Looking to buy my first Z31

[Lastczarnian]

I am very close to buying my first Z31Turbo but I have some questions before I do.

The car I'm looking at is in excellent physical condition but it does need several what I consider minor replacement parts. Intake hoses, Radiator hoses are a little dry rotted and need replaced, Seat belts are not working and the fuel gauge does not seem to work. This car seems to run fine but I'm also concerned about transmission and engine components availability you know, just in case. How hard is to find these parts and are they expensive?

Please take into consideration I'm in Kentucky (very rural) and we do not have speed shops or a Nissan specialist around. I hope evildky knows a good KY parts source or shop just in case I need to call in a professional.

[evildky]

Most of the wear items are readily available over the counter at any parts store or rockauto.com. Specialty items like intake parts etc you'll have to look to specialty shops like MSA (zcarparts.com), VB (blackdragonauto.com), for Nissan parts you cant beat the prices at courtesy (courtesyparts.com).

The body/chassis are the number one concerns, especially here in KY, at least in Louisville, we use salt and lots of it! Not a lot is available in the way of replacement metal and patch panels. Mechanically once you fix the sins of past owners they are pretty trouble free with some basic maintenance. sure hoses and belts will age out but replacements are readily available.

[Lastczarnian]

Thanks evildky. I kinda thought you would be able to help. I was really having second thoughts about buying the car because of maintenance cost.

[evildky]

If the timing belt is recent maintenance is pretty minimal. If the Timing belt is unknown or old/high mile up plan on spending a couple hundred in parts and if you hire out the work figure another 2-300 labor. It definitely pay to buy a better car. a rusty problem car will cost you a lot more than a nice cared for car in the long run.

[G-E]

All the maintenance items are cheap, assuming they are still available, and a lot of newer electronics can be easily retrofitted... reliability (as in nothing catastrophic going wrong, just cheap fixes) is one of the z31's strong suits

[Lastczarnian]

If the timing belt is recent maintenance is pretty minimal. If the Timing belt is unknown or old/high mile up plan on spending a couple hundred in parts and if you hire out the work figure another 2-300 labor. It definitely pay to buy a better car. a rusty problem car will cost you a lot more than a nice cared for car in the long run.

What do you think would be the total cost for getting the timing belt replaced and is there anyone in Central or SE Kentucky that can handle the job?

[AZ-ZBum]

Paying to have a shop do it can run you up to about a thousand dollars to do everything right. Add in those hoses and you're looking at right around $1200 parts and labor from a service shop.