WannaKouki

How's it going members of Zilvia! I recently just joined the forums as a member even though I've been through them multiple times before for some info. Ok so here's the deal.. Right now I'm 18, And I'm driving my second car, a 1991 Miata with 196k. My first car was a 93 Miata but now that's a spec car we use at the track. I'm about to graduate in May and I will be getting my real estate salespersons license in June-July to help my family business. So my question here is, would I be better off getting an older 240sx (97-98) or a 350z (05-08)?

I've driven high hp cars before and I'm very responsible and have a firm belief to keep all racing on the track, none of that typical teenage bull**** here. The reason I'm wanting another car is that my Miata is getting old and frail, but I don't want to dump lots of money into it if I'm gonna get another car later on anyways. Also I will be driving around town a lot more as a realtor and want something bigger, more comfortable, and safer. If I need to take clients, my dad will let me borrow his truck, so 2 seats is ok.

I have always loved the styling of the Kouki 240sx. The things that worry me about the car are the fact that it's getting old, doesn't have as many creature comforts and it's not as quick (without the sr20). To get the power id like would require a motor swap and even after, I don't know how reliable it would be compared to a 350z. Parts are cheaper, and insurance is cheaper (I looked up both and the 240sx is $70 cheaper a month) but they're a lot harder to find and even when you find a good one chances are it will cost $7000 or more and then I would still need to do a motor swap and other costs associated with that.

The 350z is newer, has more creature comforts and also sounds so damn good. The problem is it cost more to insure, parts are a lot more expensive and it just doesn't look as good as the Kouki in my opinion. But the 350z won't need a motor swap to make the power I want. It also has all the nice comforts like heated seats, power everything, digital speedo and nice gauges, but is it worth the extra cost? I'm also not looking to do any major mods (other than a swap of I got a 240) to the cars I'm looking at. The only things I'd want over time would be wheel, exhaust and suspension and that's it.

I'd also still be keeping my Miata as a back up car. I'm just looking on people's opinions who have owned these cars and what they think is best for me at my point in life, Thanks for reading all this!

MrMigs

Strong user name to post-content ratio.




















































































You know what to do

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WannaKouki

i guess I was worried about making it too vague lol

ixfxi

If you own a 240SX, you will soon get used to seeing NLA = No Longer Available

If you own a Z33, you will notice how quickly the parts degrade. IMO, I personally think a lot of the newer vehicles (not just NISSAN) fall apart or wear quicker. Maybe not engine/drivetrain, but more in terms of interior. And that is not saying much, because the 240SX was also intended to be a low-buck car. But, overall the interiors tend to hold up OK.

My advice, go for the newer vehicle. Insurance is a small price to pay considering that the Z33 still have parts available.

But honest, if I were you... I'd get an 06-07 G35 Coupe.

92SEric240sx

Go Z33 100%

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silviasandbeer

i agree. looks better in terms of styling and its still the same engine so itll sound the same..

probably more comfortable too.

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WannaKouki

What parts are known to be NLA? And I do like that the g35 is more luxury oriented but I just can't get over the styling.

WannaKouki

Any specific reason why you think that's best?

silviaks2nr

If you're showing property to clients you don't want to have a sports car... unless it's a secondary car. Get an SUV or crew cab truck first.

95_S14

Fuck both and buy a house , I'm thinking about selling my r32 and using the money on my new house but if I had to pick It would be a 240 IMHO

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Zenkipowered

my thoughts exactly, if you going to show property you going to want a humble car and something comfortable like an SUV.

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rawgarage

Z was my first car. Still have it and didn't get a 240 till recently, great daily

Your240sucks

What's up with that r32 I'll buy it!
(: lol



OP BUY A HONDA!!!

95_S14

Once it's done with paint and the cage will see if I want to sell it

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HyperTek

Only you can make those dicisions.

Hows the 240sx scene where you are at? Where I am at, a 240sx would be a bit harder to daily drive now a days due to theft issues.

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WannaKouki

Theres quite a few 240s here but most are trashed by wannabe drifters and it's super hard to find any clean ones. Theft isn't too much of a problem where I live also

WannaKouki

I'm going to be working with my dad for the most part and he will allow me to borrow his truck or my moms car for when I need to show clients. The Z or 240 would mostly be for me to have a more reliable, comfortable and safer daily than my Miata.

MrMigs

Sounds like whether you go s14 or z33, you'll treat your car well and turn it into something that you'll learn to love. Also, if you take a guy who's kept a z33 for a long time and another guy whose kept an s14 for a long time, you know they'll say that they wouldn't have it any other way. (I'm one of those people [s14 for 12+ years]) Although, I've heard a lot more stories of people who sell their 240s, regret it, and buy another one only a year or two later compared to people who sell Z33's.

The one thing I can take away from your post is that you know you can make a kouki s14 fast enough for your liking, but you'll never make a z33 look as good as a 14 (to you). So imagine yourself in the future if you had one car vs. the other. If you're in an S14 and you're driving around town... you see a dude in a Z33, and you're like, "Man, I wish my car was as fast as that one." And it's like ok... it may not be, but you know you've got some things you can do. Now, imagine you're in a Z33 and you see a Kouki S14 with a tuned SR on the street. Then, you might say, "Wow that car is fast and it looks better." Then you look back at your Z33 and realize your car is just as fast, but you'll never be able to make it look like the S14 you wanted long ago. Or you say, "Sheit I wish I had that car instead." MAYBE. But this is me making assumptions on your mentality here based on a single post.

On the issue of practicality and age... I mean... technically they're both pretty good cars. It's not like you're choosing between buying an FD RX-7 and a bone-stock 240...

Your story just reminded me of some guy I met in my area.
This guy... maybe mid 50's or so... he's running (or was running) for some government position in one of the cities here in LA, and he's got a super clean, super fixed-up zenki S14.
Doesn't tell any of his peers about it because he feels it may hurt his image for election lol

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simmode1

I agree with the guys saying buy neither right now. You're going into real estate, so you know the huge financial benefit that you could gain be saving that money to buy property instead, if you play your cards right. I say hold on to the miata & rock your dads truck until you buy a house/condo/whatever or successfully sell a few. Then buy a car that will be sporty & also match the image you'll need to convey as a successful salesman. And nothing says both sporty & successful like BMW. I vote used 335i coupe.

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Kingtal0n

240sx is a life style

Most cars you just park in the driveway and forget about it until its time to go somewhere.

When a 240sx is parked up, all you can think of is all the parts you think are failing on it and what you need to buy next to make faster and more reliable.




But when you do finally drive it, it will put a smile smile smile on your face for days.

Artworks

go for the cleanest ones you can get

WannaKouki

That's exactly what I'm afraid of happening if I got a 350z. The Kouki 240 has been my dream car just under an r34, so I know It would always put a smile on my face when I walk out to see it. Also if the 240 broke, I wouldn't mind working on it as much as if I had a 350 because it would be a labor a love rather than a cussing match at how much I have to pay for a simple part. How reliable is your 240? And do you have a swap in it?

MrMigs

My 240 has been only as good to me as I've been to it.

You can imagine that just like people, a 240 isn't perfect. My car is only as reliable as I let it be. You treat it well, and it'll treat you well. Treat it like a crap car, and it'll BE crap. I do have a swap in my car, and I'd have to say it's never done me wrong -- not with the swap and not with the stock motor I had previously. I've had my car since 50,000 miles on the KA, took it to 258,000 miles without any rebuilds, then went SR. Changed the head gasket once, and now I'm at 360,000 miles on the car.

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WannaKouki

Well that's enough info right there to tell me that a 240sx will be reliable to me if it was taken care of by its previous owner(s). I take very good care of my cars and baby them so if it wasn't too abused already, I should be able to keep it reliable. The only thing that worries me is making the time to do these mods like a motor swap.

S30ZG

One thing to keep in mind as well is that you could possibly buy a semi built s14 for the price of a kouki z33. Just to throw in my two cents, I have a SRd s13 ATM that's pretty well done up. It's been reliable for the most part during the past year but that's partially due to the fact that I bought the car from my friend that kept up on servicing it and only tracked the car.

It's pretty awesome to daily but sometimes I think about if I should've just bought a z33 for the 9k I spent. Haha but those thoughts quickly go away when I'm driving,whether it be on a sunny day or in a downpour. Lol boost is a lot of fun! 🏾


As for a motor swap, throwing an SR in is pretty straight forward. The only thing that you might get hung up on its wiring and if you have a local shop that knows what they're doing then just take it to them for that portion of it.


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silviasandbeer

you must really keep it in the garage 24/7. never seen it around

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Kuma

Just between a 350z vs swapped kouki s14, I'd vote kouki. But if I had money to buy a clean kouki and immediately swap it, I'd get an fd or something a bit more rare.

95_S14

That's because it's at a shop getting the cage work and paint done , and once it's finished it will stay locked up 24/7 unless it's in my trailer going to or from redline time attack or maybe a show

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WannaKouki

I wouldn't be able to swap immediately but instead overtime

Kuma

meh, you already have a track miata, and another miata... you don't need another project, get the 350z or g35.