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Hello from snowy Aberdeen :) - update page 3!


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Well one of my last cars was an Integra Type R dc2 which i fully restored, so used to odd coloured seats hehe.

 

There is a metallic grey car nearby (60 miles) but its £12.5K, with lower mileage (22k) as the car only 7 miles from me that is up for about £9k ( circa 38k miles).

 

A black car near me is £10k but has done some 60k miles.

 

There is a lovely black car 09 plate in newcastle but that is also £13k so more than i really want to spend but within budget if over 4 years rather than 3 for a loan.

 

Just depends how the orange leather looks in real life, as its a sort of orange toffee colour in the pics, but i can change the gearknob to a NISMO\titanium affair, and get handbrake retrim kit, steering wheel wouldn't be that hard to get re-trimmed just removing the thing with airbags is always fun adventure in not bashing your face in with compressed airfilled bag :)

Edited by Rick_1138
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I personally think the orange leather looks stunning in the flesh, as long as its on a neutral coloured car- wouldn't have put me off any other coloured car (except maybe red) but I think it looks great in a gunmetal or black for example. They can look a bit iffy in photos. Agreed, the steering wheel takes it a bit far, but that could always be replaced, seen a few spares on here for sale.

 

Keep us updated!

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Welcome! Good luck with the search - you won't regret it :)

 

I might regret orange leather seats though lol.

 

Hopefully fuelbills wont ruin me, but its not a huge issue with 70 miles a day need to think hard about the cist of a 25 avg mpg car

 

I do about 90miles a day and I get around 400 miles a tank, which is about £90-95 to fill from empty with Momentum99 fuel. That's with some 'spirited' driving (hard not to) - hope thats helpful.

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Well mulling over things at the weekend i am pretty settled on one of 3 options.

 

A 350z, a 135 or 125i coupe or a Mk1 Audi TT sport (the 240 bhp one).

 

All 3 can be had for about £10k in reasonable nick circe 25-50k miles on them.

 

So just need to get a seat in them and see which one i like the most.

 

Not too fussed about fuel, will probably be adding about £100 - £150 a month to my current bill changing from diesel to a larger petrol car.

 

Just dont want to get something i am going to hate in a year, but i have operated larger engine cars before (2.8) and that was when fuel was about £1.25 a litre.

 

I just want something that brings a smile to the face when i want o have a play etc.

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Either colour leather is fine, as long as it's been looked after and you look after it. I went for charcoal leather, made the dealer hunt down the charcoal in my preferred combo, or no deal, mind this was 9 years ago. :) It still looks good.

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Welcome Rick from a fellow Aberdonian. You won't be disappointed with the zed they're fantastic cars that get the right kind of attention from passers by and other motorists! If you can opt for the HR, I have one with the full factory fit nismo kit and absolutely love it. Never fails to excite. The grey one with the red seats is very nice if a little overpriced but I've NEVER seen another with red seats so imagine he's setting it high for that and low mileage, sure you could knock him down some! Hope you find one in time for when / if the good weather arrives. With regards to rays wheels, there's a set on eBay from a motherwell scrappy for good money. Good luck & let us know how you get on.

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Well i had a look at a few cars on sunday and went to look at the local 350.

 

Had a good look all round the car and could see no rust, bubbling or mismatched paint, which was a good start, all panels seem straight, no ripples or dents.

 

Had a seat in the car and found it very comfy, the seats worked correctly after i found out the forward motion was electric...looked for a handle for quite a while haha.

 

All looked tidy inside, but as we still have a good coating of ice n snow, i didnt start it or ask for a run, will be going back next week when i am off and the dealership owner was fine with that.

 

Had a look at a mk2 TT at another local dealer, but its £14k, 2.0T but is a bit poverty spec with half leather, no quattro etc, the diesel TT had all the options and was newer by 1 year but was £16k and too much.

 

The 350 sitting at just under £9k would save £4k over an equivelant TT near me, and £4k buys a lot of fuel for a year.

 

The proof will be in the pudding, and i could find i dont like the driving position of clutch etc etc, so will try a few of them next week and see, there is a 123d near me too, but its metallic orange, need to see if i can live with that colour, the toffee interior on the zed is actually quite nice in the flesh, i just dont like the tan bit on the steering wheel, but i could always swap with a black one over time.

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The zed will take a little getting used to in terms of clutch, pulling away smoothly etc compared to the Audis or BMW. The 123d is a cracker of an engine. I too have and a3 tdi and find it very dull. In my opinion the TT's wouldnt entertain for long but would be easier to live with but no Audi ( apart from the RS4 and a few others) has character of which the zed has in spades full. Like you say, the proof will be in the pudding. Good luck and let us know how you get on.

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Was out in the z on monday and it was good to drive n sounded crisp but issues I found were the seat seemed to be pushing my back out like the lumbar support was way too much and I couldnt find way to adjust it, an odd thibg but would annoy me. The other thing was the car seemed sort of nervois or twitchy through the wheel like I was making constant miniscule adjustments all the time. But the car turned in fine etc but going in a straight line I felt the car wasnt relaxed but could be cozim used to the audi.

 

Test driving an e46 m3 on monday as nice one locally.

 

Then decision time

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Was out in the z on monday and it was good to drive n sounded crisp but issues I found were the seat seemed to be pushing my back out like the lumbar support was way too much and I couldnt find way to adjust it, an odd thibg but would annoy me. The other thing was the car seemed sort of nervois or twitchy through the wheel like I was making constant miniscule adjustments all the time. But the car turned in fine etc but going in a straight line I felt the car wasnt relaxed but could be cozim used to the audi.

 

Test driving an e46 m3 on monday as nice one locally.

 

Then decision time

 

I thought similar regarding the 'twichiness' after driving it coming from an ancient barge of a VW t4 van. It just grabs at the changes in road camber a bit but you soon get used to it!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Had a look at a couple of them now, i dismissed the M3 as the insurance is £120 more a year and the possibility of a big bill is more likely in the long run i feel. Also i prefer the look of the 350, i like a car that looks a bit different.

 

However the plot thickened last week when a silver 313 GT with Nismo pack appeared at a local dealer, so i went and had a look, car looks quite nice, its an 07 plate done 43k miles and is at £11.650, dealer will take off £650 but i pay road tax, so about £400 off.

 

Car looks straight, some scruff marks inside on the interior but that would clean up, a crack on a little bit of the door interior but nowt massive, black interior with NAV.

 

The main downfalls are, all the centre caps are missing from the alloys (Not Rays the other standard type) which isnt a big issue but would be a fiddle to fix unless easy to source nissan centres. The front of the side skirts behind the front wheels have paint rubbed off from stone wear which again i can fix easily with airbrush.

 

The car has an aftermarket exhaust which i believe passes MOT's, induction system has got pancake filters and stainless pipes fitted but the original system is in the boot so i can turn back to original.

 

The other car is the gunmetal one with toffee leather, its a 55 plate, sitting at £8750 done 38k miles, its a standard early car with the smaller power engine, but i think is a nicer condition, but the bright silver car has some options i would prefer.

 

So its a decision game now, do i save some £2200 and get the older car and tweak the car to how i want it to look, or buy the newer car that is slightly more tired looking inside (though i can detail it so would bring it back) but pay more tax a year and have a mahoosive rear spoiler haha.

 

Also are there any major diffs between the 313 gt engine and the early 260bhp etc cars? parts wise i mean.

 

Cheers folks.

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313 HR engine is 80% new/uprated parts compared to 260hp DE engine and can be modified to scary HP figures on standard internals, it's a solid engine. Basically two different beasts. Kintores car has obviously been given a good clean up to sell whereas the kemnay motor has been left as was which in my opinion shows a more honest car. As long as the servicing has been maintained I'd go for the 313 silver one everytime. Alloys easy to replace. centrecaps I'm sure will be an easy/cheap part to get from one of the forum traders, maybe zmanalex. You could make a few bob off the induction system by the sounds of it too. Only thing to remember with the silver 313HR engine is that road tax is £400+ a year. Good luck on your decision

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Thanks for that Z Hopeful, you are mirroring much of my thoughts.

 

The road tax is in the high band, but tbh if you cant afford an extra £250 a year, then i shouldnt be looking at the car.

 

I will need a test drive of the silver car to see what its like, no rattles, odd shimmies, noises that seem unusual etc etc.

 

Just a case of sorting out the pennies next and making my decision.

 

Hopefully be sorting it by next week, barring the kemnay car doesnt sell, as apparently there is a guy in Oz looking at the car when he comes back lol, whether thats true or not was funny when i said to the salesman "well if its gone its gone" he seemed deflated i wasnt buying on the day.

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Thanks for that Z Hopeful, you are mirroring much of my thoughts.

 

The road tax is in the high band, but tbh if you cant afford an extra £250 a year, then i shouldnt be looking at the car.

 

I will need a test drive of the silver car to see what its like, no rattles, odd shimmies, noises that seem unusual etc etc.

 

Just a case of sorting out the pennies next and making my decision.

 

Hopefully be sorting it by next week, barring the kemnay car doesnt sell, as apparently there is a guy in Oz looking at the car when he comes back lol, whether thats true or not was funny when i said to the salesman "well if its gone its gone" he seemed deflated i wasnt buying on the day.

 

No problem.

 

Not sure if it was you but I believe there was another post on here a few days back about interest on the car in Kemnay. Local lad too I think.

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