 4!!! :teeth: The wife is looking forward to having a go in it too!!

Lomoto - Thanks. I had found that posting when reading up on the import market, but couldn't get any hits on the forum when searching for Imports Direct. Bristol Import Center and Car Imports Direct are two different companies, I hope! I've been on a drive round and couldn't actually find the Bristol Import Center, but strangely there was a dealership at that post code with a lot of imported cars but it wasn't called the Bristol Import Center anymore, and their website is no longer up! Also the guy wouldn't let me test drive any of his cars unless I was "seriously buying it"!?! How do I know that if I cant drive it?! Anyhoo, Car Imports Direct is in a different place in Bristol and they're still trading under the same name, let me try a few cars, and were polite helpful and informative even though I told him up front I wasn't sure about buying an import yet and was really only comparing cars on a shortlist of possibles. (Now a list of 1 - the Zed!)

Hi, Does anyone have any experience of dealing with Car Imports Direct in Bristol, good or bad? Cheers.

Hi guys and gals. I’m still on my quest to find a Zed which also involves finding ways to save money where possible while maintaining peace of mind in the car. One of the options is to take out a personal warranty. Getting one would mean that if I buy privately where I save money on the purchase price I still have the security of knowing that if anything lets me down it’s covered depending on policy Ts&Cs. If I buy from a dealer I can push the price down by saying I don’t want the warranty, plus I’m not restricted by their excesses and spending limits and any restricted cover. So my question to the masses is: (We had to get there eventually!! ) Does anyone else out there have experience of personal warranties, what pros/cons are there, and has anyone managed to get one for a JDM car and did it push the cost up? Any hints, tips, warnings, anecdotes, and random ramblings are all welcome. For anyone who has no idea what I’m talking about but thinks it might be interesting follow this link… http://www.warrantyguide.co.uk/default.html

No worries about giving it a "bit" of right foot here! I'm actully still trying out some other cars that are on a list of also rans against the Zed, so I've had to push the envelope a little so I can give them a fair comparison! I've got two lined up to try next week, one UK and one import, both GT spec. The UK car is through a main dealer and will be for a sensible length of time. He did use the phrase "for the day" but somehow I don't expect it to actually be for that long, but certainly long enough to try it on decent roads that I know well. Thanks for the tip of taking a CD, I'd not considered that one I have the Fat Boy Slim album somewhere, but I think I know just the Prodigy track to put the audio through it's paces! Cheers for all the support, it's nice to know there's a good crowd out there.

Hi, Thanks for the replies. It’s actually very reassuring just how few there are! Why can no one else build a car that’s as reliable as a Japanese one?! (But that’s for a different discussion forum – Don’t want to be in trouble for going off topic on only my second post!!) At the moment I’ve only been looking at UK cars. Mainly for the usual native/import arguments of ease of ownership, insurance, servicing etc. An import is still an option, I just haven’t done enough research on that market yet. I know what I want in the UK spec so an imported one would have to be the same or better. Rest assured I’ll be reading through the forum to get up to speed before making any final decisions. Thanks again for the advice, I’m looking forward to the gearbox test already!!

Hi all. Having admired the 350Z from afar for way too long I finally find myself with suitable finances to get my hands on one. Yeay! Sadly not enough funds for the "new car smell" but enough for a 2003 model or there abouts. What I'm after now is enough knowledge to make sure I don't end up with lemon on the drive. I've had a good search through this forum, (which has loads of good stuff on it - cheers guys), so I now know about the noisy rear axle, bad front tyre wear, dodgy hand brake and noisy windows. Oh, and a boot lid that might hit you in the back of the head! I was just wondering if anyone else out there had any additional buying advice on things to look for and check on the test drive, dealer recalls to make sure have been done etc. Sorry if this has been extensively covered elsewhere I've had a good look around and couldn't find a definitive guide. All help will be gratefully received. Cheers.