Okay, I 've been given the chance to buy the following car for the low price of only 900 dollars. Engine and tranny are near perfect, however the suspension on the car is bad and it shakes once it hits 20 mph. I went with my friend's dad and he advised me against buying it due to rust, and the fact that it probably needs it's whole suspension redone as well as a wheel alignment a new start plug, possibly a new muffler (it smells), and he said new struts.

I love the car, but if I get this it will also be my daily driver so I need it to work. My main concern is the suspension, how much do you think it would cost? I've never worked on a Z before, but I've helped with 240sx's before and a few Hon-Duhs.

 

$900 isn't too bad... but you can score a 280zx for half that quite easily. Try to haggle with them if you can.

A shake above 20mph is more than likely a bent or very out of balance tire, tho it could be a suspension prob if someone hit a curb / car.

Stock replacement parts are easy to come by and low priced. Check out www.thezstore.com and www.blackdragonauto.com for all your parts.

And welcome to ZDriver!

 

Suspension costs will vary, but you can get something decent (not performance) for about $300. The car looks like it's been over a curb once or twice...just by looking at the damage to the front under the bumper. The engine is clean. The rust is minimal-ish. You might want to pop the rear hatch and look at the bottom of the rear window for rust because of the missing wiper.

Under the car, look for bent pieces (steering, sway bar, etc...) that shouldn't be. Also look for rust, scratches and dents. If you can, pull the carpet up in the front and see if the floor pans are rusted.

Other than that, if the car seems sound, and all it needs is a suspension and an alignment...$900 is a pretty decent price if you're willing to put the $$ into it to make it a daily driver.

 

Hey,

All things you have mentioned are chronic Z car quirks. Thats what makes the cars so fun to own. The Z can easily be a daily driver. The question is...can you measure up?

Read the threads here on this site and others like HybridZ.com, Zcar.com, atlanticZ etc and it will give you a good idea of what the Z cars bring to the ownership experience.

That Z looks good in the pics, other then the rear passenger side quarter panel and bumper, whatever happened there. The fact that its running well enough to be a potential daily driver is a bonus already! A lot of Zcars here are a work in progress...

If want it bad AND the rust underneath, floors, frame rails etc, is manageable and the shaking at 20MPH is simply a suspension / wheel alignment / tire balancing issue then $900 is a good enough deal for you to consider purchasing the car. If you can use the issues with the car as leverage, and you are good at it, maybe you will get the seller to knock another couple of bills off the price.

Again, use the search feature and look at the threads on rust,

To get an idea of what you may be spending on it, look for replacement parts at black dragon and motor sports auto web sites....

http://www.blackdragonauto.com/
http://www.motorsportauto.com/

Good luck!

 

I've seen it twice but this time he was with his brothers and they are firm with their 900 dollar price, last time I was able to get it down to 600 dollars but I couldn't buy it that day.

I haven't really seen any more Zs in the area unless they're z31s and later. Thanks for the advice guys, I've looked on several forums and no one has been as polite and given any incite.

 

Hey no worries, thats the ZDriver way. Plenty of guys here are very knowledgeable and even more willing use to share their know how...nismopick, shady280, bleach, lww, just to name a few...

Just had another quick look at the pics and I was gonna say that the car has apparently had at least one owner who cared enough...

The engine looks really good and pretty well kept for the age, the interior is nice and in the pics it looks like its black! Thats a nice bonus too...The seats are really decent looking, although not 280Zx seats. Depending upon what year the car was sold, the bumpers and the tail lights dont match up. the lights are from an 82 or 83 ZX, The bumpers are older, 79 - 81. Likely the lights were changed at some point...thats just my opinion and I may stand corrected, yet!

Anyway if you can haggle them down a bit it would be a better deal, otherwise, arm yourself with knowledge and then go to it. Also if the seller previously agreed to $600 then they should honour that...thats pretty sad dude!

 

I say if you have the time and a lil bit of money go for it. Its a slicktop. Uber sexy score on that one. Other than the rear and obvious suspension issues, it looks pretty damn good for 900. These cars are so damn easy to work on its great. If you have even the slightest mechanical ability its a great starter.

 

Indeed... that engine bay looks quite good. Kinda surprising from the look of the shell.

 

I'm in love with the older Z's anything before the z31, so this 280 was a dream come true. My friend's dad main concern was on the car not having power steering since it was harder to turn with and the suspension. Right now the 900 is all I have, my dad would help me with registering/insuring it however I'd be stuck with the shaking.

One thing the seller did mention was that the tire in the back right was actually not from the 280 so that may or may not be what's causing the problem.

Guess I'll check it out one more time, and I'll keep searching this forum for information. Even if I don't get this car I do plan on getting a Z as my car so no way I'm leaving.

The car reads 30k miles, I think they had the engine swapped or something because thats way to good to be true. Also, from what the current owner tells me the prior owner was trying to make it into a drift car hence some of it being stripped down (trunk).

 

$900 is a lil high for that car in its condition... id keep trying to low ball him.. your gonna be spending some money to get the car right.. looks like hes got 240SX wheels on the car and they look like they're the wrong offset too.. see if you can take some pics of the underbody...

 

He needs the car gone by this week, I don't know if I'll be able to get pictures of the bottom since our schedules don't match up. Right now I don't know what I could possibly bring up to use as leverage he had two of his brothers including him telling me it was a great deal for the car and that I should expect things to cost this much when buying an older vehicle. I wish I could show him this forum, lol.

 

It doesn't look like its got an open hole 79 maybe that didn't come with the rear wiper...

 

He told me the hole was because of the rear wiper, theres not really any rust on the inside.

All the other wheels have the Z emblem on them, not sure on the back right. I know he has a 280z as a parts car in his backyard but I doubt many parts are interchangeable (if they are forgive me for my n00bness)

 

The ZXs have power steering. My 78' 280Z 2+2 doesn't have power steering and really it's not that big of a deal. Sure it's a little harder and it's weird when I go from the ZX to the Z, but nothing that I can't manage.

 

I mean it's not that big of a deal for me, just that my friend's dad thought he could probably use it as a bargaining tool. He told me not to pay more than 300 for it.

 

well if you end up getting it and need a wiper motor i think i have a couple extras i think i have two they should interchange with that car...

 

The second pic is too dark to tell if those are stock ZX wheels, but the right rear is definitely a 240SX wheel with the incorrect offset.

The rear wiper was available in the '79 to '81 cars with GLP option and became standard on the '82 & '83 cars if I'm not mistaken.

I believe that's a '79 model so the 30,000 on the odometer is because it has the 130mph speedo with only 5 digits for the odometer, so it has at least 130,000 miles on it.

The seats are stock '79/'80/'81 buckets that have been recovered.

I bought an '83 280ZX NA in better exterior shape but poorer interior shape for $350.

The short answer is, given the problems, I wouldn't pay more than $500 or $600 tops for the car. The fact that the guy agreed to $600 and has now backed out is pretty uncool. If he has to get rid of it this week, show up on the last day with $500 cash, have him replace the 240SX wheel with one from the 280Z parts car and drive it away.

Spend $300 on a set of Tokico blue shocks and springs from eBay, get it aligned and have yourself a nice DD. I'm amazed at how good the engine bay and interior look, but don't say that to the seller or his brothers. Continue to point out the rust, the vibration problem and any other issue you see and tell them these all cost money that you don't have, so you need enough left over to make the repairs so it'll be safe to drive.

If they don't go for it, let it go. Move on to the next one. There's always another one out there. In the 5 years of it's manufacture, more 280ZX's were sold than every Z car in the previous 9 years. Although they're getting old, there are still a lot of them out there. It may just take a little time to find the right one.

Good luck.

 

Supposedly he had the following done:


-LSD
-New rotors
-Steel braided brake lines
-NGK sparg plug wires
-New rear springs

Flightforlife7> I'll definitely keep that in mind if I get it, I'm very interested.

llw> Thanks for the advice I'll try that, the whole 500-600 dollars on the last day.

Everyone else> Thanks for all your input I'll try to put it to use, if I don't get this one I'll definitely get a Z in the near future. I've been bitten by the Z bug, and no way I'd get anything else.

 

Best of luck Ray.......... let us know what happens!

 

Hey man, welcome to zdriver. Yeah I would agree in saying. That $900 is a little high. I paid $400 for a pretty nice '82 280zx slicktop not long ago. And it needed a new rack and pinion, brakes, clutch, windshield, some interior work. And other little misc things. The thing that is great. Is it runs friggin' excellent. And that is a bonus to me. It is the one in my sig. pics. Just so you know, and it is close to being on the road. When it comes to buying a Z. And or looking for one. You just have to know where to look, and score at the right time.

I would say wait until the last day also. Money talks as they say. I am pretty sure you wave $500 in front of his face. When he is desperate to get rid of it. He will cave in, I am sure. No promises though lol Anyway yeah just haggle, and wait. Because you need to put some $ into it. Nice Z though bro' Not too bad, for it's age.

And yes the Z bug, is a life long addiction. Once you have it, that is it for life. lol All aside, good luck to you, and keep us posted bro'.

 

Welcome to ZDriver!

$900.00 is too high. Take lWW's advice and haggle it down.


So, did anyone else notice that that car is a just a spoiler and some stickers away from being a ZX-R ?

Rod.

 

*thinks*

Conversion time?

I'll try to haggle them to lower the price, thanks for all the help. I just wish I knew where to look for more Z's. I've tried autotrader but I know thats a waste of time, craigslist shows nothing. And I've only seen 2 Z's (including this one) in my city.

I mean I've seen z31s-z33s but I'd like a z30 and older

 

what paart of the country are you in?? it shouldnt be that hard to find a 280ZX

 

I'm in Kissimmee, FL. I live on the border of Orlando, but I can't really head towards Orlando since I have no vehicle right now.

I was about to take the car but my friend's dad was concerned about the price and that I wouldn't be able to fix all the issues since I'm still in school and getting low pay.

 

Sorry for double posting, but just got more info on it from his new for sale post on OrlandoForums.

"The car has NGK wires, new rotors, steel braided brake lines and an intake."