Looking for a new Z31

[zZZ31ZZz]

Hey guys, first post here hopefully of many to come. Here's a little background, I am predominantly an American muscle car guy, but I used to own a 1984 z31 2+2 with a 5 speed back around 2006. I bought it right after I graduated high school for all of $1,000. It was rusted pretty badly, and had no working interior electronics except the power windows and locks, but ran pretty well for the high mileage it had on it which was north of 175k. In 2007 it developed a leak through the oil pump and a loss of oil pressure, so I pulled the engine apart and replaced the pump and pan gasket, and while I was at it put a new timing belt in it. I made the mistake of not checking the idler pulley assembly because shortly after that the car jumped timing on me and shredded some teeth on the belt. This happened again after replacing the idler assembly and belt. The second time the pistons hit some valves and that was it. I ended up junking the car in 2008, but I had a lot of fun with it while it ran!

Now I am looking into buying another one within the next year, likely around tax time. I now have more money I can spend so I can get one that's not as worn out. I am posting this topic so I can gather a bit of info on these cars before I go hunting for one. I cannot afford the time for a project car, I already have a 1964 Ford Galaxie that is getting some engine work done for street/strip usage very soon so that is priority. I want this 300zx for a summer cruiser that will be better for longer trips than my Ford is (8-10 MPG kills at the pump!). It doesn't really matter what year it is or even if it's a turbo, but I do prefer the years before the facelift ('84-'87?). I don't plan on doing much of anything to it beyond a few light mods like an exhaust or an intake. There are a decent amount of them for sale near me so they shouldn't be too hard to find in the near future.

My major questions are what are people paying for good condition z31's these days? and What are some things to look for as far as problems and certain things that might make the cars worth more or less? I just need a bit of info on these cars before going to hunt one down. Feel free to share some stories if you like

[G-E]

Depends where you buy, a decent non-turbo is anywhere from 900-2500, a decent turbo is 1500-5500, something special like AE or shiro in nice shape could hit 7k... luck and persistence will play a role of course.

What do you want and what do you want to do with it?

[evildky]

$2-3k buys a pretty nice driver.

[Desert Rat]

Define nice.

You want everything to work, including AC? You want trashed out original suspension or something fresher? Sun dried interior or nice? Good paint or faded?

2-3k buys a nice driver - Maybe, but it'll take more than that to get a truly nice car. Truly nice Z31s are $5k+ in my experience.

I'll sell you mine for $8500

No, it's not worth that, but that's how much I have in it after giving it a mechanical restoration along with some interior upgrades.

[BadQ45t]

You will get very lucky if you do find a really clean car that is not a project car. Like Desert Rat says, sell you mine for $8,500, but no, sorry, she's not for sale. Given that these are all 30 year old cars unless someone put in serious cash along the way, no way you get a solid daily driver that someone parts with for 3k..unless like I died and my a-hole brother was helping get rid of all my stuff and sold my very well cared for 84'...with new tires/wheels, updated suspension, bigger sway bars, rebuilt 5-speed, completely re-painted from original crap Nissan paint job, all replaced rubber under hood, rebuilt digital dash, 3x replaced digital dash controller, tons of other stuff, etc.

If you find a 3k decent garage queen you will still need to drop another 1k into it and probably 2k over time.

[linkovich]

When I was looking a year ago, I couldn't find one in good shape for under 3,000, and I mean good shape as in running and looking decent where I wouldn't have to put another few grand into getting it to reliable condition. I finally stumbled upon one that the exterior was near mint and everything actually worked and it purred like a kitten like it was a few years old. Got it for 3700 and have had to put about 1000 into it so far too replace things just going out because it is old, like the rack and pinion. Will likely have to put some more into it, since it might have a big leak forming and the reverse in the transmission is going out. Had a lot of very small repairs to do too, but luckily not very costly. It has been pretty reliable and fun to drive, and I do get the occasional head turn our nod, especially with the t tops off.

I think the price I paid was fair for the condition, and knew an old car was going to need some tlc. Just make sure you don't pay too much even if it looks mint, because I later noticed there was more wrong with it than the guy lead me to believe and I'm glad I didn't pay more than I did.

I may have to sell mine if I move to San Francisco, I'm not looking to put money into fixing the transmission and not going to try those hills constantly with it like that.