Hey all,

Looks like a great forum and I hope to become a regular soon. So I'm going to look at this car later tonight and was looking for some good advice. Like I said, It's a 1979 280 zx. It's got almost 150,000 miles on it but the guy is asking $2000. He says he drives it everyday and it runs great. The interior and exterior are said to be in good shape with only normal wear and tear.

Any thoughts?

 

My thought... $2k is way too much for the average 280zx. You can usually get a decent 280zxt for $2k. Talk him down if you're willing to.

 

first tip./...

dont look at it at night...make sure sun is at 12 oclock and shining good...

 

....and snow level is at a minimal

 

get a screwdriver...
for rust:
poke the frame, poke the floorboards, look around wheelwells for rust, look around rocker panels good, look in the hatch area...lift up carpet and that sponge in the back look for corrosion, get a magnet if you want to check for excessive bondo areound body...some people just stuff rust with bondo before selling and paint over it, look at the door seams on the bottom check for separation.

mechanical...
make sure engine is cold when you go see it...so you know its a true cold start up...
fire it up, make sure it idles up and stays running nice, check for leaks anywhere...

go for a drive, listen GOOD for any clunking in the drivetrain,
make sure acceleration is smooth, no chugging or anything.

if its a standard...make sure you get no grinds when shifting, try going in reverse a few times in your test drive make sure shifter goes in nice...
go trough every gear upshift and down...
check for leaks around slave and master clutch cyl's
make sure you have good feel on the pedal when depressed...and comes back nicely...

if automatic..i have no clue i dont drive automatics...

when you come back from test drive...park it running for a little bit...
look underneath for any leaks...look over the engine good...see if there is oil anywhere.

this will give you a good idea about pricing....
then whatever you hear or see that is wrond subtract average form the 2000 for repairs...in the end who knows he might end up owing YOU money :P....

if snow is too deep attach a plow on the Z and plow off an area where you can park it...thats what i do :P (we just got our first snow)

 

one more thing...

heres a good site..

http://zhome.com/
click on Z OWNERSHIP on the left...then it says buying a z-car tips...
read trough it might give you some more good ideas...

 

now where was I before I bought my ZX???!! NOT IN THIS THREAD.

Seriously. Take what Skully has said and USE IT.

I paid $3,000 for mine and it ran like CRAP for about a month before I put it in the shop for my V8. (now all is well!) it had ZERO rust though.. maybe that's something, but for $3,000!! I took it in the rear...

 

I paid $2500.00 for mine and it was a flaming turd. I knew it wasn't worth it, but I only paid it because I was buying it from the original owner whom I had known for years and she had taken pretty good care of it at my shop. She was also too sentimentally attached to it to sell it for less. I only got it because I had the money. I could have gotten a car twice as nice for half the price. If you're serious about buying a ZX do some research first. Make sure the year you are buying is the right year for you too. I've dumped about 15K into my ZX now and I'm nowhere near where I want to be with it.

Rod.

 

yes i payed 2000 for mine and it was huge pile of steaming poop....god i wish i knew about this site BEFORE i bought it hahaha...i still remember my first question....

it was to none other than Bleach i dont know how i found hes website but i did...i asked him what can be removed from the body panels so i can bring it in my basement and sand it....sad sad 16 year old was I....

 

Thanks for the input guys, I didn't get to look at the car last night by we may be re-scheduled for this evening. I'll update when I know something...

 

good luck with that, and skully is right, what i did was i agreed to pay 1800 for my 82zxt, i showed up, and i started spotting things out, miniscule, but no matter how small, they all add up, so i got him down to 1300, drove away that day, happy as a clam.