alright heres the scoop guys im 17 and im looking to get my first car this summer. Ive always loved the look of the 300zx and at first wanted a tt but i realized it would be a horrible idea for a first car haha so I was wonderin if a NA 2+2 would still be good relaiabilty,gas, and insurance wise etc. thanks

 

Gas mileage isn't up to today's economy standards... and it shouldn't be... because it's a SPORTS car, not an economy car.

Insurance is going to be expensive... because it's a SPORTS car... and you're a teenager.

Reliability comes down to how much you want to spend. Spend less than $4k on an NA and it'll probably break down a lot on you. Keep in mind, this car is older than you.

I had a TT when I was 17 (but I was never the typical case)... spent a LOT of money to keep it running as a daily driver. You better have a decent job and work plenty of hours...

 

It would make a perfectly reliable 1st car IF when you get it you take it nearly completely apart and change all the belts and hoses, do all of deletes of unnecessary parts, clean ALL of the electrical connections, replace the timing belt and all related items, change all the gaskets and seals (if you don't want it to leak), upgrade injectors (if earlier than late 93 models), replace shocks and numerous other suspension parts, rebuild or replace driveshaft and put in a 5-speed if it's an auto.

That's what I have been doing over the last year and I now have a perfectly reliable car that I would drive anywhere and that I absolutely love. I'm also not kidding about this since I am looking for another Z32 and will do all of the above to it before I put any miles on it.

Might as well check the compression to see if it needs rings and if the rings are OK then at least pull the rod caps and check the bearings when you have the pan off.

Definitely lots of work but also worth it. For a 1st car I don't know? Might not be a good plan.

 

Why would you have to do a manual swap and delete to make it a reliable car?

The auto trans isnt the best but it doesnt mean its going to cause the car to be unreliable.

Neither would the egr, or the aiv, pvr, or water bypass. My suspension is still stock and car handles great.

The cars reliability is going to be based on how well it was taken care of. Dont buy a beat up piece of **** that bogs down the road and you'll be fine.

Injectors youll have to eventually change if they havent been changed as well as doing the timing belt. Thats a must also. And keep in mind if you cant do this stuff yourself youre looking at over 2 grand.

 

Yeah that was mostly to make the car more fun.

As far as the deletes go if the stuff is still on there then the car probably hasn't been taken car of because people that really take car of there Zs remove this stuff. A busted water line under the intake can definitely mess with reliability just like a leaking EGR system. My suspension has a few upgrades but most of them were made because parts were worn out.

Definitely if the OP can find a Z that has already had all the work done then buy it. Most of the cars that I have looked at needed all the stuff that I listed.

 

Its definitely more fun as a manual and I would recommend doing that stuff but its not like you can just pull the motor in a few minutes in order to get the egr out. The plenum is a pain in the *** too if you dont know what youre doing in order to do the water bypass.

I didnt do any of that stuff until recently and never had an issue.

I think most people dont do the egr delete and the bypasses and the aiv / pvr deletes.

I think its probably safe to say that devski probably wouldnt know what to look for if he went to check if some of the deletes were done.

I dont there is but. Is there any proven benefits from removing all of this stuff besides easier future maintenance and parts replacement / cleaning up the engine bay?

 

I had a green 95 n/a 2+2 auto as my first daily and it got about 19-20 around town if I was nice to it and never had a single problem with it, minus the shocks being blown. If you do get a z32 as your first car, get a 94+ it seems most of the common stuff was fixed or deleted from factory by then.

 

Why would you need to pull the motor to remove the EGR?