Vik91 Posted November 24, 2011 Share Posted November 24, 2011 Hello Everyone After being on the forum for a few days i've learnt quite alot from everyone! I wanted to ask peoples opinions on my budget that i have to get a zed next year when i turn 21. My max is 5500 to buy a zed! I've looked on the auto trader and pistonheads and have seen that i will be looking at car with 60,000 - 70,000 miles on the clock ( no idea whether there uk odo or japan odo miles) What type of mechanical work should i be looking out for e.g.clutch changed or not, whats the minimum amount of services the car should have? Im sure i'll think of other stuff aswell lol Feedback Appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zugara Posted November 24, 2011 Share Posted November 24, 2011 Service history Jap cars have a square rear number plate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexx Posted November 24, 2011 Share Posted November 24, 2011 For that price you will be looking at 52 or 03 plate JDM cars. Most likely quite high milage. There will be a few good examples out there, but be prepared to start paying for replacing suspension components (banana arms expecially if they aint already been done). SOme radiator fans have been known to fail with age. In all honesty, you have a very very tight budget to get a worth while car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbyheinz Posted November 24, 2011 Share Posted November 24, 2011 Hi mate, I'm 20 (21 in less than a week) and just picked mine up yesterday. You'll love it, so awesome choice of car. Regarding your question on budget I would say that you'll either need to go for a higher mileage one or you come across the odd Cat D (write off but the best kind if that makes sense...google it!). I don't know much about Cat Ds other than they are much cheaper. There seems to be a lot of talk on the internet about these costing more to insure but when I asked admiral they said it didn't but they needed to know anyway. The clutch issue from what I can gather seems to vary...for some folk it's given out after 40k miles, other's have reached 100k+ and never been changed. In terms of whether they're JDM imports or not look out for ones that are "Fairlady Nissan 350"...these ones are imports but again as far as I know there's no major issue with this The biggest piece of advice I could give is be prepared to walk away. Despite them being far from the most common car around there are plenty available so hold out for the right one for you. Regarding any other mechanical bits and bobs I'm no expert so I'll leave that to those who are! Good luck with the search Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoogyRev Posted November 24, 2011 Share Posted November 24, 2011 Good Luck with the search As Paul says the Jap cars generally have square number plates. service interval is 9K..... so what ever mileage your looking out just work it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted November 24, 2011 Share Posted November 24, 2011 just remember its one thing being able to afford to buy one, just make sure you can afford to run it. just because it costs the same as a ford fiesta now doesn't mean it costs the same to run as one. lots of people buy them and then get 6 months down the line and sell up because they can't afford it. and not alot actually own up to that either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neilp Posted November 24, 2011 Share Posted November 24, 2011 just remember its one thing being able to afford to buy one, just make sure you can afford to run it. just because it costs the same as a ford fiesta now doesn't mean it costs the same to run as one. lots of people buy them and then get 6 months down the line and sell up because they can't afford it. and not alot actually own up to that either. +1, over a hundred quid a tank of v-power or 99 ron not many miles from a tank if enjoying yourself. 5.5k is a very tight budget, especially with the cost of things to go wrong. Id much rather spend 2 grand more as you will find yourself spending 2k on parts probably and start to regret it. 7-8k will get you a nice 53-04 model with lower mileage and well looked after. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dblock Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 just remember its one thing being able to afford to buy one, just make sure you can afford to run it. just because it costs the same as a ford fiesta now doesn't mean it costs the same to run as one. lots of people buy them and then get 6 months down the line and sell up because they can't afford it. and not alot actually own up to that either. +1, over a hundred quid a tank of v-power or 99 ron not many miles from a tank if enjoying yourself. 5.5k is a very tight budget, especially with the cost of things to go wrong. Id much rather spend 2 grand more as you will find yourself spending 2k on parts probably and start to regret it. 7-8k will get you a nice 53-04 model with lower mileage and well looked after. Not much really goes wrong and if it does it happens on most 350's. So its a risk either way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Watshot Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 If any car has done less than 9K per annum, then the minimum service requirement is once a year. Otherwise every 9K as stated above. If you've only got £5.5K to play with, I hope you have allowed plenty for insurance at 21 on a high powered sports car...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neilp Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 just remember its one thing being able to afford to buy one, just make sure you can afford to run it. just because it costs the same as a ford fiesta now doesn't mean it costs the same to run as one. lots of people buy them and then get 6 months down the line and sell up because they can't afford it. and not alot actually own up to that either. +1, over a hundred quid a tank of v-power or 99 ron not many miles from a tank if enjoying yourself. 5.5k is a very tight budget, especially with the cost of things to go wrong. Id much rather spend 2 grand more as you will find yourself spending 2k on parts probably and start to regret it. 7-8k will get you a nice 53-04 model with lower mileage and well looked after. Not much really goes wrong and if it does it happens on most 350's. So its a risk either way. I disagree. Recently the higher mileage cars are having engine failure, very bad oil issues, clutch, suspension, exhaust issues.. The list goes on. The price to rectify most of these issues is pretty high. IMO spend a bit more to save a bit more. A little bit extra for a lower mileage zed is the sensible thing rather than having a car which breaks and then being unable to afford the repairs on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docwra Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 Gotta be honest, if your budget is that tight and you have to insure it as well, Id be praying nothing goes wrong. Ive been lucky, only had a headlight and the AFM fail ........... still a grand to fix them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitstew Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 Gotta be honest, if your budget is that tight and you have to insure it as well, Id be praying nothing goes wrong. Ive been lucky, only had a headlight and the AFM fail ........... still a grand to fix them To be honest, i think with that budget you will be seriously struggling. You have to factor in running costs, any service or maintenance which may come up, plus have enough left for the X factor - X being an unknown problem which may happen - like clutch or engine or gearbox etc. etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainSensible Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 Agree with what's being said above. Sadly the price of Zeds has dropped ot the point where they are cheap to buy they will always be relativley expensive to run. My concern at looking at the cheap end of the spectrum is that corners will have been cut in keeping the car in top shape which could mean big bills further down the line. If you can find a good one for £5.5k then fair play, but go in with your eyes open. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vik91 Posted November 25, 2011 Author Share Posted November 25, 2011 Thanks for the replies guys! I should of made it a bit clearer that my max to buy a zed 5500 without insurance! The running cost like petrol doesn't really concern me as I'm getting a new job soon closer to me which is walking distance really ! If I saw a zed for 5800 I would try to get it within my budget but if it was to good to miss out on then I would probably get it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docwra Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 I think you are still missing the point dude ....... if you only have £300 over the top of your budget spare, what are you going to do when you need a new set of tyres @ £1000 for all four? Or a clutch replacement @ £1500? Or *touches wood* both at the same time? No-one is saying dont buy it, but some of us know the pain of buying your dream car and having to stare at it sitting on the driveway motionless because you can afford to fix it/run it. You then end up selling it and losing money while barely having enjoyed the thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ebized Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 What are you running at the moment? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vik91 Posted November 28, 2011 Author Share Posted November 28, 2011 http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/ ... ?logcode=p http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/ ... logcode=p# Im looking at something like these two above! Obviously with abit of haggling i could easily get the price down! I get what everyone is saying about having a low budget might backfire when it comes to a clutch or gearbox but everytime i have bought a car i get the car checked out by my mechanic who basically does a 'AA CAR CHECK' without the stupid fees LOL Thanks for the advice though! Good to know people look out for everyone!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragon Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 Same advice as most other guys, its the running costs not buying!! good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vik91 Posted November 28, 2011 Author Share Posted November 28, 2011 Yeah the running costs im not to worried as i used to have a mazda rx8 for 6 months (worst mpg ever) and i managed to run that without any problems and now ive got a huge pay rise it seems ok lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rm cya Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 Without sounding rude, your the type id avoid when looking to buy a car, sounds like you'll be scrimping on maintenance etc. if you can't afford to run it, don't get it. And if your max budget is £5ishK then you won't be able to afforded the premium every month especially if things like Tyres, clutches, brakes need doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 Paid £8.5k for mine at the start of the year, so far I have bought Clutch and flywheel, £650 Rear clicky axle kit £350 New alloys and tyres (planned to do this anyway and saw a good deal!) £1000 Those first two dont include labour. You gotta have cash on the hip to pay out quite quickly for repairs otherwise you have a very expensive toy sitting useless outside your place. You can moderate fuel but can you suddenly draw £1000 out the bank if a clutch goes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricey Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 Yeah the running costs im not to worried as i used to have a mazda rx8 for 6 months (worst mpg ever) and i managed to run that without any problems and now ive got a huge pay rise it seems ok lol Not presuming to know all about you but I'll try and be a little more positive (although you are getting very good advice)......given that you've got a payrise and are presumably coining it (i.e have spare cash to blow on a sports car).......why not save up for another 3-6 months and get something a bit better? Don't get me wrong if ever I got a payrise the first thing I do is spunk the lot on a new car but perhaps you should be a touch more cautious so you don't get hammered in 3 months on a catastrophic breakdown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricey Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 Actually re-reading that I'm not sure I actually was any more positive than anyone else! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elfman Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 i bought mine march 2010, since then it's had a new 2x clutches, flywheel, gearbox, banana arms, drop links, tyres. For all of that your looking at a few thousand pounds. 1k at least for clutch fly and tyres + labour. not saying all that will go wrong for you but it's not cheap if it does go wrong. i'd budget for a new clutch, fly and tyres if they haven't been changed yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tprice Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 why is everyone being so negative! its not our problem if he cant run it, he hasnt even mentioned not being able to run or maintain it he just asked what went wrong on them! buy one mate you'll love it!! those links you sent look like right bargains! your budget is tight but still ok these days especially as its xmas everyone wants some cash so go get yourself a steal! good luck and let us know how you get on mate! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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