The Z is going.... and I couldn't be more annoyed

[Exotic]

I'm kind of surprised you got a list as long as that in one go which wasn't picked up before. Do you drive yours really aggressively?

 

For me the zed does not cost a lot to live with, only if you are constantly modding it.

 

I've had my zed for 7 and a half years and it's been bullet proof, only things maintenance wise it's cost me is pretty much brake pads/discs, a clutch and flywheel, a HFC, tyres, and service/MOT costs. Maybe I'm lucky. 

[Rob350]

Ep3 civic type r...

 

*cheap to buy

*quick

*reliable

*relatively cheap to run

*good fun cars

Edited December 20, 2017 by Rob350

[Kieran O'Quick]

Just paid 1200 quid to keep a 10 year old 1.8 ES Civic (similar to the s-type) alive for a few more years. Clutch and gearbox problems. Would have been junked otherwise.

 

Could have gone for a new one but the car still feels tight and solid and all the toys work so it would have felt like a waste of money. Could have got a shed but that would have been somebody else's 10 years of speed bumps and driving hard from cold. Not to mention all the farts in the seat and the dead skin etc.

 

 

 

 

[LRF4N]

9 hours ago, AMT said:

... I just kinda want to ignore it though 

Seems like your doing that to all the advice given. All those posts about the list not being that urgent, spend less with an independent mechanic, stop your love affair with Infiniti, do some bits on the list later, leave the ones that aren’t required, you’ve brought your bill to under a grand

 

But you’ve not responded to that once. Tyres and brakes are consumables, fuel and tax are part of car ownership

 

If you’re looking to buy a house soon then fair enough. No shame in that

 

End of the day that’s what it boils down to. Not that list

 

If you’re is an HR sell it and get an earlier car/import. Pocket some cash and less tax per year

[MDMetal]

If your paying main dealer prices then it's sadly going nowhere, the only real reason to pick a main dealer is...

 

1) the car is so specialist that nobody in the area is of any use (Not the case here unless you've got a very niche issue)

2) you want the main dealer stamps (adds nothing to the value of the car at this age)

 

The car won't fall apart at an Indy it's not a complicated piece of engineering. If it does develop something more interesting the true specialist garages on here would be more worth your time and money.

[Jack94]

Oh my god. Looking at that list of work the car shouldn't be on the road and needs to be scrapped  I'll give you £500 for it 

 

Seriously though, like others have said, I think you're making a massive deal out of this when there's no need to.

I totally get that if you don't know much about cars then a list like that might be terrifying and I think it's almost criminal how garages get away with convincing customers into work that doesn't need doing! But everyone on here is trying to offer advice and like it's been said, you don't seem to be taking much notice. 

 

Most of the things on your list are consumables so no matter what car you own most of them are going to need doing eventually unless you have a brand new car on lease like Ekona suggested. Granted some of these consumables are going to be more expensive than equivalent parts for a civic or fiesta etc but that goes with the territory, it's a sports car. Same goes for fuel, tax etc, you've got to factor that in when buying the car, kinda defeats the point of having a fun car if you're just gonna get down about the running costs all the time 

 

Anyways here's how I'd break it down...

 

- New rear wiper: £10. 

- Front numberplate: £10. 

- New battery: £60ish.  

- Discs and pads: still have a bit of life in them so don't worry for now if funds are tight,  just keep an eye on them and keep in mind they'll need doing in the next 6-12 months depending  on your mileage. 

- Tyres: same story as brakes really but might need them a bit earlier. 

- Steering rack oil leak: again like Ekona has already said, if you haven't noticed oil where you park your car or the reservoir level going down then chances are it's just a weep so wouldn't worry about it. 

-Gearbox oil leak: Can't see the level obviously but wouldn't worry unless there was evidence of oil where you park the car. 

- Headlight level sensor (I think this is my favourite one): Can't believe they've quoted you over £400 for it!! Had a quick look on ebay and there's used ones for under £50 and I'm sure it's only a couple of bolts to change . 

- Rear subframe corroded: Like Shezza has said, don't get how it can be corroded when it's alluminium!? 

- Backplate partially missing: Who cares, not important. 

- Belts cracked: I did mine, cost £40 for the belts from Nissan and about 30 mins.  

- Rear droplinks: £100 & 2 nuts each to change. 

- Undertray bolts missing: £2 for 10 m6 bolts on eBay. 

- Coolant flush & air-con recharge fine until at least next service. 

- Full 4 wheel alignment to sort out your tyres wearing unevenly: £100ish. 

 

As long as you're capable enough to hold a spanner and own a jack/axle stands I would've thought you'll be able to change the droplinks, battery, belts, numberplate, wiper, Undertray bolts & headlight sensor yourself so then the grand total comes down to under £400.

 

 

Edited December 21, 2017 by Jack94

[Jetpilot]

Am i being daft, it says, REAR headlight level sensor?

[Jack94]

7 minutes ago, Jetpilot said:

Am i being daft, it says, REAR headlight level sensor?

Yah it's on the left rear suspension arm. I'm guessing it detects how high/low the rear suspension is to work out the front-rear angle and adjust the headlight beam accordingly.  

[modo]

No Comment

[Rob332]

Dealers love upselling opportunities. It is in their nature.

A bit like Halfords really when I decided to take my car there for its MOT because they had a deal on.

The list of advisories was endless, and very petty to say the least. It did fail on 2 rear drop links, but they  wanted £260 to replace them and no free re test.....I walked out laughing.

There is some really good advice given here in relation to what is actually necessary  and what the dealer is upselling.

You need to find yourself a reliable independent garage and stay away from the 'stealers' whom are only useful for certain diagnostics and warranty work. 

Keep the zed, you know you want to  But if you are buying a house and running costs i.e. fuel etc. is the issue it's understandable if you need a cheaper run-around.

 

 

Edited December 21, 2017 by Rob332

[HEADPHONES]

I've had my zed 12 years now and am fortunate in having a good relationship with my independent garage thats been looking after our cars for 10yrs.

They even try and source 2nd hand parts where it's an option.

However, I know what you're saying about running costs.

The consumables on our 11 Ur old Mini Cooper are verging on freeness in comparison to the zed.

As it runs on diddy 15 inch OEM rims, the skinny tyres can be replaced for the price of one of the 19' rears of the zed

It may not be in the same league as the zed but I still enjoy hooting around in it.

I think the only time where I'd really say there's no joy is overtaking and joining motorways.

So a downgrade need not be a life of misery.

Got a friend with a stage 3 tuned R35 who used a £700 Ford Puma for commuting and loved how chuckable and worry free it was to own.

 

Just the worries of buying a lemon as with any 2nd hand car though!

[AMT]

I know, I know, I've been on here long enough to know what should be dear and not and I get the dealer prices. They have told me go look at other stuff or supplying my own parts (they just have to give the prices as part of the service).  I've seen under the car many times, I have noticed some things relating to what they've pointed out and can hear the droplinks.  I know its not all expensive.  (reason I still go there is I trust them to DO the work and get shown evidence where possibly, instead of just a bit of paper lol). 

 

As mentioned I think its the timing. I'm looking at the housing situation, potential things in the future with it and just general running costs. I never really cared about spending a fortune on it but now with looking at the house I need to make a bit of a change for a couple of year spending not very much. I would've kept the Z but I think slight paranoia/worry, the knowledge of what I spend on the car and then been given that after spending a fair amount on the MOT has just swung it.

 

It looks like I'll be going for a wee hatch maybe 2/3yr old and run it for a couple of year before returning to something good. Prob 1/4 worry and 3/4 ...house and get on with more life with some more money lol

 

I'm not ignoring advice I'm just... a dunno, I do appreciate it and I like a good moan, but other things in my life will now need money. 

 

(was driving down the motorway this morning and had to get into the left, gently pressed the throttle for a second and went past 4 cars ..in 4th gear with ease and got in comfortably. I thought... you'll damn well miss this 'ease') 

Edited December 21, 2017 by AMT

[Willsy1980]

In all honesty, nothing on that list is worthy of getting rid of the car for. Alex probably has boxes containing every bit you need for a fraction of the price, most of them are consumables drop links etc included.

What i'd be doing is dropping Alex a PM for prices on all the bits you deem critical, then give it a full fluid service come June giving you time to squirrel a few quid to one side to cover it.

Or you could bite the bullet and buy an 05 Ford Ka for £200 and spend £600 on welding come MOT time and never overtake another car even if its parked

[Rock_Steady]

Personally (as i have been in a similar position to you in the past) i'd buy a bucket, run it into the ground as a daily, save the cash for when you really know what you want. In fact, i'm kind of doing that now. I sold my e90 M3 and bought a e46 330ci for £600 which works just fine , a little bubble of rust on the rear arch but i don't care. I've got cash in the bank and it's going to be thrown at the Pulsar to finish it off, as that's now my fun car. 

 

Or like Ekona said, get a kia on lease. I think it's a great idea. Cheap as chips and you can bide your time, stroke your tash like villain until the day comes to buy something that has caught your eye. 

[gangzoom]

13 hours ago, AMT said:

As mentioned I think its the timing. I'm looking at the housing situation, potential things in the future with it and just general running costs. 

 

Houses should always take priority over any kind of spending on a car.

 

Have you actually worked out in hard numbers projected costs of housing veruses other outgoings etc?

 

I did this before I comitted to the new car earlier in the year as we also moved to a new house at the same time. On the face of it putting the money into the house instead of a car was the nobrainer option. But after actually doing the sums the actual difference in cost between running a much cheap car versus the new car was not enough of a difference to warrant going down the bangernomics route.

 

But having said in the 24 months prior I did ditch the BMW 335i for a Leaf mainly for saving on running costs, and budgeted other out goings monthly almost down to the £ to build up savings.

 

Only you know your financial situation and costs, but do sit down and get ALL your costs written down, so you can look at the big picture before making any decisions. Once you can see all the numbers in front of you its much easier to make a decision.

 

Edited December 22, 2017 by gangzoom

[Jay84]

Getting rid because of the repairs cost I think is a shame. But the day to day running taking a  back seat for a house purchase is sensible.  I did the same thing in my early twenties.  Got a house a wife and kids, then got a toy again.  You can always come back to sports car/money pit ownership. 

[Ekona]

15 minutes ago, gangzoom said:

 

Houses should always take priority over any kind of spending on a car.

 

What happened to you man, you used to be one of us  

[gangzoom]

35 minutes ago, Ekona said:

What happened to you man, you used to be one of us  

 

Still more than happy to waste  ££££ on cars (just a change in the fuel source).

 

Also this thing has taken over priority.....am sure everyone whos got would agree, even with the lack of sleep/constant need for attention/getting to know all different types of poos very well up close and personal, they really are worth the effort .  

 

But thats a whole different topic!! 

 

Edited December 22, 2017 by gangzoom

[Stutopia]

This may seem harsh, so sorry up front but...

 

If you haven’t already PM’d zmanalex for prices on these parts used, you don’t want to keep your Zed. Which is totally fine. Lots of us have sold them. A house buy is a sensible reason. But don’t pretend you do want to keep it, whilst doing nothing about it.

[Jetpilot]

^^^ I think its fair to say the op has posted a couple of threads about what next after the Zed so maybe you are right and is justifying the sale with the highlighted issues and possible future issues (clutch, oil gallery etc)

 

Motoring aint cheap, even if you go down the route of a new KIa, you still know its going to cost "x" per month for the years you own it, plus fuel etc so i guess you are still looking at a £2-£2.5k a year min inc payments, so you are only a £2-£2.5k better off than in your Zed a year according to your figures. So in 3 years you have saved just about enough to get you right back where you started, in a HR 350z at £7k ish.

 

If you want to save, get a diesel sh*tter or moped.

 

Or bite the bullet and get into something you want with £400-£500 a month

 

As an example:

 

https://www.whatcar.com/news/bmw-m2-vs-jaguar-f-type-vs-porsche-718-cayman-s-what-will-they-cost/

 

Take note Mr Elona, only 4% choosing a manual box, they are doomed i tell ya

Edited December 22, 2017 by Jetpilot

[veeg33]

No offence but you sounded like you are looking for reason/excuse to justify selling your zed.  As others said, write down all your expenses and see where you can cut to save money for a house. 18 months ago, I was saving for a house as well and selling the zed was one of the option to fund the house. However, I'm lucky as they delayed the house completion and I don't have to sell the zed. As i was living fairly near to work, I cycled to work most of the time (saving money and being healthy at the same time but higher risk).

[RickyZ]

Sounds like you have already made up your mind, i was in a similar boat as you but I had already bought my house...

 

The running costs are affordable but there's so much else you can spend that money on.

 

I sold my zed and now drive around in my wife's Fiat 500; its a POS but its essentially free in tax/insurance fuel terms.

 

Now I'm saving up for another fast car but tempted to buy a bigger house first with a garage then get a Caterham or atom if the funds allow it.

 

It sounds like you have already made up your mind, maybe you should sell your zed and see where you are next year. You can always buy another?

[coldel]

1 hour ago, gangzoom said:

 

Still more than happy to waste  ££££ on cars (just a change in the fuel source).

 

Also this thing has taken over priority.....am sure everyone whos got would agree, even with the lack of sleep/constant need for attention/getting to know all different types of poos very well up close and personal, they really are worth the effort .  

 

But thats a whole different topic!! 

 

 

Did I do it wrong then buying a VX220 when my one was born? 

[Jetpilot]

http://palmerscars.co.uk/alfa-romeo-business/offer/alfa-romeo/giulia/car_quadrifoglio-biturbo-29-v6-4-door_15997.html

[davey_83]

20 hours ago, AMT said:

 I would've kept the Z but I think slight paranoia/worry, the knowledge of what I spend on the car and then been given that after spending a fair amount on the MOT has just swung it.

 

So what parts were needed for the MOT?

 

David