1985 Nissan 300ZX Turbo review from North America

The rack and pinion steering system failed and had to be replaced twice. This cost roughly $1,800 each time.

The adjustable shocks eventually wore out at about 115,000 miles. I lived with the terrible ride for the last 10,000 miles or so, hoping I would find replacements at a reasonable price.

Seals around taillights and rear quarter windows dried out and leaked, but were easily repaired.

A fusible link broke once, causing the car to die on a freeway. This was difficult to diagnose because it was intermittent, but simple to fix once we found it.

The stereo was wonderful when new, but died completely after 7 years, and would have been outrageous to replace with an OEM system. Fortunately, acceptable substitutes were widely available.

The leather seats eventually came apart as the thread in the seams deteriorated.

The engine/drive train was bullet-proof, and the handling on dry pavement superb. The turbo gave awesome acceleration. It was great fun to drive around town, and a pleasure for long trips. I owned the car for over 13 years, and there were no mechanical problems at all for the first 7 of those years, so I consider its reliability quite good for a performance car. The body held up very well, with only traces of surface rust near the end.