hfb Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 Hi all Just registered here as am hoping to gather some info and ideas as to what to look for when buying a 350z. Having had an accident on my motorbike 3 weeks ago and breaking left leg and blowing both knee ligaments myself and my fiance (who also rides bikes) have decided to sell or garage full of two wheeled toys and fill it with a four wheeled, convertible sexy sports car instead......hence joining here as we both love the looks and idea of going out for sunny days, roof down in a 350z. We have a friend who knows lots about zeds as he race tunes them and is obviously a lover of the marque. As laymen, we want to have a poke around and source a couple of nice examples within our £12K budget (to include any servicing, tuning or fettling to get it in a desirable state for us to enjoy without silly niggles detracting from the experience) for him to then pore over and re-assure us we have not bought a lemon (or a Cortina with zed bodywork!!!). Our main criteria are softop, manual, not black or red, lowish mileage without it being stuck in the garage for the last 8 years and not being used and in excellent condition with no dinks or scrapes etc. So will have a browse around here and hopefully get to learn a bit more about these tasty motors. We are Gatwick based BTW HFB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will370z Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 Welcome and good luck with the zed hunt. Good choice looking for a roadster and there should be plenty of good examples for your budget. My advice is its a buyers market and keep looking til you find a mint example. There are plenty of threads about what to look out for when buying a zed but from my experience check the roof carefully. Look along the seam at the top corners above the windows for pulling or stretching as its quite common. Likewise check the inside in the corners for signs of daylight. Some hoods develop small tear marks at the base of the hood near where your shoulders are, check that. Check the roof mechanism thouroughly to ensure it goes up and down with no issues as repairs replacements can be stpidly expensive. More often an issue in the cold. Sounds silly but one thing i would do is poor water over the roof especially near the windows and windscreen edge. I've known quite a few zeds which leaked around the windows and from personal experience its not fun and can be tricky to fix. But do your research and pick the right car and you will absolutely love it. A zed with the roof down and that lovely exhaust is a great place to be. Good luck Ps your are not too far away from surrey, we have a very active group down this way, you should come along to the meets and check out some of the roadsters. Happy to help out with any questions just ask. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neilp Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 is your friend a member on here ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Mcgoo Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 to the club. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MITZ@CougarStore Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 Welcome to the forum... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy225 Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glrnet Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 guys, hope your knee is well on the mend, let us know when you've made your choice, we often meet Dorking way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoogyRev Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 Welcome Along Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bronzee Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 Welcome to the forum and happy Z hunting. Stacks of info on here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beavis Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 to the forum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buster Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buster Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeilMH Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimFF Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 Sorry to hear of your misfortune on 2 wheels; hopefully it wasn't a SMIDSY? Like a few others I've got 2 wheels too, mines a Fazer Thou which I've had for a few years now (and has also been lightly tuned...). There's loads of info on here about what to look out for on the Zed, but they're almost bulletproof with very few 'gotchas'... Your budget should net you a pretty recent example of the latest of the 3 'versions' - an HR engined car (bonnet bulge and 2 air intakes hiding underneath it) - and you're right on the doorstep of Abbey Motorsport for the services of a well respected and known Zed specialist. As a couple of others have mentioned there's several local meets a year nearby, with one coming up in about four weeks. I'm over on the east side of Crawley if you want to peer at a Zed, although my roof stays put! cheers TImFF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragon Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony420z Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southernspeed Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 Now what makes me think this is Honda Fat Boy?? Welcome to Z world Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hfb Posted June 5, 2012 Author Share Posted June 5, 2012 Now what makes me think this is Honda Fat Boy?? Welcome to Z world Ermmm........well I didn't try that hard to disguise it did I? Hello sir. Thanks to all for all the helpful info and advice. Love the muscle look of these cars and reckon will have more fun in this than a Boxster, which is our other consideration. Yes, my 'friend in the know' is a member on here but will not fess up just in case he might be embarrassed to be tied in with the nerdy newbie in the group! So if anyone knows of or has a tasty silver, grey or blue roadster for sale then point them in our direction. Thanks all for the warm welcome and hopefully will be posting pics of our new 'bike substitute' very soon. HFB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southernspeed Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 Good luck with the search, and the bodily repairs! Vanessa gave us a graphic description Cheers, Mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark@Abbey m/s Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 LOl @ #hfb and SS reply, Yes hfb is a good friend of mine, we are all motorcyclists , well hfb was until he had his small accident a few weeks ago. My wife was on the ride with hfb when he had the accident; So I am involved in trying to find a Roadster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Humpy Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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