New buyer! What should I look out for!

[EdwinToms]

Hi guys, looking to gett myself a 350z in the coming weeks, I've spotted a car that I like the look of!

 

It's a 54 plate, 84k, 9 stamps in the book, I'm going to see it next week but what should I look for?

 

I currently have a track focused Fiesta ST, fully forged engine, polished and ported, race cams running around 200 bhp so I know my way around a spanner, no afraid of small jobs, just don't wanna get one with knackered piston rings/main bearings!

 

Any advice or things to watch?

 

Thanks!

 

Edwin

[-G-]

Welcome to the forum

 

With that mileage the only thing I can think of is pay attention to the clutch & banana arms which although not that common have occasionally been a thing to look out for.

 

VQ engines are good for 200,000 miles if properly cared for, so with 9 stamps in the book at an average of 10,000 per stamp - on paper servicing seems fine to me.

 

Does the car have any performance mods?

[glrnet]

Check out the buyers guide section😊

[KUGT4]

full service history

 

personally would choose an 'untampered' example eg no third party air intake under the bonnet

 

check the exhaust system if still the original OEM steel version

 

check compression arm bushes - mot advisory or changed recently?

 

check the mot history --> https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history

 

check background - personally used --> http://www.autocheck.com/vehiclehistory/autocheck/en/

[EdwinToms]

No it's a completely standard car, which is what's attracting me, it's a GT car up for £5750? Is that a decent price or am I paying over the odds?

[Sargara]

That's definitely the cheap end of the 350z price spectrum, so you don't have to worry about it being overpriced. Look at Autotrader, that price is page#3 (lowest>highest) out of 17 pages of results!

 

Private Sale I assume? If so do thorough checks and maybe even arrange for an AA pre-sale inspection. There are common faults to look out for but nothing that would make your scrap the car, the 350z DE is pretty solid mechanically.

[veilside z]

Hello and welcome

[Irn Bru]

Hi guys, looking to gett myself a 350z in the coming weeks, I've spotted a car that I like the look of!

 

It's a 54 plate, 84k, 9 stamps in the book, I'm going to see it next week but what should I look for?

 

I currently have a track focused Fiesta ST, fully forged engine, polished and ported, race cams running around 200 bhp so I know my way around a spanner, no afraid of small jobs, just don't wanna get one with knackered piston rings/main bearings!

 

Any advice or things to watch?

 

Thanks!

 

Edwin

 

The actual paper copies of the service bills and any other recipes and bills, stamps in a service book mean hew haw in my eyes without the backup of the actual bills from the servicing garage tbh. Just make sure it looks a clean and we'll looked after Zed, and welcome to the Zed world

[samsniss350z]

Hi, welcome to the forum Edwin. As has previously mentioned, there is a comprehensive buyers guide thats worth reading on this forum. If you download an app called VEHICLESMART, it will tell you whether it passed its MOT with or without advisories, what those advisories were and the mileage of each MOT so that'll give you some idea of history. If its been owned by someone young or someone who's worked for a few years then chances are they can afford to have repairs not lash ups (although that could depend on the garage that did the work) and maintenance done on schedule. I've had my '04 for just over 4 years and its never missed a beat except N/S window motor (fixed myself with a new set of brushes) exhaust, tyres and regular maintenance. They're pretty reliable and tough motors designed to cover 200K, but there are more and more people doing well over that with no complaints. Ask nicely and a member from your area may go along with you to offer advice. Good Luck.

[The Bounty Bar Kid]

+1 on that app. Used it when researching cars recently before I bought one.

[Bandit]

Welcome to the forum. I'm also a newbie on here looking for a Zed.

I have spent the last few weeks finding my way around the

buying guides on here which are very informative and well worth spending the time reading.

God luck with your hunt.

[t_rage]

Hi, I've just been through the same experience over the last couple of months, bought a '54 Plate DE 75K miles in late July with regular servicing for the most part reliable and am happy

 

Did lots of reading up on the forum and looked at about 4 examples I think the main things I specific car checks were:

• Burning oil! - On cold start none of them really smoked but some had loads of soot around the exhaust for a car that had been recently cleaned and lower oil levels when serviced within 5K miles elts say. Although wasn't definite proof seemed like some were drinking more oil than others. My friend called me paranoid but definitely could smell oil in the cabin at low speeds.
  
• Clutch health - my clutch started slipping after 100 miles got it done from the dealer thankfully as was within warranty. They all had high juddery snappy clutches around the 70K mark - OEM clutch and flywheel is around £600 fitted and supplied. one to factor in the price.
  
• Gearbox health - they were all a bit notchy and loud when shifting but when warm flowed through the gears well and no odd grinding or servo noises! That all changed when the dealer replaed clutch and must not have used genuine Nissan trans fluid, I did the oil change myself after seems to have cured.
  

 

Other than those major things to look for some quirks I found were

• The rear wiper washer motors seemed to always not work,
  
• The boot didn't pop up because of the release springs
  
• and the 6 disc skips! Oh and the when you try to use a tape to 3.5mm auxiliary converter thingys the tape deck doesn't like it and spits it out!
  
• The bodies are magnets for stones and the chips!
  
• The underbody looked rusty but on closer inspection it was mostly the steel braces or pipes the body seem to be solid
  
• Most of the ones I saw has the bumpers off/resprayed might have been light accident damage but couldn't see any evidence although interiors plastics make it hard to see however. I don't think they can quite get the bumper on right again but no biggy
  

This video was good

 

 

Also found that a lot of dealers do their own MOTs where some advisories or issues from last year or few months before magically disappear with no receipts or proof of work when checking against the MOT history checker!! Otherwise some odd cabin rattles or suspension noise is common but hasn't presented any issues.

 

Sorry for the long post, but you now know as much as me from a month or so of ownership... good luck buddy!

[EdwinToms]

Wow thanks for all these replies guys, massively helpful, my main worry is engine health, I don't want to end up in the same boat as I did with my ST and spent X thousands on an engine re-build! Suspension and brake things don't worry me as I can do those myself!

[Dashurik]

Buy from forum member who kept the car for a while,maintained at reputable indy garage! Who telks the whole history of the car and doesnt afraid to mention bad/wear and tear bits of the car! Basically buy from me!! Haaha...

[ATTAK Z]

Ask what fuel it has been run on ... DE engines need 98 ron

[t_rage]

Ask what fuel it has been run on ... DE engines need 98 ron

 

Probably a really common question, has anyone experienced any issues running on regular fuel?

 

Or is there a thread already on it? Thanks