Buying a Z32 what do i need to look for?

[canavader]

Im planning on buy a Z32 but i dont know what to look for. If you guys can help me out whats the best year to look for (1990-1996) and what are the typical problems i should look out for, and prices, what is the max i should pay for one.

I want the car for rally and drage Thanks for the help

[NSR_s30]

1990 didn't have airbags and were the lightest of the Z32's. I don't know of many problems, but I know if the reg maint. has been done then you should be good. IE: timing belt...etc

[evildky]

Welcome to Nico!the fitrst thing I suggest is finding out when the last timing belt was done on the car, they are due every 60k miles, and if they don't have documentation plan on spending about $500 just on parts to do the job right, depending on the milage the tensioner, idlers, studs, water pump, thermostat cama and crank seals all may be due as well, it's cheap insurance on the long run, they have a few common part failures but hey nothing lasts forever, and most of these failures are in the 150k+ cars, mine had 205k and runs great, although I do have a small boost leak I need to track down

[Wetmyson]

Welcome to Nico!the fitrst thing I suggest is finding out when the last timing belt was done on the car, they are due every 60k miles, and if they don't have documentation plan on spending about $500 just on parts to do the job right, depending on the milage the tensioner, idlers, studs, water pump, thermostat cama and crank seals all may be due as well, it's cheap insurance on the long run, they have a few common part failures but hey nothing lasts forever, and most of these failures are in the 150k+ cars, mine had 205k and runs great, although I do have a small boost leak I need to track down

interesting you should mention that...i just bought mine last month...it's a 90...no air bags...i'll just have to drive safely.....HAHAHA

anyways,

http://www.sportcompactcarweb....urbo/if you scroll down there are some year to year changes that i thought were neat. 1996 models had a little less power. look for replaced turbos around 80-120k miles, they are expensive to replace. clutches around there. and like evildky said timing belt. check tire condition for driving habbits.

good luck, the car is incredible but it's a money pit.

oh, and i wanna say the later ones had bigger/lighter brakes....not sure about that though.

[nsrZ32]

interesting you should mention that...i just bought mine last month...it's a 90...no air bags...i'll just have to drive safely.....HAHAHA

anyways,

http://www.sportcompactcarweb....urbo/if you scroll down there are some year to year changes that i thought were neat. 1996 models had a little less power. look for replaced turbos around 80-120k miles, they are expensive to replace. clutches around there. and like evildky said timing belt. check tire condition for driving habbits.

good luck, the car is incredible but it's a money pit.

oh, and i wanna say the later ones had bigger/lighter brakes....not sure about that though.

Turbo's don't really need to be replaced that often. I know of quite a few Z32's with 150K+ that have zero turbo problems. All depends on how bad the car has been abused.

Also, as for the brakes. Only the very early 1990 NA's (one's manufactured in late 1989) had the smaller 26mm brakes versus the later 30mm brakes. Every TT had 30mm brakes and all but the earliest NA's did as well. The only other braking difference was that Nissan originally used Aluminum calipers to save weight but later on switched to heavier steel ones.

Anyway, like everybody said, check to see that maintence has been done, run a carfax on it, get all the history you can about it, check tire wear for bad camber (upper arms, tension rods, and other parts are common to wear). Other than that stuff, if they were properly cared for, Z32's are very durable cars. Good luck on your search and make sure you ask lots of questions!

[Wetmyson]

Turbo's don't really need to be replaced that often. I know of quite a few Z32's with 150K+ that have zero turbo problems. All depends on how bad the car has been abused.

Also, as for the brakes. Only the very early 1990 NA's (one's manufactured in late 1989) had the smaller 26mm brakes versus the later 30mm brakes. Every TT had 30mm brakes and all but the earliest NA's did as well. The only other braking difference was that Nissan originally used Aluminum calipers to save weight but later on switched to heavier steel ones.

i learned something new!!

when i started showing interest in Z32's everyone kept telling me that turbo replacement was expensive and i read lots of things that said that they had to be replaced eventually. i got the idea that it was closer to 100k miles. my bad. hmm...i have to go check the build date on my z, i bet it has the smaller brakes. and they barely fit in there as it is with the wheels that are on there :-\. haha, no money for upgrades anyway so it's all good.

-nick

[freakonaleash1187]

Like everyone has said, just make sure the Z you are looking at has been maintained well. This are 11-17 year old sports cars and do need a lot of attention, but it is all worth it. If you find one in pristine condition, jump on it because they are getting rarer and rarer.