AK350Z

2 hours ago, DoogyRev said:

Hi Andy, Sorry to hear you have had a bit of trouble, glad its all fixed though. 

 

Car looks great . . . even on the back of a flatbed 

Anything to keep the miles off mate

 Hi Colin, hope you're well. Presumably you've had a few motors in the intervening years since we last met!

No sign of any gallery issues yet, pressure is still as good as when it was new.

Here's a more recent pic....

Hi guys, hope you're all well!

Sad to report the Zed finally blotted it's copybook after 13 years of ownership!

Clutch slave cylinder went on my 35k mile garage queen, probably just the rubber perished from lack of use 😂.

Anyway I had to get recovered from Newcastle - which took 8 hours on a Friday evening- and back to the garage and home.

All sorted with uprated slave from Torquen, and did the clutch while the box was off, because you might as well eh?

All back to normal now ( this was a few months ago), and although I'm only doing a couple of thousand miles a year max, I still always enjoy getting it out so it's probably going to get buried with me at this rate! 

This was the only big bill it's ever given me, apart from it's 10 year big service and Uprev at Abbey, but that was elective so can hardly complain.

Just for anyone searching in the future, I replaced the self contained dab aerial for a official Kenwood stick-on that has the foil grounding strip to stick onto the a-pillar, usually with a bit of paint sanded off.

Reception is now much improved, and usable in most places apart from the usual rural blackspots around my area. So pretty happy now 

https://www.dynamicsounds.co.uk/kenwood-dab-a1-interior-windscreen-mount-dab-antenna-aerial.html

Also managed to find a correctly fitting facia for my HR model, despite the link name. 

http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/ct24ns04-facia-plate-for-nissan-350z-2003-gt

Hmm, anyone know if the non- Bose aerial is amplified? Might try one of those splitters if not, some people have had success with those.

Anyway here's a pic. Also turns out I got the pre facelift double din adapter, so that needs sorted too

Yeah its not A1 round here, but i've got 2 DAB radios in the house, The Transit has a factory one, and the aftermarket Kenwood unit with a sticky foil antenna that was in my old Multipla runabout are all much better. Hence why i think there's maybe something wrong, it's really ropey. In fact the one in the Multipla was unreal how easily it got a signal.

Hello All, finally got round to putting a new HU in after 12 years lol. The install has gone fine, I've got a non-Bose car, so with the right adapter harness it was pretty straightforward. The only issue being poor DAB reception ATM.

I went for a Sony XAV-AX3005DB, it included a generic DAB antenna, but this one just sticks on your windscreen, rather than needing an earth on the A pillar: Here

Antenna power is "on" in the menu, and the antennas plugged in.

I read in one of the guides there is a power wire for antennas, but that seemed to be for FM rather than DAB? 

Ideas welcome! 

Propper old farts  meetup thread this

Rolled over ten years this summer, bought new in 2008. Not selling as chance of buying a thirty grand car again are pretty small!

7 hours ago, Ebized said:

4  + turbo + two less driven wheels are plenty to keep me occupied, and with a whole host of creature comforts to make our more sedate () scenic drives these days enjoyable.  Sure we will up your way in the not two distant future, so would be good to meet up with you and Fran again  

Tea and cake's on any time you want Colin 

16 hours ago, davey_83 said:

Well done fella, you have an awesome car. The one Nissan UK will want to buy back for themselves one day. 

Don't think they'd want mine, its a non-gt aka the lightweight edition without the heavy stereo and powered seats 

I have to say actually that the cloth seats have worn really well, could nearly pass for new.

Nice one Colin, much more your style than an uncouth hatchback! Didn't fancy one with the correct number of cylinders?

FYI

47 minutes ago, Humpy said:

Still looking great Andy, you took it to the Wales event one year if I recall correctly? 

 

Looks pristine, keep enjoying her

Think I did 4 Wales events, one wasn't in the Zed though as we were on a cycling trip.

51 minutes ago, LRF4N said:

Still looks mint all these years on. I’ve taken a liking to red as well now. Is that rosso red? Mine is chilli

Yeah, Rosso Red. Best colour blah blah...

2 hours ago, HEADPHONES said:

Car looks showroom fresh in that pic!

I too got my zed from new back in 05.

We should start a thread to see how many 350z owners who bought new are still on the OC with their Zed's.

People always told me how foolish I was buying new......how much depreciation I'd get hit with.

Sod em all.

Worth every penny.

I bet seeing your zed wearing its LMGT4s and Nismo kit in glorious red paint amongst a sea of new Mercs, Audis etc makes you feel the same.

Here's wishing you and your zed many more happy years together

oh yeah.... HAPPY 10TH BIRTHDAY to her too

Ah well, the depreciation has been pretty level for a while now.  Last time I looked I'd need about 10K+ to buy a replacement with same age and mileage. How many 10 year old cars are still maybe worth 30% of their new value?

Also every possible replacement has increasingly gone for turbo power, I rather like the NA lump. If I sold it, i'd have to take on something with considerably higher running costs, e.g. 911, V8 M3 etc, or, more likely, something simpler or stripped back like an Elise or a Caterham. Hell, I think id rather have the revitalized new MX5 over an entry level 4 pot blown Boxter. 

1 hour ago, Ekona said:

Needs spacers 

And a smaller aerial too if you want to be in the gang  

I am not in the gang.

Bonjour!

Well now, here we are 10 years down the line together. I bought zeddy new a whole decade ago, and although only 33000 miles have passed under the wheels, heavily stacked in the first 6 years, we've seen a lot of things and seen a lot of changes too.

Early on, lots of club drives, a few life long friends made, and many pounds of super unleaded burnt. Later on, a month long honeymoon tour of Europe, early morning raids up to Hartside, and a couple of trackdays are the main interruptions to the general background of life getting in the way and a much reduced mileage.

Still, a decades sterling service deserves rewarding, so we took a trip down south to Horsham Developments for a big service, Uprev, and a 4 wheel alignment.

Service was completely painless as expected from Jez, the Uprev found another 10 horses, and the alignment sorted a niggly setup I've had for a few years when my lower arm bushes were replaced.

Driving away afterwards didn't feel like a new car of course, just that it felt renewed, and just a bit more sorted than before.

Visiting friends and family along the way it was 700 miles well spent, and a little scenic detour via Teesdale and Hartside on the way home was a fitting celebratory end to the trip.

Heres to the next 10 years!

Andy.

Cheers guys, nothing to worry about then.

We have a small car (Panda) that we have on PCP as the monthly payments were cheap and also 0% interest for the 3 years. Now we were always going to keep the car after the contract ended and the final payment is perfectly modest for us.

At the minute though it seems the car will be well over the contract mileage (+50%) so presumably the final payment will be larger to make up the loss in final value? Do the normal excess mileage charges only apply if you're handing the car back?

We're only halfway through the contract so plently of time to sort things out yet.

Damn it, such a sad day today. As a local I often popped down to see him in Cark and was gutted to learn of his passing today.

Like many owners, many of my fondest memories from the club involve Mart to some extent, numerous Wales meets, Jockland hoons, Lakez, local meets, just-calling-round meets, and many others. A pillar of our little petrolhead community.

Goodbye Martin, may you always Rev In Peace.

 

I upgrade to flashy gadgets because I want to, not because I have to or I'll feel uncool if I don't.

#winning.

Best thing about the Apple watch is that it gives you a nice obvious indicator of who you want to avoid in the pub.

Big happy Birthday Ian!

Long past due.

Certainly seems that way looking at my renewal prices!

Didn't have much time to ring round this year, so just did the bare minimum comparason site lookup and then phoned my current insurer (Admiral) back to argue their auto-quote as per usual. They under cut their own compare-the-meerkat prices too, "loyalty discount" apparently?

Under £260! (first time its gone under £300 for me)

34 years old, 350Z with all the nismo bits. Can't argue with that really.

Audi S8 would be a lovely barge, I'd also look into something like the E63. The Mercs have the most comfortable seats I've ever sat in.

 

Couple of years ago I was driving Jermain Defo to a venue at the Albert Hall.

I has a new S class and I found the seats in that quite hard as was the ride.

Now this could have been down to me not setting the active suspension.

But it had supposedly Air suspension so not impressed.

Possible the only way I would keep the zed is fitting air ride.

Never driven an E63 but have a 760 which was lovely.

I reckon one more year and my Zed will be floating around the Tradelink web site

Only had one "P3", but the dealer knew I was an enthusiast (and knew the craic), so we agreed it would be done for the P2 price.

Yah, thats the retention fee, not sure theres any other costs other than paying for plates?

You cant make a car appear newer by putting a recent plate on it, thats expressly stated in the guidance notes.