1989 Nissan 300ZX Turbo

It's the car you saw in the arcade parking lot in elementary school. Sleek. Black. Turbocharged. It wasn't a movie star. It wasn't a TV star. But hot dang it was cool. You wanted it so bad when you were a kid, and here it is, on eBay, next to the He-Man figures and Barbie dolls. And costing less than your last rent payment.THE GOOD:A raging 3.0 L VG30ET V6 Turbo sits under the hood, pumping out 205 hp, which feels like a lot in a car this light. But it's not small - a six-foot person will have no trouble sliding into these fully adjustable leather seats. That's right, you can adjust the angle, position, lumbar support, and even side support, making this car genuinely more comfortable than modern sports cars by a country mile. Those horses are delivered to the back 16" wheels through a 4-speed Jatco E4N71B automatic, with electronic overdrive, enabling you to easily cruise through city streets or tap on the cruise control and just let that engine sip sip sip 91 octane and get you 28 MPG highway (21 MPG city). While you're doing that, you can blast your ears out using the upgraded sound system and comically oversized amp, both of which are hooked up to a modern Pioneer head unit, with CD player, Bluetooth connection, and aux port. And hey, the cigarette lighter works, so you can jam in a phone charger.You won't find a Z31 this clean anywhere. No rust. No paint chipping. Yeah, there's a ding on the front right fender you can kinda sorta see from some angles. Yeah, the plastic clips that hold the rear luggage cover is broken. But it's there, as are the removable t-tops, their covers, a nice leather bib for the front, and some WeatherTech mats for when you're actually using it.THE BAD:OK so if it's so awesome why am I selling it? Well, because the transmission is dying. I knew it was a problem when I felt it stutter getting into first gear and getting warm after long use. I had hoped it could be fixed, even after a transmission service found so many metal shards in the transmission it looked like someone had spilled glitter in there. Honestly for the first half hour of driving or so, you don't notice it. But then the transmission gets hot and, well, there you go. I seriously wanted to keep this car, I really did, but after three months of trying to find someone willing to rebuild or replace the transmission it's time to let it go, most likely to someone looking to get a cheap Z31 to swap over to a manual transmission. Still broken up though, as I paid $12k for this gal, she had one owner before me, and outside of the transmission she's incredible.THE SMALL STUFF:1. Broke the antenna in the car wash and can't get part of the old one out to put the new one in without dismantling it. New one included in the sale.2. The lock for the little lockable compartment in the rear hatch popped out and I can't figure out how to get it back in. Got all the pieces in a bag. 3. The rear hatch struts are wearing out and need to be replaced, and every time I order replacements they send me the longer Z32 struts, so there's a hood lifter in the trunk to prop it open.4. There's some scrapes on the back bumper and some dog hair because when my daily died on me I needed to use it to carry my doggo for a week. I'm sorry but I promise he's /very/ cute and didn't mean it.Overall this is an amazing car with one glaring problem that some lucky dude is going to fix. She's ready for a LOT more miles and loves to run. She handles much too well for a car her age, and even with the shoddy transmission she leaps into action whenever you tap the accelerator.

Also published at eBay.com

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