Yep,..owned a 300ZX Twin Turbo for 10 years. I would go with it over the 3000GT anyday of the week.
I was part of a sports club that would race and there were many types of sports cards in it. Most of the guys that owned the 3000GT's wish they had gone with the 300ZX. Apparently, the transmission cases in the 3000GT were not strong enough for the weight to engine power. I saw several blow trannys in the straights or burn clutches on launch.
The 300ZX cars would just run and run. The 300ZX also proved more stable at speed. It appeared the 3000GT's would get upset easily by any imperfections in the road surface which lead to the 300ZX's always wiping them out at the track.
Keep in mind, we pushed our cars pretty hard, so things would break that may not normally break in day to day usage.
I modified my car pretty heavily for the track, but when stock, I really loved it as a road car.
As far as maintenance goes, every 50,000 miles the cam belts have to be replaced. Do this religiously.
The resell value of the 300ZX is going up, and the 3000GT is going down. That says something about the cars. I bought my in 91 for just over 30G's. Last year I sold it for 20G's. Not a bad investment. I do not know of many cars you can drive for 10 years and only lose 10G's from the initial investment.
If you are looking for a really stable platform, I would go with the non-turbo Z. It is not the fastest kid on the block, but costs much less to maintain. Nissan charges a premium for anything related to the Twin Turbo, but of you get a Twin Turbo, here is what to look for.
1) Get a 93 or later model. In 93 Nissan switch from the hydraulically controlled rear steering to an electrically controlled unit which is faster, lighter and more dependable.
2) After you test drive the car, let it idle for about 10 minutes. If the turbo seals are suspect you will see an amount of blue smoke from the exhaust. Nissan does not offer rebuilt turbos and new ones run about 3G's to replace.
3) Find a way to get under the car (it sets really low) and check for oil seepage from the rear mains. Where the transmission meets the engine block if there is an accumulation of oil at the bottom, then the rear mains are shot. This also indicates the car was driven way to hard without regular oil replacement.
4) This is somewhat a personal preference, but look for a car that does NOT have power seats. The non-power seats are significantly better and more comfortable on trips. They were designed and built by Recaro. The power seats are Nissan junk covered with leather, which you will regret the first time you push the car into a hard turn.
5) Pull the carpet up on the passenger side of the car. It is held in place with velcro. This is where you will find the engine control computer. It is covered with a wooden plank. Nissan used wood to prevent condensation around the computer. Check the wood for water stains. One of the unfortunate design issues is the overflow tray for the air conditioning unit is located above the computer control and if the overflow hose gets plugged, water will spill into the computer system.
6) Check the exterior upper seal of the windshield. It is a small bead of rubber. Make sure it is secure. If the windshield has ever been replaced, then there is a good chance this seal will be lose.
7) Check the rear hatch interior panel. This panel will break lose if the rear hatch is slammed too hard.
8) Check the spare tire under the rear carpet of the hatch area. It is one of those inflatable spares and has a place for the refill tank. Make sure the refill tank is good and the spare is anchored.
9) Next to the spare tire is the tool bin. It contains the jack and wrench for the spare mounting. It is made from molded styrofoam and if any pieces are missing they will need to be replaced.
10) The 300ZX uses a power hydraulic clutch. Some lazy and or cheap people will not replace the power module on the clutch if it goes bad. Raise the hood, you will see the clutch hydraulic unit next to the master brake unit. If there is not a vacuum hose going to the clutch master cylinder, then the guy has removed it and plugged the vacuum line. The clutch will work fine, but requires twice the pedal pressure to operate.
11) Under the front of the 300ZA is a panel which closes off the engine bay, allowing for better air flow under and through the engine compartent. If this is missing it will need to be replaced. Some maintenace guys will pull it off to make it easier to change the oil and tighten the fan belts and not put it back. You will suffer engine overheating and more interior noise with this panel gone.
12) Check the front suspension for spring sag. Take the car to a front end shop and have them check the alignment. If they tell you the caster cannot be put into factory specifications, it is due to the springs sagging and they will need to be replaced. The 300ZX has a fixed camber which requires proper spring heights. This can be changed with some after market parts, which is something else to check for.
13) A note on the transmission. If the car has a standard transmission, the downshift from second to first is a bit notchy. This is not to be a concern. However, if the downshift from 4th to 3rd is notchy, then the transmission is in need of help. It should slip quietly, easily, and swiftly from 4th to 3rd at all speeds. Same is true from 5th to 4th.
14) The interior lights of the 300ZX fade from light to dark slowly when the door is closed. Make sure they do. If they do not, then the computer system is malfunctioning. Likewise, make sure when you pull the drivers door handle up the keyhole lights and the interior lights come on.
15) Check the front brake rotos for scaring and make sure the front wheel cylinders are not seeping. The front brakes of the 300ZX TT need replacing every 30,000 miles or so. DO NOT replace the pads with cheap after market pads. The pads of the 300ZX TT are semi-mettalic. Using soft pads will cause braking problems.
Some other notes.
The 300ZX TT uses different front and rear size tires and the wheels for the left and right are made so the wheel openings act as vents for brake cooling. This means you cannot rotate the tires of this car.
The tires are also Z rated and uni-directional. Do not let someone talk you into rotating the tires.
As the 300ZX TT turbos use the engin oil for lubrication and cooling it is important to note you need to allow about 2 to 5 minutes of normal non-boosted driving to allow the turbos to cool or you will end up coking the turbos.
Oil change intervals for the TT are 3,000 miles. You better make it 2,000 miles if you drive the car in anything other than normal driving. The car with an oil filter change requires 3.5 U.S. quarts of oil. You are okay to use 4 quarts, but most oil change places automatically try to put in 5 quarts, which will cause the rear mains to blow out.
That is about all I can remeber. Hope that helps and good luck on the search.
