1986 Nissan 300ZX 3.0 turbo from North America

Summary:

Perfect cheaper sports car

Faults:

The first thing I had to do was replace the alternator which was more expensive than most alternators

I recently had to get a bunch of new sensors, but that was my fault because I shorted a bunch of stuff installing

I also had to replace the ball join in the front right and that's it

The interior and exterior r flawless and it has no rust and original paint.

General Comments:

All around this is a great sports car and with the turbo and some upgrades it goes really fast and it handles like a dream. The interior is very roomy and very comfortable. The only complaint I have about this car is it is a very hard to work on the engine because it is so compact and crowded.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 18th September, 2004

1986 Nissan 300ZX 3.0 from North America

Summary:

An absolute maintenance nightmare

Faults:

Throwout bearing went out at about 90,000 miles. I've been driving cars with manual transmissions all of my life and did not experience this type of a failure before or since.

Both lower control arms needed to be replaced around 70,000. No, I did not run the car up on the curb or jumped railroad tracks. Nothing more happened than driving over standard potholes. I had the car inspected prior to buying it and the inspection did not turn up this flaw. Upon contacting the previous owner, this was the second time this type of a repair had to be done on this car.

The dashboard was noticeably warped by 90,000 miles.

Alternator went out twice. The work was done at Nissan dealerships on both occasions, but Nissan would guarantee neither their workmanship nor their parts. i.e. Give us your money even if the part you just had replaced breaks again next week.

Vinyl portions of the seats started to come apart around 80,000 miles.

The car's undercarriage was hitting the drive shaft under moderate acceleration, such as getting on the highway. Nissan replaced multiple suspension components in the rear of the car to no avail. Nissan finally gave up and refused to work on the car. I went to three other dealers with a list of what was done to try to resolve the issue and they did not know what to do to fix it either. One of the dealers told me that it is a design flaw. You think?

Fuel gage failed around 75,000 miles.

Cruise control failed around 100,000.

Odometer failed around 125,000 miles.

Shift boot started cracking around 65,000 miles.

Driver side windshield wiper failed around 85,000 miles. This repair required the replacement of the entire windshield wiper assembly (both sides) along with the windshield wiper spray container... or so the dealer claimed.

Rust perforation appeared behind both rear wheels by 70,000 miles.

Paint chips were coming off the car for the duration of my ownership experience. The car was never repainted, according to a friend of mine who happens to repair auto body damage for a living.

If you think that the above are far fetched, there is one more item that helped me decide to never buy another Nissan product: dreadful dealer service. The car was serviced at four Nissan dealerships -- two in NJ and two in OH. The service persons at all of these dealerships acted as if they were doing me a favor by working on my car. In contrast, I have NEVER encountered this attitude at any of the Pontiac dealers where I took my current car. Pontiac is not known for superb customer service, and yet the Pontiac service is 100% better than that of Nissan.

I will spare you the many other, more minor maladies of the 300ZX I had.

General Comments:

The car did handle well, had adequate power, and was easy to drive on the highway.

Unfortunately, the long hood did make the car very difficult to drive on suburban NJ streets that have many stop signs and cars parked almost to the corner.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 7th September, 2004

20th Feb 2005, 02:28

If it's an 86 model then it will be a Z31.

16th Jun 2007, 00:27

My wife got me a 1986 300zx for Christmas. we bought it for $500.00. I am working on it slowly. I had to take the gas Tank off and totally clean it out. replace the fuel pump, and the fuel gauge regulator in the tank. Also replace the fuel regulator valve under the hood. The car was sitting for about 5 Years. So I knew it needed the work. But I love my car and looking forward to getting it up and running and fixing it up the way I want it.