Well it's that time again, gauging interest/potential buyers for my 240zt

[Guest bastaad525]

Yep, I'm at it again. After much debating (both with myself and my wife) I've finally decided that I should probably just sell my Z and buy myself a new car. After putting so much money into the Z, it is still far from where I want it to be, and I am VERY far over the budget I originally set when I started this project. If I'm going to continue putting money into a car, I just don't think it's worth it to keep putting it into THIS car, which no matter how much money I put into it, is still going to be an old car, is still going to have it's quirks and bugs and issues.

 

I want something new, with A/C, a stereo, a working heater/defroster, and a warranty, that doesn't try to kill me with exhaust or fuel fumes, something that gets better than 17mpg and doesn't demand 91 octane fuel. Being a fast car can only compensate for so much

 

The main thing for me now, is that really, no matter what complaints I have, I do love this Z. I've put a lot into it, not just money, but my time and sweat. I've always loved the Z and have wanted one for years. Had I a ton more money and spare time there wouldn't even be a question. The other main thing is that, I KNOW I wont get anywhere near what I've put into it, but I am not just gonna give it up for some way low price either. So that's what this post is for (as opposed to just putting an ad).

 

So what should I expect to get for it? I think $6000 is reasonable, what do you guys think?

 

Almost everything about the car is here: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/635763 , with the exception of it's few problems, most notable being that it needs new bushings, and it has a very small oil leak from the oil pump gasket, well that and the stuff I ranted about above Also a few things not mentioned there are that for instance it a new hatch weatherstrip and tail light seals.

 

So, anyone from here even 'in the market' right now? And even anyone who's not looking, do you think $6000 is too much? I'm figuring I'll probably bypass the classifieds here and just go straight to ebay and set my reserve at around $6k, since every Z I see sell on ebay sells for way more than I think I ever think they will.

 

I've already visited a few dealerships and may be buying a car as early as tommorow, so the sooner I can move the Z and free up my parking space, the better

[80LS1T]

SRT-4 in your future? LOL

 

 

Guy

[Guest bastaad525]

Honestly? Possibly. I haven't decided for sure yet, but the SRT is the closest I can get to a 'fast' car in my price range, and still maintain some level of practicality with four doors and decet gas mileage, though I still somewhat question their reliability.

 

If I decide against an SRT, nothing else I can afford is gonna be even relatively fast... so selling the Z gonna hurt a lot more. I test drove an SRT today and it was definately a fun ride. All it'd take would be a stage 1 or 2 mopar upgrade to get back to my Z's current level of performance.

[80LS1T]

The SRT-4 is putting down what your car was for numbers. They are under rated from the factory. All the stock dyno sheets that I've see show about 235WHP right from the factory.

 

Guy

[Guest bastaad525]

The SRT-4 is putting down what your car was for numbers. They are under rated from the factory. All the stock dyno sheets that I've see show about 235WHP right from the factory.

 

Guy

 

I know friggin crazy, that fact. That's why it's pretty much my number one choice since I don't feel like I"ll be losing out over the Z. I already find myself wondering what I could do to the car to lighten it since that's the main advantage the 240 has over it.

[Gollum]

I know they're a tad more expensive, but the standard WRX isn't a bad car. New body stlye in 06 wich should be hitting the dealer floor soon. So you could get a new 06 or talk down a sweet deal on an 05 they're trying to get rid of. Only problem I could see is that the 5 speed needs to be babied. They're notorious for grinding if you beat on them.

 

WRX gets 20/26 wich isn't great, but it also isn't bad for AWD with a 2.5 turbo 4 banger. I bet you could get the price down to 23k out the door with maintainence included. But, you could also get an SRT for 20K out the door no problem.

 

And the real beuty is that because it's AWD you only have to do the idle test for smog so they can't test for NOx, so you can get away with more

 

Just my .000000000002 cents. Hope all goes well for ya man.

[80LS1T]

Hey if you got the cash I can get the stage 3 at a very reduced price for you.....right around $3800ish vs your cost of $5600ish.....355HP!

 

 

Guy

[Guest bastaad525]

I've considered a WRX but really even the SRT's price is pushing it. I definately do NOT like the new WRX nose, and yeah I'd be worried about the tranny since I will definately drive the thing hard and I've heard just like you said.

 

Plus SRT 4 has those kick azz factory upgrades for dirt cheap...

 

 

EDIT: heh well there you go... 355 hp for $4k

[slownrusty]

That price is completely fair...!!

 

If I was in the market for a 240ZT, I would be all over it.

 

It would suck to see you go, and I would miss your loooong posts...LOL

 

As much as my ZXT will never be done either (more than likely and has been a money pit for almost 5years), and I do have a love hate relationship with it, I could never sell it.

 

Yasin

[Sparks280zt]

i think $6k is a descent price, good luck man.

[Guest bastaad525]

nah I don't think I'll ever stop hanging out at Hybrid Z... I love this place man. No other forum like it on the 'net, at least that I've found.

 

Anyways, if I did get an SRT-4 I'd definately still hang around here for the massive about of turbo knowledge, but seriously even if I didn't own ANY car I'd hang out here.... reading and posting here has helped get me thru many incredibly boring nights.

[SleeperZ]

Why do you get such crappy mileage? My Z gets 27-28mpg on the highway, and I don't cruise slowly.

 

Sorry to hear you wanting to sell the Z, I can't see ever getting rid of mine, then again it's a garage queen just waiting for track days...

[ZR8ED]

This may sound a tad harsh, but I don't mean it to.

 

You want to save some money by selling a car that has more money invested than its worth, in order to get enough money together to put a down payment on a car that will have additional payments as well as higher insurance premiums, and end up with a car that will lose 20% of its value the minute you drive off the lot?

 

All that so you can have air con? and some warranty on a car that won't break down till the warrenty is up? except the warrenty will cover any screw up recalls from the mfg?

 

Do I have that right?

 

Save your money, maintain your car. following the maintenance schedule for a new car to keep its warranty up is no cheap joke either....

 

and 17mpg sucks a$$ big time.. I get way better than that.. 25-28mpg.

 

I've been through this several times now myself. Unless you NEED a new car because of your job (traveling, taking clients etc) or commuting extensive distance.

Gas price is another item.. you may get a better mileage car, BUT you may be buying a car at a time when gas really shoots up and makes cars rather unatractive to buyers.. (more for SUV dinasaurs)

 

Think about the $$ side.. dumping car to save money by buying a much more expensive car doesn't make $$$ sense..

 

Good luck!

[Guest ON3GO]

srt4 needs 91-93 octane... so you wouldnt be saving much at all.

if you do any mods to it besides the mopar stuff your out of warrenty.

 

from the looks of your webpage you prob could sell all those video game machines and buy a standalone and all it a day.

 

mike

[Guest bastaad525]

good points all here's some more of my own.

 

Yes 17mpg sucks, and no I don't know why it does so badly. I know it runs rich, at idle, cruise, all the time, but not pig stinking black smoke rich. It idled and did light load at around 12-13:1. Everything I've tried to do so far hasn't fixed that. I imagine I don't drive it any harder than most of you guys drive yours. I have kept up with tuneups and such. I've tried leaning out the mixture by tweaking the AFM, but any leaner and it starts to run really crappy off boost. Stock EFI sucks.

 

I was going to install the Z31 ECU and hope that fixed it. But that's more money spent, for something that may or may not solve any of my problems.s

 

Standalone EFI, while I've always been interested, just ain't gonna happen. Even the 'cheap' MS is pretty pricey if you want to 'do it right' meaning, with a WB for tuning, buying a laptop, and other little extra stuff you need to buy. And really, I don't have the time or the confidence to install and tune it myself. Nor to put it together (so I'd have to buy a prebuilt costing quite a bit more). I don't want to open a new can of worms. There's a whole section of the forum filled with people who've installed MS and have had problems getting it running right. I don't doubt for an instant that I'd be one of those people if I went that route.

 

And no, this isn't so much about money. Obviously it wouldn't make sense to sell my Z to buy a new car to try to SAVE money.

 

For instance, I could buy a new SRT-4, and pay $400 + a month for the next five years in payments alone. Or, I could put $400 a month into my Z, and it would probably be 'done', like, completely DONE, in quite a bit less than five years But, it would still be worth WAY less than I've put into it (even more WAY less by the time I've dumped all that additional money into it). Doesn't sound like any better of an investment to me.

 

And even if I did that, it would still be an old car. It would still have bugs and quirks and issues. For instance, the exhaust smell. I started a poll the other day, and it seems a lot of guys have spent a lot of time and money trying to get rid of exhaust smell in the car and have not been able to no matter what they did. My car making me feel sick almost every time I drive it is one BIG reason why I want to get rid of it. Going fast is not worth feeling nauseous, choking, coughing, burning eyes, or god forbid, getting cancer. How much money should I spend to see if I can fix that?

 

But if I did decide to just keep working on it and fixing it up, that's not only going to be a lot more money, it's also going to be a lot of WORK, either by me or someone else I would have to pay. And a lot of downtime. And all I'm saying is, if I'm going to NEED to pay that kind of money to get my Z to that point, I'd rather just own a new car, that would (hopefully) need NO work and have NO downtime. I already bought a second car for just that reason, but of course it is also old, and high mileage, and soon it will have it's own issues that need to be dealt with.

 

Speaking of downtime, there's also the simple fact that the Z, once again by virtue of being old and being a collection of many JY parts, is also bound to break down. Maybe tommorow, maybe in a year, who knows? Even if the SRT or any other new car only made it past the warranty period... that's three years that I just don't have to worry about it. With my Z I have to worry every time I start it up. I can and have kept up with maintanence pretty religiously, but that's not going to guarantee that it's not going to break down on me.

 

And no, I'm not going to start selling ANYTHING to buy an MS or any other upgrades for my car. That is just past the point of rediculousness. I've been there before... selling off things just to keep a car I had RUNNING... that is stupid. If you can't afford to keep up the car then it's time to consider public transport

 

Once again you guys are casting a lot of doubt about me selling this car... trust me guys it's NOT an easy choice for me to make. But I'm just so sick of worrying about it, so sick of sitting here thinking how "oh if I only did this thing, or if I only took care of this, or man I could make it a little faster if I did this, and it's going to cost this much, oh it will only be another $500, oh well this will be another $1000, and then it's still going to need this and this and this...". I just want to spend more time driving and enjoying having a fast car than worrying about it.

[JMortensen]

I think you should sell it. Z's need a garage and a large tool chest. Especially yours. Good luck, and I hope someone offers you what it is worth.

[b__sosick]

it's a shame to see someone else selling off their project :[

[80LS1T]

srt4 needs 91-93 octane... so you wouldnt be saving much at all.

if you do any mods to it besides the mopar stuff your out of warrenty.

 

from the looks of your webpage you prob could sell all those video game machines and buy a standalone and all it a day.

 

mike

 

 

Technically the MOPAR stuff puts you out of warrenty too. At our dealership we dont care what you do for mods. Not every dealership is like that though. You have to find a dealership that is ok with mods.

 

Guy

[Guest bastaad525]

well at $400 + a month for 5 years, I don't think I'm going to be doing any mods to the car anyways so warranty probably not an issue.

 

I thought at least the stage 1 didn't void the warranty as long as you install it at the dealership? That's the only one I could actually afford

 

Damn it you guys... DAMN IT!!! Always with your 'voices of reason'!!! Really... REALLY making this hard decision harder!

 

Seriously though, thanks for ALL of your thoughts on this guys, you guys are always good about pointing out some of the things I don't think about myself, and help me get a better perspective on the whole thing. Well that and usually you end up making me feel stupid for even considering selling

 

Me and my wife going out to dinner now, gonna discuss it a bit more and make a final decision before we come home (I think). We've made a list of all the pro's and con's (and possibilities) for both options... unfortunately it looks like a pretty close 'race' But with the Z having a slight lead?

[Sparks280zt]

hey I was in your shoes at one time. I was determined to sell my 77, and man it was in excellent shape. I had it all planned out, sell it, and buy something like you want, more comfortable. You wanna know when I realized I made a mistake? When I saw it drive away with its new owner, man i miss that car.