280zx reliability?

[Artur1292]

Hey guys looking into possibly buying a Datsun/Nissan 280zx. Don't really know anything about these cars besides that they look nice and are very affordable. Now before anyone goes flaming me for this I am a big car guy I know tons about newer cars but nothing really about older ones. And the sudden interest in one is because I'm tired of being disrespected by my family, all they do is call me useless and a disapointment when I'm actually going to school and trying to earn a bs in business. So, long sob story short I'm trying to be more independent less I use from them the better. So, that means I need a car of my own and my own place. The only problem, I don't have much saved up so I need a car under 3000 want a manual and want something a little nicer than a super old Toyota Camry to get me to and from school/work. So how reliable are these cars? How expensive are parts and are they really hard to find? Sorry for not searching the forum before asking this I'm a bit heated right now.

[evildky]

Welcome to NICO. What year? Turbo or n/a? There were a lot of changes over the 5 years they made the 280zx. They are all depndable, easy to work on and fairly inexpensive to own. The major problems you'll find are age related. The good news is most anything that goes wrong will be fairly cheap and easy to fix and most of the parts are available at your local parts stores. The 82-83 Turbo 2 seated 5 speed would be the most desirable as it was the best of breed with the strongest manual trans found in the model. That particular model uses a rather expensive and rare AFM, distributor and ignitor (expensive compared to the rest fo the years, cheap compared to a modern BMW). The 81 Turbo was an automatic only and it used a 1 year only CAS which is pretty much unavailable. The good news is these parts last a long time, the bad news is these parts are now 40 years old and if they haven't been replaced expect them to need replacing. The most common issues wiht these cars is the injector clips, they get old and dry and brittle over 40 years and once replaced adn good for another 40. The brakes are simple and available, steerign changed a bit, the earliest cars had a manual rackand pinion, then they went to a power recirculating ball, then to a manual rack and pinion (use the proper fluid which is dextron type atf and they'll last forever). Any manual tran will need a clutch every 100-200k miles, the Z is a pretty easy job for anyone thats done a clutch before, the hydraulic's will fail after 30-40 years of use and should be replaced as a pair but again parts are available and cheap. The L6 engien itself will last for 300k miles if it's maintained. All but the 82-83 had manual lifters that will need adjusting every 15k miles or once a year. If you get a turbo model this opens up a large potential cost, the stock turbo should be good for 150-200k miles less if abused. Expensive part as is any turbo, but it's not too bad a job to replace. Fuel economy, I'd expect low to mid 20's on the interstate, high teens in the city. You might also considder a Z31 (84-89 300ZX) They are more plentiful, they use a V6 engine instead of the inline 6, bad side is ti requires a timing best be replaced every 60k miles otherwise is probaly a little more reliable than the inline 6 but more difficult to service with a better chance of finding parts in stock at your local parts store, either way buy the best chassis you can find, rust is a bear on both of these cars and if you get a rusty one it might not be worth the cost of keeping it maintained.

[Artur1292]

Thanks a lot evildky. I was looking into the NA model figured the turbo model would be more expensive to maintain and cost more to buy. I will also look into an older z31.