A few pre-purchase tech inspection questions? Timing belt, turbo seals, etc.

[Unglued13]

Hi All,

New to the forum and I will be looking at a 300zx TT later today for purchase. The car looks to be in great shape, straight and clean but it is a 3rd owner vehicle with 141,000 miles on it and selling for $6,500. So of course I'm skeptical.

Visual condition aside.... I've been corresponding with the seller for a bit and he's been upfront about a few issues that may be manageable an a source of price negotiation.

Turbo seal leak, he said the turbo seals are bad and was mechanic diagnosed and is smoking a small amount.
4th gear synchro issue that cropped up a few months ago and grinds when shifting to 4th. Seems like this is pretty common with these cars and would potentially require a transmission rebuild or swap.

The final piece and most concerning to me, is that he has no idea when the timing belt was last replaced and he has not done so in the last year (his length of ownership). I would assume that a timing belt failure would be pretty easy to spot with this motor as valves would be damaged and I'm told the car runs great and is a daily driver that he's selling to get a sedan (guess I'll find out later on).

Any additional things to check, any cause for concern here? What's a realistic price expectation for a relatively clean car with some mechanical issues?

[centralcoaster33]

I assume you've gone and inspected this one by now. What did you find out? As far as a timing belt goes, if it's bad, it won't run. If it runs, it's not bad, but could be old. If you don't know when it was serviced, then it wasn't, so you can plan to have that replaced right away. Getting a used transmission will be cheaper/ faster/ easier than a rebuild. Rebuild kits are affordable and can be done by yourself of at a shop of your choosing. Value? That depends on a lot, get what works for you.

[DCaff300ZX]

Hopefully the OP passed on this car, as having bad turbos along with the other issues and normal Z32 maintenance issues needing address means this car would IMO be about a $4K value.
Turbo replacement is very expensive, and the 120K service definitely needed will cost another $800 (DIY) to $1.5K in most cases...possibly more if you get quality parts and have a Z guru available. The trans issue also adds a lot of cost and hassle for a car price that is not too much lower than the value of a good-running, properly maintained Z32. The value is around 7-9K for a manual trans Z32 with all of the above issues addressed (about $2K less for A/T cars), and does NOT include "rare" and "collectible" status that the car does NOT have, nor is valued for in any way.
Money can be saved buying maintenance parts from our many vendors (Z1, CZP, etc.) and have Z32 knowledge...but if not, things can be difficult as the Z32 is not a car most shops do well with.
My advise is to ONLY buy a Z32 WITH the 120K service done and receipts (very common, and well-known requirement for Z32-knowledgeable folks) available and with no known issues, as during ownership of a 23+ year old car you WILL be fixing things as you go. Mine came with everything above and more, but still lost a turbo and more about a year+ later and the whole car has been refurbished and updated/upgraded...keep that in mind as that is a pretty normal path of longterm Z32 ownership.